Nicholl announcement went out today

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  • Nicholl announcement went out today

    Got my notification today didn't make it to the quarterfinals but did get to the top 10%. I guess that's a good thing though. Just wondering how everyone else did.

  • #2
    Re: Nicholl announcement went out today

    I'm out. Nicholl does not love my sci-fi.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Nicholl announcement went out today

      Originally posted by Strangerthanfiction
      I'm out too. Last year quarterfinals, this year the exact same script didn't even make the top 20%. My other script got 8s on the Black List, but didn't even generate two positive reads.
      Bugger.
      That's subjectivity for you. I entered a script that placed top 10 in Tracking Board's Launchpad competition, but it didn't generate a single positive read in the Nicholl. The script did make the Page QFs, so I'm hoping for a good showing there. It's very much a reader lottery and Nicholl readers have never liked my material.
      FADE IN:
      PERSEVERANCE OVERCOMES ADVERSITY
      NEVER FADE OUT.

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      • #4
        Re: Nicholl announcement went out today

        Originally posted by Jai Brandon View Post
        That's subjectivity for you. I entered a script that placed top 10 in Tracking Board's Launchpad competition, but it didn't generate a single positive read in the Nicholl. The script did make the Page QFs, so I'm hoping for a good showing there. It's very much a reader lottery and Nicholl readers have never liked my material.

        Is there a certain preference for certain types of material at Nicholl? That's quite a disparity between Tracking Board top 10 and not a single positive read off Nicholl.

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        • #5
          Re: Nicholl announcement went out today

          Originally posted by Strangerthanfiction
          If you have a drama about an old man smoking a pipe you'll probably do really well.

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          • #6
            Re: Nicholl announcement went out today

            Originally posted by Friday View Post
            Is there a certain preference for certain types of material at Nicholl? That's quite a disparity between Tracking Board top 10 and not a single positive read off Nicholl.
            I've heard these stories many times - I know of a script that made the Nicholl semis one year, but failed to get top 20% the following year. I was surprised my script didn't get a single positive read, but it is what it is. It could have just as easily landed on the desk of two other readers and scored high enough to make the QFs. When you think about it, scripts that make the Nicholl top ten are incredibly fortunate - they have to appeal to nine readers (in a row) to accomplish that feat. The number one script on last year's Blacklist, Ruin, couldn't make it past the semis, but it now has Gal Gadot (Wonderwoman) attached to star.
            FADE IN:
            PERSEVERANCE OVERCOMES ADVERSITY
            NEVER FADE OUT.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Nicholl announcement went out today

              Originally posted by Jai Brandon View Post
              I've heard these stories many times - I know of a script that made the Nicholl semis one year, but failed to get top 20% the following year. I was surprised my script didn't get a single positive read, but it is what it is. It could have just as easily landed on the desk of two other readers and scored high enough to make the QFs. When you think about it, scripts that make the Nicholl top ten are incredibly fortunate - they have to appeal to nine readers (in a row) to accomplish that feat. The number one script on last year's Blacklist, Ruin, couldn't make it past the semis, but it now has Gal Gadot (Wonderwoman) attached to star.

              Do you think that's common for the other top contests (ranked 2-7)? Not making the quarters at all and then going far in a different top contest.


              I wonder what are things to do to minimize uneven results, if that's possible.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Nicholl announcement went out today

                the tyranny of the first-round reader (or any reader, for a contest or otherwise). with 7,000+ entries for Nicholl, Austin, etc., and giving at least two separate reads to make the first-round cuts, there just aren't enough bodies to throw against that kind of volume with equal quality across all reads. especially for what the contests are paying those readers at that stage. i don't know of a solution that doesn't involve somehow filtering out the 90% of entries that probably don't even meet the minimum standards for screenwriting

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                • #9
                  Re: Nicholl announcement went out today

                  Originally posted by Strangerthanfiction
                  If you have a drama about an old man smoking a pipe you'll probably do really well.
                  I realize this is a common refrain about Nicholl, but I do recall that Greg used to present some metrics and stats that showed reasonable percentages for other genres, certainly based on (or relative to) the overall numbers submitted.

                  Anecdotally, this year I submitted a big sci-fi script along with two dramas (albeit one a grounded sci-fi drama) and it was my big sci-fi script (Mad Max/Dirty Dozen mashup) that got the most love from readers... Top 10% though I'm not a big silver lining/moral victory kinda guy cause I wanted something to advance to the QF.

                  That said, the year that I made the Nicholl Finalist round, it was with a (cough... ahem... muttering under my breath)... drama.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Nicholl announcement went out today

                    Now you tell me. There was an old man, but he wasn't smoking a pipe. Otherwise, I might have actually won one of the Fellowships instead of just being a Finalist.

                    I really resisted the urge to channel my inner Brando and do the On the Waterfront speech, but you would have been my brother Charlie.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Nicholl announcement went out today

                      You have to have an old man smoking a pipe these days. It's a must.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Nicholl announcement went out today

                        Would making it a crack pipe gain maximum pathos points?
                        Know this: I'm a lazy amateur, so trust not a word what I write.
                        "The ugly can be beautiful. The pretty, never." ~ Oscar Wilde

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                        • #13
                          Re: Nicholl announcement went out today

                          If you make it a bio pic of the man smoking the pipe, it would.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Nicholl announcement went out today

                            Originally posted by Strangerthanfiction
                            What if it was a cracked pipe that the old man super glues? Then the entire second and third act could be one big hallucinatory fantasy. All experienced from his porch swing.
                            This is sure to be a Nicholls 2019 winner!

                            Could this very old man also be mute and suffering from a terminal disease while discovering the injustices of his war torn country from his porch swing? I think you really have something there.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Nicholl announcement went out today

                              I doubt that one old man with a regular pipe is diverse enough to be a winner these days. How about giving him two old friends, one with a crack pipe and one with a hookah pipe, plus an old rival with a blowpipe?
                              Know this: I'm a lazy amateur, so trust not a word what I write.
                              "The ugly can be beautiful. The pretty, never." ~ Oscar Wilde

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