A Brief History of the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting

Back in 1985, when Gee Nicholl, Julian Blaustein and later the Academy’s Jim Roberts and Bruce Davis had the initial conversations about what would become the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, they knew they wanted to create a program that would aid new screenwriters. What they did not know, what they could only have hoped for, was the tremendous effect the Nicholl program would have on the entire community of fledgling screenwriters.

The Nicholl program started small, focusing on student writers, so as not to overwhelm a judging system that was still developing. When in the program’s fourth year the competition was opened to writers across the country, and subsequently to writers around the world, it became apparent that writers had been waiting for just such an opportunity. The number of entries escalated dramatically in those years, from about 1,400 in 1989 to an average of more than 3,500 scripts per year over the next decade.

For many writers, the Nicholl competition became a primary goal, a deadline to shoot for – they nurtured hopes of advancement to the quarterfinals and beyond, and dreamed of winning and having doors opened to them across the film industry. Some entrants found that the Nicholl program provided encouragement. They found validation in knowing that industry judges had appreciated their scripts. Others who advanced in the competition gained the confidence to make the leap into a professional writing career. Past Nicholl quarterfinalists, semifinalists and finalists who became successful film and television writers include Vince Gilligan, Gavin Hood, Wayne Kramer, Damon Lindelof, Greg Poirier, Scott Rosenberg, Frank Spotnitz, Meredith Stiehm and Marianne Wibberley, to name only a few.

The most direct result of the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting has been the success of its fellows. The first year’s fellows set the stage for what was to follow: Allison Anders, the lone screenwriter in the trio of winners, has gone on to write and direct both feature films and television. Jeffrey Eugenides, the fiction writer among the three, realized during his fellowship year that he truly wanted to write novels, and so he has with The Virgin Suicides and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Middlesex. Dennis Clontz, the playwright in the group, sadly has died, but not before writing a number of plays and winning a Pulitzer Prize for spot journalism as part of a Los Angeles Times team reporting on the Northridge earthquake.

The 109 Nicholl fellows since the program’s inception have provided the story for, written, co-written, and/or directed 60 feature films, from commercial successes such as POCAHONTAS, AIR FORCE ONE, ERIN BROCKOVICH and THE RING to independent and festival standouts such as GAS FOOD LODGING, DOWN IN THE DELTA, TWO FAMILY HOUSE, BLUE CAR, MEAN CREEK and AKEELAH AND THE BEE. Twelve of those films originated as the script that earned its writer a Nicholl Fellowship; another winning script was produced as a TV movie. While the Academy Award nomination that Susannah Grant earned for her ERIN BROCKOVICH screenplay may be the most notable achievement by a former Nicholl fellow, scripts written by Nicholl fellows and the films made from them have also garnered a number of Independent Spirit Awards, festival awards and award nominations. Fellows have also written and directed a number of short films and television episodes. The most recent TV success belongs to 2003 fellow Bragi Schut, who was the creator and co-executive producer of the CBS series “Threshold.”

In the early years, the new Nicholl fellows were honored at a reception held in the Academy’s Grand Lobby. This changed in 1991, following a Nicholl Committee meeting at which former Academy President Robert Wise declared that “the best parties had chairs.” The committee and Gee Nicholl agreed that chairs would indeed be an improvement, and the stand-up reception became a sit-down awards dinner.

But an awards dinner needs a master of ceremonies as well as someone to deliver a keynote address. Most years Nicholl Committee member Hal Kanter has emceed the event. At the first awards dinner, which was held at Chasen’s Restaurant, Oscar winner Julius Epstein offered words of wisdom to the new fellows and their guests. Since then, the list of keynote speakers has been equally stellar: writer-directors Andrew Bergman, James Cameron, Nora Ephron, Stephen Gaghan, Susannah Grant, Curtis Hanson, Callie Khouri, Frank Pierson, Phil Robinson, Ron Shelton, Kevin Smith, Jeb Stuart and Ed Zwick; and writers Paul Attanasio, Charlie Kaufman and Marc Norman.

Since 1990, the Nicholl competition has been run in much the same manner as it is today. Scripts arrive in the thousands before and (mostly) on the annual May 1 deadline at the Nicholl office, which is now located at the Academy’s Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study. Visitors to the office find themselves surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of scripts, filling dozens of shelves in several storage areas. Through months of reading by paid, professional readers, the thousands of scripts are reduced to about 300 in the quarterfinal round and then to about 125 in the semifinal round.

At this point, Academy members from several Academy branches serve as volunteer judges. More than 700 Academy members have been Nicholl judges at least once; remarkably, over 200 members have read for five or more competitions. From the semifinal group, approximately 10 scripts advance to the finals, where each is read by the entire Nicholl Committee. At some point in October the committee assembles at the Academy, and in a lengthy and spirited discussion, committee members champion their favorites and dismiss the scripts they did not appreciate. It’s quite common for one member’s frontrunner to leave another member cold. The committee ultimately awards up to five Nicholl fellowships each year.

After the competition results have been announced, the fellowship winners are brought to the Academy for a week of seminars, a lunch with the Nicholl Committee, a gathering of past fellows and the awards dinner, at which each new fellow receives a certificate to commemorate the achievement and a check for $6,000 to kick off the fellowship year. The remaining $24,000 is distributed quarterly, contingent upon the progress and completion of a new script over the course of the fellowship year. Since 1999, finalists as well as the new fellows have been invited to participate in Nicholl awards week festivities.

Once a month throughout the year, current and past Nicholl fellows are invited to lunch at the Pickford Center. This informal gathering allows them to become better acquainted with each other and provides a forum for the discussion of creative and professional concerns. Occasionally a Nicholl Committee member or another Hollywood professional will join the lunch gathering and present a seminar on a particular area of interest.

Is it a good thing that the Nicholl competition is now receiving about 5,000 to 6,000 entries each year? The answer is an overwhelming “yes,” because in those scripts reside the hopes and dreams of their authors. On top of everything else that it has achieved, the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting has encouraged writers to offer their stories and characters to the world. Some of those stories have become movies. Some of those writers have joined the ranks of working professionals. And those were the very hopes and dreams of Don and Gee Nicholl when they first chatted about the possibility of helping new writers over 25 years ago.

The following quotes, excerpted from letters sent to the Nicholl Committee over the years by writers who did not receive fellowships, echo this point:

“It’s been hard to drum up the – I don’t know, maybe arrogance to call myself a screenwriter…. The Nicholl Fellowships competition has helped me revitalize my will to fiercely defend this project that is secretly so important to me.”

“It’s a wonderful thing that the Foundation does for aspiring screenwriters. It not only gives us the opportunity to have our work read and evaluated by professionals in the industry, it treats us and our work with tender respect. It encourages us to keep believing that we can and will be successful.”

“It’s difficult to express to you how much the Nicholl Fellowship competition has done for me. One of my scripts…made the quarterfinals, and when I received your letter I shouted, cried and generally made a fool of myself…. All I know is this was the moment of acknowledgement I needed to keep going.”

“[A production company has] bought my third screenplay…. This wouldn’t have happened for me – certainly not as quickly – if not for competitions like the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships…. Please relay my heartfelt thanks to Mrs. Nicholl for her support of new writers. The honor of being a semifinalist has increased my incentive to write more than ever. It also means that instead of banging on doors to be read, doors are cordially opened by smiling faces.”

“The Nicholl Competition is one of the few honest games in town, a chance to be read by people in the industry – an industry famous for receiving enough screenplays in a week to fire up the furnaces of hell for a year.”

“As a young writer with no contacts in the film industry, the competition got my script read – something I couldn't have accomplished on my own…. Thanks to your competition, I now have a script optioned and several people waiting for my next screenplay…. I hope your readers and judges realize what a wonderful service they’re doing for tomorrow’s writers.”

“Being a quarterfinalist in the Nicholl Fellowships competition helped me in a number of ways. It gave me confidence in myself as a writer in an industry which seems to be always tearing writers down – their work and their creativity. Even more importantly, doing well in the Nicholl Fellowships opened a lot of doors for me. It seemed to legitimize my work in many a producer’s mind. Finally, my screenplays were getting read!”

“…all I have to do is utter the word “Nicholl” and the agent or producer I am speaking to will generally take me very seriously.”

“As a direct result of this year’s competition, I have a new agent, am being read all over town (including Amblin and several other companies who never read); and I am re-focusing solely on the writing for awhile…”

“It is clear to me that the Academy Foundation and Nicholl Fellowship competition have but one goal…to encourage and foster high quality, creative screenwriting. The Nicholl competition offers aspiring screenwriters like myself great motivation of write our very best and to keep on writing.”

“I am pleased to report that last week I signed my first deal…. I write not to boast but to thank you. I consider entering the Nicholl Fellowships competition to be one of the most important things that I ever did. At the time I first entered I had only been writing for a short while and had few signposts by which to gauge my potential. I truly believe that without it I would not be a writer today.”

“Back in the early ’90s…I entered my first ever feature screenplay into the Nicholl. It reached the quarters and was a tremendously valuable piece of validation. While I haven’t made it as a Hollywood screenwriter, for the past five years I have worked as a television writer in the UK. I currently write two shows for the BBC and have an incredibly blessed life in terms of being able to do something I love and support my family at the same time.”

“No other contest has the prestige and recognition as the Nicholl. No other contest can claim that being a semifinalist in it is enough to garner industry attention…. If you want a career, look no further than the Nicholl Fellowships.”