nofilmschool » academy

Time's Up, Pencils Down: 2013 Academy Nicholl Fellowships Final Deadline is May 1

Christopher Boone — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:17:05 +0000

By now, if you’re planning on submitting a screenplay to the Academy Nicholl Fellowships, hopefully you’ve already done so. If not, your time to submit is quickly dwindling. The final deadline for the 2013 Academy Nicholl Fellowships is 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time, Wed. May 1, but don’t wait until the last minute. Get your screenplay submitted now so you’re not freaking out about whether your submission made it into the system on time. Check out the details on how to submit below. (more…)

Finish That Rewrite: 2013 Academy Nicholl Fellowships Regular Deadline is April 10

Christopher Boone — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:28:05 +0000

This is a combination PSA/light a fire under your a** post to make sure you are writing, rewriting, and rewriting some more to get your screenplay ready for the Academy Nicholl Fellowships regular deadline of Apr. 10. I’ll be honest, my latest script will not be ready by that deadline (needs a little more seasoning – okay, a lot more seasoning), but if you’ve been diligent, hopefully your script will be ready. Otherwise, it will cost you another fifteen bucks for the late deadline on May 1. Check out current stats on this year’s competition and details on how to apply below. (more…)

The Nine-Year Overnight Success Story of the 'Olympus Has Fallen' Screenwriters

Christopher Boone — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 16:29:00 +0000

Working on the outside looking in when you are an aspiring screenwriter can be a grind. Certainly, there are moments when you may wonder if you are making progress toward your ultimate goal of getting a screenplay turned into a feature film. If you don’t put in the hours on your writing, however, your craft will never rise to the level necessary to make a sale or get a greenlight. Those hours, in the case of screenwriter Creighton Rothenberger, started at 4 a.m. before his corporate job for several years until 2002 when he won the Academy Nicholl Fellowship. After conceiving Olympus Has Fallen in 2003 and writing it with his wife, Katrin Benedikt, this screenwriting duo spent another nine years writing specs before selling this particular script in 2012 and seeing it hit the big screen last weekend. Watch them tell their story below. (more…)

'Beasts of the Southern Wild' Surprises with 4 Oscar Nods, and is This the Last Major Year for Celluloid?

Joe Marine — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 02:05:39 +0000

It’s that time of year again, when Hollywood nominates the ~~films that ran the best Oscar campaigns~~ best films from the previous year in a number of categories. Even just being nominated for an Academy Award is usually an honor for most of these filmmakers and actors, and many of them have been on the ballot a number of times. Probably the most interesting selection is Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, a true independent film not just in budget but in spirit, which was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and the youngest Best Actress nomination ever in Quvenzhané Wallis. What’s even more interesting is how many of these films were still shot on actual film, but how long will that last? (more…)

'The hardest part is dealing with failure' - Academy Screenwriters Discuss Their Craft

E.M. Taboada — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 18:21:51 +0000

What are the highs and lows of being a screenwriter? What kind of misconceptions do people have about screenwriting? How do you find your voice in an assignment or get through writer’s block? Academy screenwriters offer their views on these questions and more in this interesting six part video-series at the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences website. With screenwriters like John August (Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Body Heat), and Marc Norman (Shakespeare in Love) sharing their thoughts, there’s lots of great food for thought: (more…)

Get Industry Attention with the 2012 Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships and Two Other Competitions

Joe Marine — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:55:45 +0000

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is kind of a big deal – and if you’ve never heard of the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships, it’s a life-changing opportunity to write a script and win a grant. We’ve also go two other fantastic opportunities for script writers: Scriptapalooza and the Nantucket Film Festival Showtime Tony Cox Screenplay Competition. That’s a mouthful, but let’s see what’s so special about these competitions. (more…)