GIDDY WITH GRATITUDE

I often ask myself, "Self, what ever made you want to become a screenwriter?"

Self only has one good answer -- you love movies!

Today, the Academy of Motion Pictures moved me a tad closer to my life-long dream with this e-mail about my script placing in the 2015 Nicholl Fellowship for Screenwriting:

July 17, 2015

Dear Janet,

Congratulations!  You have advanced to the Quarterfinal Round of the 2015 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting.  By doing so, yours is one of only 375 entries to escape the First Round.

With 7,442 scripts entered, the initial round was extremely competitive and made the selection of quarterfinalists a difficult task.  You may already have an inkling of the quality of this year’s screenplays if you’ve been following the reader comment excerpts posted on the Academy Nicholl Facebook page.  

To give you an idea of the selection process, The Tenant was evaluated by three judges drawn from a diverse group of film professionals.  After the top three scores were tallied, the highest scoring scripts advanced to the Quarterfinals.

During the Quarterfinal Round, your script will be read by at least two additional judges.  As was the case in the First Round, these judges will read the scripts without seeing application forms, log lines or prior scores and comments; they will know nothing about you and your script other than what is on your script’s pages.  We expect that about 150 of the Quarterfinalist screenplays will advance to the Semifinal Round.

If earnings greater than $25,000 have recently made you ineligible, please let us know as soon as possible via email to nicholl@oscars.org.

Watch for a follow-up email regarding Quarterfinalist Contact List information and your log line. That will be sent in about a week or so.

Good luck through the remainder of the competition.

Sincerely,

Greg Beal
Director
Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting
www.oscars.org/nicholl
www.facebook.com/nichollfellowships

BREAK OUT THE CHAMPAGNE!  Congratulations to ALL the Quarter Finalists. This is a great honor.  I'd like to thank the Academy... oh, and of course, my mother. Now fingers crossed for the semifinals round.

Until next time,

JANET