Nicholl 2015...

[mrdennissir]

Re: Nicholl 2015...

Thank you for your prompt reply, Greg.

[opie]

Re: Nicholl 2015...

My coming of age drama made it in. Wow, they came back early this year. It wasn't even nail-biting time yet. Glad to miss that part.

Congrats and Amen. Thanks to Greg and his staff for their quick work (and for posting here).

[Margie Kaptanoglu]

Re: Nicholl 2015...

So, so happy that a screenplay of mine made it through to the quarterfinals.

Bunker, I feel your frustration. We've all experienced that sort of subjectivity in one way or another, but it never feels good. You have the right attitude, though. Never give up!

[Margie Kaptanoglu]

Re: Nicholl 2015...

Also, thanks to Greg and the Nicholl team for such an early announcement! Saved me so much time obsessing over it.

Greg, was this your earliest announcement date ever?

[LateNightWriter]

Re: Nicholl 2015...

Yes, thanks to Greg and the Nicholl team for their tireless work! I can't imagine what processing 7,442 scripts for at least 2 reads each must entail. And so grateful to Greg for checking in here to answer questions and clarify issues.

The early notification this year was a gift -- I didn't even have a chance to start the late July, knuckle-cracking, obsessing phase.

Late Night Writer

[gregbeal]

Re: Nicholl 2015...

My coming of age drama made it in. Wow, they came back early this year. It wasn't even nail-biting time yet. Glad to miss that part.

We're happy to have saved some nails around the world (but we may get some backlash from nail salons).

[gregbeal]

Re: Nicholl 2015...

A collective You're welcome.

Thanks to all of you for the kind words.

As to how early the notification was, it's certainly the earliest over the last decade. Possibly ever.

Back in the 1990s when there were only 3000-4000 entries, the target tended to be the fourth week of July and perhaps July 22 was the previous earliest notification. Just realized that those letters were sent over multiple days so as not to overwhelm our mail room, so it's possible that the first notifications in those years were sent earlier so as to finish around July 23.

[Celtic1]

Re: Nicholl 2015...

thanks to Greg and the readers...an impressive thing to get done.

I'm out, placed among the top 10% and fell short by 2-6 points. Takes a bit of the sting out...or not (jcpdoc saw you had two that hit this mark...ugh...but still a great accomplishment to get TWO that close in this one. that is awesome)

To those moving on a huge congrats...it truly is a great one to be a part of.

[acquaformosa]

Re: Nicholl 2015...

Well done, Margie. Glad to hear it.

I fell short of the Quarters, which is really the goal here... not all the various percent this or percent that, right? Mind you, I do appreciate the extra info that Greg and the team send... in order to better understand the context for how the script performed overall though. That is helpful and appreciated.

Anyway, I got one of those, but really (and I realize I might be in the minority with this opinion) anything short of the Quarters is a supreme disappointment and I just can't find a way to spin it into a moral victory to take too much of the sting out of it.

Anyway, pleased as punch for your advancement and fingers crossed you receive good news for the next round.

[P-jay]

Re: Nicholl 2015...

We're happy to have saved some nails around the world (but we may get some backlash from nail salons).

LOL, but how many struggling writers can afford nail salons?

Thank you to Nicholl for all their hard work and again for saving our nerves. Congratulations to all the other QFs, and a big "Well done," to all the writers who managed to get a script finished and have the guts to enter. After making the SFs in 2012, I failed to make the QF cut the following two years. Don't get discouraged. Most wins are built on a hill of losses.

[Bruce Rose]

Re: Nicholl 2015...

Huge congrats to the newly minted Nicholl Quarterfinalists!

[anxt]

Re: Nicholl 2015...

Don't get discouraged. Most wins are built on a hill of losses.

I made the QFs this year, after getting dinged the previous four years. It feels good. Hopefully, it also means I am getting better.

[P-jay]

Re: Nicholl 2015...

I made the QFs this year, after getting dinged the previous four years. It feels good. Hopefully, it also means I am getting better.

Congratulations!

[Margie Kaptanoglu]

Re: Nicholl 2015...

Well done, Margie. Glad to hear it.

Thanks, Acquaformosa. I'm sorry to hear things didn't go your way this year with Nicholl, but hopefully you'll fare better with Austin, where I do believe you've had considerable success in the past.

[grommet]

Re: Nicholl 2015...

If anyone got dinged and needs some encouragement on the subjective nature of the process...

Last year, I had a script make it to the Top 50. It was tantalizingly close to being a Finalist. I figured there was nothing to lose (other than $40) to throw it in again this year. Maybe it would get the lucky breaks that could push it into the Finals, or perhaps even a Fellowship.

And today the script got... nothing.

No quarterfinals.

No "Two positive reads."

No "Gold star for effort!"

Nothing.

To have made it into the Top 50, that script had to receive many, many positive reads. To get nowhere, that script needed to receive two "meh" reads. That's indicative of the industry - It takes many, many people to like a script before it moves anywhere. It takes one or two people to be lukewarm to kill it.

Oh well. Onward!

This is a great reply. It's a good lesson in subjectivity. I learned that lesson last year when my semi-finalist script didn't make the quarterfinals.

This year I learned a different lesson. I paid for some coverage on that same biopic script and spent six months rewriting it trying to make the changes they suggested. The rewrite didn't even get two positive reads this year. I never really loved this suggested changes and should have listened to my gut and moved on to something new instead of working on a rewrite my heart really wasn't in to. I'm not saying never revise, but if you really don't think the revision is making your script better -- don't waste your time.

That said, congratulations to the QF's!