The Athena List
A development initiative identifying and championing unproduced screenplays by women writers, connecting scripts with producers and creating industry momentum for women-authored stories.
Overview
The Athena List is an annual list of the most compelling unproduced screenplays by women writers, compiled and published by the Athena Film Festival at Barnard College in New York City. Modeled loosely on the concept of the Black List -- the annual survey of Hollywood's most liked unproduced scripts -- the Athena List specifically focuses on scripts authored by women, with the explicit goal of drawing industry attention to women-authored work and creating commercial momentum for scripts that might otherwise circulate without visibility.
The Athena Film Festival has championed women's leadership in film since 2011. The Athena List extends that mission into the development phase of a film's life, addressing the point where many women-authored scripts fail to advance: not because of their quality but because the informal recommendation networks that drive script acquisition in Hollywood skew toward scripts already connected to established industry relationships.
What It Offers
Scripts selected for the Athena List receive:
- Prominent public recognition through the Athena Film Festival's channels and industry press
- Visibility among producers, development executives, agents, and managers who follow the list as a source of projects by women writers
- A professional credential that carries weight in query letters, pitch meetings, and agent submissions
- Association with the Athena Film Festival brand, which has strong credibility in the women in film community
- Potential invitation to Athena Film Festival programming and events, providing direct networking access to industry professionals
The Athena List does not provide a cash grant. Its value is reputational and relational -- it generates attention and opens doors rather than providing direct financial support.
Eligibility
Applicants must be women screenwriters submitting an unproduced feature-length screenplay. The script must not have been produced as of the submission date. Both fiction and dramatic non-fiction scripts are eligible. Scripts that have been optioned or are in active development with a production company may still be eligible as unproduced works, depending on current guidelines.
The list is compiled annually, with a defined submission window published by the Athena Film Festival. Submission fees may apply.
The Athena List in Context
Lists and awards that identify compelling unproduced scripts serve a specific function in the development ecosystem: they provide a trusted external signal of quality that helps producers and executives prioritize which scripts to read. For women writers who may not have established agent representation or development relationships, placement on the Athena List can substitute for the industry recommendations that typically drive script discovery.
Who Should Apply
Women screenwriters with a completed, polished unproduced feature screenplay who want industry visibility and are looking for a mechanism to get their script in front of producers and development executives outside the traditional query and agent submission process.
See Also
For understanding the development process from script to production, see Film Festival Strategy: Getting Your Film Seen. For planning a production timeline once a script moves into production, use the Production Schedule Calculator.
