Hosted and directed by Barbara Stepansky
LOS ANGELES, CA – Actors Keiko Agena, Monica Barbaro, Lodric D. Collins and Dorian Missick will appear in a live reading of selected scenes from this year’s five winning scripts at the 2022 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards and Live Read on November 9 at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. The program will be hosted and directed by 2013 Nicholl fellow Barbara Stepansky.
Agena is best known for her series regular roles on the shows “Prodigal Son,” as Dr. Edrisa Tanaka, and “Gilmore Girls,” playing Lane Kim for seven years and reprising the role in Netflix’s “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.”
Barbaro can currently be seen starring opposite Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick.” She will next star opposite Diego Boneta in “At Midnight” for Paramount+ and opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Netflix’s spy series “Fubar.”
Collins stars as U.S. Chief of Staff Donald Wintrop in the BET drama series “The Oval.” He recently portrayed Smokey Robinson in MGM’s Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect,” as well as Captain Elliot on SYFY’s “Z Nation” and Lieutenant Marshall in NBC’s “Grimm.”
Missick will appear in Netflix's “Shirley,” Amazon Studios’ “The Burial” and the independent feature “We Real Cool,” all due for release in 2023. His recent television work includes series regular roles on ABC’s “For Life,” CBS All Access' “Tell Me a Story” and Netflix’s “Luke Cage.”
Stepansky is an independent film director, writer and producer who won a Nicholl Fellowship in 2013 for her screenplay “Sugar in My Veins.” Her writing credits include Lifetime’s “Flint,” about the Flint water crisis, which starred Queen Latifah. Stepansky is a head writer on the Netflix series “Totenfrau” and a co-producer on the Starz series “Outlander.”
Last month, four screenwriters and one writing team were selected from 5,526 entries as winners of the 2022 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. The winners are (listed alphabetically by author):
Jennifer Archer (Springwater, Ontario, Canada), “Into the Deep Blue”
Nick Bennet is rebuilding his life after the death of his mom, a DUI, and mandatory grief counseling. Together with Fiona, his fiery best friend from therapy, they navigate the waters of grief and their growing feelings.
Callie Bloem and Christopher Ewing (Los Angeles, CA), “Tape 22”
A music journalist reeling from the death of his wife discovers a mixtape that brings her back to life for four minutes and 23 seconds a day, exactly the length of her favorite song. Now he’s determined to bring her back for good even if he might accidentally open a black hole in the middle of L.A.
Sam Boyer (Pasadena, CA), “Ojek”
In Jakarta, a loyal motorcycle taxi driver struggles to build a better life through a deadly new business that tests his transporting talents – and inner humanity. Think “Drive” in Indonesia.
J.M. Levine (La Crescenta, CA), “Operation Gemini”
After being separated from her newborn twins during the invasion of Kyiv, a mother recruits two civilians to drive her back into war-torn Ukraine to rescue her children before medical supplies run out and the Russian army takes over. Inspired by a true story.
Timothy Ware-Hill (Orange, NJ), “Tyrone and the Looking Glass”
In Birmingham, AL, 1963, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, a Negro boy goes on a quest to find the four magical treasures he needs to wield the Looking Glass – the only weapon powerful enough to defeat a three-headed dragon that seeks to destroy him and his loved ones.
The 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards and Live Read at the Academy Museum on November 9 is free and open to the public, but advance tickets are required. Tickets may be obtained online here. The Academy Museum is located at 6067 Wilshire Boulevard.
Each individual and writing team will receive a $35,000 prize and mentorship from an Academy member. The five fellowships are awarded with the understanding that recipients will complete feature-length screenplays during their fellowship year.
The global competition, which aims to identify and encourage talented new screenwriters, has awarded 176 fellowships since it began in 1986. For more information about the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, visit oscars.org/nicholl.
