Every year Film Independent selects up to ten fiction and five non-fiction feature projects to participate in an intensive film finance market that takes place over four days in November. Designed to connect producer-director teams with industry leaders and put projects on the “fast track,” the market consists of meetings with top executives, financiers, agents, managers, distributors, granting organizations and production companies. Participants gain valuable exposure and build vital relationships as they propel their films toward completion.

Previous Fast Track projects include Bing Liu’s Academy Award nominated Minding the Gap;  Raven Jackson’s All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt produced by Maria Altamirano, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released by A24 in 2023; Saim Sadiq’s Cannes Un Certain Regard and Spirit Award Winner Joyland produced by Apoorva Charan;  Nicholas Bruckman’s documentary about activist Ady Barkan, Not Going Quietly; Elegance Bratton’s The Inspection produced by Chester Algernal Gordon, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was nominated in three categories at the 2023 Spirit Awards; Blow the Man Down, which was acquired by Amazon and nominated for Best First Screenplay at the 2020 Spirit Awards and Jinn, winner of Special Jury Recognition for Writing at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival. Other notable filmmakers who have participated in the program include Ana Lily Amirpour, Sean Baker, James Ponsoldt, Tina Mabry, Lana Wilson and Chloé Zhao.

Previous industry participants include 30WEST, Searchlight, MACRO, Mandalay Pictures, Netflix, Participant Media, Plan B, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions and many others.

For more information on the application deadline please visit our applications page.

Alfred P. Sloan Fast Track Grant

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation will award one participant of the Film Independent Fast Track Finance Market the annual Sloan Grant of $20,000 with which to further develop their project.

To apply for the Sloan Fast Track Grant, apply to Fast Track and provide a statement on how the project fulfills the mission of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in your cover letter. The applicant must possess the rights to the script with which they are applying. The screenplay should have a scientific, mathematical and/or technological theme and storyline or have a leading character that is a scientist, engineer or mathematician.

At this time, documentaries and science fiction projects are not eligible for the Sloan Fast Track Grant.

About The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a New York based, philanthropic, not-for-profit institution that makes grants in three areas: research in science, technology, and economics; quality and diversity of scientific institutions; and public engagement with science. Sloan’s program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology, directed by Doron Weber, supports books, radio, film, television, theater and new media to reach a wide, non-specialized audience and to bridge the two cultures of science and the humanities.

Sloan’s Film Program encourages filmmakers to create more realistic and compelling stories about science and technology and to challenge existing stereotypes about scientists and engineers in the popular imagination. Over the past two decades, Sloan has partnered with a dozen leading film schools and established annual awards in screenwriting and film production. The Foundation also supports screenplay development programs with the Sundance Institute, SFFILM, Film Independent, The Black List, the Athena Film Festival and the North Fork TV Festival. The Sloan Film Program has supported over 750 film projects and has helped develop over 30 feature films, including Tesla, Radium Girls, Adventures of a Mathematician, One Man Dies a Million Times, The Sound of Silence, To Dust, Operator, The Imitation Game and The Man Who Knew Infinity. The Foundation has supported feature documentaries such as Werner Herzog’s Theater of Thought, David France’s How to Survive a Pandemic, Picture a Scientist, Coded Bias, In Silico, Oliver Sacks: His Own Life, The Bit Player, Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, Particle Fever and Jacques Perrin’s Oceans. It has also given early award recognition to stand out films such as Don’t Look Up, After Yang, Linoleum, Son of Monarchs, Ammonite, The Aeronauts, Searching, The Martian, First Man and Hidden Figures.

For more information about the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, please visit www.sloan.org or follow the Foundation at @SloanPublic on Twitter and Facebook.

Who Can Apply?

Fast Track is open to any directing and producing team attached to a full-length fiction or nonfiction film. Fiction films must be in the development or pre-production stage at the time of application, while documentaries must be in principal photography or post-production. The program is open to both experienced and first-time filmmakers, as long as they are actively seeking financing for their project. Writers seeking script sales or representation, or working without a directing/producing team, will not be considered. At this time, short film and episodic projects are not eligible to apply.

How to Apply

Applicants must submit the following materials for consideration:

• A cover letter explaining your interest in Fast Track
• One complete, feature-length screenplay or detailed documentary proposal
• A logline and synopsis
• Bios of the director, producer and other attached key cast and crew
• Project status and history
• A detailed finance plan (a budget is recommended but not required)
• A narrative director’s prior work sample, or a rough-cut/clip reel for documentary works-in-progress

Application Fee

• FREE for Filmmaker Pro Members (limited to one waived fee per Membership year)
• $45 for Film Independent Members
• $65 for non-Members

Selection Criteria

Film Independent is looking for talented filmmakers and determined producers with feature-length fiction and/or nonfiction projects that are compelling, original, and demonstrate a unique vision. Projects need not have full or partial financing in place at the time of application; however, it is vital that each application demonstrate serious attention to the film’s budget from the creative team as a whole, and that applicants be able to articulate the reasoning behind their budget level.

The Fine Print

Beyond the application fee, there is no cost or tuition to participate in any of Film Independent’s Artist Development programs.

Film Independent Membership is not required when applying to Artist Development Labs. However, all participants accepted into the Labs are required to join Film Independent at the standard annual General Membership rate of $95.

Applicants will be notified three to four weeks prior to the start of the program.

Those applicants who are invited to participate in the program should plan to be in Los Angeles for the duration of the program. Film Independent is unable to subsidize any travel, lodging and/or visa expenses for any participants attending from outside of Los Angeles. Participants are expected to attend all sessions in person.

For more information, please email: artistdevelopment@filmindependent.org.

To learn more about Film Independent Fellows and their projects, visit our Talent Guide.