ARCHIVES
For information about previous competitions, please click on the links below.
Female category
GRAND PRIZE WINNER: CONFESSION by Sean Corrigan Logline: The shooting of a state governor coincides with the pending execution of an innocent woman on death row. For reasons to be discovered, the police bring in a female psychologist to interrogate three brothers and get a confession before midnight.
About the Writer: Over the years, Sean Corrigan has written thirteen feature screenplays and a dozen plays and teleplays, receiving over fifty awards for his writing. He has placed in the top 10 in screenwriting contests such as the Austin Film Festival, Cinestory Screenwriting Contest, Scriptapalooza, Slamdance, and Final Draft Screenwriting Contest. He has had three plays produced in New York City and Washington D.C. Also a SAG/AFTRA actor, Corrigan has appeared in dozens of commercials and several feature films. In 2001, he wrote and directed his first feature film, Insignificant Other, which was deemed, “a strong feature debut from Corrigan… a solid and unsettling, darkly comic film” by Film Threat. In January 2002, he was featured in Script Magazine’s “The Writers You’ll Wish You Knew When” section. In 2009, Corrigan was one of three writers in the country to be awarded a writing fellowship by the Austin Film Festival. He currently works in advertising, but continues to write regularly, in the hope of making it his full-time occupation.
SECOND PLACE: MUTE by Brandon Michael Chang
Logline: A wildly imaginative but hopelessly shy 10-year-old girl loses the ability to speak following the death of her mother.
About the Writer: Brandon Michael Chang is a young writer and filmmaker hailing from San Francisco. Always interested in film but not quite ready to take the plunge, he moved to Los Angeles to study at UCLA under a science degree. Upon graduating, full of regret and self-loathing, he decided to make a drastic change and pursue his lifelong dream of filmmaking. He wrote and directed his first short film, “Hurt,” while studying film production at Santa Monica College.
THIRD PLACE: THE GENTLE RISE AND FALL by Ewen Glass
Logline: After the mysterious death of her guardian grandmother, Erin (16) negotiates her own troubled past, a violent estranged brother and a veil of secrecy to find her Mother and avenge years of abuse and neglect.
About the Writer: Born and raised in Northern Ireland, Ewen Glass went on to study film and media at Stirling University in Scotland. After graduating, he cut his teeth writing stage-plays before turning exclusively to the screen. Productions include short films, a UK feature (with extensive distribution on the home market) and work as a storyliner on British TV serial, Hollyoaks. His feature scripts have received development from Northern Ireland Screen and Slovak Audiovisual Fund, and he was awarded a place on Edinburgh International Film Festival’s prestigious TalentLab in 2013. Keen to broaden the scope of his work, Ewen has written scripts for Bollywood and companies in Europe; he is, however, intent on working in America. He has just finished a psychological thriller called HINTERLAND, set over one night in an isolated motel, in which a quiet vending-machine attendant with a temper problem is drawn into a murder-plot by a seductress with secrets of her own. Ewen also enjoys eating cheese.
Diversity Category
GRAND PRIZE WINNER: BISON MAN by Michael Rhodes
Logline: A middle-aged man who has lost his love for life, gets a dog and an RV and travels west to find his father.
About the Writer: Michael Rhodes taught English and science in secondary schools, test drilled for oil and worked as a railroad brakeman mostly in the West. After moving to Austin he syndicated and marketed Earth & Sky, an award-winning, international science radio program. He’s taken a variety of screenplay workshops and also studied with four professional editors to polish his scripts. All three of his screenplays have been finalists in contests this year. His ultimate goal is to see his stories produced into high quality, successful films.
SECOND PLACE: UNCLE PISAU’S ARDUOUS JOURNEY by Charles Erven
Logline: Based on an incredible true event, Uncle Pisau’s Arduous Journey tells the story of a Papuan farmer who, embittered by a tragic past, is forced to take his young niece across New Guinea to seek medical help. Their trying journey unexpectedly challenges his perceptions of the past.
About the Writer: Charles Erven is a playwright and screenwriter whose plays include The Ballad of Chet (On the Eve of His Bliss), Canyon Suite, Glynn’s Crossing and Painting Landscapes. Canyon Suite won the 2005 David Mark Cohen playwriting award. His most recent play, The Ballad of Chet (On the Eve of His Bliss) premiered in 2010 and was the finalist for the 2012 Kennedy Center award. In 2006, he was the John Wall Playwriting Fellow at the Sewanee Writers Conference at the University of the South. Charles holds an MFA in Screenwriting from University of California, Riverside and a Masters in Directing from University of Maryland, College Park. His goal is to write about people whose stories are ignored.
THIRD PLACE: HAWK DREAMER by Marlene Shigekawa Logline: During World War II, a Japanese American imprisoned on a reservation and a disenchanted Native American lawyer reluctantly join forces to solve a tragic murder.
About the Writer: Marlene Shigekawa has a broad base of experience as a producer, screenwriter, book author and diversity consultant. She is currently producing and co-writing a documentary film – For the Sake of the Children, to be released in 2015. Her screenplays include: Hawk Dreamer, Hunting Picasso and Mohave Junction. She is also the co-writer for teleplays: Skip West and Proud Mary. As a new media producer and content manager, she has created several new technology projects. She is a published author of several books including children’s books (Blue Jay in the Desert & Welcome Home Swallows) and a career development book (Succeeding in High Tech: A Guide to Building Your Career). As a former diversity consultant she has worked throughout the U.S. with corporate executives and school administrators and has made presentations at universities and colleges. She has a B.A. in English from the University of California, Riverside and a M.S. in Counseling from the California State University. Marlene’s goal is to become a professional screenwriter. Additional information can be found at: www.marleneshigekawa.com.
FEMALE QUARTERFINALISTS
13th Step by Amelia Champion and Rafael Alvarez
Alien Rendezvous 3-D by Darlene Anne Inkster
American Buddha by Andrew Quinn
Artistic License by David Zelitzky
Ascension by Darryl Hill
Beatmatchin’ by John Bryant
Beyond the Painted Line by Mary Theresa Tierney and Eileen Tierney
Beyond the Shadows by Darlene Anne Inkster
Blues by Carlotta Schoch
Boudicca by Leah Melane Waller
Callie Earlene by Scott Simpson
City of N.O. by Rosaia Shepard
The Cuban Queen Bordello by Peggy Hicks
Defense of Another by Joan Broadman
The Door at the Top of the Stairs by Alison Naomi Holt
Einstein’s Dilemma by Leah Melane Waller
Feeding the Sharks by Douglas Beer
Finding Joy by Virginia Lee Brucker
First Blush by Tamara Farsadi
First Person Shooter by DC Sayre
Going Solo by Robert Gately and Drew Keil
Grace by Lynda Lemberg and Jeffrey Allen Russel
Guardian of the Empire by Warren Hull
Hell & Other Platitudes by Melanie Cohn
Hermena by Keith Langsdale
History of Fire by Michael Whitton and James Hamilton James
The Home Front by David Buttaro
Hope by Viliam Babjarcik
Insanity Way by Cheyenne Green and Shaun Delliskave
The Introvert’s Playlist by Rachel Woolley
J.W. by Trionne Domino
Little Drummer Girl by Jess Grant
Little House by Claire Fowler
Mabel by Flavia Jackson
Missing Love by Ronald Marchand and Rhonda L. Dee-Ewing
Momsong by Yvonne Meyer
Mother Nature’s Son by JB Berg
No/Good Place by Marguerite Woodward
Offsides by Rebekah E. Reaves
Public Places by Julie Adler Batavia
Roller Rebel by Sharon Rutter and Laura Plotkin
Sexton by Elizabeth Oyebode
SIG by John Geraci
The Sign by Jessica Paliza
Unplugged by Paul McComas
Wake Up Priscilla! by Emanuela Del Monaco and Antonio Consentino
What Ever Happened to Barbara Brown by Luftu Emre Cicek
Wild Sky by Andrea Ashton
The Woman of His Dreams by Jeffrey Rubin
DIVERSITY QUARTERFINALISTS
400 Years A Slave by Aaron Yarber
Best Friends by Henrik Wilenius
Black Santa by Jeremy Feig and Tiffany Current
Canaan by Elizabeth Jane Copeman
The Devil’s Larceny by Howard Fridkin
Erasing William by Annabel O’Connell
Flux by Gus Avila
Grab by Alex Burger
Life’s Rounds by Brian Russell Smith
Medal of Honor by Martin Blinder
No Surrender by Michael Farkas
Our Lady of the Artichokes by Katherine Vaz
Precarious by Penelope Thomas
Race by Andre Fuad Degas
San Francisco Sandinista by David Cupples
Sanctuary by Karen Samuelson
Still Life With Kittens by Vito Roppo
The Red Note by Craig Stewart Whitney
The Twenty-One Gun Salute by Ronald Ecker
The Want Ads by Michael Rhodes
Three Months by Jared Frieder
To Sharpen A Thorn by Clint Pearson and Patricia Benzon
Topspin by Geoff Richardson
Tussle by Aaron Yarber
Weather or Not by Suzanne Johnson
World War 1.5 by Jeff Woodruff
