Academy Nicholl Fellowships - 2014 - Questions & Answers

[justin]

Re: Academy Nicholl Fellowships - 2014 - Questions & Answers

Certainly didn't mean to suggest that all the positive comments are wrong and the negative ones right. However, given that the majority even of fellowship-winning scripts don't get made, it seems unlikely that hundreds of scripts in the competition would deserve such glowing praise. I would have preferred to get the negative comments that I clearly got from my other readers than the one set of entirely positive comments I received - though I accept that writers with fewer rejections to their name might find that discouraging. The danger of over-positive comments is that they suggest that the script only needs a polish when they really need a major re-think.

[glantern2814]

Re: Academy Nicholl Fellowships - 2014 - Questions & Answers

I think it's important to remember that while hundreds of scripts might receive high praise, that's spread among dozens of readers, each of whom doesn't know what the other is writing.

Personally, I'd love to see individual scores sent, to quantify the context of the praise and criticism. A reader might like a script but maybe didn't score it high enough to advance, while likewise, he or she might be very critical of a script, but still gave it a decent score.

My script finished in the Top 10 percent, but I only got one comment back, so I don't have anything to compare it to, except my BlackList coverage, which isn't exactly apples-to-apples. I'm hopeful it advances at least to the second round at Austin, so as to see comments from their readers.

[grumpywriter]

Re: Academy Nicholl Fellowships - 2014 - Questions & Answers

Greg,

Can't tell you how much the positive comments are appreciated.

To try to sum up...

Last month I had a general meeting with an exec. at a very reputable prodco. after he read a script of mine that he loved. He asked me to send him loglines for other scripts that I have. One of the loglines I sent was for the script I entered in the Nicholl. That WASN'T one of the scripts he requested. Fast forward to a few weeks later. I get the glowing comment from the Nicholl reader and on a whim decide to pass it along to this exec. to see if it'll get him interested in reading the script. It did. He read it over the weekend and loved it and wants to talk about it this week.

So again -- thank you!

[LateNightWriter]

Re: Academy Nicholl Fellowships - 2014 - Questions & Answers

Whoa! Smart move, Grumpywriter. I've got to try that!

Late Night Writer

[grumpywriter]

Re: Academy Nicholl Fellowships - 2014 - Questions & Answers

Whoa! Smart move, Grumpywriter. I've got to try that!

Late Night Writer

Go for it! You've got nothing to lose, right?

[ClintW3]

Re: Academy Nicholl Fellowships - 2014 - Questions & Answers

Bravo!

[gregbeal]

Re: Academy Nicholl Fellowships - 2014 - Questions & Answers

Greg,

Can't tell you how much the positive comments are appreciated.

To try to sum up...

Last month I had a general meeting with an exec. at a very reputable prodco. after he read a script of mine that he loved. He asked me to send him loglines for other scripts that I have. One of the loglines I sent was for the script I entered in the Nicholl. That WASN'T one of the scripts he requested. Fast forward to a few weeks later. I get the glowing comment from the Nicholl reader and on a whim decide to pass it along to this exec. to see if it'll get him interested in reading the script. It did. He read it over the weekend and loved it and wants to talk about it this week.

So again -- thank you!

You're welcome, gw. Thanks for sharing your story. As I've mentioned previously, always great to hear about writers being proactive about their careers (and always surprised to hear about writers simply waiting for the Academy Nicholl contact lists to be distributed).

[jcpdoc]

Re: Academy Nicholl Fellowships - 2014 - Questions & Answers

Semifinalist emails went out an hour or so ago. My QF did not advance, but I'm still happy to have made the first cut. Congratulations to all those who moved forward and best of luck for further advancement.

[captainhaystack]

Re: Academy Nicholl Fellowships - 2014 - Questions & Answers

Advanced to the Semi-finals with my script, THE VOLUNTEER. Saw that Emily Blake received the good news as well, with an action script!

[LateNightWriter]

Re: Academy Nicholl Fellowships - 2014 - Questions & Answers

Thrilled to say that I advanced as well! Congrats to my fellow Semifinalists! Good luck to everyone still in the game, and now the real nail-biting begins...

Late Night Writer

[Tony Chassion III]

Re: Academy Nicholl Fellowships - 2014 - Questions & Answers

Hey Greg,

Any chance semifinalists will get a look at semifinalist reader comments?


TCIII

[Rhodi]

Re: Academy Nicholl Fellowships - 2014 - Questions & Answers

Hi Greg,

Not sure if you've answered this before (my apologies if you have): have there ever been cases where judges have encountered a Nicholl entry they've previously read in a professional context? Are there any instructions if something like that were to occur? Thanks!

[gregbeal]

Re: Academy Nicholl Fellowships - 2014 - Questions & Answers

Hey Greg,

Any chance semifinalists will get a look at semifinalist reader comments?


TCIII

Sorry, we're not planning to share the comments of volunteer Academy member judges at the present time.

We hope to make available many or even all of the first and quarterfinal round comments at some point in the future (it's dependent upon changes in our database and entrant accounts).

[gregbeal]

Re: Academy Nicholl Fellowships - 2014 - Questions & Answers

Hi Greg,

Not sure if you've answered this before (my apologies if you have): have there ever been cases where judges have encountered a Nicholl entry they've previously read in a professional context? Are there any instructions if something like that were to occur? Thanks!

I know committee members have recused themselves when a student's script has reached the finals. Many first and quarterfinal readers have returned scripts unread when they realize they've read it elsewhere or know the writer. Can't remember it happening on the semifinal level (but it probably has).

[Tony Chassion III]

Re: Academy Nicholl Fellowships - 2014 - Questions & Answers

What about posting highlights of semifinalist readers' comments?

Like y'all did for the high scoring highlights.