2015

ACADEMY NICHOLL 2015 CEREMONY | 2015
Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Highlights
  • Nicholl Fellows Sam Regnier, Amy Tofte, Elizabeth Chomko, Anthony Grieco and Andrew Friedhof.
  • Live-read participants: O’Shea Jackson Jr., Freida Pinto, Kathy Baker and Jimmy Smits.
  • Academy CEO Dawn Hudson, Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Nicholl Fellowship Chair Robin Swicord and screenwriter Billy Ray.
Memorable Moments

Fellows

2015 Academy Nicholl Fellow
Amy Tofte
Los Angeles, CA
Script: Addis Abeka
Description:

A young Ethiopian boy loses his family and must navigate the world on his own for ten years until he can be reunited with his brother.

2015 Academy Nicholl Fellow
Andrew Friedhof
Ultimo, Australia
Script: Great Falls
Description:

After negligently killing a hunter with their patrol car, a Sheriff’s Deputy and her superior must decide what to do with the only witness to their crime - a death row inmate only days from execution.

2015 Academy Nicholl Fellow
Anthony Grieco
Los Angeles, CA
Script: Best Sellers
Description:

In a last ditch effort to save the boutique publishing house her father has left her, an ambitious young editor goes on a book tour with the bitter, booze-addled author who put the publishing house on the map. 

2015 Academy Nicholl Fellow
Elizabeth Chomko
Woodland Hills, CA
Script: What They Had
Description:

Recently separated from her husband of 30 years, Bridget isn’t sure why she’s so unhappy in her marriage. When her mother with Stage 6 Alzheimer’s wanders into a blizzard on Christmas Eve, Bridget flies to her hometown...

2015 Academy Nicholl Fellow
Sam Regnier
Los Angeles, CA
Script: Free Agent
Description:

A basketball executive pursues the biggest free agent of her career while trying to manage a relationship with her much-younger subordinate and a complicated friendship with his sister.  

Augustus Rose
Script: Far From Cool
Ghazi Albuliwi
Script: Arafat
Jennifer Bailey & Max Lance
Script: Best Funeral Ever
Lynn Esta Goldman
Script: Angel on the Wall
Murat Izmirli
Script: Grimwood
Ryan Covington
Script: The Secrets We Keep
Suzanne Kelman & Susannah Rose Woods
Script: Held
2015 NICHOLL SEMIFINALISTS
Tobin Addington, "The Whirlwinds"
Augusto Federico Amador and Diggi Singh, "Ratcatcher"
Suzanne Barber, "Guilbola"
Danielle Barros, "The Executioner"
Alex Berger, "Onu"
Manuela Bernardi, "Alien Highway"
Thomas Berry, "Red Road"
Varun Bhuchar, "The Descent"
Jake Blandford, "Talk Show Host"
Michael Boyle, "Do You Wanna Talk About It?"
Matthew Breault, "Long Sleep"
Bill Brennenstuhl, "Living on the Edge"
Scott F. Butler, "The Wicked Foes of John DeLorean"
Dontonio Cabreana, "Coming in Second"
Kevin Caruso, "The Shook Ones"
Tom Castillo, "Dick Move"
Dee Chilton, "Darken Ship"
Todd Condie, "Otzi"
Michael Cristillo, "Boy"
Patrick Curran, "The Fragile Satisfactions of Us and Them"
Michael Daniel, "Circle in the Water"
Jack Davidson, "Clouds of Sorrow"
Kristen Davila, "Counterintelligence"
Jenny Connell Davis, "Two Truths and a Lie"
Caroline Dean, "Polarised"
Dennis DeBon , "David vs. Vegas"
Bryan DeDario, "Last Exit"
Bryan DeGuire and Seth Goldsmith, "The Keeper"
Suvi Hannah Derkenne, "The Merewif"
Chris Thomas Devlin, "The Wretched Emily Derringer"
Matthew T. Dixon, "Gunn"
Joel Dorland, "Archer"
Sabrina Doyle, "Aster's Rites"
Daniel Druhora, "Climbers"
Katie Edgerton, "The Site"
Charlie Efron, "Balls Out"
Kevin Ennis, "Back to One"
Joey Ernand, "Sinbad and the Sky Thieves"
Jan D. Evans, "Jacob's Ocean"
Anayat Fakhraie, "Loudmouth"
Andrew Farotte, "Possum"
Chuck Fitzpatrick, "Rod Serling In Love"
Tucker Forbes, "Abaddon"
Austin Formato, "Self Help"
Namina Forna, "Child of War"
Joseph Foulk and Casey Stegman, "The Highway Man"
Steven L. Fournier, "War Woman"
Ahmadu Garba, "Augustus"
Luke Georgette, "I Am Become Death, Destroyer of Worlds"
George V. Ghanem, "Vermilion"
Channing Godfrey Peoples, "Miss Juneteenth"
Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott and Dominic Jephcott, "Sleep No More"
Kafia Haile, "Sattar"
Tony Hamilton-Shannon, "Out of Step"
Chad Handley, "Blood Will Tell"
R. J. Daniel Hanna, "Shelter Animal"
Will Hare, "Broken"
Tory Haslinger, "Malinalli"
Ben Hayflick, "The Village Idiots"
Ken Henderson, "Oasis"
Anna Maria Hozian, "Anchor Baby"
Andrea Jaag, "A Woman Dies"
Spencer Janes, "Term Limits"
Linda Caryn Jenkins, "A Restoration Comedy"
Dan Johnson, "A Family"
Maazin Kamal, "Buraq"
David Kaneen, "Texas Revenge"
Matthew King, "The Life and Death of Edison Chen"
Brianne Kober, "The World Before Us"
Andrejs Kovalovs and Alex Rodrick Parslow, "War Dogs"
Carolyn Kras, "Magnetic"
Kevin Lacy and Alejandro Torroja Nubiola, "Midnight Souls"
Joanne Lalli, "The Washing Away of Wrongs"
Tori Larsen, "Eventyr"
Travis Larson, "Charlie - Manson on the Record"
A. Lee and Paul Hart-Wilden, "Dead Rabbits"
Donald Lee and Simon Steuri, "Contained"
Justin S. Lee, "R0"
Pearse Lehane, "Get Me This William Shakespeare"
Ryan Liske, "Meter Maiden"
Ryan Lonergan, "Members of the Chorus"
Bruce Luchsinger, "Intelligent Life"
James Luckard, "Silent Night"
Todd Ludy, "Awakening"
Susan Marks, "Dollhouse of Death"
Brad Martocello, "Boy in a Backpack"
Lizzie Mason, "The Girl and the Gargoyle"
Jacob Medjuck, "Tomb of the Golden Calf"
Evan Menzel, "Kane"
Evan Menzel, "Summer of the Gun"
Lauren Minnerath, "Everything Happens to Leah Chen"
Miranda Nation, "Zero Circle"
Brady Nelson, "The Contrarian"
Michael Noonan, "The Lupis Escape"
Lloyd Mathew Ohls, "Finndale"
Brian Patterson, "Toledo"
Paul Pawlowski, "Einstein: Resurrection"
Kitty Percy, "Butter Side Up"
Larry Philllis, "Most Likely to Survive"
Mark Price, "Let's Kill D. B. Cooper"
Myles Reid, "Sometimes the Wolf"
Jason Romaine, "My Father's Secret Funeral (In the Castro)"
Neal Rowland, "A Strange and Bitter Crop"
Jeremy Rush, "Wheelman"
Nick Savvides, "The Family Blood"
Kern Saxton and Daniel Murphy, "Stanley Kubrick's Moonshot Odyssey"
Lauren Schacher, "The Bang Bang Girls"
Alexander Scigliano and Marcus Scigliano, "The Dead Stroke"
Karl Shefelman, "The Hunters"
Ben Shupe, "Shark Tooth Snake Fang"
Nichol Simmons, "Done Already Gone"
Robert Ian Simpson, "Looking for Nirvana"
Sarah Skibinski, "The Punishing Business"
Ike Smith, "City of Wind"
Noah Campbell Smith and Gabriela Quiroz, "Naira"
T.A. Snyder, "The Volunteer"
Christine Sowder, "Love, Inshallah"
Mark J. Stasenko Jr., "The Echo"
Aaron Steven, "The Narrows"
Harley Stroh, "The Australian"
Lisa Super, "The Fuck-It List"
Giovanni Alexander Taveras, "Serenity's Cross"
Penelope Thomas, "Knot of Toads"
Amanda Toye , "Niagara Falls"
Nora W. Unkel, "Mary Shelley"
Mike Van Waes, "Hammerspace"
Julianne VanKomen, "A Tale of Waldenburg"
Katherine VanPelt, "The Circle and the Sway"
Arun Vir, "Suburban Turban"
Mark von Sternberg, "Father Glitterbomb"
Michael Whatling, "Cut for Stone"
Tom White and Miles Hubley, "The Shave"
Wenonah Wilms, "Rabbit"
Nick Yarborough, "A Letter from Rosemary Kennedy"
H.A. Young, "Lord of the Woods"
2015 NICHOLL QUARTERFINALISTS
Tobin Addington, "The Unraveling"
Ruby Akin, "The Tailor from Taegu and Mrs. Abernethy"
Peter J. Alexander, "Novo Island"
Tom Anstead, "The Epidemic"
Christopher Arcache, "The Occupied Mind (aka The Inner War)"
John Arlotto, "Deface"
Kyle Art, "Midway Kid"
Jessica Baclesse, "Roughstock"
Michael Bain, "The Brief Case"
Michael Ball, "God Help Us"
Colin Bannon, "Miracle Boy"
Shaz Bennett, "Anchor Baby"
Jack Bentele, "On the Gulf"
John Bickerstaff, "Dangerous People"
Bobby Bierley, "INT. CAR"
Jennifer Bonner, "Elf Force"
Rebecca Boyd, "In Spite of It All"
Amanda Brennan, "The Dust"
Laura Brienza, "The McHero"
Kimberly Britt, "Wrong"
J.S. Britton, "Damnation"
Greg Brooks, "Heart"
Andrew Brotzman, "Anarchy"
Andrew Brotzman, "I Await the Devil's Coming"
Andrea Brusa, "The Flight of the Wasp"
Jess Burns, "Lady Luck and the Sacred Heart"
Ryan Cannon, "Black Happy"
Ryan Cannon, "The Hanging Man"
Truman Capps, "Summertime"
Emily Carmichael, "Arrow"
J. Rick Castaneda, "Modern Living"
Mark Cettie, "A Dog's Life"
Justin Calen Chenn, "Metal & Dust"
Robert Cholette, "Deflection"
Mark Colety, "Not My Tot"
Landon Collins, "Thicker Than Blood"
Jesse J. Cook, "Speak of the Devil"
Robert M. Cosci, "Liberty Heist"
Drew Cosdon, "Seaworthy"
Steven D'Arcangelo, "Canary in a Coal Mine"
Ari Dassa, "Arcadia League"
Stacy Davies, "Eridanus"
Sophie Dawson, "Pure Earth"
Evan Dec, "The Contestant"
Anthony DeCapite, "Minotaur"
Ted Dewberry, "The First Holocaust"
John Dexter, "The Weeping Trees"
Mike Diamente and Zach Redo, "Wild"
Angelica Diaz, "Il Teatro"
Will Dolben, "Moonlight Dive Club"
Shawn Christopher Donnelly and Steve Mazzucchi, "Michael J. Fox Must Die"
M. A. Drayton, "Thrace"
Isabel Dréan and Celine Bennett, "The Wife of Frank B"
Alvin Easter, "The Mullenbach Treatment"
Christina Eliopoulos, "King of Florida"
Ursula Ellis, "Anomalies"
Ryan Enright, "Slow Children At Play"
Stan Evans, "Lord Ockley & the Alien"
Chandler Evans, "The Adventures of Kid Quick"
Daniel Eve, "The River"
Hannah Feller, "The Wrong War"
Michael Field, "Kiddo"
Marc Fienberg, "Altitude"
Celia Finkelstein, "Better"
Shari D. Frost, "Low and Outside"
Stacie Gancayco-Adlao, "Moirai: A Memoir"
Jennifer Goldson, "Rent Control"
Evan Graham, "Boom Town"
Lauren Greer, "A Losing Game"
Kevin Greutert, "The Spirit Machines"
Mary Griffitts and Ryan Griffitts, "Worthy"
Randall W. Hahn, "Crash Backwards"
Neasa Hardiman, "Sea Fever"
Ian Harnarine, "Doubles with Slight Pepper"
Matt Harry, "0 to 5"
Brennig Hayden, "Big Red"
Pete Henderson, "Extraction"
Sandhya Hermon, "Tea with the Ambanis"
Maria Hinterkoerner, "Tango with Solitude"
Christian Honce, "Fuck Her"
Cate Honzl and Adam Honzl, "The Last Fall"
Jordan Horowitz, "Painless"
Anna Maria Hozian, "Someday, Ohio"
David Hudacek, "Sweet Nothin'"
Christina Hulen, "A Gentleman of Good Hope"
Kevin Human, "Vicarious"
Alex Iskounen, "Gaijin Gigolo"
Jimi Izrael, "S-Town"
Quendrith Johnson, "The Wendy Years (1977-1987)"
H. Dawn Johnston, "Mother"
Sasha Kahn, "Good Time Johnny"
Arlene Kalem, "Bradigan and the Banshee"
Marjory Kaptanoglu, "The Courtesan"
Sarah Katin and Nakia Shuman, "The Princesses"
Harris Kauffman, "The Hunter & the Hunted"
Dan A. R. Kelly, "Chattanooga"
Scott Mitchell Kelly, "The Clockwork Heart"
Ben Kepner, "Mother's Blood"
Peter Killy, "Oh, Canada"
Amy L. Kinzer, "Can't Turn Back"
Kendell Courtney Klein, "Chas Addams"
J. Zografos Koegl, "Dark Quarry"
Rachel Koller, "The Big D"
Kris Kosaka, "Gods' Island"
Jacob Krasnow, "Wild Pitch"
Gloria La Morte and Paola Mendoza, "A Paso De Mangles"
Christopher Landers, "The Talented Killers"
Sharon Landgraf, "Foreign Exchange"
Robert M. Languedoc, "Snowfall"
Scott Larson, "The Unofficial History of Stiltsville"
Janet J. Lawler, "The Tenant"
Kimi Lee, "Kindergarten"
Erik Lee, "Wide Awake in Bridgewater"
Haley Lindsey, "Fear of Flying"
András Lipták, "The Liberation Army"
Richard Lister, "Expiration"
L.A. Longworth, "One Bad Astronaut"
Britta Lundin, "Ship It"
Adrienne Lusby and Emiliana Dore, "Relativity"
Mike Makowsky, "Man with Tape"
Sean Malcolm, "Zero Day"
Jeff Malphurs, "Grove Dwellers"
Jack Marchetti, "Compatibility"
Tim Marshall, "Followers"
Don Matos, "Sons of the Father"
Trevor Mayes, "Promises"
Rose McAleese, "Molly Is Dead"
Micheal McAlexander, "Space Race"
Michael McGee, "When the Moon Is in the Seventh House"
Melva McLean, "Nylon Days"
Nick Moceri, "The Buddy System"
Alan Moen, "Ivory Soul"
Nico Monetti, "American Dreams"
Kemmy Moran, "Unconditional"
Tom Morris, "Epic Fail"
Olivia Newman, "First Match"
Owen Nicholls, "The Bow and the Arrow"
Carolina Norris-Clay, "Merciful"
Rebecca Ortese, "The Harrowing of Helen Brady"
Odin Ozdil, "Guns and Grace"
C.J. Palmisano, "Legend of Persephone"
Sun Kyu Park, "Siege of Man"
Jason Pates, "The Long Way Home"
Nathan Patton, "Wolf Boys"
Jose Pena, "The Wanderers"
Kelly Peters, "West of Hell"
Jim Picariello, "The Cult of Us"
Jason Pittock, "Face to Face"
Jeff S. Pollard, "Mooned: The Deepthroating of America"
Yoav Potash, "The Appeal"
Tom Powell, "The Tallest, Darkest Leading Man in Hollywood"
Matthew Presley, "Cipher"
Ashley P. Quach, "Leave"
Mark Raab, "Dormants"
Andre Radojcich, "An End to the Life of Compromises"
Eugene Ramos, "Newton's Laws of Emotion"
Andrzej Rattinger, "Vixen Three"
Ishai Ravid, "Marco & Polo"
Michael Corbin Ray and Therese Vannier, "Dead Reckoning"
Danny Reckart, "Paper, Metal, and Bones"
Sven James Robinson, "The Dirty Blonde"
Evan Romansky, "Bone"
Kori Olson, "Antebellum"
Chad Rouch, "The Multiverse"
Jody Russell, "Plight"
Daniel Sanchez, "Drone"
Philip Schaeffer, "Lord of Hell"
William Schreiber, "Chasing Echoes"
Jordan Scott, "The Adventure Club"
Nick Scown, "Jack Hammer: Male Stewardess"
Alice Seabright, "The Strange Days"
Jeff Shevlowitz, "All of Her Life"
Nadeem Siddiqui, "Delhi Junction"
Nadeem Siddiqui, "Slut"
Etienne Sievers, "Tin Can Buffaloes"
Alex Simon, "Baron of Havana"
Brentt Slabchuck, "The Wastelander"
Jan Smith, "Mata Hari - A Magnificent Lie"
Jennifer Smith and Kate Smith, "Moon Shot"
Brian Smolensky, "FellowMAN"
Michael Soll, "The Disposition Elucidation of Bradley Wilkes"
Christopher Sommella, "The Crossroads"
Dan Southard, "The Starlight"
Brent Spencer and Jonis Agee, "Baghdad Rules"
Jacob Spencer, "The Boneyard"
Lauren Winsor Stenmoe, "White X-mas"
Travis R. Stoll, "Run Like Hell"
Marni Sullivan, "Syvertsen's Complex"
Max Sznaider, "The Orphan Dialogues"
Erica Tachoir, "Scattering Jake"
Vanara Taing, "Season of Light"
Brandon Taylor and Megan FitzGerald-Roman, "Hillberg Manifesto"
Jocelyn Tennant , "Forty-nine"
Michael Thai, "Drama Academy"
Logan Thomas, "Company Town"
Jeff Thomas, "Eulila and the Lighthouse"
Laughing Fox Thomas and Kate Ryan, "Pretty Goes With Everything"
Joel Thomas, "The Science of Lies Well Told"
Matthew Tolbert, "Eriksson"
Henry Tranton, "Never Knows Best"
Tuck Tucker, "Father Wishes"
T. Jane Tyler, "Brats"
David Ullendorff, "Future School"
Lindsay Van Dyke, "Run Letter Run"
Kris Van Herle, "The Take"
Rich Van Tine, "Until the Candle Burns Out"
Katherine VanPelt, "The Master Adventurer"
Erik Voss, "Evil Blond Male"
Joe Walters, "By Shel Silverstein"
Steve A. Warren and Marshall Allman, "Whitman"
Matt Westlake, "Trinity"
Julie Anne Wight, "My Clone's an A-Hole"
Max Wild, "The Bloodlands"
Kent M. Williams, "Again, Spring"
Warren Wilson, "Dreams of Tao"
Mariah Wilson, "Fix"
Roger Winstead, "May in the Fields of Winter"
Elisa Wolfe, "The Human Condition"
John Woodard, "The Floating of Hayes"
Michael A. Wright, "Dark Side"
Jose Yapur, "Sweet Kids"
Katharine Yee, "Blind Dog Travels"
Michael A. Zakalik, "Strange Fruit"
Randy Zamcheck, "Strange Design"
Bill Zide, "SubCity"
Clifford Zimowski, "Desiccated"