NYU Tisch School of the Arts student Robert Cohen has been selected to receive the first Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Student Grand Jury Prize for Screenwriting for his movie ‘Bystander,’ the Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) has confirmed. ‘Bystander’ was selected from a group of films from students from six film schools that participated in the Sloan National Film Program.

For his winning script, Cohen will be given a $50,000 annual grant that was created to reward screenplays that dramatize science and technology themes. He will also receive a $30,000 cash prize, as well as an additional $20,000 to support the project. Morgan Freeman lead an awards committee to pick ‘Bystander’ as the winner. The Sloan Foundation and its four partners, TFI, Film Independent, the Hamptons International Film Festival and Sundance Institute, also provided additional input to pick the winner.

‘Bystander’ follows the rape and murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964 outside a Queens, New York apartment complex. The case made news because 37 witnesses looked on as the attack lasted 30 minutes, but no one called police or intervened until she was already dead.

Written by: Karen Benardello