Stowe Launch
Advanced project development program for screenwriters
Thank you to Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and Galway Film Fleadh for support of the Screen Ireland / Galway Film Fleadh Marketplace Fellowship and the Screen Ireland Fellowship.
2024 - 2025 Fellows
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"The Squad"
ISABELLE BLANCHE
Sports, Coming-of-Age Drama Feature
Headstrong Liv Kennedy is determined to achieve sporting glory on the rugby pitch, there is just one problem: nobody believes she can do it, not even her team. Can she turn the team around to achieve success or is there more to life than winning?
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"Unqualified"
AARON CORLESS
Galway Film Fleadh Marketplace FellowComedy Feature
To prove his love a hapless young teenager longs to step in as a father to his crush’s unborn child but being a Dad means a lot more than he thinks.
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"Púca"
KATHRYN KENNEDY FENTON
Screen Ireland Fellow
Horror Feature
On a remote Island, in 1820s Ireland, Peggy fends off the sinister shapeshifting PÚCA intent on taking her unborn child.
INCUBATION FOR FEATURE FILM AND TELEVISION PROJECTS
Stowe Launch is Stowe Story Labs' advanced development program. Launch is made possible in part through support from the National Endowment of the Arts. The program incubates and develops feature film and television projects to prepare the projects (and the artists) to enter the market.
Stowe Launch News
The announcement of 2024 Launch Fellows and our National Endowment for the Arts award was picked up by Deadline, gaining valuable industry exposure for our artists and their projects.
“Projects like Stowe Launch exemplify the creativity and care with which communities are telling their stories, creating connection, and responding to challenges and opportunities in their communities - all through the arts,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD.
HOW LAUNCH WORKS
The program was first piloted in 2021.
In 2022 and in 2023, we added two projects each year to the program. In 2024, we will add two more projects by June, and hope to add four more by August.
Participants and projects in the program are guided through the development process. We design a tailored program of up to one year of curated support for the projects. Typically, program participants will attend a Stowe Lab and Retreat, and engage in a structured ongoing mentoring program with one or more Stowe mentor. We will work with the artists on the script, ancillary materials (such as lookbooks, schedules, budgets), their pitch, and market research to find the right outreach. Ultimately, Stowe introduces the participants and their projects to potential partners in the wider industry, thereby helping get the projects made.
Projects receive a set of benchmarks created individually for their specific needs.
There is no fee charged if selected to be part of the Stowe Launch program.
Photo: 2023 Stowe Launch Fellow Ahmed Qaid in a one-on-one script note session.
HOW PROJECTS ARE CHOSEN
We select participants based on the quality of their work, an assessment of both the participant’s ability to work collaboratively to advance the project and our ability to help advance the work, and a dedication to raising underrepresented voices. Projects selected may be in need of script development, pitch training, packaging of cast and creative time, visual materials, grant-writing, and connections to producers, production companies, and equity investors. Projects generally have minimal or no financing secured.
Questions about Launch?