College of Education and Lifelong Learning

Lifelong Learning Student reaches prestigious international competition semi-final

Lisa Worth Lisa Worth from Llanfair Talhaiarn in Conwy enrolled on the 10 week, Start Screenwriting evening course with Lifelong Learning at Bangor University in September 2009. As part of her course, Lisa wrote a script “The Frankincense Tree”, which she entered into the most prestigious screenwriting competition in the world – the Nicholl Fellowships.

Lisa’s script made it all the way to the competition's semi-finals and so far has received 11 enquiries from US production firms about her script. In 2009 the Nicholl Fellowships had a record 6,380 entries, Lisa's script placed in the top 100 out of these entries.

With a background as a professional singer, she has always been interested in the theatre. After living overseas, she came back to the UK and felt somewhat displaced and writing helped her to anchor herself somehow. Lisa originally wrote "The Frankincense Tree" as a stage play, but had a feeling that it would work well as a screenplay.

Having attended a course in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, Lisa returned home still wanting to adapt her play to the screen, but every suitable course required either a full-time commitment to study, was aimed at much younger people or would mean that she had to re-locate altogether. Soon after, she learned about Lifelong Learning’s part-time course aimed at adults wanting to return to a learning environment.

Lisa said:

“Dan Papia, my tutor, has been an incredible source of inspiration, support and expert guidance. He is very honest (essential, as the industry doesn't care about your feelings!), but at the same time encourages you to discover your own voice, to be original in your work, to write the best screenplay that you can rather than a pastiche of all that has been before. His generosity is boundless frankly, for someone who is so busy and who (I'm pretty sure) doesn't do it for the fee. I was really lucky to have found him at this time in my creative journey.”

As well as trying to push the “Frankincense Tree”, Lisa has another script on the anvil that she’s quite excited about.

“It's about a boy from North Wales who discovers on his 18th birthday that in fact his birth father is from Andalucía. He sets off to trace the Spanish side of his life, and in so doing goes on a journey of self exploration. The story will draw on the parallels between the two regions - Andalucía and North Wales - in terms of people, mountains, each having a very specific breed of horse that in fact are related to each, regions that have had to fight for their own identity in the face of a wealthier and more dominant neighbour. It's a way off complete mind you!”

Lifelong Learning staff are very proud of Lisa’s achievements to date and wish her well in the future.

Dan Papia, course tutor said

“Lisa still may have a long road ahead of her before she sees her work produced, but she's now in the game.”

Ends

Notes for Editors:

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: Founded in 1927 by 36 of the most influential men and women in the motion picture industry at the time, the Academy is an honorary membership organisation whose ranks now include more than 6,000 artists and professionals.
Dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures, the Academy’s corporate management and general policies are overseen by a Board of Governors, which includes representatives from each of the craft branches.
Although best known for its annual Oscar telecast, the Academy is involved in a wide array of education, outreach, preservation and research activities.
The Academy’s major non-Awards activities and facilities include The Nicholl Fellowship.
Don Nicholl was a British writer who was invited by US television producer, Norman Lear to join the staff of “All in the Family” early in its run. Don went on to co-create and co-executive produce “The Jeffersons” and then, leaving the Lear family, he co-created and co-executive produced “Three’s Company” and its spin-offs. He died in 1980 with his name gracing hundreds of TV episodes.
Don’s widow, Gee, remembering the tough times they had endured at the beginning of their careers, established the Nicholl Fellowships in his memory in 1985, initially at Stanford University and then at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She and Don had often spoken about helping other writers, and she hoped that the fellowship dollars would make the struggle a little easier for those just starting out.
That program ultimately became the Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. These Fellowships in Screenwriting are the world’s most esteemed screenwriting competition. Each year up to five $30,000 fellowships are awarded to authors who have previously earned less than $5,000 writing for film or television.
In the 25 years since its inception, the Nicholl Fellowships has become one of the world's most prestigious awards for amateur writers. The program has given boosts to the careers of screenwriters such as Susannah Grant ("Erin Brockovich"), Andrew Marlowe ("Air Force One") and Mike Rich ("Finding Forrester") as well as to Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jeffrey Eugenides ("Middlesex").