Five emerging screenwriters gained the film academy's stamp of admission into Hollywood with help from an ensemble of actors that included Tyrese Gibson and Rosa Salazar.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored each screenwriter at the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting awards and presentation on Thursday night. The five individuals each received $35,000 fellowships and had their work brought to life through live readings by Gibson, Salazar, Amandla Stenberg and Wes Studi.
The event was held at the academy's headquarters in Beverly Hills, California.
Actors, from left to right, Wes Studi, Rosa Salazar, Tyrese Gibson and Amandla Stenberg pose at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards and Live Read at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Danny MoloshokInvisionAP)
The five screenplays selected include: Aaron Chung's "Princess Vietnam," Karen McDermott's "Lullabies of La Jaula," Renee Pillai's "Boy With Kite," Sean Malcolm's "Mother" and Walter McKnight's "Street Rat Allie Punches Her Ticket."
"I want to write scripts in Hollywood. What kind of fool would want to do that?" asked Pillai, sarcastically, while pointing at herself before the audience burst into laughter. She is the first Nicholl fellow from Malaysia and faced a series of obstacles that almost kept her from attending the event.
Pillai applied for her U.S. visa, was told the earliest appointment she could get wouldn't be until the day after the ceremony. But a fellowship official contacted the cultural affairs office at the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Pillai's behalf, arranging a meeting to appeal to the consul general to expedite her visa request.
Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Academy Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Governor and Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Committee Chair, third from left, poses with Nicholl fellows, from left to right, Karen McDermott, Aaron Chung, Walker McKnight, Renee Pillai and Sean Malcolm at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards and Live Read at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Danny MoloshokInvisionAP)
Pillai then drove two hours to Kuala Lumpur to attend the granted interview, with only the $160 donated by her friends to pay the visa application fee. She ultimately obtained the visa and took 30 hours to travel by air from Malaysia to Los Angeles — that including layovers in China and Seattle.
"If it wasn't for the academy and my friends, I wouldn't be here," she said. "I would've missed out not only this ceremony, but also the seminars and preparations for the life you want to live. This is the start of my career."
Winners will receive guidance from academy members as they complete a feature-length screenplay during their fellowship year. The winning screenplays were chosen from just over 7,300 submissions.
Peter Samuelson, right, and Eva Marie Saint pose at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards and Live Read at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Danny MoloshokInvisionAP)
Since 1986, the competition has awarded hundreds of fellowships, aiming to identify and encourage talented new screenwriters. The academy says it doesn't acquire rights to screenwriters' work and doesn't involve itself commercially in the completion of scripts.
Past fellows include writer-director Allison Anders, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jeffrey Eugenides and Oscar-winning screenwriter Susannah Grant ("Erin Brockovich"). The films "Finding Forrester" and "Transformers: Age of Extinction" were also written by past Nicholl fellows.
Chung gave a heartfelt speech that nearly left Salazar in tears. He said he wants to show how people aren't that different from each other.
Eva Marie Saint poses at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards and Live Read at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Danny MoloshokInvisionAP)
"I want to connect everyone's problems and beliefs together just to show how much we are the same," he said.
Geeta Malik, a 2016 fellow, returned to direct the live reading. She highlighted the importance of the Nicholl Fellowship.
"If you want to get your script made, this is the perfect place to do it," said Malik, who turned her Nicholl-winning script into a feature called "India Sweets and Spices," currently in post-production. "This is the place where you can find people who really support your dream and visions."
Online: https://www.oscars.org/nicholl
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Jonathan Landrum Jr. on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MrLandrum31
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Gretchen Walsh followed up a world record in the 100-meter butterfly with something that felt just as good.
Her first trip to the Olympics.
Walsh didn’t go quite as fast as a night earlier in the semifinals, but she touched in 55.31 seconds to claim the coveted Olympic berth against a loaded field at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials on Sunday.
“I was definitely nervous,” Walsh said. “There were a lot of what-ifs. Coming off breaking the world record, I was thinking, ‘Do I need to do that again just to make the team? What if I get third? What’s that even even going to look like?'”
No worries. She's heading to Paris.
So is Carson Foster. He made up for the disappointment of 2021, when he just missed out on the Olympics, with a victory in the men’s 400 individual medley.
And 30-year-old Nic Fink, whose wife is expecting a child, made it quite a Father’s Day — or should that be Expectant Father's Day? — by winning the 100 breaststroke on the second night of the trials.
Looking into the stands at massive Lucas Oil Stadium, he spotted Melanie Margolis Fink — herself a swimming gold medalist at the 2016 Rio Games — and made a rocking motion.
Clearly, Nic Fink's mind was on more than just a gold of his own. The couple's first child, a boy, is due in mid-September.
“It's one of those things that doesn't really make sense to me," Fink said. “I feel like I haven't earned it yet. But the next (Father's Day) will feel like one for sure after diapers and late nights and stuff like that."
Facing three medalists from the Tokyo Games, Walsh knew she had her work cut out for her — even after setting a world record in the semifinals with a time of 55.18 that broke the mark held by Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Following the same strategy, Walsh went out strong again in the final and was under her world-record pace at the turn.
Then, it was a matter of hanging on for the 21-year-old native of Nashville, Tennessee, who swims for the University of Virginia.
She finished with the second-fastest time in history, while Torri Huske grabbed the second Olympic spot with a time of 55.52 that made her the third-fastest woman in swimming history.
“I couldn’t ask for a better start to the meet,” Walsh said.
Regan Smith became the fourth-fastest female ever at 55.62 — but the third-place showing wasn't enough to get her to Paris on the powerhouse American team. She'll have more chances later in the meet to claim her spot.
The first final of the night produced another first-time Olympian when Foster knocked off Tokyo gold medalist Chase Kalisz.
But Kalisz should get a chance to defend his gold in Paris, taking the runner-up spot to claim the expected second American slot.
Jay Litherland, the 400 IM silver medalist in Tokyo, missed out on his third Olympics with a third-place showing.
The 22-year-old Foster, a native of Cincinnati who swan collegiately at Texas, led the entire race to finish in 4 minutes, 7.64 seconds.
He appeared on the verge of tears as Kalisz reached over the lane rope to give him a hug, knowing how much this meant to the winner.
At the 2021 trials in Omaha, Nebraska, Foster was the top seed coming out of the preliminaries, only to get chased down by both Kalisz and Litherland in the final.
The third-place finish cost Foster a trip to the Tokyo Games. When the Americans went 1-2 at the Olympics, the missed opportunity hurt even more.
“As much as I've grown, there was still a fear because of what happened three years ago,” Foster conceded.
But, as he stepped to the block, with Kalisz on one side and Litherland on the other, a newfound confidence swept over Foster.
“I've struggled to stay in my lane in the past,” he said, speaking metaphorically. “The first thing that would go wrong, it was lights out for me. I've battled those inner negative voices. But tonight was different. I stayed in my own lane. I think I was smiling the whole last 50.”
Kalisz closed to within a tenth of a second on the breaststroke leg, but the 30-year-old simply didn't have enough in the tank to keep up with the younger Foster. The winner pulled away on the freestyle, with Kalisz touching in 4:09.39.
Litherland faded at the end for a time of 4:12.34.
Fink, who balances swimming with a 40 hour-a-week job, with parenthood soon to come, will be heading to his second Olympics after touching first in 59.08. He held off Charlie Swanson, who secured the expected second spot for Paris in 59.16.
“That's a win for me," Fink said, “but it's really a win for everybody in my life.”
A life that will soon have a new addition.
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/summer-olympics
Nic Fink and Jake Foster react after their heat in the Men's 100 breaststroke preliminaries Saturday, June 15, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Nic Fink swims during the Men's 100 breaststroke finals Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Nic Fink reacts after winning the Men's 100 breaststroke finals Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Nic Fink swims during the Men's 100 breaststroke preliminaries Saturday, June 15, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Nic Fink is congratulated by Charlie Swanson after winning the Men's 100 breaststroke finals Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Nic Fink reacts after winning the men's 100 breaststroke finals Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Gretchen Walsh swims during the Women's 100 butterfly finals Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Carson Foster after swimming during the Men's 400 individual medley preliminary heat Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Carson Foster swims during the Men's 400 individual medley preliminary heat Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Gretchen Walsh swims during the Women's 100 butterfly finals Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Carson Foster swims during the Men's 400 individual medley preliminary heat Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Gretchen Walsh is congratulated by Regan Smith after winning the Women's 100 butterfly finals Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Carson Foster swims during the Men's 400 individual medley preliminary heat Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Gretchen Walsh reacts after winning the Women's 100 butterfly finals Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Carson Foster swims during the Men's 400 individual medley preliminary heat Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Carson Foster reacts after winning the Men's 400 individual medley finals Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Gretchen Walsh swims during the Women's 100 butterfly finals Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Gretchen Walsh reacts after winning the Women's 100 butterfly finals Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
