Chris Holt is the first winner of newly created US screenwriting fellowship

We are delighted to announce Stern & Wild filmmaker Chris Holt has won the inaugural Wonder Project | Stand Together Fellowship at this year’s Austin Film Festival for his script 27 COWS.

The Fellowship programme was created by former Marvel executive turned producer Jeremy Latcham and teams the faith-based production studio Wonder Project with the grant-making organisation Stand Together Trust to give writers the chance to tell inspirational true-life stories in the mold of THE BLIND SIDE or ERIN BROCKOVICH. Applicants for the Festival’s script competitions this year were able to opt in to submit their material for the programme as part of the application process.

27 COWS is the story of a big-hearted Yorkshire farmer who can’t face sending his beloved herd of cows to slaughter, opting instead to grab a map and a backpack and walk them 100 miles, cross-country to an animal sanctuary — sparking ridicule, resistance, and unexpected fame along the way.

Chris’s screenplay was selected from over 11,500 entries to this year’s script competitions and was a semi-finalist (top 2%) in the Drama Feature Screenplay category. As part of the Fellowship, Chris will take part in a one-year screenwriting programme, headed by Latcham, which will include development of the 27 COWS project and other stories, as well as access to workshops, mentoring and industry networking opportunities.

“To win the Wonder Project | Stand Together Fellowship is unbelievable,” Chris said. “I’m over the moon, and I just want to do the best job I possibly can. This kind of thing has not happened to me before, so I’m  very, very pleased and grateful.”