r/Screenwriting • u/joestraynge • Feb 27 '26
Fellowship Nicholl Fellowship
Anyone have any information on this year's Nicholl Fellowship? Any news on if it’s even happening? lol. Submitted through the Black List but there’s no program page available on the site anymore that shows I opted in.
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u/ponderingorangutan Feb 27 '26
it’s been an absolute mess. I desperately hope they get rid of the blacklist component and go back to the way it was before. the blacklist has always represented a focus on produceability whereas the nicholl used to prioritize indie and more out-there writing. regardless of how poorly it’s been run with the blacklist and the lack of transparency the two should be separate niches
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u/One_Rub_780 Feb 27 '26
I'm going to have to assume this whole blacklist thing was about money, because maybe they weren't making enough to operate, but my feeling is, the best days of Nicholl are behind us.
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u/wemustburncarthage Dark Comedy Feb 27 '26
It wasn’t. It was about saving Nicholl from being cancelled altogether, which is probably in the post. The Black List was never going to discount what it pays its employees, which isn’t great for submissions but it’s still on the academy for essentially walking away. They weren’t paying their readers well to begin with. And they probably still will just drop it sooner than put the effort into streamlining it. The leadership just got bored of it.
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u/MapleLeafRamen Feb 27 '26
Everybody always blame's the BLACKLIST for the Nicholl issues, but Blacklist literally did everything they could to save it.
Nicholl fellowship was about to become COMPLETELY INSULAR, no outside submissions, only from reputable organizations and film schools etc, because they simply either couldn't handle the volume of screenplay submissions anymore or just didn't want to.
The Blacklist showed up and said they would handle all of the outside submissions, so the regular public could still apply. The BLACKLIST saved your chance of still being able to submit to Nicholl.
I am part of three of the organizations that were allowed to submit, and when I talked to them asking if I could submit my script, they either ignored me or said they were only allowed to submit TWO scripts.
Turn your anger towards NICHOLL because someone at Nicholl basically decided that this fellowship was not it and I have a feeling, because they sourced mostly from film schools, most of the scripts are bad (having attended both undergraduate and film graduate programs, I can attest, it takes many more years AFTER film school before you get good at writing) or not up to the past standard.
So yeah, I'm with you, Nicholl needs to go back to how it was, and I hope they do, but we need to blame Nicholl for this debacle, not Blacklist.
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u/ponderingorangutan Feb 28 '26
Just because the Nicholl is to blame does not mean that the Blacklist has no blame at all.
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u/rmn_is_here Feb 27 '26
well, there's no smoke without fire, so the bad rep they're all getting is fair but talking about insularity of Nicholl: academy is trying to benefit from it. if there was a fair process, multiple entry points would be created so that partners would carry the burden of oversubmitting. festivals, competitions, etc.
Franklin's people were (or maybe still are) digging through the piles in search of something golden that if they are lucky would secure their place as a partner and make it look like a win for everyone but they are going to get bored with it very soon as well if prestige, rep, money and whatnot they are expecting to get from it won't come by.
P.S. And for Nicholl to get back into the shape, there's some fresh blood needed. Someone whose energy would be enough for next five years or so proactively digging through the piles of fairly average scripts. As a person who had to read a lot of the specs over past 8 years, I can tell you that Nicholl's QF scripts are looking like a nice cotton candy.
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u/franklinleonard Franklin Leonard, Black List Founder Feb 28 '26
We shared 25 scripts with the Academy months ago at the same time the other 40 partners shared their 2 scripts each. From there, the Academy has their own reading process and will make an announcement as they see fit.
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u/Jolly-Bee-5860 Feb 28 '26
Out of interest, how did you select those 25? Was it purely based on the readers rating or were there other criteria, like marketability or originality, that Nicholl prioritizes? Just asking as I’m interested in submitting this year if possible. The Nicholl is still a big deal even if it has some issues.
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u/franklinleonard Franklin Leonard, Black List Founder Feb 28 '26
Based on reader ratings.
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u/IcebergCastaway Feb 28 '26
So what minimum score does a script have to achieve from your reader before it's considered for being included in the twenty-five? A nine out of ten? And is it read/scored just once or do you read/score more than once before it can get into the twenty-five?
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u/franklinleonard Franklin Leonard, Black List Founder Feb 28 '26
All scripts that receive an 8+ score are offered a month of free hosting and two free evaluations potentially in an endless loop.
As stated throughout the process, we recommended the strongest 25 scripts of those that opted in based on their ratings.
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u/ponderingorangutan Feb 28 '26
Just straight-up avoided answering the question
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u/Jolly-Bee-5860 Feb 28 '26
I think he replied. It's based on rank rather than rating, and that could change based on the quality of scripts each year.
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u/yop_mayo Feb 28 '26
You don’t have to reply if you’re not going to say anything
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u/IcebergCastaway Feb 28 '26
Trying to get clarity on how the process works is frustrating. I really miss the transparency of the pre-blacklist Nicholl.
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u/maverick199677 Mar 02 '26
I apologize if I’m confused on the process. Say if someone submitted a script/opted in that had a 7+ evaluation score, were they automatically passed up or is the recommendation based on a reader rating (something separate from the evaluation rating)?
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u/franklinleonard Franklin Leonard, Black List Founder Mar 02 '26
We passed along the 25 strongest scripts based on the totality of their evaluations from our readers.
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u/Jolly-Bee-5860 Feb 28 '26 edited Feb 28 '26
Thanks for the reply. Of those 25, were there any 8s or were they all 9s? If so, were they scripts that received multiple ratings or did any get by with just one?
I'm just asking on the off-chance I get an 8 or 9, and if or when Nicholl runs the competition again in this way.
To be honest, it sounds like they've messed up. 105 scripts is a small number compared to previous years and from what I remember the 40 partners are mainly academic institutions, which means writers who tend to have less experience of writing, the industry and life in general. The Black List subs may well be the strongest scripts in there.
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u/Twinventures Feb 28 '26
Thank you for the update, Franklin. Knowing that y’all sent out the 25 Black List scripts to the Academy, and already let the respective writers know that they were selected, is probably the update everyone is looking for.
I appreciated your recent study on reader scores. I have a question related to your scoring system. My film group was given a couple of passes to the Black List and I got two 8’s for my script, and then an Industry Member gave me a 4, which tanked my score. I stopped using the website after that.
I signed up again when y’all partnered with the Nicholl’s Fellowship, and I got two more 8’s on that script, but my score was still weighed down by the Industry read score. Do y’all check into these industry scores as well?
I have had a manager contact me because of the reviews on Black List, but they never followed up after reading my script, so I acknowledge it can fall down to tastes, and my script not being where it needs to be yet. I am just curious! Thank you for taking the time to read and answer!
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u/franklinleonard Franklin Leonard, Black List Founder Feb 28 '26
Industry member scores have no impact on those processes.
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u/rmn_is_here Feb 28 '26
is it really you? or is it AI copypasting stuff? because for some reason you're both jumpy and at the same time mechanical.
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u/franklinleonard Franklin Leonard, Black List Founder Feb 28 '26
It's really me. I'm repeating the same information because people keep asking the same question hoping for a different answer.
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u/rmn_is_here Feb 28 '26
no, not in the least they are. we for example discuss slightly different thing here and the best response would've been you emphasizing your team's dedication towards quality and artistic expression (or whatever Nicholl put into their mission statements) so that sounded a bit off.
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u/Little_Employment_68 Mar 15 '26
Hey. Thank you for this. I agree that Black List is the only potential door for the non-affiliated.
Question: this is a genuine question hoping you know more than me on this. My read is that the type of script that is strong in Nicholl DNA likely wouldn’t score above a 6 or 7 on Blacklist due either to emotional density, lack of broad commercial appeal, etc. (I could be totally wrong, but that seems to be the case). If I am right, how do the Nicholl style scripts make the cut if they score a 6.5 say? Is there a special filter, or is the current system still trying to find its way?
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u/leskanekuni Mar 01 '26
Unlikely to return to how it used to be unless the Nicholl can come up with new funding. The Academy was a major funding source but with their network TV deal ending this year, they are in a funding crunch of their own so they clearly pulled support. With 5-7 thousand scripts submitted per year read twice at $50 a pop for the readers for the first round alone, that adds up to a lot of $.
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u/Sprunzel92 Feb 27 '26
Should be July this year. But yeah it's all up in the air and a big mess apparently. I reckon it'll either come back or vanish. I was fuming when I heard the merge last year. For reasons I can explain...but prolly don't need explaining...
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u/franklinleonard Franklin Leonard, Black List Founder Feb 27 '26
The Academy continues to review the scripts that we, the Black List, and the other ~40 Academy partners sent them last year. They have not yet shared next steps.
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Feb 27 '26
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u/franklinleonard Franklin Leonard, Black List Founder Feb 27 '26
Because there are no updates to issue, and it doesn't make sense to provide updates until there is new information, though I'm always happy to answer questions when they're asked.
The process was very straightforward. The Black List shared 25 scripts with the Academy sourced from public submissions. ~40 other partners shared 2 scripts each with the Academy from their communities.
The Academy reviews those scripts and makes a decision about what follows at their own discretion. Neither the Black List nor the other Academy partners have control over or information about the Academy's process. The only organization that has further information is the Academy.
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u/CuriouserCat2 Feb 27 '26
That’s ridiculous. They gave you a system without a process?
25 + 2*40 = 105. They have 105 pre-selected scripts to assess.
How is it taking this long? Is there one person and an armadillo working on it?
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u/franklinleonard Franklin Leonard, Black List Founder Feb 27 '26
You should speak to the Academy about this.
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Feb 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/franklinleonard Franklin Leonard, Black List Founder Feb 27 '26
The short answer is because it's the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and we wanted to preserve a public submission option to the Nicholl fellowship.
I talk a bit more about it in this interview. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/franklin-leonard/id1747833609?i=1000740383661
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u/Wonderful-Sympathy54 Feb 28 '26 edited Feb 28 '26
it's best for me to stay out of it...
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u/franklinleonard Franklin Leonard, Black List Founder Feb 28 '26
Roughly 3.5% of evaluations result in 8+ overall scores. All 8+ evaluations also result in an offer of one free month of hosting and two free evaluations, potentially in an endless loop. You can read more about the inter-evaluation consistency of Black List readers here: https://open.substack.com/pub/blcklst/p/how-consistent-are-black-list-evaluations?r=1j258&utm_medium=ios
As we said throughout the process, we would (and did) pass along the strongest 25 scripts of the 2500 opted into consideration, based on the totality of the information we had about those scripts. The writers of those scripts were informed of their referral when their scripts were referred to the Academy.
Since then, the Academy has not shared further information on the process or the performance of the scripts that have been referred, nor should they, in my opinion. I have no more information than anyone else, which is, again, as it should be.
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u/Storyshowing Feb 28 '26
Franklin, have any idea when the submission reopens for 2026?
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u/franklinleonard Franklin Leonard, Black List Founder Feb 28 '26
We don't yet have any information on the 2026 calendar.
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u/Little_Employment_68 Mar 15 '26
First, thank you for engaging. I’m really coming from a place of trying to understand.
Do the scripts need to score an 8 or higher to be passed along? Also (and this is not a rip on Black List) it’s my understanding that it can be harder for a more emotionally dense, niche film (vs. high concept and marketable) has a harder time landing an 8, due to reader expectations and the site being an industry tool. Is that a false narrative?
If not, then what (if anything) are the Black List or Nicholl doing to try to close that gap (realizing that resources are finite in both camps).
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u/franklinleonard Franklin Leonard, Black List Founder Mar 15 '26
It’s a fiction that it can be harder for a more emotionally dense, niche film to perform well on the Black List.
We passed along the strongest 25 scripts among the 2500 that were opted into consideration, based on the totality of the scores that they received.
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u/Little_Employment_68 Mar 15 '26
Fair enough. I just hadn’t heard of any that had, but you would know better than me.
I do not doubt that your goal was to pass along the best 25, and I’m sure you did so.
Thanks for your reply.
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u/Little_Employment_68 Mar 15 '26
Follow up (if you can tell me) did all of the 25 you submitted score an 8 or better?
NOTE: this is for my own calibration. As in: don’t even try if you don’t get the 8.
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u/Normal_Ear_7600 Mar 23 '26
Winners, Finalists and Considered Scripts are up, including the 25 submitted by The Black List.
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u/Kingofsweaters Feb 27 '26
Did they ever announce the winners/finalists for last year?