Interviews with 44 Nicholl Fellowship Screenwriting Winners
My in-depth conversations with every Nicholl recipient since 2012.
Interviews with 64 Nicholl Fellowship Screenwriting Winners
My in-depth conversations with every Nicholl recipient since 2012.
The Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition is the most important of all screenplay contests. Founded in 1986, it is administered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and previous winners have included Allison Anders, Susannah Grant, Ehren Kruger, Michael A. Rich, and many others who have gone on to careers in the film and television business.
Since 2012, I have made it a point to seek out each year’s Nicholl winners for interviews. Why? Two reasons. First, to analyze their winning script and creative process to see what we, as writers, can learn from them. Second, to get a snapshot of writers at the front end of their professional careers. While I definitely enjoy interviewing established writers, there is something unique about catching a writer as they transition from aspiring to working writer.
Here are links to interviews I have conducted with 64 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners including all of them from 2012–2024:
2010
2012
Nikole Beckwith
Sean Robert Daniels
James DiLapo
Allan Durand
Michael Werwie
2013
Frank DeJohn & David Alton Hedges
Patty Jones
Alan Roth
Stephanie Shannon
Barbara Stepansky
2014
Sam Baron
Alisha Brophy & Scott Miles
Melissa Iqbal
Sallie West
2015
Elizabeth Chomko
Andrew Friedhof
Anthony Grieco
Sam Regnier
Amy Tofte
2016
Michele Atkins
Spencer Harvey and Lloyd Harvey
Geeta Malik
Elizabeth Oyebode
Justin Piasecki
2017
Jen Bailey and Max Lance
Vigil Chime
Kristen Gray-Rockmaker
Sarah Jane Inwards
Cesar Vitale
2018
Allison and Nicholas Buckmelter
Joey Clarke, Jr.
Grace Sherman
Wenonah Wilms
2019
Aaron Chung
Sean Malcolm
Karen McDermott
Walker McKnight
Renee Pillai
2020
James Acker
Beth Curry
Vanar Jaddou
Kate Marks
Jane Therese
2021
Haley Bartels
Karin delaPeña Collison
Byron Hamel
Daniel Hanna
Laura Kosann
2022
Jennifer Archer
Callie Bloem and Christopher Ewing
Sam Boyer
Jonathan Levine
Tim Ware-Hill
2023
Brent Delaney
Harris McCabeJimmy Millerc. Craig PattersonKayla Sun
2024
Alysha Chan and David ZarifColton ChildsCharmaine ColinaWard KamelWendy Britton Young
If you are an aspiring screenwriter, there is a lot of wisdom in these interviews. Read them. Learn from them.
In the meantime…
Keep writing.
Learn more about the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting here. The deadline to enter this year is May 1.