It was like Twilight Zone episode. Last month, Al Carpenter and I were thrown into the deep end of the screenwriting business. Our script, “38 Mercury,” earned us a 2006 Don & Gee Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, sponsored by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences– the Oscars.

This was only the second script we’ve written, and to be honest, neither of us realized the prestige of this contest nor did we realize the ramifications of being a Nicholl Fellow.

Out of almost 5,000 scripts entered, the field was cut to 10 finalists in October. The 5 Fellowships were then chosen from these 10 (Al and I, as screenwriting partners, counted as one).

Every year, these 10 Nicholl finalist scripts are among the hottest spec scripts in Hollywood. Apparently, the industry uses this Nicholl process each year to screen thousands of scripts, deeming these ten to be worth reading– and trust me, they all want to read them.

The committee that chose the 10 finalists, and then the 5 Fellowship recipients was made up of industry luminaries including directors, producers, cinematographers, writers, and actors. The whole purpose of the Fellowship is to introduce new writers to Hollywood.

As soon as the finalist list was released, Al and I were besieged by calls and emails from dozens of production companies, studios, agents and managers, all of whom wanted to read the script. It was overwhelming for a couple of road guys whose biggest phone calls previously were from a booker calling to say a Wednesday had fallen out.

Everyone was gave conflicting advice. We were able to land a literary manager, who is now handling all that for us.

The Oscar people arranged for a awesome week of meetings, luncheons, dinners and seminars for us. We were treated us like gold. They flew us out, put us in a luxury hotel at ground zero– Hollywood– and kicked in a per diem for meals, gas and parking.

File this under “Once a comic, always a comic”– On the first night, at an informal get-together in a restaurant for the ten finalists, AMPAS personnel handed each finalist an envelope with the cash per diem. Everyone else put his envelope down and started to eat– except Al and me (the comics), who reflexively tore open the envelopes and started counting.

The climax of the week was the Awards Banquet at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Two hundred producers, directors, and writers attended and the keynote speaker was Kevin Smith (“Clerks,” “Dogma,” “Mall Rats”).

We found out the day before that we all had to give acceptance speeches. The idea of speaking in public terrified some of the other writers. Needless to say, Al and I are pretty comfortable with a mic and 200 strangers. We didn’t even prepare anything. We just winged it and had a blast up there!

On the final night, we dined with the Nicholl Fellowship Alumni, which, we discovered, is a rather exclusive group totalling no more than a hundred. They encourage alums to mentor newer members of the group.

What happens to “38 Mercury?” Well, we have a manager now– That’s right, Al and I have “people.” Okay, we got a guy. And our guy is running point for us– having us do a quick re-write, getting it out to all the production companies and studios who expressed interest and circulating it among his own contacts. We’ll see where it all leads.

This contest is open to anyone with an original script who has not earned over $5,000 in the field of screenwriting. Each year, as many as five fellowships are awarded. All the information is here.

A modest cash award comes with the fellowship and all finalists are obligated to write a new script for them within the next year, which we’re currently working on.