Our friend Cassian Elwes, a legendary producing maven and renowned film financing expert, has an amazing filmography and is behind several films that will likely become major awards contenders this year like Lee Daniels' The Butler, Dallas Buyers Club, and All Is Lost.

Today it was announced that he is now also behind the Cassian Elwes Independent Screenwriting Fellowship, in partnership with the Black List. The Black List (not to be confused with the hit show NBC is thanking the heavens that they have) is the brainchild of Franklin Leonard, who shares our mission of discovering talented screenwriters with worthy stories in all genres and guiding them forward in their careers.

With this new fellowship, "one writer with a screenplay of indie sensibility and lifetime earnings not exceeding $5,000" will receive an all-expense paid trip to the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and mentorship from Cassian. Beginning today, screenwriters can submit for consideration for the fellowship if they meet the requirements.

Per the official press release, on December 1, the Black List, using its script evaluation service, will select a short list of ten writers from those who entered. The screenwriters will be invited to submit a one page personal statement which will be reviewed, along with their selected screenplay. Cassian will  review them and decide by year's end which writer will be offered the fellowship and will attend the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Talk about a great Christmas present!

Good luck everybody! Here's a statement from Cassian:

"Behind every great independent film is a great writer. While it's been my honor to work with some of the greatest filmmakers ever I have never lost sight of the fact the words were as important as the images. I love what the Black List is about, and I've been privileged to work on a number of films that have appeared on it. My hope is that Franklin and I will find the next wave of new voices that are the lifeblood of independent cinema."

If you missed it the first time, check out the recap of our seminar on film financing with Cassian Elwes and view clips on our Youtube channel.