May 2 Deadline For Academy’s 2011 Nicholl Screenwriting Competition

Beverly Hills, CA – The deadline to submit entries for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 26th annual Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition is Monday, May 2, 2011.

The Nicholl competition is open to any individual who has not earned more than $5,000 from the sale or option of a screenplay or teleplay, or received a fellowship or prize of more than $5,000 that includes a “first look” clause, an option or any other quid pro quo involving the writer’s work. To enter, writers must submit a completed online application, upload one PDF copy of their original screenplay in English and pay the US$45 entry fee before 11:59 p.m. PT on May 2, 2011.

Entry scripts must be feature length and the original work of a sole author or of exactly two collaborative authors.  The scripts must have been written originally in English. Adaptations and translated scripts are not eligible. Up to five $30,000 fellowships are awarded each year.

For additional information, the complete rules and the online application, visit www.oscars.org/nicholl.
“The Academy is extremely proud that the Nicholl competition continues to identify talented but as yet undiscovered screenwriters,” said Academy President Tom Sherak. “I’m sure that this year’s fellowship recipients will exhibit the same great potential as so many of our past winners.”

Since the program’s inception in 1985, 118 fellowships have been awarded. Several past Nicholl fellows have gone on to successful screenwriting careers, including Oscar® nominee Susannah Grant (“The Soloist, ” “Erin Brockovich,” “Pocahontas”), Doug Atchison (“Akeelah and the Bee”), Mike Rich (“Secretariat,” “The Rookie,” “Finding Forrester”), Ehren Kruger (“Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” “The Ring,” “Arlington Road”) and Andrew Marlowe (ABC’s “Castle,” “Hollow Man,” “Air Force One”).

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.

Several other Nicholl fellows have had success in the film industry; to read more about them, visit  http://www.oscars.org/awards/nicholl/fellows/notable.html

Photo0: Winners of the 25th annual Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. AMPAS®

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