Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

1. An entrant’s total earnings for motion picture and television writing may not exceed US$5,000 before the end of the competition. This limit applies to compensation for motion picture and television writing services as well as for the sale of (or sale of an option on) screenplays, teleplays, stage plays, books, treatments, stories, premises and any other source material.

   Entrants may not have received screenwriting fellowships or prizes totaling more than US$5,000 that include a "first look" clause, an option or any other quid pro quo involving the writer’s work.

   Entrants must be 18 years or older at the time of entry to participate. 

2. Members and employees of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and their immediate families are not eligible, nor are competition judges and their immediate families.

3. Entrants must register an online account through the Nicholl website (www.oscars.org/nicholl) and submit:

   1. A completed application form.

   2. One copy of an original feature film screenplay, approximately 90–120 pages in length, in PDF format. Submissions must have been written originally in English; translations will not be accepted.

      Submissions must be the original work of the entrant(s) and may not be based, in whole or in part, on any other fiction or nonfiction material, published or unpublished, produced or unproduced. Entries may, however, be adapted from the entrant’s (or entrants’) original work, which should be noted in the log line required on the application form. Entries lacking a log line on the application form will be disqualified.

      If the script is based on a true story, historical or contemporary, that fact should appear on the title page and noted in the online application form (i.e., “based on a true story”).

      Collaborative work by two writers who share equally in its creation is eligible. Collaborative work where one writer developed the idea and another writer wrote the screenplay is not eligible. Collaborative work by three or more writers is not eligible. The collaborator’s name must be added during the application process. Writing partners selected as fellows will divide the fellowship stipend equally.

      The entrant’s name, address, phone number or any other identifying information should not appear on the title page or any other page of the script. Placing a Library of Congress or WGA registration number on the title page is acceptable but not required.

   3. A single entry fee per script entry paid via credit card. Entry fees will not be returned or adjusted.

4. Submissions for the 2012 fellowships must be uploaded and paid no later than 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on May 1, 2012. Applications will be accepted by electronic upload only via accounts registered at the Nicholl website. Submitted scripts will not be returned.
5. The final selection of fellowship winners will be made by the Nicholl Committee.
6. Only one copy, draft or version of any screenplay may be submitted by an entrant or entrants. Under no circumstances will substitutions of either corrected pages or new drafts of the entry screenplays be allowed. An entrant may submit a maximum of three screenplays in the current competition.
7. By October 2012, writers of screenplays that advance to the final round will be asked to write a letter to the Nicholl Committee, giving the committee some idea of the writer’s personal and professional interests should he or she receive a fellowship.
8. Nicholl Fellowships may not be held concurrently with other fellowships or any other similar award, or while completing a formal course of study. The fellowship year may be deferred to allow a student winner to complete his or her education.
9. Nicholl fellows agree to furnish the Academy with a copy of the screenplay(s) written during the fellowship year. The Academy acquires no rights to the work (or to the entry script) and will not participate in its marketing or in any other aspects of its commercial future.
10. A complete entry includes a single copy of a script in PDF format, a completed online application form and an entry fee. All entries must be submitted via an online account.

    Nicholl Fellowships
    The Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study
    Hollywood, California
    (310) 247-3010
    nicholl@oscars.org
    www.oscars.org/nicholl

By entering, you attest:

1. To the accuracy of the information supplied in this application.
2. That the material submitted is my (our) sole and original work.
3. To my (our) agreement to hold the Academy Foundation and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences harmless from, and defend them against, all claims, demands, losses, costs, damages, judgments, liabilities and expenses (including attorney’s fees) arising out of or in connection with any stories submitted to the Nicholl Fellowships competition or on any screenplay developed out of such stories.
4. That the Academy Foundation may retain the material submitted for use in connection with its Nicholl Fellowships deliberations, and thereafter for its archival collection of educational materials, as to which use I (we) expressly waive compensation.
5. That the burden of obtaining copyright or otherwise protecting any proprietary interests in the material, if I (we) wish to do so, rests entirely with me (us).
6. To my (our) understanding of the purposes and conditions of the Nicholl Fellowships and to my (our) acceptance of them should I (we) be selected as a Nicholl Fellow.
7. That I am (we are) eligible for the competition, and that I (we) will notify the Academy Foundation if I (we) become ineligible prior to the conclusion of the competition.
8. That providing false or misleading information on this application, or failing in any other way to comply with the rules of the competition, will subject me (us) to disqualification, forfeiture of prize money and/or other penalties.