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John-Paul Nickel holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon University (2008) and a BA in Acting from Point Park University (2000). Off-Broadway, his ten-minute play “Ziggy” has been seen at The Atlantic Theater and his ten-minute play “The Big Exit” at 59E59 (both produced by Theater Masters). At the Kennedy Center, John-Paul’s ten-minute play, “The Interview,” was given a reading after winning The Kennedy Center-American College Theater Festival’s award for Best Ten-Minute Play (Region II). This June, John-Paul’s ten-minute play “Writer’s Block” will be produced at the Source Festival in Washington, DC. On television, John-Paul’s teleplay, “Forwarding Address” has aired on Pittsburgh, PA’s PBS affiliate WQED.

At Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, his full-length comedy, Past Perfect, Future Tense, received two readings and a workshop, and his one-act play Page 104 received a staged reading. At The Pennsylvania Council for the Art’s Summer Festival of New Plays, John-Paul’s full-length comedy 22 Ways to Succeed & Be Seen was given a reading. In New York, John-Paul’s monologue “Handsome Me” was performed as part of Carnegie Mellon University’s 2007 Actor’s Showcase. In his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA, John-Paul’s produced plays included: Family (Penn Ave. Theater), Comic Book Love (Gemini Theater), and “The Sign” (Unseam’d Shakespeare Co. for the Pittsburgh New Works Festival).

John-Paul is a two-time recipient of The Shubert Fellowship (2006 and 2007), a two-time winner of the Theater Masters’ National MFA Playwriting Competition (2007 and 2008) and a two-time finalist for the Alfred P. Sloan Screenwriting Award (2007 and 2008).

A managing director of the film production company Five Cent Productions, John-Paul is also an actor and an internationally award winning filmmaker. John-Paul’s films have screened at over twenty-five film festivals on four continents. Currently, he is in post-production on his first documentary, The Prague Quadrennial, which he shot on location in the Czech Republic.

John-Paul is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. and lives with his fiancé.

Labels: Bio, Class of 2008