The Story Farm Professional Program is open for 2025 enrollment, and will be a little different than 2024 - Read Below for details. Please email Max if you wish to be placed on a waiting list. Limited enrollment applies. max@thestoryfarm.org

The Professional Program is for screenwriters with experience - plainly speaking. You do not need to have sold, optioned, or produced material in the past. We do, however, expect you to have completed at least three full projects (TV or Feature) prior to applying. Writers with more than three finished projects, contest accolades, and some amount of professional experience will be preferred. The Story Farm will put emphasis on the amount of time spent and previous education when considering your application. With that said, however, a dedicated writer with a strong voice and willingness to devote the next 12 months to education, improvement, and supporting your fellow Program writers will be strongly considered.

Please first email max@thestoryfarm.org to inquire about applying before sending ANY material to Max Timm. Please consider these questions before inquiring:

1) are you ready and willing to spend at least ten hours per week for a full year to your writing and education?

2) will you be able to attend every Tuesday night class/group meeting? (It's OK if you are occasionally absent, but there will be an expectation to attend.)

3) will you be supportive, optimistic and helpful to and for your fellow writers, and are you willing to read and give notes on your fellow writers' material?

4) can you realistically afford the price of this Professional Program?

Once the answers to these questions are deemed appropriate, Max will then ask you to send a list of loglines for all of your finished projects, as well as loglines for projects you have yet to develop. He will also ask you to send a basic list of accomplishments, achievements, and/or personal background and experience (no more than a paragraph). Finally, he will ask for the first 10 pages of any script as a writing sample. A decision on your acceptance will be made within less than five business days.

Note: do NOT send any additional material other than what is requested. It will not be read.

Yes...but (there is always a but). We have extremely high expectations for Professional Program writers. If a writer is accepted into the Program, we expect that writer to remain enrolled for the full year of classes and group sessions, and to hit each of the four script deadlines. We also expect that writer to remain an active and supportive alum in year two of the Program. We are ONLY looking for writers who expect to be pursuing their screenwriting career for the rest of their lives.

This is where The Story Farm will have to take a strong stance. We do not offer refunds for this program for any reason or at any time. Whether you pay for the Program upfront in one big lump sum, or if you are paying on a monthly payment plan, there is no refunding of money spent for any reason. We will not convert what you spent into or for other consulting services. The primary reason for this hard stance is due to holding our Program writers to the highest of standards. We will devote our time and efforts to developing you and your career, and we expect the same in return. In terms of dropping out of the Program, yes. You can drop out of the Program at any time for any reason. The Story Farm will discuss with you your reasons for removing yourself from the Program before releasing you from your commitment. Again, however, there will not be any refunding of your payment or payments.

The Story Farm does not guarantee that every single writer enrolled in the Professional Program will have their screenplays or TV series read or considered by any industry professional for purposes of market or business consideration. The Story Farm does not act as an agent or manager for, or producer on any of your material. The Program writer retains all rights to his/her creative material forever. The Story Farm will involve industry professionals when The Story Farm determines the writer and/or the writer's project(s) is ready to be read and considered if and when an industry professional's creative mandate fits the writer or writer's project(s). Our aim within the Professional Program is to help writers find representation, place highly in contests, and/or set up a project with a producer, however this can not be guaranteed. Any service that guarantees industry access to any or all writers is not being truthful to its members or clients.