CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2026 FEATURE CONTEST SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS

CineStory is pleased to award five scholarships for the 2026 Feature Retreat & Fellowship Contest. These scholarships are made possible in part by generous donations from members of the CineStory community

Many thanks to our donors, and congratulations to our scholarship winners!

(Pictured above, from left to right: Sandra Shim, Matthew Nicholson, Nicole Reinhert, Mariana Soto, Hope Hickli)

Sandra Shim – 2026 CineStory Asian & South Asian Writers Scholarship Winner

The 2026 CineStory Asian & South Asian Writers Scholarship is awarded to an outstanding Asian or South Asian writer whose screenplay reached the quarterfinalist level or higher in this year’s Feature Retreat & Fellowship Contest. The winner is awarded a $750 tuition reduction for this year’s feature retreat.

The winner of this year’s CineStory Asian & South Asian Writers Scholarship is Sandra Shim for her script THIS INCESSANT FUNERAL. In it, an emotionally unavailable man travels back in time to prevent the death of his estranged wife to get away from his grieving and overbearing mother-in-law.

Sandra Shim is a Korean-American writer from New Jersey who grew up playing Ultimate Frisbee and painting Banksy-style murals. She studied Computer Animation at Ringling College of Art and was a sets and environment artist on Paramount’s monster wrestling film, Rumble, at ReelFX Studios. She is an alumni of Stowe Story Labs, where she honed her affinity for comedies about characters who would rather upend their lives than talk about their feelings. When not chasing chickens on her parents’ farm, Sandra can be found pushing a stroller full of rabbits on the NJ Transit to Penn Station.

Matthew Nicholson – CineStory Semifinalist & Finalist Scholarship Winner

The 2026 CineStory Semifinalist & Finalist Scholarship is awarded to an outstanding writer whose screenplay reached the semifinalist or finalist level in this year’s Feature Retreat & Fellowship Contest. The winner is awarded a $750 tuition reduction for this year’s feature retreat.

The winner of this year’s CineStory Semifinalist & Finalist Scholarship is Matthew Nicholson for his script PIETRA FREDDA. In it, when a fiercely ambitious sculptor is selected to study at the prestigious Italian Marble Institute in Carrara, she becomes consumed with mastering her medium and haunted by a voice deep within the marble that promises artistic greatness… for a terrifying price.

Matthew Nicholson is a queer screenwriter whose work blends character-driven drama with elevated genre to explore grief, legacy, and the things we inherit. In 2026, Matt was selected for the Writers Guild Foundation’s Support Staff Training Program, the Pre-Rainbow Pages Mentorship Program, and the CineStory TV Retreat. Before screenwriting, Matthew worked as a Broadway stage manager and has spent the past decade as Editor-in-Chief for George Takei’s social media. His mother’s twenty-year battle with Huntington’s Disease deeply shaped his storytelling philosophy: finding hope in grief and creating stories that outlive us.

Nicole Reinert – CineStory Underrepresented Voices Scholarship Winner

The 2026 CineStory Underrepresented Voices Scholarship is awarded to an outstanding writer who belongs to a community that has been historically underrepresented in Hollywood – particularly BIPOC writers, AAPI writers, LGBTQIA+ writers, women writers who are 45 or older, and writers with disabilities – and whose screenplay reached the quarterfinalist level or higher in this year’s Feature Retreat & Fellowship Contest. The winner of the CineStory Underrepresented Voices Scholarship receives a $750 tuition reduction for this year’s feature retreat.

The winner of this year’s CineStory Underrepresented Voices Scholarship is Nicole Reinert for her script IRIS WRITES POEMS. In it, after a visit from her childhood best friend, a melancholic, Chinese-American woman faces tension in her marriage when she moves onto a boat in the backyard to write poetry.

Nicole Reinert is a writer and journalist based in Southern California.

She was born in Taiwan and raised mostly on U.S. military bases overseas. By the time she was ten, she had lived in six countries across three continents.

Nicole often explores themes of identity and belonging in her writing. She approaches storytelling with genuine curiosity and a deep desire to understand the diversity of human experiences.

As a freelance journalist and documentary producer, Nicole has worked on projects for FRONTLINE, HBO, PBS, and the CBC.

Her biggest project to date is raising her wild and wonderful preschooler.

Mariana Soto – Hagan-Hicks Underrepresented Women’s Voices Scholarship Winner

The 2026 Hagan-Hicks Underrepresented Women’s Voices Scholarship is awarded to an outstanding woman writer from underrepresented groups including Black and African Americans, Latinx and Hispanics, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans whose screenplay reached the quarterfinalist level or higher in this year’s Feature Retreat & Fellowship Contest. This scholarship is made possible by a donation from Willie Hagan. The winner is awarded a $1,000 tuition reduction for this year’s feature retreat.

The winner of this year’s Hagan-Hicks Underrepresented Women’s Voices Scholarship is Mariana Soto for her script FOXES NEVER QUIT. In it, after her distant father is diagnosed with dementia, will Emily be able to juggle caring responsibilities, the ordeal of opening a new restaurant, and making peace with her and her dad’s shared past, before his memories are gone for good?

Mariana Soto is an aspiring screenwriter from Uruguay. After working as a second assistant director in commercials, she wanted to do something more creative, so she undertook an online screenwriting course and later a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing. When COVID hit, her ambitions were put on hold but not dismissed. The day job takes up most of her time, but she still manage to sneak some writing here and there. To write an original romantic comedy is one of the items on her bucket list.

Hope Hickli – Sartor Women’s Voices Scholarship Winner

The 2026 Sartor Women’s Voices Scholarship is awarded to a top woman writer who is 45 or older and whose screenplay reached the quarterfinalist level or higher in this year’s Feature Retreat & Fellowship Contest. This scholarships is made possible by donations from Colette Sartor and Lisanne Sartor. The winner receives a $1,500 tuition reduction to attend this year’s feature retreat.

The winner of the 2025 Sartor Women’s Voices Scholarship is Hope Hickli for her script FADING GRACE. In it, when her husband dumps her for a younger woman, an aging empty nester finds herself turning invisible and must find her place in her new world before she disappears for good.

Hope Hickli writes psychologically rich, character-driven stories with a social conscience. Her focus is adaptation and biography—stories of misfits and dissidents who must break out of the boxes people put them in, in order to change the world and in the process, change themselves.

In her past life, Hope was a political speechwriter. She’s also written and produced interactive edutainment for Disney Interactive/Pixar and Fisher Price.

Hope is a former CineStory TV drama division winner. She’s single mom to a feisty, smart young adult whose desire to make change in our world fuels her work on the page.

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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2026 FEATURE CONTEST SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS

Sandra Shim – 2026 CineStory Asian & South Asian Writers Scholarship Winner

Matthew Nicholson – CineStory Semifinalist & Finalist Scholarship Winner

Nicole Reinert – CineStory Underrepresented Voices Scholarship Winner

Mariana Soto – Hagan-Hicks Underrepresented Women’s Voices Scholarship Winner

Hope Hickli – Sartor Women’s Voices Scholarship Winner

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