Nine individual screenwriters and one writing team have been selected for the competition. The Academy Nicholl Fellowships Committee will now read and judge the screenplays and may award up to five of the $35,000 fellowships.

This year’s finalists are listed alphabetically by author are:

Nikole Beckwith, New York City, New York for Stockholm, Pennsylvania;

Ryan Belenzon & Jeffrey Gelber, Los Angeles and Sherman Oaks, California, X;

Robert Carter, Red Bank, New Jersey, A.W.O.L.;

Sean Robert Daniels, Laezonia, Gauteng, South Africa, Killers;

James DiLapo, New York City, New York, Devils At Play;

Allan Durand, Lafayette, Louisiana, Willie Francis Must Die Again;

Laurel Minter, Seattle, Washington, When Thunder Sleeps;

Bob Roden, Berkeley, California, Return of the Dipsticks;

April Rouveyrol, Glendale, California – Life Copy; and

Michael Werwie, Los Angeles, California – Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, And Vile.

The finalists were selected from a record 7,197 script submissions for this year’s competition. This is the first time an entry from South Africa has advanced to the finals.

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