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An important writing fellowship and a cast announcement
Bear It
God, remember that first season of The Bear? It was so good. I must have watched that whole season at least three times already. In addition to all of the other things it was, that first season was a terrific analogy for working in the entertainment industry. Especially as a writer.
Because it showed how fucking difficult it all is. It dramatized the creative process, how it’s always a fight, always a process, how you a community is necessary for both the creative outcome but also the artist keeping their sanity, the importance of legitimate mentorship. And the importance of money.
In that season 1 finale, Carmy’s dead brother leaves him money, hidden away in tomato cans, so that Carmy can chase his own dreams of turning the restaurant into a fine dining establishment. A dream in which Carmy persisted the whole season, persisting against those who told him it was impossible, that this place couldn’t be bigger than it already was.
There aren’t a ton of truly meaningful fellowships available to new writers anymore. But one of the best and biggest is the Nicholl Fellowships bestowed by the Academy. I got to go to last year’s ceremony, and it was truly moving. Five feature scripts by writers from all across the country were given their first shot in the industry. They were also given money. In addition to a spotlight on their work, true and meaningful mentorship by Academy members, and other perks, the Nicholl rewards grants to the writers of the selected scripts with the expectation that the writer will write a new feature script in the next year.
This is a huge opportunity. This is a chance to not have to worry about where money is coming from while you work on your next script. More than that, it’s an opportunity to get in front of producers and studios with a meaningful accolade behind you and join the ranks of past Nicholl fellows like Dustin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12 and now this month's Spider-man movie!), Susanna Grant (Erin Brokovich), Andrew Marlowe (Air Force One; Castle), and many more.
What I like about entering via the WGF is that 1. the submissions are being read by real, working writers, and 2. the WGF are transparent about where your submission fee goes (including paying their readers).
I also like that the Nicholl is off-limits to people who are or have made a living in the industry already (like me), so it really is an opportunity for those with a strong feature script to get an entire leg, maybe even part of your torso, in the door.
I know there are plenty of you subscribed to this newsletter with strong feature scripts just sitting on your computer. They’re not helping you from inside that machine.
Submissions open til 7/20 or until the counter reaches 2000 (nearly there already!)
So submit now
On Their Feet
I am, of course, a big believer in the idea that scripts shouldn’t just live on computers or in desk drawers, which is why I’ve created No Notes, the new live script-read series in which strong scripts (that haven’t been bought or didn’t get the exposure they deserve) are re-written for the stage, given some production value, and put up so everyone can see how good they are.
Great material draws incredible talent as the next No Notes show on Sunday, July 19, 7pm, at the Dynasty Typewriter Theater in LA and streaming live/on demand, shows.
Langston Kerman (The Boys), Shabana Azeez (The Pitt), Yvonne Orji (Insecure), Cooper Tomlinson (Obsession), Justin Kirk (Weeds; The Burbs), Kira Kosarin (The Thundermans), Molly Quinn (Castle), Sarunas Jackson (Insecure), Jessica Garcia (On My Block), Logan Miller (Escape Room; Chicago Med), Alex Song-Xia (Rick and Morty), Burl Moseley (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), and LaNisa Frederick (Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat)!
The Survivalists is by Kashana Cauley (The Great North; The Daily Show), based on her novel about a Brooklyn lawyer who falls in love with a coffee roaster/survivalist.
Suckers by Eden Dranger (Beavis & Butthead) & Daley Haggar (The Big Bang Theory) is about 20-something vampires.
This is going to be a hell of a night. If you can’t attend, I hope you’ll stream live or watch on demand.
GET TICKETS NOW
Remain Standing
And of course, Dead Pilots Society, the live show and podcast I produce with Andrew Reich (Friends), was born of the idea that just because a script isn’t ordered to series doesn’t mean that it isn’t any good. In fact, it’s probably pretty great. The DPS feed is rife with stories about how the scripts we’ve put up didn’t get a production order because they were just too smart, too funny, a little outside of what was popular at the time, too singular in some way that made studios or networks afraid.
The scripts we’re performing this Sunday, July 12, 3pm, at the Elyisan Theater in LA and on demand everywhere, are no exception.
Weekly World News is by Michael Colton & John Aboud (Home Economics) and Fangirl is by Claudia Lonow (How to Live with Your Parents).
The cast includes Alex Moffat (SNL; Bad Monkey), Rich Sommer (Mad Men), Jackie Tohn (Nobody Wants This), Fred Melamed (Barry), Jessica Lowe (Minx), and James Adomian (Krapopolis) and a slew of talent from Dropout TV including Brennan Lee Mulligan (Dimension 20), Isabella Roland (Dimension 20; Sex Lives of College Girls), Rekha Shankar (Dimension 20; Star Trek: Starfleet Academy), Zac Oyama (Dimension 20), and Courtney Pauroso (Jackass Forever).
Okay, that’s it for me. I’m going to have some more cool stuff to tell you about (I mean, I think it’s cool, and I’ve been excited about doing it) in the coming weeks. In the meantime, though:
Go submit your feature script to the Nicholl Fellowships.
Go work on that pilot so we can feature it in No Notes.
Let it rip.
Thank you for being committed to sharing opportunities and creating spaces for performance! Looking at that DPS cast, I hope that means you are getting tangled up in Dropout. Big fan!