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How to Apply

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The 2009 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition is now closed. Applications for the 2010 competition will not be available until after January 2010.

You may confirm whether your script has been processed into the competition by logging into your online account. Notification letters regarding advancement to the 2009 quarterfinals have been emailed to 2009 entrants.

  1. An applicant’s total earnings for motion picture and television writing may not exceed US$5,000 before the end of the competition. This limit applies to compensation for motion picture and television writing services as well as for the sale of (or sale of an option to) screenplays, teleplays, stage plays, books, treatments, stories, premises and any other source material.

    Applicants may not have received screenwriting fellowships or prizes totaling more than US$5,000 that include a “first look” clause, an option or any other quid pro quo involving the writer’s work.

  2. Members and employees of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and their immediate families are not eligible, nor are competition judges and their immediate families.
  3. Applicants must submit:
    1. A completed application form.
    2. One copy of an original feature film screenplay, approximately 90–120 pages in length, in PDF format or printed on 3-hole paper and bound with brads. Submissions must have been written originally in English; translations will not be accepted.

      Submissions must be the original work of the applicant(s) and may not be based, in whole or in part, on any other fiction or nonfiction material, published or unpublished, produced or unproduced. Entries may, however, be adapted from the applicant’s (or applicants’) original work, which should be noted in the synopsis required on the application form. Entries lacking a synopsis on the application form will be disqualified.

      If the script is based on a true story, historical or contemporary, that should be noted on the title page.

      Collaborative work undertaken by two writers is eligible. Collaborative work by three or more writers is not eligible. A separate application form should be submitted by each collaborator. One collaborator should be designated the primary contact for all mailings. Writing partners selected as Fellows will divide the Fellowship stipend equally.

      The applicant’s name, address, phone number or any other identifying information should not appear on the cover, the title page or any other page of the script.

  4. An entry fee of US$30 must accompany the application. Entry fees will not be returned or adjusted.
  5. Submissions for the 2009 Fellowships must be uploaded or postmarked no later than May 1, 2009. Applications will be accepted by electronic upload or by mail or delivery company (FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc.). Submitted scripts will not be returned.
  6. The final selection of Fellowship winners will be made by the Nicholl Committee.
  7. Only one copy, draft or version of any screenplay may be submitted by an entrant or entrants. Under no circumstances will substitutions of either corrected pages or new drafts of the entry screenplays be allowed. An entrant may submit a MAXIMUM of three screenplays in the current competition.
  8. In October 2009, writers of screenplays that advance to the final round will be asked to write a letter to the Nicholl Committee, giving the Committee some idea of the writer’s personal and professional interests should he or she receive a Fellowship.
  9. Nicholl Fellowships may not be held concurrently with other fellowships or any other similar award, or while completing a formal course of study. The Fellowship year may be deferred to allow a student winner to complete his or her education.
  10. Nicholl Fellows agree to furnish the Academy with a copy of the screenplay(s) written during the Fellowship year. The Academy acquires no rights to the work (or to the entry script) and will not participate in its marketing or in any other aspects of its commercial future.
  11. A complete entry includes a single copy of a script (paper or PDF), a completed application form and a US$30 entry fee. Checks or money orders payable to the Academy Foundation should be sent to:

    Academy Foundation
    Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting
    1313 Vine Street
    Hollywood, CA 90028-8107