Idol

by Eric Nelson
Feature Screenplay

When nineteen-year-old drag impersonator Lee Smith infiltrates the life of his idol, bubblegum punk music icon Alina, the identities of the two individuals blur, igniting a fierce rivalry between superfan and celebrity that will shock the nation.

Eric Nelson is a screen and television writer who reimagines psychological drama and horror narratives through a darkly comedic, queer lens. A native New Yorker, Eric earned his BA in Film and Media Studies with Honors from Yale College and will graduate with a Screenwriting MFA from Columbia University this May. In 2023, his feature script Idol, about an obsessive drag impersonator, was voted a Faculty Select by Columbia staff, and his script Deep Hollow, about a Vermont witch who haunts pubescent boys, was chosen as a finalist for the William Goldstein Award for best horror feature (winner TBA). Apart from his writing pursuits, Eric is a botanist, extreme skier, stand-up comedian, and wannabe drag queen.