ARCHIVES
For information about previous competitions, please click on the links below.
FEMALE PROTAGONIST CATEGORY
GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Mother of Frankenstein by R. Ian Simpson
Logline: A dark biopic that re-imagines how author, Mary Shelley, finds her true inspiration for Frankenstein.
ABOUT THE WRITER: Ian graduated from Vassar in 2005 with BAs in both Psychology and Film. With a Burnam Fellowship, he wrote/produced/directed a short doc about the Underground Railroad during the summer of 2004, as well as wrote/produced/directed his thesis film for Vassar in 2005. Ian has completed the first of two years of his MFA at the American Film Institute, concentrating on screenwriting. His writing reflects his interests in history, blurring the lines between ‘fact’ and ‘fiction,’ and providing strong voices for minority characters.
Second Place: Rememory by Brooke Sebold
Logline: When her father falls ill, Sam, a detached 27 year old, returns to a home rife with memories, both tender and devastating. She falls for a candy striper but in order to experience love, Sam must confront the memory that resulted in a loss of childhood forever.
Third Place: The Door to Hades by Anne E. Arleigh Winter
Logline: Young Jesse Flick skips out of a Chicago halfway house, travels south to Mississippi, and turns up on the doorstep of retired English teacher Edith Maeweather to claim she is the daughter the brittle spinster gave up for adoption 21 years ago. This is not a soft, sepia-toned mother/daughter-bonding story. Jesse is a thief. Edith’s students dubbed her the “Terror of Turner, Mississippi.” It’s a fair match.
MINORITY PROTAGONIST CATEGORY
GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Curse of the Precious Consort by Quan Lelan
Logline: In feudal times the Heavenly Sword that built the Kingdom of Vietnam fell under the curse of the Precious Consort, whose legendary beauty drove kingdoms to wars. When the Sword is once again unearthed, the terrifying Curse of the Precious Consort returns.
ABOUT THE WRITER: Quan Lelan graduated from University of California San Diego with a Bachelor degree in Visual Arts. He also has a MFA from the University of Southern California Graduate School of Cinema-Television. He is currently working in China and Vietnam writing and directing commercials. He was also the Casting Director & Assistant Director for “Three Seasons”, the first American film to shoot in Vietnam and he worked as an adviser and assistant director for Phillip Noyces’ “The Quiet American” during the Ho Chi Minh City shoot. His script “Hill 66” was a Quarter-Finalist in the 2001 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting.
Second Place: Ball by Julian Breece
Logline: Cast out by his family for being gay, a teen prodigy finds strength and survival in NYC’s underground world of gay vogue balls.
Third Place: Mr. In Between by Andrew Smith
Logline: An undercover cop with a serious alcohol problem finds an unexpected relationship with a South American drug lord (who is also a recovering alcoholic).
Emerging Voice Winner: MSG Added by Susan Rossi
Logline: After losing his job, a Chinese American man and his best friend open a restaurant as a cover for their gambling circuit sponsored by a group of zealous Chinese ladies.
FEMALE QUARTERFINALISTS
A Doll’s Life by Kathy Drum
Abilene by Michael Raymond
Captured by Katrina L. Coombs & Susan Wescott
Catawampous by J.W. Levinson
Dusty by Mark Bankins
Finding Velma by Elizabeth Savage Sullivan
Mary of Scotland by Dana Osmundson
Mine by Anita Justice Skibski
On the Bayou by Sean Bridges
The Outlaw by Larry Whatcott
Preeti Girl by Todd Holmes
Stellunia by Jerry Jennings
Unfinished Business by Larry Maness
MINORITY QUARTERFINALISTS
Booker T. by Joseph Holland
Chu and Blossom by Ryan O’Nan & Charles Chu
Cowboys and Indians by Cicely Wynne
Esperancia by John Edward Flynt
Kheng Kheng Crocodile by Donna Lisa Rothstein
Mr. Smith’s Class Goes To Washington by Lisa Yoffee & Steven Samuels
Pray for New Light by Rasheed Newson
Rising Star by Ifeoma Sesiana Amobi Sugarcane
Blues by Chris Gordon
