Nicholl 2021

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  • Nicholl 2021

    Nicholl 2021 is open for submissions.


    Early Bird Deadline: 3/3/21

    Regular Deadline: 4/3/21

    Late Deadline: 5/3/21


    Reader comments are an additional 40 dollars per script, if you want them.


    https://www.oscars.org/nicholl


    *They've revamped their submission form, so give yourself some extra time. You'll have to re-enter your password and profile stuff.

    Good luck, Done Dealers
    Last edited by Done Deal Pro; 02-18-2021, 10:56 AM. Reason: Corrected dates per an eagle-user and the Nicholl site.

  • #2
    If we all work together, let's punk Nicholl and make sure no one enters this year.

    Comment


    • #3
      I hope to have something to enter this year Bono, so if you can pull that off that would be great.

      Comment


      • #4
        Just like Game Stop stock it only works if we all stick together and don't enter.

        Comment


        • #5
          I still haven't decided whether or not I'll enter three of the four scripts I wrote last year (the other I entered into last year's contest).

          I know there's no shot of any of them winning given my overall writing style doesn't exactly fit the the Nicholl brand, so it's the equivalent of me setting a pile of money on fire, but I always have a morbid curiosity as to how much Nicholl readers will hate them as I occasionally get a reader with a surprisingly dark sense of humor and make a little noise from time to time.

          Sucks that they make you pay for reader feedback when you submit now instead of anytime before December 31st after the contest results are already in. I'm 99 percent sure one of my scripts got a high score comment on their Facebook page last year, but I'll never know for sure because I didn't feel like ponying up the extra 40 bucks at the same time as I was paying the entry fee.

          All that said, the price of three Nicholl entries could buy me a really nice hooker while I'm trapped in a hotel for work the next couple weeks.

          Decisions, decisions.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by figment View Post
            Nicholl 2021 is open for submissions.


            Early Bird Deadline: 3/3/21

            Regular Deadline: 4/3/21

            Late Deadline: 5/3/21


            Reader comments are an additional 40 dollars per script, if you want them.


            https://www.oscars.org/nicholl


            *They've revamped their submission form, so give yourself some extra time. You'll have to re-enter your password and profile stuff.

            Good luck, Done Dealers
            Hi,
            How does one become a reader for Nicholl ?

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by WRITERRIVERS View Post
              Hi,
              How does one become a reader for Nicholl ?
              Becoming an inside man to disrupt the Nicholl's tendencies. I like it.

              Sorry, Bono. New plan. Instead of not entering our scripts, we're all going to become Nicholl readers instead.

              Change comes from within!

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Prezzy View Post

                Becoming an inside man to disrupt the Nicholl's tendencies. I like it.

                Sorry, Bono. New plan. Instead of not entering our scripts, we're all going to become Nicholl readers instead.

                Change comes from within!
                Hmmmm.
                Just wondering. If Rocky 1 script entered Nicholl contest. I think it would win.
                I think I know what they might be looking for. But I could be wrong. Please advise.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by WRITERRIVERS View Post
                  Hmmmm.
                  Just wondering. If Rocky 1 script entered Nicholl contest. I think it would win.
                  I think I know what they might be looking for. But I could be wrong. Please advise.
                  Yeah. Don't mind me. I'm just playing.

                  As far as becoming a Nicholl reader, it's probably a networking thing.

                  Would "Rocky" win? I'm honestly not sure. Maybeeee.

                  It might also not be social issuey enough. Also, not to sound like a conservative reactionary, but I can't remember the last Nicholl-winning script with a straight, White male protagonist. Those types of scripts have either been non-existent or in the vast minority of winners in recent years.

                  You also have to keep in mind that just because a script won the Oscar doesn't necessarily mean it will do well in the Nicholl. "Little Miss Sunshine" won the Oscar for best original screenplay, but bombed in the Nicholl.

                  I recommend you look at the loglines of Nicholl-winning scripts in the past half decade or so. Lots of scripts that either tackle social issues or feature heroes from underrepresented communities.

                  Have more of a Oscar drama feel, but can have other genre elements like last year's "Goodbye, Iraq", which had some action-thriller elements. Comedy and fun, pulpy, popular feeling scripts probably aren't going to make the cut.

                  I also recommend starting your script with a lazily written page one voiceover. Lots of Nicholl-winning scripts have had page one voiceovers in recent years.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Prezzy View Post
                    I still haven't decided whether or not I'll enter three of the four scripts I wrote last year (the other I entered into last year's contest).

                    I know there's no shot of any of them winning given my overall writing style doesn't exactly fit the the Nicholl brand, so it's the equivalent of me setting a pile of money on fire, but I always have a morbid curiosity as to how much Nicholl readers will hate them as I occasionally get a reader with a surprisingly dark sense of humor and make a little noise from time to time.

                    Sucks that they make you pay for reader feedback when you submit now instead of anytime before December 31st after the contest results are already in. I'm 99 percent sure one of my scripts got a high score comment on their Facebook page last year, but I'll never know for sure because I didn't feel like ponying up the extra 40 bucks at the same time as I was paying the entry fee.

                    All that said, the price of three Nicholl entries could buy me a really nice hooker while I'm trapped in a hotel for work the next couple weeks.

                    Decisions, decisions.
                    On a stats level, which genre or rule breaking genre does well at Nicholl ?

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by WRITERRIVERS View Post
                      On a stats level, which genre or rule breaking genre does well at Nicholl ?
                      I don't have the stats for recent years on hand, and I don't quite understand the phrase "rule breaking genre", but I'm sure if you searched some old threads, those numbers would have been tossed around in the past. I know Greg Beal drops in every now and then in an attempt to defend the Nicholl from people like me who don't view it as the unbiased, egalitarian contest that only looks for the "best writing" it claims to be.

                      Comedy is an underrepresented genre for sure though, and even Greg Beal admits that.

                      Like I said though, if you think your type of story would fit in with the type of stuff that gets nominated for best picture, you're giving yourself a chance. If you're writing popcorn movies that you might go out and see with your friends on a Saturday night, then you're playing with fire as it relates to the competition in its current incarnation.


                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Prezzy View Post

                        I don't have the stats for recent years on hand, and I don't quite understand the phrase "rule breaking genre", but I'm sure if you searched some old threads, those numbers would have been tossed around in the past. I know Greg Beal drops in every now and then in an attempt to defend the Nicholl from people like me who don't view it as the unbiased, egalitarian contest that only looks for the "best writing" it claims to be.

                        Comedy is an underrepresented genre for sure though, and even Greg Beal admits that.

                        Like I said though, if you think your type of story would fit in with the type of stuff that gets nominated for best picture, you're giving yourself a chance. If you're writing popcorn movies that you might go out and see with your friends on a Saturday night, then you're playing with fire as it relates to the competition in its current incarnation.

                        Excellent advice. Helpful. Much appreciated.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          There's an FAQ (PDF) on the Nicholl website that might provide some helpful info... page 24.
                          https://www.oscars.org/sites/oscars/...holl_faq_1.pdf

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Listen I've entered Nicholl and made top 10%. Not humble brag. I did write a spec "for them" that was more Little Miss Sunshine meets Clerks to do it. But what I didn't do was write a spec ONLY for them. It was still something I really loved and cared about. But I did recognize that my sports comedy spec wasn't going to be for them, so I sent them something else.

                            If you write only sports comedies, I'd say skip entering.

                            Also 99.999999% of the writers that are screenwriters didn't do well in this contest, let alone win. Maybe not even entered it once.

                            So this is all to say, enter or don't -- but don't put some much power into it. Just treat it like any contest. Enter many. Enter none. Your career will most likely turn out the same way.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Prezzy View Post

                              All that said, the price of three Nicholl entries could buy me a really nice hooker while I'm trapped in a hotel for work the next couple weeks.

                              Decisions, decisions.
                              How nice of a hooker will that be, though? I'm thinking of in Any Given Sunday where the price quoted to Pacino was a thousand a night. And that movie was years ago, so...inflation.

                              Comment

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