2016

ACADEMY NICHOLL 2016 CEREMONY | 2016
Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Highlights
Memorable Moments

Fellows

Academy Nicholl Fellow
Elizabeth Oyebode
Sunnyvale CA
Script: Tween the Ropes
Description:

A brainy, young double dutcher contends with the hardships of her life in inner city Baltimore.

Academy Nicholl Fellow
Geeta Malik
Los Angeles CA
Script: Dinner with Friends
Description:

When a spoiled teenager uncovers her mother’s feminist past, she is driven to turn her world of privilege upside down.

Academy Nicholl Fellow
Justin Piasecki
Los Angeles CA
Script: Death of an Ortolan
Description:

A disgraced White House chef is discovered decades later preparing meals for prisoners on death row, but he risks a chance at redemption when he befriends an inmate whose guilt appears doubtful.

Academy Nicholl Fellow
Michele Atkins
Seattle WA
Script: Talking about the Sky
Description:

Walter McKay is haunted by a shameful past. An ex-country music star working at a slaughterhouse discovers he has cancer. Thinking life isn’t worth living, he has a spiritual experience and searches for his daughter. 

Academy Nicholl Fellow
Spencer Harvey and Lloyd Harvey
Balgowlah, Australia
Script: Photo Booth
Description:

A successful performance artist decides to adopt the unborn baby from her husband’s one night stand.

Suburban Turban
Arun K. Vir
Los Angeles CA
Script: Suburban Turban
Description:

American-born teen, Ravinder aka Ravi Singh wants nothing more than to win the ultimate Spin DJ competition, date a Latina beauty and fit into society. But his traditional father wants him to prepare for a centuries-old turban tying ceremony.

Little Toro
Beanie Barnes
New York NY
Script: Little Toro
Description:

In 1930s Spain, three sons, connected to the world of bullfighting, learn what it means to be men while living under their fathers’ legacies and expectations.

The Blast-Off Inn
Danielle Ownbey
Glendale CA
Script: The Blast-Off Inn
Description:

Summer 1969: A teenage girl pursues her dream of becoming an astronaut by making friends with the wild astronaut groupies who hang out at her aunt’s Houston motel.

Marlene the Divine
Josh Barkey
Waxhaw NC
Script: Marlene the Divine
Description:

A grieving widower's plans for revenge are thwarted by the 150th incarnation of God Almighty: a kidnapping, bank-robbing black woman named Marlene.

Alone
Kirk Weddell
Wimbledon, England
Script: Alone
Description:

A lone astronaut in an orbiting space station witnesses the Earth’s explosive destruction. The event creates a black hole that catapults him backwards in time. He now has just 24 hours to save the world.

Hey Jude
Michael Toner
Van Nuys CA
Script: Hey Jude
Description:

Paul McCartney helps Julian Lennon through his parents divorce while struggling to write the now famous song. 

John Wayne Slept Here
Todd Condie
Brooklyn NY
Script: John Wayne Slept Here
Description:

In the summer of 1950, a boy's relationship with his authoritarian father is strained to the breaking point when his idol, John Wayne, comes to stay at their family's motel during the filming of the classic Western Rio Grande.

2016 NICHOLL SEMIFINALISTS
Asim Abbasi, "Dance of the Wounded"
Sylvia Batey Alcalá, "Suicide Run"
Shane Andries, "The Delegation"
David Aslan, "Not a Chance in Hell"
Angela Babb Timmons, "Kat and Birdie"
Michael Ballin and Thomas Aguilar, "The Golden Gate"
Beanie Barnes, "Bon Ton Rouler"
Karl Bauer and Michael Choi, "Estevan the Black"
Joanna Benecke, "Be Normal"
Alex Rollins Berg, "i"
Nic Bettauer and James Riseborough, "The Circle Game"
Anya Beyersdorf, "Serpentine"
Paul Bissett, "In Search of an Ending"
Jim Bongard, "American Pastime "
Carlo Bordone, "Wartime Revelations"
Adam Bowers, "We're a Wasteland"
Robin Brande, "Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature"
Nick Brown, "Motherland"
Renee Buck, "Matzeliger"
Allison Buckmelter and Nicolas Buckmelter, "Don't Throw Stones"
Adam Bustin, "Prosthetic"
Nile Cappello, "Our House"
Jesse Chatham, "Iland"
Joey Clarke, Jr. , "The Other Moores"
Matt Clemons, "Dirty Back Road"
Amanda Lin Costa, "Another Life"
Dave Cowen, "We Bought a Gun "
Anthony Crossen, "OP Winchester"
Karrie Crouse, "Dust"
Michael Cummings, "American Dreamers"
John Cunningham, "Arrowhead"
John Dart and Jeff Swanson, "The Snowmen"
Gwenhyver Davies, "Out of Sync"
SJ Davis, "Glaslyn"
Nadia Desyatnikova, "Selva"
Ted Dewberry and Sammy Montana, "West Bank IPA"
John Dilley and Seth Corr, "Penny"
John Dilley and Seth Corr, "Rubbish"
Dennis Douda, "A Summer for Heroes"
Savion Einstein, "Superfecundation"
Nick Epstein, "Greatest of All Time"
Daniel Eve, "The Flat of the Blade"
Heather Faris, "Ripple"
Carol Faw, "Immaculate"
Jeff Feuerstein, "Professor Pasghetti "
Benjamin Finkel, "Dark Logistics"
Tucker Forbes, "King Hood "
Joseph E. Forsythe, "Expotus "
Steven L. Fournier, "Jesse's Gold"
Kevin Gendreau, "Soulless"
Kulvinder Gill, "Romantic Hideaway"
Zan Gillies, "City Limits"
Judy Goldberg and Chris Jones, "Rocketboy"
Lisa Gomez and Gina Gomez, "The Starry Night"
Andrew Gray, "Junker"
Adam Groff, "I Am the Wolf"
Jonathan Hall, "In Place of the Father"
J.R. Halterlein, "Hyperthymesia"
Austin Hart, "Sawyer"
Lorien Haynes, "Good Grief"
Celine Held and Logan George, "Little"
Melissa Hickey, "It's about Bobby Collum"
Christopher Hlas, "Scare Me"
Brian Hood, "The Infinites"
Perry Janes, "Vacants"
Chris Jaymes, "Unconditional"
Linda Caryn Jenkins, "A Restoration Comedy"
Aaron Douglas Johnston, "Reza and the Refugees"
Shanice Kamminga, "Toy Soldiers"
Harris Kauffman, "Bune"
Marcy Kelly, "Drop"
Anthony Khaseria, "The Haul"
Cristina Kinon, "T & A"
Zac Kish, "Fuck You, John"
Kendell Courtney Klein, "Santos and Jules"
Kathleen Krauland, "The Mystery of Ollie"
Stefan Kubicki, "Bakken "
Kevin Lacy and Alejandro Torroja Nubiola, "Midnight Souls"
Maziar Lahooti, "Nomad"
Tori Larsen, "Eventyr"
Samuel P Laskey, "The Fake"
Eric LaValle, "Buddy Price"
Michael Levine, "The Last Battleship"
Noelle Liljedahl, "We Were Here"
Diana Erica Losen, "The Brief and Brilliant Reign of Billy Tread"
Greg Machlin, "Seven Days: A Fantasia on the Life of Miles Davis"
Patrick Mahon, "Engram"
Jennifer Majka, "She Sells, Sea-Shells"
Sean Malcolm, "Mother"
Linda Malik, "The Lightkeeper's Wife"
Josh Marentette and Spencer C. Marentette, "The Killing Tree"
David Margolis, "The Last Concerto"
Oliver Matthews, "Moor"
Mark McDevitt, "Ida Tarbell"
C. S. McMullen, "Driven"
Andrew Messer, "Seaworthy"
Thabo William Mhlatshwa, "Ghetto Madness"
Heath C. Michaels, "Breathe"
Gabriel Mizrahi, "Give or Take"
Michael Molina Minard, "Centipede Force"
Jimmy Mosqueda, "Valedictorian"
Alex Mullarky, "Jura"
Mark Nelson, "Sed Quaere "
Samuel Oh, "Stop"
Christopher Parizo, "End of the Stars"
Brian Penn, "The Nothing Man"
Joe Penna and Ryan Morrison, "Stowaway"
Alex George Pickering and Matthew Breault, "Crate"
Mike Powell, "Dead Run"
Ashley P. Quach, "Leave"
Sylvia Reed, "The Ones That Flutter"
Ryan Riley, "The Meek"
Jason Romaine, "My Father's Secret Funeral"
Frank Ruy, "Western Evils"
Kenji Sasaki, "Go Van Gogh"
Michael Schatz, "Hannie"
Nadeem Siddiqui, "Slut"
William L Simon, "Tree of Lies"
Robin Rose Singer, "The Lions of Mesopotamia"
Kurt Smith, "Dark Horse"
Simon Sorrells and Casey Nelson, "The Blue Forever"
Luke Spears, "Smooth Criminal"
Mark J. Stasenko Jr., "American Vice"
Anthony Stitt, "Special Needs "
Marni Sullivan, "Syvertsen's Complex"
Penelope Thomas, "Knot of Toads"
Anthony Twarog, "Bury Me When I'm Dead"
Kris Van Herle, "The Take"
Debra Vance, "Tough Cookies"
Ryan Vaughn, "Chiriaco Summit"
Peter Scott Vicaire, "Fields of Honor and Shame"
Zach Waggoner, "Beyond the Gap"
Steven Jon Whritner, "Alex in Aqualand"
Michael Wolfe, "A Bellevue Love Story"
Jack Zafran, "A Quiet Woman"
Clifford Zimowski, "Land of the Free, Home of the Slave"
2016 NICHOLL QUARTERFINALISTS
Michael Aakre, "1,977 Miles"
Iqbal Ahmed, "Stem"
Emily Al-Jbouri, "Sunny Side Up"
Michael Aloyan, "Forget Me Not"
Jeff Amano, "The Evaporated"
Kristine Angelino, "My Expiration Date"
Fiona Ashe, "Cracks in the Ice"
Paul Baiguerra, "The Dunes"
Cristina J. Baker, "Westminster"
Colin Bannon, "Vigilance"
Matthew Barber, "Independence"
Josh Barkey, "The Suicide Code"
Samuel Bartlett, "The Contractor"
Jill Bayor, "Eva Hesse"
Michael J. Beall and Jeannette Lara, "Muse"
Judy Becker, "No Excuses"
Ilan Benjamin, "Zero Days"
Matthew Lee Blackburn, "Fritz's Triangle"
Bob Bowersox, "Under the Eye of God"
Samuel Boyer, "Favors"
J.J. Braider, "Automaton"
Deirdre Brenner and Jillian Reilly, "Black Sea Rose"
Kimberly Britt, "Damaged"
Thalet N. Bukhari, "Past is Prologue"
Maria Burton and Ursula Burton, "The Sky's the Limit: The Story of The Mercury 13"
Nick Caccese, "Dead Men's Switch"
Alexandre Carrière, "Saga Olafsdottir"
Robert Carter, "A.W.O.L."
Brendan Casey, "Thunder & Iron"
Derek Cavens, "Vortex"
Robert Cholette, "Real Time"
Paul Clarke, "Never Leave Your Vehicle"
Michael Patrick Clarkson, "The Dark Lady of DNA"
Lisa Cole and Mark Monroe, "Sue"
Ryan Covington, "The Secrets We Keep"
Marc Cubelli, "Deserter"
Samuel Daram, "My Outcast State"
Daniel L. David, "Part of the Game"
Lagueria Davis and Porcha Evans, "Maid of Dishonor"
Kim Dempster, "Blanche & the Alligator Man"
Diana Densmore, "Keiko and the Dragon"
Mariama Diallo, "Our Father"
Joel Dorland, "Mythic"
Matt Eames, "Full Steam Ahead"
Christina Eliopoulos, "Glow"
Janelle M Evans, "Any Dog's Life"
David Fairhurst, "The Consultant"
Anayat Fakhraie, "Goblin Valley"
Jay Jackson Feldman, "Transmogrification"
Andrea Fiest Stein, "A Just Cause"
Brian Fischer, "The Psycho Therapy"
Emma Fissenden, "Sanguine"
Nicola Fletcher, "The Upside Down Ship"
F Foremen, "Baggage"
Alanna Francis, "The Rest of Us"
Kyle Francis, "Dirty Filthy Liars"
Angela Franklyn, "Brave Dame Mary"
Jon Frechette and Todd Luoto, "Widows Dwell"
Andy Froemke, "Split Rock Light"
Jeff Galante, "Boy Friends"
Stacie Gancayco-Adlao, "Before Bahar"
Vandon Gibbs, "In Blood"
Gabrielle Glaslyn, "Orwell"
Tyler Glodt and Meghann Cionni, "Terminal Happiness"
"Lisa Gold, "The Secret of Shangri-La "
Jackie Goncalves, "You Broke My Car Window"
Jared Goodman, "European Zero"
Andrew Gray, "Final Girl"
Sean Grennan, "The Tin Woman"
Shelley Gustavson, "Ronja of the North"
Cynthia Hagan, "The Disappearance of Daniel Klein"
Will Hammitt, "Florin Road"
Bretten Hannam, "Waisis"
Austin Hart, "Feral Child"
Latrell Hart, "The Brotherhood"
Rosemary B Hartwell, "Heartbreak LA"
David Scott Hay, "Straight Razor Jazz"
Titus Heckel, "Holy Spirits"
Neal Hirschfeld, "Lionhart"
Martyn Hobbs and James Magrane, "Telling Tales"
Christina Hulen, "A Gentleman of Good Hope"
Benjamin Hurley, "Needs of the Few"
Elizabeth Indianos, "Libertaire"
Parker Jamison and Paul Kimball, "The Last Beast of Versailles"
Cassandra Jaskulski and Brianne Jaskulski, "The Great Pretender"
Dominique Johnson, "Red State"
James Johnson, "The Algorithm"
R W Johnson, "Rear Naked Choke"
Bryce Wolfgang Joiner, "I Sleep Soundly"
Jesse Jordan, "Into the Dark"
Jason Kaleko, "Bloodletter"
David D. Kane, "Boat People"
Josh Kaplan, "A Culture of Conflict"
Marjory Kaptanoglu, "The Courtesan"
Andrew Karlsruher, "The Park"
Adam Karpin, "God's Own"
Harris Kauffman, "The Hunter and the Hunted"
John Kelly, "Sunset Over Troubadour"
Marc Ketchem, "Geek Magic"
Marc Ketchem, "Sieg Kyle"
Marc Ketchem, "Sounds of a Stone"
Nick King, "Wild Woman"
Kirk Kjeldsen, "Land of Hidden Fires"
Kendell Courtney Klein, "Jane"
Richard Kodai, "Go Postal!"
Jason B. Kohl, "New Money"
Kris Kosaka, "Hana"
Jamyla Krempel, "Pioneers"
David M. Kushner, "Hammer of God"
Jesse La Plante, "Wrath"
Mitchell LaFortune, "Battle"
Nicole Lambert, "Madame: Beauty Is Power"
Juliet Lashinsky-Revene, "Inheritance "
Kevin Lau, "The Legend of Little Pete"
Donald Lee and Simon Steuri, "Contained"
Eric LeMay, "The Human Touch"
Michael Levine, "Inscape"
Michael Lipoma, "Ganootz"
Richard Lister, "Icarus Falls"
Shawn Mahan, "Standby Hero"
Nick Malik, "Prehistoric"
Jorge Manzano, "The Strike"
Lisa Marks, "American Woman"
Jonathan Marx, "Night Work"
Kahlil Maskati, "Mind of Miles"
Matt H. Mayes, "The Eyes of Blind Tom"
Karen McDermott, "The Custom of the Sea"
Chris Mead, "Olympia"
Jonathan P Medici, "Doodle"
Martha Michaels, "Satan Ain't My Dog"
Corey William Mitchel, "Little Tokyo"
Corey Moore, "Blu's Country"
Olufunke Abiola Moses, "Karma, Is a Bitch"
Natasha Mynhier, "John Henry"
Kristine Namkung, "Cracked"
Charlie Neubauer, "The Shell"
Natalie Nimblette, "Black Feather"
Laurie Nunn and Louis Paxton, "Method"
Sean O'Brien, "Comedienne"
Edson Oda, "Sweet Sadness"
Chris ONeill, "Affection"
Glen Owen, "Signing Day"
Asimakis 'Alfa' Pagidas, "Little Medusa"
Mahesh Pailoor, "Marlboro Marine"
Roxanne Paredes, "ShowBloom"
Daniel J. Patinkin, "Omoplata"
Gibran Perrone, "United We Fall"
Jean Geraldine Pesce, "The Rovers"
Justin Piasecki, "Adventure Has a Name"
Guy Francisco Polin, "Maggie Rocks"
Jeff S. Pollard, "Mooned: The Deepthroating of America"
James Rabbitts, "Zero Hour"
Charles Raiteri, "Young Blood and White Shoulders"
Joseph Ramunni, "Ardent"
Robert E Randall, "Hunting Grace"
Nick Rheinwald-Jones, "Worst Case Scenario"
John Richo, "A Free Man"
Brad Rister and Alexa-Sascha Lewin, "Kingmaker"
Brennan Robideaux, "Hetero"
Alegre Rodriquez, "Santa Muerte"
Conrad Rothbaum, "Buster Keaton"
John Rotondo and Alex Forstenhausler, "Mockingbird"
Chad Rouch, "The Only Lemon Tree on Mars"
Jason Ruscio, "Only When It Rains"
Michelle Sahayan, "Diamond Dogs"
Samir Salem and Jennifer Harrison, "We Must Grow Tough, But Without Ever Losing Our Tenderness"
Brian Sanders, "Searcher"
Elizabeth Savage Sullivan, "No Running"
Tim Schildberger, "His Son"
Jeff Scott, "The Tiger and the Protected"
Sue Scott, "Fire and Stone"
Nick Scown, "Crossing the Line"
Brian Selfon, "Ravaged Country"
Scott L. Semer, "The Girl with Half a Soul"
Scott L. Semer, "Too Far Down for Normal"
Patrick Sherman, "The Game-Changer"
Kimberly J Shumate, "Frankie & Fabulous"
Nichol Simmons, "Done Already Gone"
Craig Soffer, "Vietnam No Problem"
Jory Spadea, "Sip"
Travis R. Stoll, "Run Like Hell"
Brian Strickland, "Mrs. Jake Ryan"
Kevin P. Sullivan, "It Won't Be Long Now"
Andre Szydlowski, "The Naughty List"
Juel Taylor, "Young. Wild. Free."
Jody Thompson, "You Have to Start Somewhere"
Michael Trapp, "Post-Human"
Craig Ugoretz, "The Future Is a Dick"
Erik Vidal, "Videopolis "
Mark von Sternberg, "Standing Up"
Thomas James Vowles, "Splinter Drive"
C. A. Wallace, "Scheherazade"
Yang Wang, "A String Theory"
David Warnock, "Bull Comb Blues"
Robert Warzecha and Matthew Tegtmeier, "Proxy"
Ben Watts and Ivan Kander, "The Losing Kind"
Ben Weaver, "The Killer's Assistant"
Alex Webb, "Breaking Silence"
Alexandra Weir, "Anti-cure"
Jennifer Westcott, "The Littlest Reindeer"
Tracy Whitaker, "Cost"
James Williams, "The Blood Loop"
James Williams III, "Deep River"
Shannon Williams, "Sins of the Tanana"
Richard Woolbert and Luke Martin, "The Accidental Art Thief"
Denise M. Worhach, "Worst Case"
Danny Zimmer, "The West Oakland Dip"
Erin Zoch, "Surviving Summer"