"The Devil's Teeth," a feature film about great white sharks off California that is being developed in Hawaii, has been awarded a $40,000 grant from the Sloan Filmmakers Fund.

The film is being produced by Paul and Grace Atkins of Moana Productions from a screenplay by writer/director Brett Wagner. The Hawaii residents were part of the team that created the award-winning short film "Chief."

Paul Atkins and Wagner are at the Tribeca Film Festival in New  York to receive the prestigious award tomorrow.

Sloan's partnership with the festival is part of an effort to foster realistic and compelling stories about science and technology and in doing so, challenge existing stereotypes about scientists, engineers and mathematicians.

"The Devil's Teeth," which is based on the best-selling book by journalist Susan Casey, tells the story of a pair of scientists on a forbidding and remote island off the California coast who struggle to protect the great white from human predation.