Movie Academy Names Five Winners Of 2023 Nicholl Fellowships

Brent Delaney, Harris McCabe, J. Miller, c. Craig Patterson and Kayla Sun are the winners of the 2023 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said today.

Each of the five fellows will receive a $35,000 prize, along with mentorship from an Academy member throughout their fellowship year, which will see them complete a feature-length screenplay. (The Academy will acquire no rights to the works of its fellows and does not involve itself commercially in any way with their completed scripts.)

A total of 5,599 scripts from 83 countries were submitted. The competition, which aims to identify and encourage talented new screenwriters, has awarded 181 fellowships since 1986. 

Here are synopses for the projects of 2023 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners:

Brent Delaney (Toronto), “Brownie Mary”

At the height of the AIDS crisis, Mary Jane Rathbun illegally distributes cannabis-infused brownies to heal thousands of gay men in San Francisco and inadvertently becomes the face of the first medical marijuana movement in U.S. history.

Harris McCabe (Los Angeles), “Nat Cady’s Boys”

Two young boys seek bloody vengeance on the posse that hung their outlaw father in 1882 Wyoming.

J. Miller (Burbank), “Slugger”

Abandoned by her mother and coached by her unloving father, a high school baseball prodigy with a hot temper and thunderous bat must confront old-school coaches, jealous teammates, injuries, and her own sexual identity on an inspirational quest to be the first woman to play in the Majors.

c. Craig Patterson (Los Angeles), “Tah”

The black sheep of the family comes back home to live with the most difficult matriarch in New Orleans.

Kayla Sun (Los Angeles), “Boy, Girl, Fig”

Aden was born with a rare condition where he becomes invisible to people who love him.  He struggles when he falls in love with his childhood best friend.