Congratulations to this year’s winners of the most prestigious screenplay competition out there, the Nicholl Fellowship, sponsored and organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The awards ceremony includes (besides a check) table reads of selected scenes of the winning scripts by Academy members. How cool is that! And you can get tickets!
And the WINNERS are (all authors listed alphabetically):
Sam Baron, Cambridge, United Kingdom, “The Science of Love and Laughter.”
A neuroscientist trapped in the wrong job and the wrong relationship finally decides to turn his life around – but when he discovers his wife has cancer, he becomes determined to save his marriage. “The Science of Love and Laughter” is a powerful comedy-drama about love, loss and companionship.
Alisha Brophy, Los Angeles, CA, and Scott Miles, Austin, TX, “United States of Fuckin’ Awesome.”
The Hangover meets Drunk History. When Jefferson finishes writing the Declaration of Independence, Washington and Franklin take him out to celebrate. After a night of debauchery they realize the document’s missing. If they can’t find it in time for the Continental Congress, there won’t be an America.
Melissa Iqbal, London, United Kingdom, “The Death Engine.”
In a world where forever never ends, Lily lives the perfect immortal life. But when she’s diagnosed with the “melancholia,” the incurable desire to die, she pays “The Death Engine” for the perfect death. But how can her assigned Reaper do his job when he’s fallen in love with his client?
Sallie West, Charleston, SC, “Moonflower.”
Although temporally separated, a luthier and a cellist find the means to enhance one another’s virtuosity and engage in a rather outré September passion.
FINALISTS also include:
Robert D. Cain, Los Angeles, CA, “Gagarin” – The true story of the U.S.-Soviet Space Race told from the perspective of Yuri Gagarin, the peasant farm boy who became the first man in space.
Josh Golden, Los Angeles, CA, “Road to Oz” – Based on true events, “Road to Oz” details the experiences of Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum which led to him writing the beloved American fairy tale as he draws inspiration from the people he meets, specifically his sickly, fatherless niece, Dorothy.
Ben Jacoby, New York, NY, “Earthwalkers” – After living anonymously for millennia, Cain and Lucian, two men cursed in the Bible to walk the Earth forever, face off today as one seeks redemption and the other seeks to end his curse by triggering the apocalypse.
Duncan Samarasinghe, Dandenong, Australia, “The Caretaker” – Amid a violent robot uprising, a doting caretaker android must betray her own kind and switch to warrior mode to protect a young girl across state lines to a safe harbor.
Ryan Trevino, Seal Beach, CA, and Robert Wolfe Dunn, Los Angeles, CA, “Arcadia” – To help Greece win its independence from the Ottoman Empire, Lord Byron leads an eclectic group of adventurers on a sweeping and perilous quest to recover a legendary treasure guarded by an ancient family of the first werewolves.
Mike Van Waes, West Hollywood, CA, “Grave Hearts” – An egotistical man’s accidental death triggers a hereditary curse that turns him into the living dead. He has until his body fully decomposes to get his ex-girlfriend to teach him the meaning of true love or he won’t make it to the afterlife.
Just like Arlington Road and Short Term 12, we may see any one of these at a theater near you sometime in the future.
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES
NOTE: Any and all screenplays available on A Film Look are for educational purposes only.