Aspiring Screenwriter Was Told Her All-Female Buddy Comedy Would Make a 'Decent Porn'

A screenwriter from L.A. who participated in a recent Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences fellowship competition was told that her screenplay could be better off as a porn.

In March, Rachel Koller submitted her feature screenplay, The Big D, to Academy Nicholl Fellowships—a competition that’s held by the Academy (the same one behind the Academy Awards)—and paid $40 extra to see notes from the anonymous script reader.

The script, which made it to the quarterfinals, has four female leads and focuses on divorce. Koller describes it as a “raunchy comedy.”

Instead of constructive criticism on it, she got these comments back from the professional who read the script and who isn’t affiliated with the Academy:

After receiving this feedback, Koller went directly to Nicholl, writing in a Facebook post:

Whoever was posting to the Nicholl Fellowships’ Facebook page on Monday stupidly responded to Koller by calling the script notes a “failed joke” and referencing Koller’s title The Big D (those comments have since been deleted):

Thanks for letting us know, Rachel. And I’m sorry you were upset by the comment. Having just read the entire review, I believe the reader was trying to make a joke, which didn’t work. … Not the best choice of comparisons and for that we apologize. … Feel free to post the entire comment so that others can see the remark in context. … BTW, the reader gave your script a positive score.

Koller replied with:

Koller also told Mashable on Monday, “I know I didn’t write the greatest screenplay that ever was, but I was just startled to see such blatantly sexist comments, especially that were associated with the Academy.”

Nicholl Fellowships later apologized in a statement on Facebook:

A spokeswoman for the Academy tried to distance the organization, saying, “The comments and notes provided by industry script readers do not represent the opinions of the Academy.”