The Athena Movie Competition at Barnard Faculty (AFF) has introduced Jennifer Vanderbes because the third winner of the annual Alfred P. Sloan Athena Record Improvement Grant for her Athena Record-winning script “The Gatekeeper.”
“The Gatekeeper” is a historic drama based mostly on the story of Frances Kelsey, an FDA medical reviewer who fought a significant pharmaceutical agency to maintain the drug thalidomide off the American market within the early Nineteen Sixties. The script relies on “Marvel Drug,” Vanderbes’ personal non-fiction ebook, which was additionally supported by the Sloan Basis. The ebook can be printed by Random Home in June 2023.
Vanderbes will obtain $20,000 to assist advance her script to the subsequent stage of improvement. The fest will host a reception and reside script-reading December 7 at Barnard Faculty in New York Metropolis.
“Assist from the Athena Movie Competition’s Sloan Basis Improvement Grant will assist convey to the display this necessary STEM story concerning the largest drug scandal of the twentieth century,” stated Vanderbes. “Frances Kelsey was a unicorn of her day – a lady who held each a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and an M.D. She spent years battling authorities forms and company pursuits to maintain thalidomide off the American market, and her scientific brilliance, ethical integrity, and private pluck make her a superb heroine, ripe for the display, because the centerpiece of an epic battle towards Huge Pharma.”
Finalists for the 2022 Alfred P. Sloan Athena Record Improvement grant included “Ray of Life” by Kate Sheffield and “Tidal Disruption” by Kiran Deol.
AFF’s partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Basis goals to bolster the pipeline of girls filmmakers working to spotlight the significance of girls within the sciences.
Doron Weber, Vice President and Program Director on the Alfred P. Sloan Basis, commented, “We’re thrilled to accomplice with the Athena Movie Competition to announce the third annual winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Improvement grant, a part of our nationwide program to assist movies depicting scientific themes or characters and to spotlight the contributions of girls and underrepresented teams. We’re proud to assist Jennifer Vanderbes and her script ‘The Gatekeeper,’ based mostly on a ebook beforehand supported by our E book Program that tells the story of one other pioneering ‘hidden determine’ in STEM and the obstacles and prejudice she needed to overcome to safeguard human well being.”
Melissa Silverstein, Inventive Director and Co-Founding father of the AFF — and Ladies and Hollywood’s Founder and Writer — added, “Our ongoing relationship with the Sloan Basis has introduced so many wealthy, necessary and largely unknown STEM tales of girls leaders to life. These girls have had a major affect in our world. The story of Frances Kelsey is a type of tales, and we’re so thrilled to be part of getting this story the eye it deserves.”
The thirteenth annual Athena Movie Competition will happen March 2-5, 2023 on Barnard’s campus in New York Metropolis.
Supply: Women And Hollywood
