CALL FOR SCRIPTS
The New Harmony Project
INFO: The New Harmony Project is pleased to accept applications of un-produced stage play scripts, musicals, screenplays and teleplays. Our streamlined online process will facilitate you uploading your materials in only a few minutes.
What is The Project looking for in a script? We’re looking for scripts that sensitively and truthfully explore the positive aspects of life. If you’ve read our mission statement and you’re still not sure your work is right for the conference, you can gain a fuller sense of our aesthetic and philosophical interests by perusing our roster of writers and scripts that have recently found an artistic home at our conference. The New Harmony Project recognizes that we live in complex times, and we seek stories that honor a multiplicity of perspectives.
What does The Project provide? We provide a creative community and unparalleled level of artistic support. There is no cost to attend the spring conference, and all meals, travel and housing are covered. Additionally, we provide a modest stipend to participants.
Due to the volume of applications received, we will only accept ONE script per writer.
When you are ready to complete your application, simply click the button below to be taken to our online system powered by Submittable. Once items have been submitted, we, unfortunately, will not be able to accept updates or changes.
If you have any questions, please email submissions@newharmonyproject.org (please, no phone calls). We look forward to reading your work, and thank you for taking the time to share it with us.
DEADLINE: October 1, 2019
THE NYC WOMEN'S FUND FOR MEDIA, MUSIC AND THEATRE
New York Foundation for the Arts
INFO: The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre provides grants to encourage and support the creation of digital, film, music, television, and live theatre content that reflects the voices and perspectives of all who identify as women.
The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre is the latest in a groundbreaking series of initiatives by the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) to address the underrepresentation of those who identify as women in film, music, television, and theatre. New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is proud to administer this Fund, which this year adds music as a category.
The program will provide:
Finishing grants for film, television, and digital projects
Funds for the creation of music recordings or videos
Production funds for live theatre
In addition to being made by, for, or about all who identify as women, projects are eligible if they feature a strong female perspective; and/or include a female-identified director and/or producer and/or writer/songwriter and/or engineer (for recordings) and/or female protagonist(s) or lead musical role.
Grants will be given in the following categories (amounts listed are the maximum potential grant):
Fiction Feature (running time of 60 minutes or more) - $50,000
Fiction Short (running time of 59 minutes or less) - $25,000
Fiction Webisode/Webseries (all forms) - $20,000
Documentary Feature (running time of 60 minutes or more) - 50,000
Documentary Short (running time of 59 minutes or less) - $25,000
Documentary Webisodes/Webseries (all lengths and forms) - $20,000
Music: Classical/Experimental/Jazz/New Music - $20,000
Music General - $20,000
Theatre Production - grant amounts up to $50,000
In 2019, finishing funds in the combined amount of $1.5 million were awarded to 63 film, TV, theatre, and digital media projects made by creatives who identify as women.
This is the second round of a $5 million, three-year program made possible through the City of New York Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME). The NYC Women's Fund for Media, Music and Theatre will be available for one additional award cycle opening in Summer 2020 (for 2021).
DEADLINE: October 1, 2019
https://www.nyfa.org/Content/Show/NYC-Womens-Fund
WRITERS RESIDENCY
Millay Colony for the Arts
INFO: Each year Millay Colony for the Arts invites up to 62 individuals (including writers, poets, playwrights, screenwriters and visual artists) for residencies through the colony's application process.
Residency sessions are held each month from April through November, usually lasting around 3 1/2 weeks, with 2 twelve-day sessions also available in June & September. In each discipline, decisions are made by juries of artists, critics and academics.
Your work is presented anonymously to the jury and is considered solely on the merit of your artist statement and work sample. Please keep these factors in mind as you prepare your application. It is very important that you do not include your name anywhere on your artist statement or work samples as you may be disqualified if they are within the body of work shown to the jurors. Your application will instead be assigned a number by the administration.
DEADLINE: October 1, 2019 (Midnight, EST). This deadline is for the following year of April, May, June & July residency sessions.
https://millaycolony.submittable.com/submit
2020 National Playwrights Conference
Eugene O’Neill Theater Center
INFO: Applications are now open for the 2020 National Playwrights Conference. Founded in 1964, the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center is the country’s premiere institution for new play development. Every summer, six to eight unproduced works are selected from a pool of 1,000+ submissions for a playwright-driven workshop on the O’Neill’s campus in beautiful Waterford, CT. At every step in the process, the O’Neill strives to foster an inclusive, collaborative environment in which artistic exploration and experimentation is encouraged.
Please follow these guidelines to ensure that your application is complete:
Remove your name and contact information from your script and statement of objectives.
Remove your agent/representation contact information from your script and statement of objectives.
Make sure that your script has page numbers.
Make sure that your script includes a character breakdown.
Make sure your statement of objectives is included on the last page of the PDF of your script.
Be prepared to upload a single PDF of your script and statement of objectives. This document should be named after the title of your play. Please note that we are only able to accept PDF files.
Be prepared to copy-and-paste your statement of objectives into a text box at the end of this form, in addition to its inclusion in the PDF of your script. This statement is critical to our selection process, and we appreciate your diligence on this point.
Settle the $35 application fee.
Due to the high volume of submissions that the National Playwrights Conference receives annually, we ask that you carefully review the following guidelines:
Applicants are only permitted to submit ONE PLAY each year. Multiple submissions will not be considered, and we are unable to refund the application fee for additional scripts submitted in error.
If an error is discovered upon review of your submission, the O'Neill Literary Office will reach out to you directly. You will have 48 hours to update your application with corrected material. If your application is not amended within that window, it will be withdrawn and your fee will not be refunded.
DEADLINE: October 11, 2019 by 11:59 PST
https://theoneill.submittable.com/submit/134601/2020-national-playwrights-conference
The Working Farm
SPACE on Ryder Farm
INFO: The Working Farm, SPACE’s resident writers’ group, offers eight playwrights, composers, lyricists and/or librettists five fully-subsidized residency weeks on Ryder Farm during the course of the June-October season. While in residence, the artists each focus on developing a single new work and are strongly encouraged to structure their days and weeks to best suit the needs of their project.
The eight Working Farm writers are in residence together twice over the course of the season (June 1st-June 6th and September 15th-September 20th). The writers’ remaining residency weeks are scheduled during the following Creative Residency weeks:
During their additional stays, Working Farm writers may invite a collaborator (e.g. a director, designer, dramaturg, actor) to join them on the farm for a day, subject to availability.
During their time on the farm, The Working Farm writers are housed in Ryder Farm’s historic buildings, served three daily farm-fresh communal meals and provided with artistic and administrative resources.
While at SPACE, the only requirements of The Working Farm are that they join in the three communal meals daily, “give back” 3-4 hours per week of their time-in-residence to Ryder Farm and participate in short, informal sharings of the work accomplished while in residence.
All Working Farm residencies are fully-subsidized. Residents cover their travel to and from the farm. For reference, a round-trip off-peak Metro North ticket from Grand Central Terminal to Brewster Terminal is $30.00. Transportation between the Brewster Terminal and Ryder Farm is provided by the SPACE team on the first and last days of the residency.
The Roving Dinner
One of the highlights of The Working Farm is The Roving Dinner, which occurs during the group’s September residency week. During this celebration of The Working Farm writers, excerpts of the eight SPACE-developed works are paired with an eight-course farm-fresh meal and performed at eight historic locations around Ryder Farm.
The Working Farm Reading Series
Following the five-week residency at Ryder Farm, Working Farm members are offered the opportunity to present a public reading of their SPACE-developed project through SPACE’s partnership with Playwrights Horizons. These readings customarily take place in the winter or early spring.
Before applying, please review the guidelines below as well as the FAQ page. If you have questions about applying to SPACE, please contact us at residencies@spaceonryderfarm.org.
Semi-finalists will be notified by late December 2019. Finalists will be interviewed in February and March 2020. Final decisions will be made by early April 2020.
DEADLINE: November 6, 2019
https://www.spaceonryderfarm.org/the-working-farm
ARTIST COMMISSIONING PROGRAM
Queens Council on the Arts
INFO: The Artist Commissioning Program (ACP) awards Queens-based choreographers, playwrights, and composers $10,000 each towards the creation of a new, original work. This program democratizes the traditional commissioning process, which has historically been reserved for a privileged few. The ACP supports projects that add to the canon of American art by telling an untold story of underrepresented person(s) relevant to the neighborhoods in Queens. Two things make ACP unique: 1) its aim to fill gaps in American culture, and 2) its format of pairing artists with a cohort of "Art Commissioners."
ACP's priority is to support artists who present a fresh perspective by creating work that defies the cultural mainstream, privileges underrepresented identities, and/or speaks to the cultural diversity of Queens by telling an untold story of underrepresented person(s). Artists’ projects should highlight the stories of individual protagonists (e.g. heroine(s), hero(s), characters) in their proposed works to give underrepresented people a vision of themselves as leading characters. The new work should be replicable, capable of being interpreted and produced for dance, music, or theatre by other artist(s) or third parties throughout the borough, city, and country (e.g. if a high school or off-broadway theatre wanted to produce your work, they could do so - think Summer Stock or Swan Lake). By commissioning artists to materialize such works, the ACP aims to fill gaps in American culture by actively adding to the art historical canon. In doing so, the ACP aims to create a more democratic cultural sector that is more inclusive of the diverse narratives, cultural backgrounds, and values associated with our borough and nation.
The following eligibility criteria apply to the Artist Commissioning Program:
ARTISTIC DISCIPLINE: Composers, playwrights, and choreographers are eligible to apply.
LOCATION: All greater NYC artists within a commuting distance to Queens Council on the Arts’ offices in Astoria/Long Island City, as well as Monthly Convenings in Maspeth/Ridgewood or Flushing
GEOGRAPHIC PREFERENCE: While all artists within a commuting distance of Queens Council on the Arts will be considered and are encouraged to apply, preference will be given to Queens residents,
especially those with a demonstrated connection to the neighborhoods
of Flushing or Maspeth/RidgewoodAGE: Must be 21 years or older as of January 1, 2020
DEADLINE: November 14, 2019