Nicholl success stories?

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  • #91
    Re: Nicholl success stories?

    Studios are corporations. They run in corporate time.

    It hasn't even been three months since the 2009 winners were announced. One of those months had a few vacation weeks with the holidays.

    Butter (from 2008) didn't sell until April 2009. About six months. Which doesn't seem too bad when you think about it.

    And some of the studios aren't even buying until fiscal year 2010, and I think for at least Sony that means April.

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    • #92
      Re: Nicholl success stories?

      I want to put "Nicholl winner" in the first line of all future queries.

      If someone would like to sell me their rights to the above accolade, I'm sure we can do business.

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      • #93
        Re: Nicholl success stories?

        :d
        "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."
        -Maya Angelou

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        • #94
          Re: Nicholl success stories?

          Originally posted by WriteByNight View Post
          :d
          Is that a hair-lip?

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          • #95
            Re: Nicholl success stories?

            Originally posted by gregbeal View Post
            I'm utterly stupified that people post that "all" Nicholl scripts are serious dramas, that we only select serious dramas and that they base their "informed posts" on meager information.

            The post I referenced stated that last year's scripts were also dramas, with the exception of Snatched. What about Butter? Thought most people posting on Done Deal had heard of that script.

            I don't mind anyone posting critiques of the Nicholl competition and its process so long as that criticism is based on experience or other accurate information.

            Statements made by several people in this thread seem to be based solely on reading log lines on scriptshadow. Only there are no log lines on ss, just a "premise" that sets the stage, so to speak.

            The third 2009 Nicholl script ss reviewed was Dream Before Waking, a romantic comedy with a fantasy element. I guess the "drama only" posters missed that one when it was up.

            What about actually reading the scripts before forming an opinion or stating "facts"? What about finding out about all five scripts before painting all five with the same brush? What about doing some research into past Nicholl-winning scripts prior to stating "facts" about the scripts that earn their writers Nicholl Fellowships?

            I guess it would be too much to expect folks posting on a forum to do any research or read any scripts prior to offering the "truth."
            I read them all.

            And I agree you have to actually READ them in order to give them a fair shake.

            SAND DOGS is the best of the 5, in my opinion. After reading it, I can definitely see why it was a winner.

            The others are all solid writing as well.

            BUTTER from 2008 is genius, in my opinion. Last I heard, Jennifer Garner was attached?

            SNATCHED from 2008 is a thriller that is also impressive. And very marketable. Hoping that gets made.

            Anyway, the Nicholl fellowship is still the brass ring in screenwriting contests...
            Last edited by brubenow; 01-09-2010, 07:43 PM. Reason: Accidentally deleted my first 2 lines.

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            • #96
              Re: Nicholl success stories?

              Originally posted by brubenow View Post
              I read them all.
              Anyway, the Nicholl fellowship is still the brass ring in screenwriting contests...
              Yes it is. It is "Thee contest" no doubt.
              Excedrin Migraine. Red Bull. Fade in.

              Sinister Scrawlings

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              • #97
                Re: Nicholl success stories?

                Originally posted by gregbeal View Post
                I'm utterly stupified that people post that "all" Nicholl scripts are serious dramas, that we only select serious dramas...
                Originally posted by LIMAMA View Post
                Nicholls is the number one, most prestigious screenwriting contest on the planet bar none. Winning, or even placing highly, can open doors for you that no other contest can. But that's all it is--a contest. And what their readers look for in a script is far different than a reader at a prodco who has to cover X amount of scripts in a week.
                These two statements go hand-in-hand. It's not that people are complaining about dramas always winning...what irks people is that every contest leans toward drama-heavy scripts...and therefore, a genre script - regardless of how awesome it is - doesn't really stand a chance at winning any screenwriting contest.

                Yes, there are exceptions, but they are few and far between. As Limama alluded to, contest readers aren't looking to produce your script. They just say if they liked it or not. It's not about marketability, it's about how the story connected with the reader on an emotional level, and that is why drama-heavy scripts are commonly selected in contests.

                Selling a screenplay, on the other hand, IS about marketability. It's about having an intriguing concept that grabs people's attention and makes them want to read the script, and delivering on that concept so they enjoy it. An emotional connection to the reader is essential, of course, if you want people to care about your story. It's just not the primary concern of the reader, much like a great concept is not the primary concern of contest readers.

                If you want to write a drama-heavy script with a concept that stands no chance in the open market, do it well and you can still open doors, make a sale and even see the script produced. You just might need to take a different avenue than the traditional query.

                Write a good script, explore every method and take every opportunity to get Hollywood's attention, and you have a great chance of finding success.

                Selling a screenplay is 50% hard work, 50% talent, and 50% luck. Yeah, that makes no sense, but when has this business ever made sense?

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                • #98
                  Re: Nicholl success stories?

                  Originally posted by Biohazard View Post
                  These two statements go hand-in-hand. It's not that people are complaining about dramas always winning...what irks people is that every contest leans toward drama-heavy scripts...and therefore, a genre script - regardless of how awesome it is - doesn't really stand a chance at winning any screenwriting contest.

                  Yes, there are exceptions, but they are few and far between. As Limama alluded to, contest readers aren't looking to produce your script. They just say if they liked it or not. It's not about marketability, it's about how the story connected with the reader on an emotional level, and that is why drama-heavy scripts are commonly selected in contests.

                  Selling a screenplay, on the other hand, IS about marketability. It's about having an intriguing concept that grabs people's attention and makes them want to read the script, and delivering on that concept so they enjoy it. An emotional connection to the reader is essential, of course, if you want people to care about your story. It's just not the primary concern of the reader, much like a great concept is not the primary concern of contest readers.

                  If you want to write a drama-heavy script with a concept that stands no chance in the open market, do it well and you can still open doors, make a sale and even see the script produced. You just might need to take a different avenue than the traditional query.

                  Write a good script, explore every method and take every opportunity to get Hollywood's attention, and you have a great chance of finding success.

                  Selling a screenplay is 50% hard work, 50% talent, and 50% luck. Yeah, that makes no sense, but when has this business ever made sense?
                  Top of the class to you, Biohazard.. Very good answer...

                  I think you need to work on your math though...

                  50% + 50% = 100%

                  Maybe it's 25% hard work, 25% talent and 50% luck?

                  That'd give you your 100%....

                  Maybe gambling 50% on lady luck is a tad much..

                  Maybe 50% hard work, 25% talent and 25% luck sounds much more like it..

                  For those with no talent they can put in 75% hard work, wing it and hope luck's on their side..

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                  • #99
                    Re: Nicholl success stories?

                    Numbers were never my strong point. I prefer playing with letters.

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                    • Re: Nicholl success stories?

                      I want to put "Nicholl winner" in the first line of all future queries.
                      easy - just change the title of your script to Nicholl Winner

                      now pay me $2

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                      • Re: Nicholl success stories?

                        Check's in the mail.

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                        • Re: Nicholl success stories?

                          When I've read for contests, most of the scripts I've sent to the next round have been genre fare of some sort. The ones that really stand out are well-written comedies that are actually funny. Those are so rare that when I run across one, I immediately give it good marks.

                          Most of the dramas I've read aren't really all that emotionally engaging. Some open with pages and pages of expository conversations designed to reveal backstory, with first act breaks that lead to more conversations designed to make sure the reader knows exactly how the characters feel about any number of topics related to the story.

                          Then again, I haven't read for the Nicholl. (Though, I'd like to.)

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                          • Re: Nicholl success stories?

                            Originally posted by gregbeal View Post
                            And just how many of this year's Nicholl-winning scripts did ss review?

                            Jallianwala Bagh -- incomplete "premise" provided; is not close to being an accurate log line. ss liked this script.

                            Victoria Falls -- incomplete "premise" provided; is not close to being an accurate log line. ss disliked this script.

                            Apparently, ss also reviewed a two-year-old draft of Dream Before Waking, which he removed at the request of the author. So you read two, maybe three, "premises" of this year's Nicholl-winning scripts, none of them with an accurate log line. With this wealth of "accurate" information, you come to your incredibly well considered conclusions about all five of this year's Nicholl-winning scripts.Astonishing.
                            I disagree. Strongly. You can't talk about all five at once. You have to take them one at a time.

                            Jallianwala Bagh? Set in India. About the friendship between a British girl and an Indian girl of a similar age. Against the background of a larger conflict involving their fathers. SS's review was right on the money. Extremely helpful

                            If you're going to talk about Nicholl success stories, where do you start? Armored? That script was taken to several studios by production companies that had deals in place. Imagine was one of them. The sale had nothing to do with being a Nicholl finalist.

                            I thought "Giant" and "Snatched" were good examples of Nicholl winners. Why? The first ten pages set up a conflict where the hero was terribly sympathetic. And certainly not your typical movie hero, either. Would "Jack" be an A-list role? Now that Daniel Craig has joined that club, maybe.

                            I think there's one movie that has been made, is available on DVD, has lots of reviews at Metacritic, that you can say "this is representative of the Nicholl scripts." But it isn't a Nicholl script. It's "Catch and Release" by Susannah Grant. Why? Because it got made. Most Nicholl scripts don't get made into movies. Grant had a working arrangement with Sony, where they allowed her to direct her own script without interference, and the end result is very close to a "Nicholl script." The opening is scaled down from most Nicholl scripts. The movie didn't have a huge budget, while Nicholl scripts have (hypothetically) unlimited budgets. But we get a heroine who is in a situation that makes her sympathetic. Not as sympathetic as the young man in "Giant" who is being rushed to the ER and needs surgery on his aorta, but sympathetic.

                            the Nicholl committee doesn't write scripts. They don't hand out any guidelines. They have to take what comes through the door. If the question on the table is, "What kind of story do the Nicholl judges look for?" I would say, "Start with a heroine who is in a situation that makes us sympathetic, feel sorry for her, in the first five pages." I mean, if your daughter has disappeared, and the police think she's been abducted, and you think she snuck out to meet her teacher, a pedophile.... that creates sympathy.

                            But Greg is right in saying, "If you look at some OTHER Nicholl scripts, its different." Yes, but that doesn't change the fact that "Giant" and "Snatched" and "Amelia Earhart" and "Catch and Release" all follow that formula. By page 5, the plight of this particular heroine has to grab us. She doesn't have to do anything. Maybe she's a victim. Maybe victim is the wrong word, but she's passive. She's on the receiving end, not dishing it out.

                            The way I approach the contest is, you try to get an idea of the "initial conflict situation" that the judges seem to look for. So you can recognize it when you find one. I was watching a re-run of "Criminal Minds" the other night. Young girls were missing after their parents were brutally murdered. The killer was a Romanian gypsy, part of an Eastern European religion. His father had kidnapped such a girl, years earlier, and she was now his wife. They had a son, and they were trying to kidnap a child bride for him. At the end, the woman whispered, "Don't tell them about your brothers." A whole sub-culture of murder and kidnapping, based on strange East European religious beliefs, responsible for missing children in the United States. To win the Nicholl, I think you have to look for that kind of "situation" and start from there.
                            Last edited by Norma; 02-10-2010, 01:10 PM.

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