The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced some changes to its popular Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting program.
The Nicholl Fellowships, which were established in 1985 through the support of Gee Nicholl in memory of her husband, Don Nicholl, are meant to identify and nurture talented new screenwriters across the world. Now they will exclusively partner with global university programs, screenwriting labs, and filmmaker programs to select Nicholl fellows. Each partner will vet and submit scripts for consideration for an Academy Nicholl Fellowship. All scripts submitted by partners will be read and reviewed by Academy members.
Partner script submissions to the Academy will open in late July, and the deadline will be in late August. Nicholl fellows will be awarded in spring 2026. The Black List will serve as the portal for public submissions.
“As part of the globalization of the Academy and to deepen our relationship with educational partners around the U.S. and the world, we are excited to evolve the Nicholl Fellowships program to include a stronger connection to universities, screenwriting labs and filmmaker programs and their incredible pool of emerging talent,” said Howard Berger, Academy governor and president of the Academy Foundation Board, via statement. “Our commitment to discovering and supporting new voices remains stronger than ever, and I’m thankful to my fellow Academy members for dedicating their time and expertise to support this mission.”
Once again, Nicholl fellows will receive support from the Academy and mentorship from an Academy member throughout their fellowship year. They will also participate in a week of virtual seminars, a virtual meet and greet with the Nicholl Fellowships committee, and in-person networking events.
Fellows will additionally receive ongoing career advancement support through the Gold Alumni Program, which provides continued access, opportunity, professional development and education for alumni of the Academy’s talent development programs. 186 fellowships have been awarded since 1986.
Fellowships are awarded with the understanding that recipients will complete feature-length screenplays during their fellowship year. The Academy acquires no rights to the works of Nicholl fellows and does not involve itself commercially in any way with their completed scripts.
A few notable absences on the partner list include internationally renowned film schools like the University of Southern California, Beijing Film Academy, La Fémis, FAMU Prague and the National Film and Television School in the United Kingdom.
As it currently stands, the full list of Nicholl program partners for 2025 is below.
American Film Institute
Australian Film Television and Radio School
Bangkok University
Berlin International Film Festival
The Black List
California Institute of the Arts
California State University, Los Angeles
CAPE
Chapman University
Columbia University
Edinburgh Napier University
Gold House
Howard University
IFFR Pro
Latino Film Institute
London Film School
Loyola Marymount University
New York University
Northwestern University
RMIT University
Savannah College of Art and Design
Sundance Institute
Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto Metropolitan University
Universidad del Cine
University of Arts London
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Cape Town
University of North Carolina School of the Arts
University of Oxford
University of Texas at Austin
Urbanworld Festival
Victoria University of Wellington
