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2017 Academy Nicholl Fellowships Top

50 Screenplays
ACADEMY NICHOLL FELLOWSHIPS IN SCREENWRITING · THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017

Standing above the 7,102 submissions received from 78 countries, these 50 scripts represent
the best work from emerging writers.

The top 50 screenplays include those written by the fellowship winners, the finalists and the
upper ranks of the semifinalists. In order to reach the top 50, scripts received at least 8
scores averaging 83 or higher (of 100) from 6 professional readers and 4 Academy member
judges. Drawn from a variety of branches, this year the member judges included 49 Academy
Award winners or nominees.

The Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting is an annual competition at the Academy

of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In awarding up to five $35,000 Fellowships each year,
the Academy Nicholl competition strives to identify and encourage talented screenwriters at
the beginning of their careers. To be eligible for the competition, an entrant cannot have
earned more than $25,000 for lifetime screen and television writing. For more information
about the Academy Nicholl Fellowships, visitwww.oscars.org/nicholl or email
nicholl@oscars.org.

Each grouping of scripts below is listed in alphabetical order by last name.

2017 Academy Nicholl Fellows

Vigil Chime

Bring Back Girl

Action, Drama

A 14-year old girl kidnapped by human traffickers and sold as a child bride plots her escape,
even as her father, a hunter, lets nothing stand in his way in his pursuit to recover her.

SJ Inwards

Jellyfish Summer

Drama, Historical/Period, Science Fiction

A young black girl's family in 1960s Mississippi decides to harbor two human-looking

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refugees who have mysteriously fallen from the sky.

Max Lance and Jen Bailey

The Queen of Sleaze

Drama, Comedy, Dark, True Story

When the most notorious woman in publishing history decides to legitimize her reputation,
Judith Regan, aka the Queen of Sleaze, must get O.J. Simpson to confess to murdering his
wife in a book deal and TV interview.

KG Rockmaker

Last Days of Winter

Thriller, Crime/Noir

When a notorious hitwoman from Detroit’s gritty east side takes on one last job before
having a baby, she becomes entangled with a crooked homicide detective who wants her to
take out his wife.

Cesar Vitale

The Great Nothing

Drama

In order to sustain his heroin addiction, a terminally ill professor of nihilism takes on the job
of doing homework assignments for a colleague's daughter who's herself struggling with grief
in the wake of her mother's sudden death.

2017 Academy Nicholl Finalists

Donn Kennedy

Roll the Bones

Thriller, Crime/Noir, Drama

A series of river killings plague a small Wisconsin town. Two young Sheriff Deputies must

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unravel the case, before it unravels them. True Detective meets Prisoners.

Sharon Walker

The Cutting Season

Drama

Chased by their families and with little money, 3 young girls aged 8, 11 & 13, are forced to
make a dangerous 600km journey alone through rural Tanzania, across the Serengeti
National Park, to try & reach a women's refuge & avoid having to undergo female genital
mutilation during The Cutting Season.

Lillian Wang

P.O. Box 1142

Drama, Historical/Period

Inspired by true, historical events, P.O. Box 1142 is about a Jewish interrogator stationed in a
U.S. Nazi POW camp who learns that she must extract information from the high-ranking
Nazi responsible for the death of her parents.

Michael A. Wright

Still Life

Drama, Coming of Age

An awkward loner seeks purpose and forgiveness after a video he shoots goes viral and
causes a family tragedy.

Chris Ryan Yeazel

The Savage

Drama, Historical/Period

The incredible true story behind one of America’s founding myths. After being kidnapped

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from his lands as a child, the Patuxet Indian Squanto spends his life fighting impossible odds
to return home, setting in motion a series of events that changes the course of history.

2017 Top 40 Academy Nicholl Semifinalists

(in alphabetical order)

Sylvia Batey Alcalá

Suicide Run

Drama, Comedy, Dark, Romantic, Sports

While training for a grueling 125-mile race, a distance runner is sidelined by injury, leaving
her to confront what she cannot outrun: her debilitating mental illness.

David E. Baugnon

Trip

Drama

When a disillusioned pre-med student convinces his terminally ill mother to try magic
mushrooms with him to deal with her end of life anxiety, then they spend the day tripping
and exploring New Orleans.

Varun Bhuchar

The Descent

Drama, Adventure, Historical/Period

An overweight man with numerous health problems and a bitter paraplegic must work
together to get out of the North Tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11.

Shannon Blatt

Blood Angel

Drama, Adventure, Historical/Period, True Story, Biopic

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Maverick explorer John Rae journeys to the Arctic in search of the lost Franklin Expedition,
only to return with news that Victorian England is unwilling to hear.

Alexander Davidson

Crossfire

Drama, Thriller

The investigation of the events leading up to and following a white police officer shooting and
killing an unarmed black teen challenges preconceptions, undermines profiles and leaves
lives forever changed in this ensemble crime mystery.

Theresa Drew

Give Me a Reason

Comedy, Coming of Age, Drama

When a suicidal woman gets diagnosed with Cancer and decides not to treat it, her Type-A
oncologist is determined to give her a reason to live.

Daniel Druhora

Marjan

Adventure, Action, Coming of Age, War

After losing the last of her family in the ashes of the Syrian civil war, a mute girl joins forces
with the ferocious Marjan, the last lion of Damascus, to avenge her father’s death from the
sanctuary of the zoo that has become her fortress and her home.

Liam Durcan

Morningstar

Drama, Historical/Period, Thriller, War

Set in Russia during the Great Terror of 1938, a young dentist is unexpectedly chosen to tend

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to Stalin and becomes embroiled in the tyrant’s delusions and his own ambitions

Matthew K. Firpo and Ryan Firpo

Ruin

War, Drama, Historical/Period, Thriller, Violent, Modern Western

Withheld by writers.

Dave Florez

The Postmaster of Wincanton

Comedy, Action/Adventure, Drama, True Story, War

A mailman from Wincanton, England, hires a coach to rescue refugee families from war-torn
Bosnia. He and his motley crew overcome resistance from the local politician, angry border
guards and some seriously dicey driving to save the families – only to find that they have left
a child behind.

Melissa Fonzino

And They Lived...

Drama, Romantic

With their marriage in trouble, Holden and Chloe Parrish turn to Bliss, a revolutionary
medication designed to sustain lifelong love. But can happily ever after really be guaranteed,
or is that just wishful thinking?

Aaron Galvin

The Grave of Lainey Grace

Drama, Coming of Age, Family/Kids, Fantasy

Every year, when the last leaf of summer falls, roses are laid at the grave of Lainey Grace.
Nobody knows who sneaks the roses into the cemetery though until Briar Ann Wade takes on

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the mystery. In discovering the answer, Briar learns grief and love take many forms…and
there is healing in both.

Connor Gaston

Litter

Drama, Coming of Age

In the heart of the backwoods where laws are created from legend, Tongue, a fasting-talking
10-year-old tomboy, uncovers the twisted secret behind the town’s dog-killing order. When
Tongue accidentally catches a stray in her hunting snare, she vows to protect it, putting her
own life at risk.

Liz Gilbert

Lovely

Adventure, Action, Drama, Family/Kids, Fantasy

When a mute Chinese girl steals her neighbor’s Vespa she becomes a caped crusader through
the streets of London as she helps senior citizens make their bucket list wishes come true.

Hal Haberman

Frankie & Bob

Drama, Comedy, Coming of Age, Dark, Romantic

When sixteen year old Frankie is abandoned by her mother, she befriends a downtrodden
California Black Bear.

Lukas Hassel

Le Mécano

Drama, LGBT, Violent

Haunted by the public lynching of a gay youth, a quiet mechanic leaves his family and travels

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to Paris on a journey of self-discovery, redemption and heroic sacrifice.

Andrea Janakas

Tiger and the Lion

Drama, Sports, True Story

Navigating race and religion in present day America, Hamzah Aljahmi, a young Yemeni
boxer, and Anthony “Tiger” Taylor, his African-American competitor, find themselves close
to achieving their dreams until one fatal night.

Dominique Johnson

Getting Over You

Drama, Thriller, Psychological

A woman’s obsessiveness over her ex leads her down a social media rabbit hole where she
tries to solve the case of a missing woman, slowly becoming engrossed in the woman’s life.

Lisa Joyce and Baz Hatfield

Treehuggers

Comedy, Coming of Age, Drama, Romantic, Supernatural, Magical Realism

A plant-loving loner leaves her stagnant life in the city when she inherits a maple syrup farm
and becomes an unwitting protector for a grove of trees with mysterious sensual powers.

Max Kaplow

Sons of Havana

Drama, Action, Sports, Thriller

Two impoverished brothers are the best baseball players in 1990's Cuba, but when the older
brother defects for a life of stardom in the major leagues it sparks a chain reaction of
consequences testing their love of family, country, and the game.

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Caroline Keene

My Name is Lorena Weeks

Drama, Historical/Period, True Story, Biopic

Set during the tumultuous 1960s, this is the true story of how a married, blue collar mom
from rural Georgia—who’d never even considered herself a feminist before—ended up suing
AT&T in a landmark sexual discrimination case and, in the process, changed history for every
woman in this country.

Matthew King

DownTown

Adventure, Action, Comedy, Thriller

1991. A Graffiti Crew witness a murder in the New York Subway Tunnels. They must run for
their lives through the upside down wierdness of the New York underground, and perhaps
find the secret of Lucky Luciano's lost treasure.

Helen Kingston

The Flood

Drama

A troubled British immigration officer decides the fate of a dangerous asylum seeker.

Cybele Knowles and Laura C.J. Owen

The King of California

Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Comedy

When misanthropic 19-year-old Maud accidentally invokes a warrior king from a fantasy
realm, the two take an immediate dislike to each other. But when an ancient evil threatens all
of Los Angeles -- including Maud’s treasured cat Pumpkin -- she and the king must team up
to save the day.

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Patrick Mahon

Engram

Science Fiction, Crime/Noir, Thriller

In the near future, when forensic Memory Detectives solve murders by accessing the victim's
engrams, veteran Mem-Dec MAX NOVAX ingests evidence that the ENGRAM Corporation
he works for is built upon a lie and must expose the dark truth before his corrupt superiors
wipe his own memory clean, forever.

Bret Paris

The Sun Also Sets

Drama, Historical/Period, True Story

Ernest Hemingway wrote of heroes, never really knowing one until he met Ore Paris. A
common man with uncommon virtues. At the twilight of their lives they struggle to find the
meaning of life.

John J. Perez

Reluctant Dragons

Drama, Historical/Period, True Story

In 1941 everything was going well for Art Babbitt, a high paid animator at Walt Disney
Studios. After realizing he’s enjoying the high life at the expense of less fortunate artists, Art
leads a labor strike for higher wages against the big cheese himself, Walt Disney. Based on
true events.

Tim Plaehn

The Reconstruction of Huck Finn (Over Mark Twain's Dead Body!)

Comedy, Adventure, Coming of Age, Historical/Period

A white teenager insults her black English teacher about his handling of Huck Finn, but then

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finds herself trapped in the story itself, floating down the Mississippi with her teacher—who’s
forced to play the role of Jim. Now they must find a way home as they face off with folksy
Mark Twain!

Gabriela Quiroz and Noah Campbell Smith

Naira

Drama, Magical Realism

A young girl seeks a mystical transformation into a condor to save her mother from illness
and escape their impoverished village in the Peruvian Andes.

Robert Riley

The Man From the Deep

Action, Dark, Drama, Historical/Period, Thriller, War

When a child evacuee ship is sunk by a u-boat during the advent of World War II, one of the
surviving crew members is sent on a vicious, vengeance-fueled quest to find the man
responsible for the atrocity.

Andrew Ruiz

Mr. Twain and Collins

Drama, Adventure, Comedy, Historical/Period, True Story

When Mark Twain, America’s most famous writer, is invited to Oxford University, he sees an
opportunity for one last grand adventure. The nebbish young man he selects to accompany
him, however, couldn’t possibly be less suited to the task of keeping the old man in line.
Based on a true story.

Matt Russell

Great North

Drama, Dark, Thriller

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In the aftermath of tragedy in a small New England town, an unlikely bond is forged between
a high school hockey player and a grieving father. As truths are exposed, the line between
right and wrong is blurred and the road to redemption becomes a twisted one.

Erin Sanger

Girl Show

Drama, Coming of Age

In 1970's rural Oklahoma, a quiet small town girl is seduced into the world of carnival
stripping and discovers unexpected liberation.

Kern Saxton and Daniel Murphy

Stanley Kubrick's Moonshot Odyssey

Drama, Comedy, Historical/Period, Thriller, Conspiracy Theory

Legendary film director Stanley Kubrick is coerced into faking the first Apollo moon landing
during the production of his masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Alex Simon

Baron of Havana

War, Drama, Historical/Period, Violent

In the waning days of his career, movie star Errol Flynn travels to Cuba as a celebrity
correspondent for the Hearst Newspapers to cover the Cuban Revolution. Once there, he is
embedded with Fidel Castro and his 26th of July rebels, where the two men form a bond.

Alexandra Skarsgard

Power Chord

Drama, Comedy, Coming of Age

A withdrawn, intensely motivated teenage violinist forms an unlikely friendship with her

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high school's answer to Mick Jagger, and learns some lessons in music and life as she
becomes seduced by the world of rock n' roll.

T.A. Snyder

The Volunteer

Drama, Historical/Period, True Story, War

In this true story of Auschwitz Prisoner #4859, one soldier accepts a covert mission to rescue
his men, and in the process, struggles to alert the world that the the largest mass murder in
history is being committed.

Renee Stock

Goldfish and Minotaur

Drama, Historical/Period

The story of the fifty-year friendship and rivalry of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.

Eve Symington and Robin Zamora

Californianas

Drama, Coming of Age

A feisty, ocean-loving, undocumented high school girl’s life is upended when her mother is
picked up in an immigration raid. Forced to parent her little brother, keep her grades up, and
scrape together the money for her mother’s bail, she struggles to preserve her dreams of
going to college.

Brett Treacy and Dan Woodward

Trapline

Drama, Coming of Age, Dark, Thriller, Violent

A captive boy’s lifestyle is upended when his abductor asks for his help kidnapping a second

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child.

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