And the winner is …

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Photo by Milton Morris

Sallie West

AGE: 60

RESIDENCE: Johns Island

CAREER PATH: Technical writer turned award-winning screenwriter

LIFE PHILOSOPHY: Follow your dream, and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something.

WRITING PARTNER: Zuzu, her 10-year-old Shih Tzu

LITTLE-KNOWN FACT: Holds a “Secret” security clearance obtained when she wrote a communications manual for the Department of Homeland Security

CO-OP AFFILIATION: Member of Berkeley Electric Cooperative

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Sallie West still gets butterflies when she recalls standing in front of a Hollywood auditorium filled with actors, producers and directors all waiting to hear her acceptance speech.

West had just won the prestigious 2014 Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the people behind the Oscars). Her romantic drama, Moonflower, beat out more than 7,500 contenders from around the world, earning the writer from Johns Island a $35,000 stipend and instant acclaim as an up-and-coming talent.

Here’s the plot twist: Moonflower was her first-ever attempt at a screenplay, written on a whim.

The journey to Hollywood began two years ago when she was laid off from her job as a technical writer cranking out manuals for government agencies. Idle, worried and faced with the daunting task of finding work, she decided to take some time to try her hand at writing fiction. She dreamed up an “outré September passion” between a Charleston cello maker and a Scottish musician, flipped open her laptop and started typing.

“I knew I wanted to write a romantic drama, and I knew I wanted to write about classical music, because it’s something that interests me,” she says.

Searching the Internet provided the information she needed on how cellos are made as well as tips for formatting her screenplay. When the script was finished, she submitted it to the Nicholl competition primarily as a way to get professional feedback. She never expected to win.

Although the whole thing is still a bit surreal, West is now hard at work on her next script with plans to pursue screenwriting full-time as the second act of her own life story.

“I still can’t believe it happened,” she says of winning the fellowship. “It’s really regenerated my interest in writing, and I’m so excited about the future. It’s been one of the best years of my life.”