I've been writing professionally for seven years and have written over a dozen feature screenplays in various genres, including comedy, romantic comedy, period, action-adventure, thriller and horror. My work is escapist, commercial and ambitious.
I have been a finalist in more than a dozen top writing competitions. LANCELOT recently won the Grand Prize in Final Draft's Big Break contest and Gold Prize in PAGE International. It also won the Genre Prize and Management Prize in the LA Screenwriters' Expo contest. It was selected for Amazon Studios' Notable Projects List.
KNIGHT KNIGHT came second in Big Break in 2007, winning me my first trip to LA, to receive an award and meet industry professionals. The contest judges included the writers of X-MEN, STARMAN, STAND BY ME and GOLDENEYE. I co-produced KNIGHT KNIGHT with Hermit Film Productions. The New York Times said of it "The script, by Nicholas Horwood, is packed with droll anachronisms and comic observations on the medieval era, as well as amusing twists."
I spent a year on Guiding Lights - a film mentoring scheme sponsored by Working Title Films, BFI, Skillset and others - and was mentored by Tony Grisoni (FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, TIDELAND). I also spent six months on the UK Film Council's Development Programme, receiving a grant and development assistance to develop GURK - a fantasy comedy, which won me a place on the London Screenwriters' Festival's mentoring programme with Disney/Pixar writer David Reynolds (FINDING NEMO). The script was optioned by Aardman Animations' former Head of Development.
My horror script THE GOOD PEOPLE made the 2011 Brit List. My horror/comedt LANDFILL made the 2014 Bitch List.
My short THAT THING YOU DREW premiered at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and won an honourable mention at Los Angeles. It won the Jury Prize at Malta's Kinemastik festival and the Audience Award at Warsaw. My short FUNDAY was nominated for a Welsh BAFTA. Tony Grisoni described the film as "Deliciously melancholic."
In 2011 I was selected for FilmFyn's prestigious ‘Screenwriting for Writers and Producers' workshop held in Odense, Denmark, along with 28 other filmmakers from around the EU. The workshop was run by producers Brendan Foley (THE RIDDLE) and Hollywood veteran Ned Dowd (APOCALYPTO, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, KING ARTHUR.)
