The Athena Movie Competition at Barnard Faculty (AFF) has introduced Jennifer Vanderbes because the third winner of the annual Alfred P. Sloan Athena Listing Growth Grant for her Athena Listing-winning script “The Gatekeeper.”
“The Gatekeeper” is a historic drama primarily based on the story of Frances Kelsey, an FDA medical reviewer who fought a serious pharmaceutical agency to maintain the drug thalidomide off the American market within the early Sixties. The script is predicated on “Surprise Drug,” Vanderbes’ personal non-fiction e book, which was additionally supported by the Sloan Basis. The e book shall be revealed by Random Home in June 2023.
Vanderbes will obtain $20,000 to assist advance her script to the following stage of improvement. The fest will host a reception and dwell script-reading December 7 at Barnard Faculty in New York Metropolis.
“Assist from the Athena Movie Competition’s Sloan Basis Growth Grant will assist convey to the display this necessary STEM story concerning the largest drug scandal of the twentieth century,” mentioned 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 wonderful heroine, ripe for the display, because the centerpiece of an epic battle towards Huge Pharma.”
Finalists for the 2022 Alfred P. Sloan Athena Listing Growth 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 ladies filmmakers working to focus on the significance of ladies within the sciences.
Doron Weber, Vice President and Program Director on the Alfred P. Sloan Basis, commented, “We’re thrilled to associate with the Athena Movie Competition to announce the third annual winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Growth grant, a part of our nationwide program to assist movies depicting scientific themes or characters and to focus on the contributions of ladies and underrepresented teams. We’re proud to assist Jennifer Vanderbes and her script ‘The Gatekeeper,’ primarily based on a e book 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, Creative Director and Co-Founding father of the AFF — and Girls 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 ladies leaders to life. These girls have had a big affect in our world. The story of Frances Kelsey is a kind 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.
