2008 Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship winners announced

Nov 05, 2008 by Ian Evans

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the winners of the 23rd Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. Each of these writers or partnerships will receive a $30,000 prize, the first installment of which will be distributed at a gala dinner in Beverly Hills on November 13, featuring a keynote address by Oscar®-nominated screenwriter Scott Frank.

This year’s winners are (listed alphabetically by author):

• Jeremy Bandow, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Hive
• Ken Kristensen and Colin Marshall, Los Angeles, California, Out of Breath
• Jason Micallef, Santa Monica, California, Butter
• Eric Nazarian, Burbank, California, Giants
• Lee Patterson, Durham, England, Snatched

The winners this year were chose out of the 5,224 scripts submitted for this year’s competition. The competition is open to any individual who has not sold or optioned a screenplay or teleplay for more than $5,000, or received a fellowship or prize that includes a “first look” clause, an option, or any other quid pro quo involving the writer’s work.

Final judging of the competition was conducted by the Nicholl Committee, chaired by writer and 1992 Nicholl fellow Susannah Grant and composed of writers Naomi Foner, Dan Petrie, Jr., Tom Rickman and Dana Stevens; actor Eva Marie Saint; cinematographers John Bailey and Steven Poster; executive Bill Mechanic; and producers Gale Anne Hurd, David Nicksay, Peter Samuelson, Robert Shapiro and Buffy Shutt.