Interview: Allan Durand (2012 Nicholl Winner)

The Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition is the most prestigious of its kind and holds a primary place of importance in Hollywood movie development circles. With the announcement on Friday of the 2014 Nicholl Fellowship winners, I thought it would be a good idea to reprint all of the interviews I have done with previous Nicholl winners since there’s a lot to be learned from these talented writers. Today: Allan Durand, interview originally posted January 2013.

Allan Durand’s original screenplay “Willie Francis Must Die Again” is an amazing real-life story and a script that won Allan a 2012 Nicholl fellowship. However the story behind the story is also quite remarkable, one I’m happy to share with you through this interview.

Here are links to all six installments of the entire interview:

Part 1: “I just kept fooling with it until we got it right.”

Part 2: “It just seemed to me to have numerous elements of the story that you don’t run across very often.”

Part 3: “The way I did it is every five to 10 pages, I wanted a big fist to come out of the screenplay and punch the reader right in the gut.”

Part 4: “It’s like being the ugliest girl in the class your whole life, then you wake up one day and you’re Cindy Crawford. All of a sudden, your email box fills up with agents and managers, and people want to read your script. You were a dummy on Monday, but man, you’re a genius by Friday. It was a hell of a thrill.”

Part 5: “When I make a long trip, I like to get up early and get started. Same thing on a screenplay, just start it.”

Part 6: “If you’re good and if you’ve picked a good story and you enter it in enough screenplay contests sooner or later it’s going to pop up and somebody’s going to see it.”

Allan is repped by WME and Madhouse Entertainment.

I am happy to report I have interviews lined up with two more of the 2013 Nicholl winners and three of the 2014 winners.

Monday: Michael Werwie, 2012 Black List, 2012 Nicholl winner.