2025 NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship

The Fellowship will grant $20,000 each to three writers (or writing teams) to support revision of a feature screenplay or pilot that engages with climate change in a compelling way through events, actions, character, emotions, plot, and/or setting.

In addition, NRDC will connect each fellowship recipient with the following professionals for feedback and guidance on their scripts:

• A credited professional screenwriter with an interest in climate storytelling

• A climate story consultant from NRDC’s Rewrite the Future program to advise on effective approaches to climate storytelling that are entertaining and impactful

• As applicable, one or more NRDC experts to advise on climate issues highlighted in the script.

• After receiving these consultations, Fellows have six (6) months to complete a revision of their script.  Revised scripts may be reviewed for development by prominent studios, agencies and/or production companies including Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Hyperobject Industries, Yellow Dot Studios, NBCUniversal, United Talent Agency (UTA) and WME among others. Writers will retain all rights to their work.

• At the end of the Fellowship, each recipient will provide NRDC with a short reflection of how the fellowship has advanced their work and/or career in addition to a revised version of their script including an overview of the changes they made during the revision process.

Writers who opt in with a qualified screenplay or pilot will receive one free month of hosting and one free evaluation. To be considered for the fellowship, a script should engage with climate through events, actions, character, emotions, plot, and/or setting. All qualified submissions will receive a fee waiver; you will receive a notification whether your submission has been approved or rejected for a fee waiver within three weeks of submission. Scripts must be submitted by December 5, 2024. 

Writers who are interested in submitting to the 2025 NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship may do so below. Scripts submitted via email cannot be accepted. Please note that submissions will only be accepted if the writer also includes a short description of how their script qualifies as a climate story. 

Once their submissions are accepted, qualified screenplays and pilots will receive a fee waiver for one free month of hosting and one free evaluation and automatically be opted into consideration for the program.

Each fellowship recipient will retain complete ownership of their work.