Don & Gee Nicholls Fellowship?

Think of it as a local beauty contest. They don't own the contestants, and the winner gets to wear their sash.

Jerm said:

I read through the very detailed FAQ yesterday on their site but nowhere in the FAQ could I find anything about them maintaing rights over the script.

Now it may be on the application information, I'm not sure. So I was wondering if anyone on these boards have submitted a script for the Nicholl Fellowship contest before could let me know?

Thanks!
Jerm

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As already noted, the Nicholl does not assume ownership of copyrights on scripts entered into the competition.

The Nicoll comp isn't about production or even commercial viability of scripts, it's about the art and craft of screenwriting. Some Nicholl winners have been produced but it is not really all that common. The Nicholls, both Don and Gee, were writers, and they funded their fellowship to the tune of $2 million to support the development and emergence of new writers. The event is conducted under the auspecies of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the same folks who hand out Oscars. It's reputation is impecabble and it is considered to be the very best screenwriting competition around, and the granddaddy of them all (having started in 1985).

Last year, the Nicholl attracted 6,000+ entries. They can award up to five Fellowships, which are worth $30,000 each. A winner is required to spend a year under the tutelage of some industry professionals and to develop a screenplay for the commercial market. This requires some presence in LA during that year.

A win pretty much assures a new writer's career, and any finish in the top 50 almost guarantees reads by the top agencies and perhaps representation.

The deadline for entries is May 30 each year and by the end of July they cut to 400, known as "making the cut." These results are announced in early August. From there, they whittle away until they've selected winners and top finishers, and these are announced in late August or early September I believe.

What they look for is writing skill and talent, command of the form, and interesting stories, with little attention paid to market considerations.

I think entry into this competition is a must for every aspiring screenwriter, and the numbers would seem to support this idea. Entries have grown steadily over the years. Writers who have earned more than $5,000 in the business as writers do not qualify for entry.

Entries this year dropped under 5000. Don't know why.

Winners are not required to be in LA. No tutelage. Although the contacts you make as a finalist will present many industry folk that will offer guidance. You just have to complete a new script within your fellowship year. They have no rights to your entry script nor the script you write during the fellowship. The 30K is paid out in chunks during the year.

Chesher Cat said:

Entries this year dropped under 5000. Don't know why.

Winners are not required to be in LA. No tutelage. Although the contacts you make as a finalist will present many industry folk that will offer guidance. You just have to complete a new script within your fellowship year. They have no rights to your entry script nor the script you write during the fellowship. The 30K is paid out in chunks during the year.

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Winners aren't required to be resident in LA, the comp gets entries from round the world. However, at the least a winner will attend the award ceremony in LA and the attending dinner gala. I'd imagine that most spend time doing some schmoozing as well. Writer friend of mine won felllowship back in the mid-90's somewhere and he was put with some industry folks to work through his new script, story conferences, work reviews, one-on-one meetings. Sounds like that angle has been chopped. Too bad. It was a great reason to move to LA and hang around the industry.

The drop in entries may reflect the fact that not everybody in America wants to write a movie anymore. I'm a little surprised because my number is 4200-something and my entry went in on the first day. Be that as it may, we probably all remember the CNN feature on screenwriting back around 1992-93 in which things were portrayed as being very easy ("a screenplay in 21 days") wth the money being splendidly high, six and seven figures. You too can be a screenwriter.

That show unleashed a tidal wave of scripts that hit H'wood like a Perfect Storm. It changed everything. Any indice you look at, registrations at the Guild, entries in the Nicholl (and other comps), and so on, shows a sharply rising curve from about 1995 onward. The Guild registered 38,000 new scripts in 2003, 50,000 last year, in comparison to the late eighties when it ran around 2,000 new pieces a year.

With the Nicholl slipping to 5,000 from 6,000 we may be seeing the end of the tidal wave. Won't bother me, it's good news as far as I'm concerned, Now perhaps the industry can think about unclogging the works, which have become all gummed up with boatloads of lousy scripts written by bored housewives or tired truckers and their wives who don't have a clue.

Pardon me if I come off a little dark about the tsunami, but it ruined the career chances of many good writers who got churned up in the churn or didn't even manage to get through the door cuz of the crowd that had gathered there, everyone waving a script in the air that really wasn't a script. Three thousand of these folks gathered at Triggerstreet, created a hullabaloo that still rings in my ears.

On an off topic note I'd like to say that I just finished reading Jane Fonda's autobiography, "My Life So Far" and would highly recommend it to everyone here. A two-time Oscar winner with credits on more than 50 movies, the daughter of a Hollywood icon who did just about everything in the movie trade there is to do ... has a fascinating tale to tell. Whatta life! Whatta woman! Whatta star! Her book is not for the faint of heart, 600 pages ... but lots of photos. If you want a peek at how Hollywood works, read this book.

hmmm, i wonder, does the Nicholl accept multiple entries from the same person?

Goodwriterguy said:

Writer friend of mine won felllowship back in the mid-90's somewhere and he was put with some industry folks to work through his new script, story conferences, work reviews, one-on-one meetings. Sounds like that angle has been chopped. Too bad. It was a great reason to move to LA and hang around the industry.

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Did your friend sell or option the script? Did it ever get made? Is he still writing? Finalists and winner still get the week in LA and lots of help from industry professionals + meetings with agents and production companies. But I believe any on-going relationships that evolve are voluntary on the part of the writers and the contacts they make.

Goodwriterguy said:

Pardon me if I come off a little dark about the tsunami, but it ruined the career chances of many good writers who got churned up in the churn or didn't even manage to get through the door cuz of the crowd that had gathered there, everyone waving a script in the air that really wasn't a script. Three thousand of these folks gathered at Triggerstreet, created a hullabaloo that still rings in my ears.

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I don't know...I believe if you're a good enough writer and have enough determination and follow-through, you can make a career for yourself in Hollywood no matter how many other people are knocking at the door. The many good writers you speak of may have been good but didn't have what it takes to stick it out and make it. Congrats to you for hanging in the game. Weird that you got #4200. I thought they started handing out the scripts to readers as they came in. Guess not. Good luck on your entry.

Chesher Cat said:

Did your friend sell or option the script? Did it ever get made? Is he still writing? Finalists and winner still get the week in LA and lots of help from industry professionals + meetings with agents and production companies. But I believe any on-going relationships that evolve are voluntary on the part of the writers and the contacts they make.

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His script was optioned and ended up in development hell, lingered there for two years, then died. He got work in television then went into producing and has been doing some small Indie work. Shows good on the festival circuit. He's doing okay.

A week in LA can be valuable and easily stretched into two or three. So that's a big benefit.

Chesher Cat said:

I don't know...I believe if you're a good enough writer and have enough determination and follow-through, you can make a career for yourself in Hollywood no matter how many other people are knocking at the door. The many good writers you speak of may have been good but didn't have what it takes to stick it out and make it. Congrats to you for hanging in the game. Weird that you got #4200. I thought they started handing out the scripts to readers as they came in. Guess not. Good luck on your entry.

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I just looked at the e:mail, I'm #4853. It says they'll be announcing the first round on or about August 1.

The CNN-inspired script tsunami was an exceptional phenomenon, caused a lot of agencies and prodcos to close their doors to new writers cuz they just couldn't handle the flood, very little of which had merit. This seemed to peak in 02-03 but after seven or eight years of frustrating attempts to gain access, many guys I knew in those days said to hell with it, and they had good skills and craft and had won comps. In the end ya gotta feed the family. Me I stayed solo so it was easier to hang, but it has been a trying affair. I'm hoping now things will ease up a bit.