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.

Application Season

Application season for our 2024 Narrative Labs, Producers’ Lab, Writers’ Retreats, Fellowships, and Scholarships is now closed.

Applications for our online longform TV and feature writing programs are closed.

For Frequently Asked Questions, scroll down to the bottom of this page.

2024 Labs and Retreats

June 7-10
Stowe Narrative Lab
Stowe, Vermont

June 8 - 11
Stowe Producers’ Lab
Stowe, Vermont

June 28 - July 2
Online Writers’ Retreat
Online

August 21 - 24
Sidewalk Narrative Lab
Birmingham, Alabama

September 13 -17
Stowe Writers’ Retreat
Stowe, Vermont

October 14 - 18
Connemara, Ireland Writers’ Retreat
Renvyle, County Galway, Ireland

November 15 - 19
Santa Fe Writers’ Retreat
Santa Fe, New Mexico

June - November
New Voices • New Mexico
Online | Santa Fe, New Mexico

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 fellowship winners will be announced in March 2024. Stowe will also make scholarship and fee-based offers through May 2024.

  • 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 one application for all our labs, retreats, fellowships, and partial scholarships. On that application, you can identify which program or fellowship you are particularly interested in. We may then want to have a discussion with you about your view, and if you don’t offer a preference, we will use our judgment in guiding you to programs and/or financial support as appropriate.

  • 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!