Stowe Story Labs Opens Application Season

 Application Season Opens for 11th Year of Programming and all Fellowships and Scholarships

Applications open on October 13, 2022

(October 13, 2022 - Stowe, VT) Stowe Story Labs is accepting applications for its 2023 narrative story labs and screenwriting retreats. Stowe Story Labs is a nonprofit development program offering labs, retreats, long-form writing programs, and customized ongoing mentoring to top emerging screenwriters, filmmakers, and creative producers from around the world. Stowe works with fellowship and programming partners globally. 

Stowe programs help to develop both story and talent and are designed to help top emerging creatives break down barriers, advance their work, and find a community of like-minded artists. Stowe awards more than a dozen fellowships annually, including the PAGE Screenwriting Awards fellowship, the SAGindie fellowship, and The Law Firm of Stacey A. Davis fellowship, as well as dozens of partial scholarships. Learn more about Stowe’s fellowship and scholarship programs here. In 2022, 44% of participants attending Stowe labs or retreats received fellowship or partial scholarship support. In 2023, Stowe will award more than $90,000 in aid to support emerging talents, much of that aid through its fellowship programs. Stowe is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the film and television arts. Read our Equity and Inclusion statement here.

Some comments from our Fellowship Partners:

Fellowship partner Stacey Davis—Stowe alum and board member—said, “we are grateful to have the opportunity to return with The Law Firm of Stacey A. Davis Fellowship for women screenwriters over 40. This underrepresented group has powerful stories to tell, and Stowe’s Sidewalk Narrative Lab is an important part of getting our stories in front of audiences to educate and inspire people of all ages.”

Darrien Michele Gipson Mentoring at the 2022 Connemara Writers Retreat

SAGindie Executive Director Darrien Michele Gipson shared, "SAGindie is so excited for our continued partnership with Stowe Story Labs. Uplifting underrepresented artists is a mandate we take seriously, and the Stowe Story Labs/SAGindie fellowship is a great way to nurture diverse voices within the film industry." The SAGindie Fellowship is dedicated for emerging filmmakers of color working to break down barriers to entry in our complex industry.

The new Stowe Story Labs/SKYFIRE fellowship will be awarded to a top emerging genre writer bringing a feature or TV pilot. In addition to all other fellowship benefits, the SKYFIRE fellow will receive a $1,250 travel and lodging stipend. Writers with a cross-media background are highly encouraged to apply. 

Regarding the fellowship, award-winning writer-director, Stowe alum, and SKYFIRE founder Jennifer Thym said, “I have experienced firsthand the wonderful, groundbreaking work Stowe is doing with the screenwriting and film community. And giving back from day one is an integral part of Studio SKYFIRE’s mission. I am delighted that the Stowe/SKYFIRE fellowship will give a top emerging genre writer the opportunity to share in that Stowe magic I know and love.” Studio SKYFIRE LLC is a Hawai’i-based entertainment company that specializes in elevated genre, iconic character-driven sagas, and high-octane fairy tales across print, electronic media, film & TV.

2022 Stowe Narrative Lab Group. Photo by Jesse Schloff

Commenting on the fellowship program, Stowe Story Labs founder and director David Rocchio said, “we love our fellowship partners. They help us find wonderful voices to nurture and support, and add tremendously to what we do.” Regarding Stowe’s programs, he said, “we are proud to be a part of the development process shepherding meaningful work and wonderful artists into the world. It all starts with our labs and retreats. We look forward to discovering new talents in the 2023 application process and to helping them develop their work.”

Stowe will award more than $90,000.00 in fellowship and scholarship support in 2023.

Stowe Programs Available via this Application:

Stowe’s Narrative Labs are the entry point for most participants and are designed for screenwriters, filmmakers, and creative producers working to establish themselves in this complex industry. Participants gather for a 4-day lab to learn more about story, pitching and packaging, the development process, production, publicity, finance, and distribution. 

Stowe’s Writers Retreats are a 5-day intensive dive into story. They provide a rare opportunity for participants to invest in both their writing and professional development. Each writer receives three one-on-one, hour-long story meetings with three different top industry mentors, as well as programming designed to advance work on the page. 

Shari Lynette Carpenter—an award-winning writer/director and 2017 Stowe Narrative Lab participant/SAGindie Finalist—is one example of someone who has advanced their career after working with Stowe through its labs and retreats.

Carpenter made her episodic television directing debut as part of Ava DuVernay’s groundbreaking all-female directing staff on season six of OWN’s Queen Sugar, and her latest film, Single Black Female, starring Amber Riley and Raven Goodwin, aired on Lifetime. Carpenter is a member of the DGA and Film Fatales, a women filmmaker's advocacy, resource, and networking organization focused on gender parity in the film industry. She has served as a jurist and reader for Stowe Story Labs and Sidewalk Screenplay Competition and is also a mentor and board member with Stowe Story Labs.

“My trajectory at Stowe Story Labs began in 2017 when I attended one of their labs. In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, I attended a remote retreat,” said Carpenter. “And since then, I was invited to become a board member, a mentor, and most recently, a consultant in their newly created advanced development program (Stowe Launch). I'm excited about the opportunity Stowe Story Labs is giving filmmakers—particularly underrepresented storytellers—to not only hone their craft but also help give them the resources to take their stories to screen.”

Stowe Board Members (Left to Right): Robyn Greene Arrington, April M. Sánchez, Shari Lynette Carpenter. Photo by Sarah Peet

Mentors at Stowe labs and retreats are working professionals, and include artists such as Shari and fellow alum Melody Cooper (screenwriter); Derek Simonds (writer, showrunner, producer); Bertha Bay-Sa Pan (writer and director); Academy Award® nominated creative producer Amy Hobby; and Maven Pictures’ EVP and Head of Creative, Jenny Halper.

“I have loved learning about Stowe’s programs and getting to know the people at Stowe,” said Bertha Bay-Sa Pan, commenting on the experience of mentoring with Stowe. “It’s very telling how the stories Stowe selects are always diverse in genre, style, and content, but consistent in heart, decency, and humanity—from the stories to the storytellers. It’s unique for a lab of this caliber to be so thoughtful in curating not just the projects but the people behind them. After every program, I always feel so inspired by the participants’ enthusiasm, positivity, generosity, and graciousness, and a bit more hopeful for our broken world.” 

In its ten years, Stowe has served over 600 emerging artists, 70% of whom identify as women. To date, participants have come from 42 U.S. states and 23 countries. In the last several years, 26% of participants have been BIPOC/Latinx, and 40% are 40 years old or older. Stowe is dedicated to inclusion, diversity, and equity in its work and in the industry at large.

This application is for applicants wanting to enroll in the following programs:

  • Stowe Narrative Lab, run during the annual Vermont Film and Music Festival (Stowe, VT):  June 1-4

  • Remote Writers Retreat: July 14-17

  • Sidewalk Narrative Lab, run during The Sidewalk Film Festival (Birmingham, AL): August 23-26

  • Stowe Writers Retreat (Stowe, VT): September 15-19

  • Connemara Writers Retreat (Renvyle, County Galway, Ireland): October 9-13

  • California Writers Retreat (Cambria, CA): November 10-14

In addition, Stowe offers the following programs through separate application processes:

  • The Producers Lab, run during the Vermont Film and Music Festival and Stowe Narrative Lab (Stowe, VT): June 3-6

  • The Feature Campus, an online 16-week feature writing program

  • The Writers Room, a three- to four-month online television writing program

  • Stowe Launch, an advanced development program

(All dates subject to confirmation and change.)

Learn more about Stowe programs on their website.

Those interested in attending Stowe’s retreats and labs, and those looking to be considered for a fellowship or partial scholarship to these programs, can apply here.

The early bird application deadline is Midnight, November 21, 2022, Eastern Time.

There is one application for narrative labs, writers’ retreats, fellowships, and partial scholarships.

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Now entering its eleventh year, Stowe Story Labs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Stowe, Vermont, which offers labs, retreats, writing programs, and mentoring programs to top emerging screenwriters, filmmakers, and creative producers from around the world. Stowe’s mission is to help emerging talents get work made and seen, and through that, to bend the world through story. Learn more about Stowe Story Labs and its programs at www.stowestorylabs.org. 


MEDIA CONTACT: Tamaryn Tobian | Spectacle Creative Media | tamaryn@spectaclecreative.com

Stowe Story Labs