Announcing 2024 Winners of Robert Foshko Memorial Scholarship & Screenplay Competition
We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2024 Robert Foshko Memorial Scholarship & Screenplay Competition: Cody Rea (MFA Screenwriting '25) for his feature screenplay CLOSED ON SUNDAY$, and Chidera Orazulike (B.S. in Radio-TV-Film, Minor in African & African Diaspora Studies '25) for their feature screenplay NO VICTOR, NO VANQUISHED.
Named in honor of former UT screenwriting professor Robert Foshko, two scripts are chosen each year from our undergraduate and graduate programs. Winners receive a cash prize.
In Cody Rea’s feature drama CLOSED ON SUNDAY$, a welder’s truck is stolen, derailing his livelihood, so he teams up with his former drug dealer to track it down while battling addiction.
Cody grew up in the Texas Panhandle, “where grain elevators stick out on endless stretches of farmland and the dust from feedyards leaves a stench locals call ‘the smell of money.’ I spent a few years as a TV News videographer. While it wasn’t the storytelling I really wanted to do, the gig allowed me to ramble across the midwest and supported me as I paid my way through a Film Production degree at Bowling Green State University. Like many other small-town Texas refugees, I then found my way to Austin. I brewed beer professionally for a few years. But when the pandemic permanently shut down my brewery, my former screenwriting hobby became my passion. I generally write stories about outsiders through the Neo-Noir and Neo-Western genres, subverted in surrealism or absurdism.”
Chidera Orazulike’s feature drama NO VICTOR, NO VANQUISH is set in Nigeria during the Biafran war. Desperate to provide for her family, a teen mother leaves the only home she knows in rural Enugu and lands a job nannying for a dysfunctional family of five in urban Lagos.
Raised in Lagos, Nigeria, Chidera is a senior at UT Austin majoring in Radio-Television-Film and minoring in African and African Diaspora Studies. They are passionate about reclaiming indigenous ontologies and telling stories about traditional spirituality, migration, love, loss, and gender identity. Their work often revolves around individuals who are outliers in society and forced to grow up too fast. They aim to challenge dominant paradigms on the intersections of identity by blending Igbo traditions with contemporary issues. Recently, they revised their feature script, NO VICTOR, NO VANQUISHED at an artist residency hosted by the Museum of Human Achievement and Unlisted Projects.
Read our edited interviews with Cody and Chidera below! If you’re interested in reading their screenplays, please email UT RTF Area Head for Screenwriting Maya Perez at mcperez@utexas.edu
Interview with 2024 Robert Foshko Memorial Scholarship & Screenplay Competition Winners Cody Rea and Chidera Orazulike
“I used stories as an escape from the all too familiar blackouts, strikes, bumper-to-bumper traffic, and hustle of Lagos, Nigeria. When I moved to the U.S., I sought them out as an antidote to my homesickness. I loved stories so much that I wanted to replicate the feelings that bloomed within me in others.” - Chidera Orazulike
When and how did you develop an interest in writing?
Cody Rea: As an undergraduate studying production at Bowling Green State University, I was focused on being a cinematographer. I was initially intimidated by taking a screenwriting course. But it was in the screenwriting workshops that I discovered that my ideas, combined with tone and characters I created, were really hitting with my classmates. That feeling of moving people with an original idea on the page, I couldn’t get over it. I was hooked.
Chidera Orazulike: I’ve always been an avid reader inspired by folktales and oral storytelling. I used stories as an escape from the all too familiar blackouts, strikes, bumper-to-bumper traffic, and hustle of Lagos, Nigeria. When I moved to the U.S., I sought them out as an antidote to my homesickness. I loved stories so much that I wanted to replicate the feelings that bloomed within me in others.
What inspired you to write CLOSED ON SUNDAY$?
Cody: It comes from my own blue-collar upbringing in rural Texas. My dad is a master welder and I remember the shock and uncertainty that rattled our family when he had a work truck stolen when I was in kindergarten. On another occasion, he had a welding eye injury and had to wear an eyepatch for a few weeks. As a father myself now, I’ve also wrestled with the idea of what it means to provide while facing unemployment. I put all these ideas together and did some self reflecting.
What inspired you to write NO VICTOR, NO VANQUISHED?
Chidera: NO VICTOR, NO VANQUISHED is inspired by the prominent issue in Nigeria of children raising children. I grew up with several childhood nannies, known as “housegirls,” filtering through my house. The main character, Fumnanya, is an amalgamation of the young girls who left their families behind and raised me despite being in similar, formative stages of their life. It is set during the Biafran War not only as an ode to the time period my parents grew up in, but to serve as a parallel to the split that happened physically in Nigeria as a juvenile nation following its independence.
How do you go about developing your characters and finding your characters’ voices?
Cody: I have a handful of characters in my head that I live with for a few months at a time, each designed for their own separate story. It’s totally insane, but it’s my way of creating a new friendship. I need to care about them before I upend their life and put them through some serious obstacles. When I start to develop them on the page, physical features and what they wear or what vehicle they drive is very important to me. I want to paint that image into my reader's head when I introduce them on the page.
Chidera: I pull directly from my formative experiences. For NO VICTOR, NO VANQUISHED, I believe no amount of research can replace consulting individuals who lived through and experienced the war and its aftermath. As a result, the characters in my film are a mixture of people I know intimately and stories I have heard from loved ones. I am also adamant about ensuring all the characters I write are complex and layered. As I write, my goal is to ensure that no matter how small a character is, I am making their motivations and personalities distinct. Even if the actions of certain characters are cruel, I want to make their decision-making process clear.
You are in the Master in Fine Arts program in Screenwriting in the Radio-Television-Film Department at the University of Texas at Austin. What has your experience been like?
Cody: It’s been pretty life changing. The University of Texas was always a dream of mine but, as an art kid, I didn’t have the grades or the work ethic to gain admission as an undergraduate. So developing that later in life and getting to be a part of this incubator of talented filmmakers has been very rewarding. The workload can be a little overwhelming at times, but that’s exactly the point: it’s about creating a new muscle for writing, an ethic or a new sense of confidence when you develop a script. Before I came into the program, I really thought of myself as an independent writer, but going through the program I’ve been struck by how much better the writing process can be when it’s collaborative. The faculty and my classmates are all coming together to help one another grow into better filmmakers.
You are an undergraduate student in the Radio-Television-Film Department at the University of Texas at Austin. What has your experience been like?
Chidera: I’ve loved being a part of the RTF department. I came into UT as a Psychology major and it was due to the relationships I fostered both with RTF students (shoutout to Texas Black Lens!) and faculty that influenced me to transfer. Even when I was unsure, multiple professors allowed me to pick their brains, encouraged me to sit in on their classes, and connected me with working professionals.
What are your career goals?
Cody: I want to write and direct my own films. I want to further grow as a filmmaker through the independent development process. After writing CLOSED ON SUNDAY$, I had a strong sense that this feature script is my calling card and, soon after, I adapted a proof-of-concept short script called $NAKE PIT. With my fellow peers in RTF I’m aiming to shoot the short film next year. Beyond that, I’d like to seek out fellowships and labs to further polish my skills as a writer, gleaning what I can from those with experience in the industry. When it comes to writing for TV or film, I know I have a soft spot for feature writing, but if given the opportunity at a writer’s room I’m passionate about, I’m all for it. I grew up loving auteurs, so I want to see my work in the movies. Ultimately, I just want to make a living off something I love doing; being a creative no matter the format.
Chidera: I would love to write and direct feature films that tell honest stories of my home and my people kindly and with nuance. I especially hope to reclaim indigenous ontologies relating to spirituality and gender identity.
“Before I came into the program, I really thought of myself as an independent writer, but going through the program I’ve been struck by how much better the writing process can be when it’s collaborative.” - Cody Rea
