Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship finalists announced

Sep 29, 2011 by Ian Evans

The 26th annual Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, have announced their ten finalists whose scripts will now be read and judged by the Academy’s Nicholl Committee. The committee will then award as many as five of the prestigious $30,000 fellowships.

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

• Chris Bessounian & Tianna Langham, Los Angeles, Calif., Guns and Saris
• Dion Cook, Altus, Oklahoma, Cutter
• K.E. Greenberg, Los Angeles, Calif., Blood Bound
• Ehud Lavski, Tel Aviv, Israel, Parasite
• John MacInnes, Los Angeles, Calif., Outside the Wire
• Aaron Marshall, West Hollywood, Calif., Fig Hunt: The Quest for Battle Armor Star Captain
• Khurram Mozaffar, Lisle, Illinois, A Man of Clay
• Matthew Murphy, Culver City, Calif., Unicorn
• Abel Vang & Burlee Vang, Fresno, Calif., The Tiger’s Child
• Paul Vicknair & Chris Shafer, Los Angeles & Hermosa Beach, Calif., A Many Splintered Thing

A record number of 6,730 scripts were submitted for this year’s competition, which 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.

The 2011 Nicholl Fellowships will be presented on Thursday, November 3, at a ceremony held at the Beverly Wilshire.