So in May of this year I submitted my feature screenplay, "Be Something" for the 2010 Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka the Oscars). Yesterday, they announced the winners, and a Huge Congratulations to all of them! It's the most well respected and prestigious of Screenwriting Competitions in the world, and one Hollywood takes very seriously. What sets it apart from other contests is that it's looking for Great Writing and Storytelling. If it has commercial appeal, fantastic, but they're trying to find the next great writers. Not only is it an "Automatic In" to Hollywood, which can seem like Camelot surrounded by a Moat of Fire with a Spinning Bridge that only stops for Three Seconds at a random spot to let you on if you're there, before Spinning again. Some people know the guy who controls said Spinning Bridge or the Moat of Fire, but most of us don't. Winning a contest like the Nicholl brings the Bridge directly to you. And on top of that you receive $30,000 to write a script for the next year mentored by the Academy. Kind of a COOL PRIZE. Just a little bit!
I'd entered once before in 2007, and did not make it out of the first round. I mean, that year approximately 5,000 scripts entered and you had to make the top 5% to make the first cut into Quarterfinals. This year, 6,304 scripts were submitted. In late July I got the email that "Be Something" made the first cut, the Quarterfinal round of 300 scripts! That meant 6,000 scripts were rejected! I was floored, because I had submitted to other contests at the same time and it went nowhere. It was kind of an answer to prayer, in that I was very down on what I was doing with my life, if this "Writing for Hollywood" thing was really worth it. Earlier in the year I had quit the "regular white collar" job I was really unhappy with (read: I was not passionate enough about the advertising industry to deal with the craziness and overwork that was enveloping the job. In this economy no industry has gone to the crazy-making farm more than in Print Advertising. They're cutting off their nose to spite their face). I also quit to really focus my energy on my writing career. To really plunge at it so I can finally catch a break and possibly make a living off of what I'm truly passionate about and that I'm talented at (at least I think I might be). Writing, however, can be a MIND %&#$. So this news only reaffirmed that I was not talentless and perhaps I was on the right track. Excitement built.
It was to even greater shock that in late August I got the email saying, 'CONGRATULATIONS!'... the script had advanced even FURTHER into the Semifinal round, of 114 scripts! You can imagine what that did to me... it REALLY puffed me up. (My deepest apologies to anyone if it came off as boastful or arrogant. Forgive me for my sins). But, it was really exciting. And I started thinking, say it's not so, maybe I really have a shot at this thing! Maybe I can finally catch the Bridge over the Moat of Fire! Before any of the announcements I had psyched myself out to the point where I thought my script wasn't any good, but now I had confidence that it was BRILLIANT! A taste of ego! On top of that, in the letter they said (paraphrased), "With the next round, your script will be read by Four Members of the Academy, each from a different branch!" (There are branches of the academy if you need to know more about the Academy go here. In another post someday I will talk about my obsession with the Oscars when I was a kid. Not the show. I really thought the actual Awards were the HIGHEST OF ALL HONORS EVER.) People who vote for the Academy Awards were going to read my script! Four of them! Wow, did I let expectations and Allusions of Grandeur really build up...
...Cuz, like a clock, the end of September came suddenly, and nearly 30 days to the hour I got the "Dear J. Nicholas, We're sorry to inform you..." email. It was disappointing, but not terrible. It was to be expected. Only 10 finalists advance, for crying out loud! Only 5 of them actually win! My script was within the top 2% of all scripts that advanced! The finalists were then mentioned in all Hollywood trades (Variety, THR, etc.) and every single screenwriting blog I read on a daily basis (Thanks for rubbing it in my face!). But, it's all SO subjective. A thing a wannabe writer must learn early in this carreer is that no matter how good your script might be, it's not gonna be for everyone. Some people like the Jackass franchise and I just DON'T GET the appeal (I refuse to extrapolate further). Besides, at that point in the competition you could only really advance to the final round if EVERY one of your randomly (key word "randomly") selected Four Academy Members LOVED it. I'd love to know how many barely missed the cut. I'd love to know if mine was closer to #11 or #114.
I should also explain one other thing. As prestigious as the Nicholl is, it has a "tainted" history amongst the jaded coalition of nearly all screenwriters in Hollywood for being too stodgy. There's a stigma on the Academy for being "old" and "pretentious". A majority of the Winning scripts from the past have been what we like to call "Indie Character Dramas", similar to what is successful at Sundance. Many of these scripts are never made into films because they tend to lack marketability. Again though, the purpose of this competition is to find great writing and storytelling, not commercial value. The only ones I can think of that actually got made into movies are "Akeelah and the Bee", "Finding Forrester", and "Arlington Road" (the first two most in sync with the Academy's love for "Indie Character Dramas". I think they must use "Dead Poets Society" as a model. Yes I love that film. I'm just saying), with "Butter" and "Season of the Witch" due out in the next year. I should note that many successful screenwriters including Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3, Little Miss Sunshine), Damon Lindeloff (Lost), Melissa Rosenberg (Twilight Saga, Dexter), and Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad) were only ever just "Nicholl Semifinalists". So that leads me to...
A week after I found out my fate within the competition I started to receive TONS of emails from Production and Management companies seeking interest in "Be Something". That's how serious companies take this thing! The Academy actually forwards a contact list of the Semifinalists and Quarterfinalists to over 200 companies. Managers especially are always interested in "finding the next great script". The Nicholl helps these companies, in that they know that to advance this far, the script has to have been pretty good. So, thus began the first time I have submitted a script to seek Representation and/or Production. The excitement was almost too much, because it was a lot of work. The un-fun kind of work. The kind where you have to act like a "salesman" and "beggar". If I wanted to be a businessman, I would have gone to Business School! But, I got through it, and am still sending to others who didn't request it, but hope they'll consider it.
And now, the worst part of the process
.....................THE WAITING............................
It wouldn't be as torturous, if I was employed (technically I'm "In Between Temp Assignments"). But the doubt has crept back in. I cannot complain though! I just have to be patient. Because, as I've been reassured, this is fantastic! I know that all the pain and tears and muck and mire of trying to become a working screenwriter, maybe even the rare "successful" one, will have been worth it.
Not to mention, soon my name and script title will posted on the Nicholl's website along with the other Semifinalists and Quarterfinalists! Cool! Now I'll be worthy to be Googleable!
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