Three individual writers and one writing team have been selected as winners of the 2014 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition. Each individual winner and the combined writing team will receive a $35,000 prize, the first installment of which will be distributed at an awards presentation on Thursday, November 13, at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. For the second consecutive year, the event will also feature a live read of selected scenes from the fellows’ winning scripts by members of the Academy.
This year’s winners are (listed alphabetically by author):
Sam Baron, Cambridge, United Kingdom, “The Science of Love and Laughter”
Alisha Brophy, Los Angeles, CA, and Scott Miles, Austin, TX, “United States of Fuckin’ Awesome”
Melissa Iqbal, London, United Kingdom, “The Death Engine”
Sallie West, Charleston, SC, “Moonflower”
The winners were selected from a record 7,511 scripts submitted for this year’s competition. Eight individual screenwriters and two writing teams were chosen as finalists. Their scripts were then read and judged by the Academy Nicholl Fellowships Committee, who ultimately chose the winners.
This year’s finalists were (listed alphabetically by author):
Sam Baron, Cambridge, United Kingdom, “The Science of Love and Laughter”
Alisha Brophy, Los Angeles, CA, and Scott Miles, Austin, TX, “United States of Fuckin’ Awesome”
Robert D. Cain, Los Angeles, CA, “Gagarin”
Josh Golden, Los Angeles, CA, “Road to Oz”
Melissa Iqbal, London, United Kingdom, “The Death Engine”
Ben Jacoby, New York, NY, “Earthwalkers”
Duncan Samarasinghe, Dandenong, Australia, “The Caretaker”
Ryan Trevino, Seal Beach, CA, and Robert Wolfe Dunn, Los Angeles, CA, “Arcadia”
Mike Van Waes, West Hollywood, CA, “Grave Hearts”
Sallie West, Charleston, SC, “Moonflower”
Fellowships are awarded with the understanding that the recipients will each complete a feature-length screenplay during their fellowship year. The Academy acquires no rights to the works of Nicholl fellows and does not involve itself commercially in any way with their completed scripts.
The Academy Nicholl Fellowships Committee, chaired by writer Robin Swicord, with marketing executive Buffy Shutt serving as vice chair, is comprised of writers Tina Gordon Chism, Daniel Petrie Jr., Eric Roth, Kirsten Smith and Dana Stevens; actor Eva Marie Saint; cinematographer John Bailey; executive Marcus Hu; producers Stephanie Allain, Albert Berger, Julia Chasman, Peter Samuelson and Robert W. Shapiro; and agent Ronald R. Mardigian.
Since 1986, 137 fellowships have been awarded. This year, past fellows with produced work include Ehren Kruger who wrote “Transformers: Age of Extinction;” Creighton Rothenberger who co-wrote “The Expendables 3;” Anthony Jaswinski who wrote “Kristy,” which premieres at the upcoming London Film Festival; and Raymond De Felitta who directed “Rob the Mob,” which opened theatrically in March. Fellow Rebecca Sonnenshine is a writer and producer on “The Vampire Diaries.” Andrew Marlowe is the creator and executive producer and Terri Edda Miller is a consulting producer on “Castle.”
Tickets to the 2014 Academy Nicholl Fellowships Screenwriting Awards & Live Read are now available at Oscars.org/Nicholl. Casting for the live read will be announced at a later date.
ABOUT THE ACADEMY
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world’s preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards – in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners – the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.
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