Academy’s Nicholl Screenwriting Competition Now Underway

Beverly Hills, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ annual Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition is underway, and applications are now available. As many as five $30,000 fellowships will be awarded through the program later this year.

Applications may be downloaded from the Academy’s Web site or submitted electronically. Interested parties should go to www.oscars.org/nicholl.

The Nicholl Fellowships 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 application form, one copy of their original screenplay, in English, and an entry fee of US$30. Entries must be postmarked no later than May 1, 2007.

Fellowships are awarded with the understanding that the recipients will each complete a feature-length screenplay during the 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.

Last year’s competition drew nearly 4,900 entries. Since the program’s inception in 1985, a total of 98 fellowships have been awarded.