McKnight Screenwriting Fellowship

The McKnight Artists Fellowships for Screenwriters has grown to be the most prestigious screenwriting competition in the Upper Midwest, with one of the largest cash awards offered in national screenwriting competitions.  Administered by IFP Minnesota for 13 years, the monies awarded recognize and support mid-career Minnesota screenwriters who have excelled in the artistic discipline of writing for cinema. Each applicant submits one narrative feature screenplay, which is judged by professional screenwriters, directors, producers, development executives, and literary agents/managers outside Minnesota. Each of the two winning Fellows will receive a $25,000 cash award for excellence in the art of screenwriting.

Deadline for submission:
4:00 PM on Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Winners will be announced in June, 2011.

Download the 2011 McKnight Screenwriter Guidelines (PDF)
Download the 2011 McKnight Screenwriter Application Cover Sheet (doc)
Download the 2011 Property Release Form (PDF)

"How to Apply" Info Sessions
Free "How to Apply" workshops will be offered in November and December 2010 to answer your questions about the application process and the fellowship program. Both screenwriters and filmmakers are welcome to attend either session.

TWIN CITIES
Thursday, December 9, 2010 at 6:00 PM
IFP MN Center for Media Arts
2446 University Avenue West
St. Paul

For more information, contact Lu Lippold, 651-644-1912 x106, llippold@ifpmn.org.

 

 2010 MCKNIGHT SCREENWRITING FELLOWS

Shelli Ainsworth is a writer and filmmaker who lives and works in Minneapolis. She is the past recipient of grants and fellowships from ITVS, The Bush Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jerome Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Minnesota State Arts Board. Her films have been seen at festivals and in museums in the United States and Europe. She has three children.

Her screenplay, Stay Then Go, tells the story of one mother's sacrifice and what lies beyond. Marion and her husband have a child, Eddie, who has autism. Just at the point where Marion can envisage a positive life for Eddie, an unlikely event occurs, dramatically altering the relationship between them.

David CC Erickson is a Minnesota-American from Minneapolis. He enjoys his family, writing, filming, and long walks to the copy machine. He would like to add more action verbs to his screenplays and hopes to someday take the hero's journey himself - without all the hassles.

His winning screenplay is Bill-land: When a 4th grade history teacher in Davenport, Iowa - facing foreclosure - discovers his home and property is its own sovereign nation, he decides to recreate the American dream of freedom on his eighth of an acre, incurring the wrath of the United States when he declares his independence.

The Screenwriting Fellowship final judges were veteran filmmaker and screenwriting teacher (AFI, USC) Jerome Gary, SAGIndie director and former development executive Darrien Michelle Gipson, and Michael Clark, creative executive at the New York-based production company Big Beach.

Past McKnight Screenwriting Fellows

1997 Karl Gadjusek, John Olive, Jeffrey Williams
1998 Jim Berg, James Byrne, Jim Christensen
1999 David Grant, Shawn Lawrence Otto
2000 William Eigen, Jeane Moore
2001 Jane O'Reilly, Doug Pfeifer
2002 Steven Larson, Ron Stover
2003 Michael Starrbury, Bob Yates
2004 Susan Arakawa, Brad Pecelj
2005 Patrick Coyle, Bob Yates
2006 Steven Larson & Gary Jenneke, Zach Hammill
2007 Michael Starrbury, Wenonah Wilms
2008 Daniel Laurence, Alan W. Porter
2009 Nicole Brending, Karen Frank

The Minnesota based McKnight Foundation provides funding and counsel to local arts organizations administering its multiple artist fellowships in the areas of ceramic arts, composition, dance choreography, music, photography, theatre, screenwriting, filmmaking, visual art, and writing.

Attachment	Size
2011 McKnight Screenwriter Guidelines.pdf	143.76 KB
2011 McKnight Screenwriter APPLICATION COVER SHEET.doc	38.5 KB
McScreen_Property_Release_Form.pdf	95.67 KB