Stowe Co-Founder David Pope (left) and Founder David Rocchio (right) lead a screenwriting development workshop.

Facing In / Facing Out: A Development Workshop for Screenwriters at the 2025 Galway Film Fleadh

In partnership with the Galway Film Fleadh, Stowe Story Labs presents Facing In/Facing Out, a two-day workshop at the 2025 Galway Film Fleadh designed for emerging screenwriters and filmmakers to learn new skills and generate ideas to help develop a narrative feature film.

To learn more and apply, click here. The Final Deadline is April 30, 2025 at 11:59pm Eastern Time.

​Stowe Story Labs Remote Writers' Retreat Veterans Fellowship Supported by USVAA Application

Stowe Story Labs is thrilled to announce the inaugural Stowe Story Labs Veterans Fellowship supported by the U.S. Veterans' Artists Alliance (USVAA). This fellowship is designed to support a veteran or active-duty service member in advancing their screenwriting career. It covers Stowe’s Remote Writers’ Retreat running June 27 - July 1, 2025 followed by an additional script note session after the conclusion of the Retreat. The Retreat is geared toward an artist looking for feedback and project advancement planning on a well-developed draft of a film or TV screenplay.

To learn more about Retreat programming and apply, click here. The Final Deadline is April 29, 2025 at 11:59pm Pacific Time.

About Stowe Story Labs

Founded in 2013, Stowe Story Labs is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit working with screenwriters and filmmakers to help develop skills and projects, with the ultimate goal of helping to get work made and seen.

We do this work through labs, retreats, ongoing mentoring, market experience, and longform online writing programs.

2025 Program Application Season

The 2025 Application Season for Narrative Labs, Writers’ Retreats, Online Writing Programs, Fellowships, and Scholarships is closed. Join our mailing list to be notified when applications open for 2026 programs.

2025 Writers’ Retreats

June 27 - July 1
Online Writers’ Retreat
Zoom

September 12 - 16
Stowe Writers’ Retreat
Stowe, Vermont

October 13 - 17
Connemara Writers’ Retreat
Renvyle, County Galway, Ireland

June 6 - 9
Stowe Narrative Lab
Stowe, Vermont

2025 Narrative Labs

September 5 - 8
Stowe Narrative Lab
Stowe, Vermont

June 7 - 10
Stowe Producers’ Lab
Stowe, Vermont

2025 Producers’ Lab

The team gathers in Stowe, Vermont for the 2024 Narrative Lab.

CORE PROGRAMS

Narrative Labs
For top emerging screenwriters and filmmakers developing a new project and looking for ideas, tools, and strategies to advance the work. Admitted applicants can be at any stage with their project and can be inexperienced as a filmmaker/screenwriter, as long as they demonstrate a strong story idea, collaborative skills, and capacity to do the work. The Labs are intensives, with focused table top exercises, pitching sessions, and workshop time. Mentors do not read scripts, but participate in roundtable exercises. Participants receive script notes in peer-to-peer sessions as well as focused workshop time.

Writers’ Retreats
For top emerging screenwriters and filmmakers with a fully developed first draft of a feature screenplay or TV pilot. The core elements of our Retreats are three, one-on-one, one-hour script note sessions with three different industry mentors; panels, artist Q&A sessions, and presentations; structured social time; and time to write, reflect, and revise. Participants typically come to Retreats after participation in a Lab.

Producers’ Lab
For top emerging producers looking to produce their first or second, micro-to-low budget ($25,000 - $1,500,000) feature film.

Fellowships and Scholarships
In 2024 we will offer at least eleven full-fee fellowships and up to $80,000 in partial scholarships toward our labs and retreats.

Feature Campus
A long-form online writing program for screenwriters wanting to develop a new feature film screenplay.

The Writers Room
A long-form writing program for screenwriters wanting to develop a new teleplay and mini-bible.

VALUE IN COMMUNITY

Specific alumni platforms include:

Alumni Short Film Channel
We celebrate, support, and share the work of our curated alumni on our Short Film Channel. Submit your short film >

The Fiscal Agency Program
We offer alumni fiscal sponsorship on projects aligned with our nonprofit mission. Submissions are reviewed first by the Stowe Team and then by the Board of Directors. The intent of our fiscal agency program is to help emerging artists develop their work, skills, and profile in this collaborative but competitive industry/art.

Alumni in our growing community can take advantage of:

  • Ongoing mentoring with Stowe Mentors in custom built sessions and programs

  • Opportunity to register for select programs in advance of and without going through an application process

  • Advanced development for select alumni and projects

  • Meet-ups and Collaborative participation in festivals, markets, and other industry events

  • Tools to help set up writing groups, table reads, and to offer chances to collaborate on each others projects.

Participants on panel at 2024 SXSW Festival to discuss the value of artist residencies, labs, and retreats: (l to r) Writer/Filmmaker and Stowe Story Labs Founder & Director David Rocchio; Writer/Director and Stowe Mentor Bertha Bay-Sa Pan; Screenwriter and Stowe Alum, Mentor, and Board Member Melody Cooper; and Writer/Director/Stowe Alum Curtis Matzke (who moderated the Panel)

Read on for Frequently Asked Questions When Applying to Stowe Programs.

  • The application is on Submittable. You will need to create an account on Submittable, but it is free to join. Learn more here.

  • Yes!

  • Yes, we recommend registering your script or copyrighting your script locally, but that will not affect your application.

  • When you look at our fellowship page here, you can see which fellowships are for Labs and which fellowships are geared to retreats.

  • All Narrative Lab notifications should happen by end of May. All Writers’ Retreat notifications should happen by end of June.

  • You can visit Submittable’s help page here to assist any questions that may pop up. If you are still having trouble, please contact Katerina Eichenberger at keichenberger@stowestorylabs.org and title your email “URGENT - Submittable Platform Trouble.”

  • We have separate applications for our narrative labs and writers’ retreats. However, when applying for one or both programs, on that same application you will be able to apply for fellowships and scholarships. Be sure to tick the box “yes” that you are apply for fellowships and scholarships, otherwise you will not be in consideration.

  • Each project must be vetted separately, so each needs a separate application.

  • •Our programs are geared toward Features and TV projects.

    •For our Labs, you may submit with a short film, webseries, play, novel, story, etc., that you intend to turn into a feature or a show. You will want to be clear in your application your intent with the work will want to submit material we can use to assess whether you have the capacity to write a well-developed first draft of a script.

    •For our Retreats, all applications must include a well-developed, properly formatted, first draft of a feature or TV script.

  • We can admit a team of no more than two, and the team may apply with one application. Be certain to list bios/roles/experience for both members of the team.

  • Yes!

  • Yes! Films that are intended to be filmed in their native language are eligible but for our review purposes it will need to be submitted in English.