Nebraska Screenwriter Bob Nelson at The Clyde

It took ten years, but Freeland’s Bob Nelson is now an overnight success in Hollywood. His screenplay for the film Nebraska was nominated for six prestigious awards—the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Writers Guild, Independent Spirit, Critics’ Choice, and even Britain’s BAFTA. Premieres and award celebrations have had him flying in and out of SeaTac for months to Cannes, London, New York City, and Los Angeles. “I never envisioned doing so much on the promotion side, but Paramount has put me out there, and I love talking about the film,” he says.

But he’s returning home after awards season to answer your questions at a Films & Filmmakers event March 16, when The Clyde will be showing Nebraska (booked for 7:30 shows on March 15, 16, and 17). He’ll tell us about his experiences as a screenwriter and maybe dish a little about what it’s like to be a regular guy amidst all the awards-season glitz. At least he’s finally getting some wear out of that tuxedo he bought three years ago.

Nelson is an unassuming man who considers himself a writer first, though he did also play some iconic characters–the Ballard driver and one of the Ineffectual Middle-Management (Screw)-ups–on Almost Live, a Seattle sketch comedy show that ran locally and on Comedy Central. When the show folded, Nelson–on a dare from a friend—tackled a screenplay about a father and son reconnecting, set in a small Midwestern town. The aging father is determined to get to Omaha to claim the million-dollar prize that he’s sure awaits him at Publishers Clearing House. When the son can’t change his father’s mind, he joins him for the trip.

Nelson’s goal was to write something between a comedy and a drama. “I’ve always loved the movies that fall in between,” Nelson says,“because to me that’s what real life is.” He drew heavily from his family to make this film, starring a multiply nominated Bruce Dern, Oscar nominee June Squibb, and a surprisingly poignant Will Forte. “My dad was the original inspiration for the Woody character,” Nelson says, “and the uncles you see are very much like the uncles I grew up with.” Apparently all those Midwestern relatives have a sense of humor, because Nelson pokes some fun at them in the film.

A colleague sent his finished screenplay to someone who sent it to writer-director Alexander Payne, who was delighted to discover a screenplay he wanted to film, but didn’t have to write himself. He signed on to make it in 2003, but then made both Sideways and The Descendants.  Bob waited. Finally, in 2012, nearly a decade later, Payne was ready to make Nebraska.

In the meantime Bob and his wife Valerie had been lured to Whidbey in 2005, where he kept writing sketches and screenplays. He currently has TV and film projects with Paramount, Warner Brothers, and Universal Studios, including wrote two original projects he plans to direct, The Tribe with Joel McHale (an Almost Live alum) and The Confirmation. For the next few weeks, though, he’s still rubbing elbows with Hollywood legends, hanging out with Bruce Dern, sitting next to U2, lunching with Meryl Streep. “I’m really grateful for it all,” he says, “but I look forward to getting back to Whidbey and getting back to work.”

Bob Nelson will do a Q&A after the 7:30 showing of Nebraska at The Clyde March 16th.