Bahraini screenwriter Mohannad Salman has won a prestigious award in the US that honours talented student-writers in comedy, earning a $20,000 prize.
The 24-year-old, who graduated from the University of Southern California recently, received the ‘David and Lynn Angell College Comedy Award’ from Humanitas, for his screenplay for Bobby Chicago, a comedy-mystery that centres around a murder at a school party.
Set during a snowstorm at a secretive private school, the story follows teenage detective Bobby Chicago – known for his trench coat and 1940s-style speech – as he investigates the case. Despite being threatened with expulsion, Bobby races against time to solve the mystery before the school silences him for good.
“I’ve always been extremely passionate about storytelling and writing and was a big fan of comedy in high school,” the St Christopher’s School graduate told the GDN from Los Angeles, where he is currently based.
“It started by writing small jokes, which then became longer and turned into scenes and then into a movie, writing my first one at 17.
“While I was studying for my Bachelor’s in Biomedical Science in Kent (UK), I wanted to see if I could take my passion for writing and comedy further. So I started applying to numerous schools, which led to my acceptance at the University of Southern California for MFA in Screenwriting.”
Mr Salman said he was elated at the ‘massive achievement’ as the school is known for its incredible reputation for the arts.
“It was the university that encouraged me to apply for the David and Lynn Angell College Comedy Award from Humanitas,” he said.
“The screenplay that won me the honour was actually for a university project, which took me around 2.5 months to complete.”
He applied for the award in April and the result was declared on Thursday.
“Seriously, this is a dream come true and it has inspired me to keep going with my writing,” he said.
Mr Salman, whose family lives in Saar, was also named the 2024 recipient of Prentice Penny’s First Up Fellowship.
The young creative plans to remain in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future, but mentioned the possibility of returning to the Gulf, noting the recent investments made in the GCC’s film industry.
“My ultimate goal is to write a screenplay based on my culture,” he said, adding that he believes film is a great way of spreading awareness about his people in a positive light.
“There isn’t a show yet that shows our people in a funny and light way, and I would be really proud to do this.”
The David and Lynn Angell College Comedy Award recognises one writer each year whose work advances the Humanitas mission and who is enrolled in a college or university programme. It aims to encourage young writers to create works that ‘enrich the lives of others through comedy that captures the human spirit’.
This year, more than 400 creatives applied for the award, which was created in 2003 to honour the lives of David and Lynn Angell, who were aboard Flight 11 on September 11, 2001.
The student-writer selected as an awardee receives a trophy at the annual Humanitas Prizes event to be held later this month, a $20,000 cash prize, and additional benefits.
David was a writer for the popular US television show Cheers and co-creator of Wings and Frasier. Lynn worked as a librarian and supported David during the early years of his career.
julia@gdnmedia.bh
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