Nicholl Fellowships 2007 – Winners

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that seven new screenwriters have won the 22nd Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. Each writer or writing team will receive a $30,000 prize, the first installment of which will be distributed at a gala dinner at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills next Thursday, Nov. 15. Academy Award-nominated writer-director Phil Robinson, whose 1989 drama Field of Dreams received a best picture nod, will deliver the keynote address.

This year's winners are (listed alphabetically by author):

Amy Garcia, Manteca, California and Cecilia Contreras, Pleasanton, California, "Amelia Earhart and the Bologna Rainbow Highway"
Michael L. Hare, Moorpark, California, "The Fly Fisher"
Sidney King, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, "Kalona"
David Mango, Japan and Syracuse, New York, "Kissing a Suicide Bomber"
Andrew Shearer and Nicholas J. Sherman, Los Angeles, California, "Holy Irresistible"

The winners were selected from among 5,050 entries. As per the Academy's press release, the competition is open to anyone who has never "sold or optioned a screenplay or teleplay for more than $5,000 or received a fellowship or prize that includes a 'first look' clause, an option, or any other quid pro quo involving the writer's work."

Additionally, the fellowship recipients must complete a feature-length screenplay during the fellowship year. (The Academy claims no rights to the fellows' works and does not involve itself commercially with their completed scripts.)

Final judging of the competition was conducted by the Nicholl Committee, chaired by writer and 1992 Nicholl fellow Susannah Grant. Also in the Committee were writers Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, Hal Kanter, Dan Petrie, Jr., and Dana Stevens; cinematographers John Bailey and Steven Poster; executive Bill Mechanic; producers Gale Anne Hurd, David Nicksay, Robert Shapiro, and Buffy Shutt; and agent Ron Mardigian.

Since the program's inception in 1985, 103 fellowships have been awarded.