9th Annual
American Screenwriters Association International Screenplay Competition
sponsored by Gotham Writers' Workshop
Finalists and Semi-Finalists:
Congratulations to the following screenwriters whose scripts have placed them in the Finals and Semi-Finals of our competition! The finalist entries will be judged again and the final placements of their scripts will be announced in mid-June.
Finalists (in alphabetical order)
Carley Andrews, Malvern East Australia
carley.andrews@gmail.com
Isobel
Orphaned as a baby and raised by her grandmother who has recently died, Isobel feels completely alone in the world. Through her grandmother's Will, Isobel discovers that her mother is alive and needs a bone marrow transplant. Will Isobel save the life of the woman who abandoned her?Louis Felder, Studio City CA
louisfelder@aol.com
Reach for the Sun
An African-American high school student invents a solar cell so powerful it could replace oil, coal and natural gas as the world's energy source. Frantic forces want to exploit it, others to destroy it. But the kid forgot how he made it so he's got the only one! Gangs, cops, FBI, CIA, and agents from North Korea chase the ultimate American Inventor.Greg Hittelman, Sonoma CA
ghittelman@earthlink.net
Quarantine Zone
An action thriller set in a failed state war zone in 2013. A war correspondent hunts for a kidnapped scientist, in a journey that leads him into a modern heart of darkness.Marjory Kaptanoglu, Belmont CA
margiebk@comcast.net
Lying on the floor dead
Emma, an over-achieving Silicon Valley girl geek, would rather die than lose a dare. But when she takes on the biggest challenge of her life – proving her project leader innocent of murdering the VP from hell – she may have to lose in order to win. The killer would rather she die.David Kline, Los Angeles CA
dhkline@hotmail.com
The Big Orange
An aging private detective is called to investigate a celebrity murder in Los Angeles.Katharine O'Brien, Venice CA
katharine.obrien@gmail.com
Burn Card
A Native American youth resists the commercialization a new casino brings to his destitute reservation.Anita Justice Skibski, Algonquin IL
askibski@yahoo.com
Mine
A wealthy and respected coal mine owner spirals into dangerous obsession over the wife of his best employee in small town, 1950s Kentucky.
Semi-finalists (in alphabetical order)
Jim Beggarly, New York NY
jimbeggarly@hotmail.com
In The Lens
After the death of his parents, a young man moves to New York with friends from high school who are now in a successful rock band. Over the course of a few weeks, he starts to build a surrogate family just by asking people he meets on the street if he can take their picture. When a new crises arises, it again tests the young man's faith in others.
Deborah Block & John Dwyer, Austin TX
bayhorse@att.net
Blowing Up Oxnard
The story of a would-be rodeo star and the horse who loves him...and tells him so every night before they go to bed, thanks to an alien encounter outside Roswell, N.M.
Robert Bridge, Isle of Wight, UK
robertbridge17@hotmail.com
Honor
Lt Laird Shaw is an uncompromising military machine hell-bent on saving his captured friend from his inter-galactic enemy. He's released from detention and sanctioned with obsequious Commander Kelly Hammond to investigate a murder aboard his Father's space carrier. He must now join forces with his torturer to rescue his friend and locate the one man who could incriminate the hierarchy and end the war.
John Dart & Jeff Swanson, Woodland Hills CA
john@johndart.com
Luna
After the colonists of American moon base LUNA discover a plot to eliminate them and the nearby Chinese base in order to hijack the moon's priceless resources, they race against time to expose the plot, save their colony, and prevent war from breaking out on both worlds.
Rae Devito, Hermosa Beach CA
rae.devito@verizon.net
The Eulogist
When Angie Randolph is forced to move back in with her zany family, she stumbles into a career as a eulogist… and the "family" issues of a dying French Mafia Don.
John Dwyer, Charleston SC
caranx@bellsouth.net
Sixth Position
A gay NYPD detective and his bigoted senior hunt down a serial killer who targets prima ballerinas. Their race against time ends in a spectacle of flames and hysteria on the Metropolitan Opera House stage.
Sylvia Eastman, Vancouver BC Canada
sylvia_eastman@telus.net
Forgetting Edie
After a trip to Casket Depot to pick out a present for her 80th birthday, Edie realizes it’s time to take control of her own destiny – before it’s too late. Edie sets out to find a man from her past and win him back.
Frank Richard Faller, Calgary, Alberta Canada
frank.faller@sait.ca
Meeting Enya
A dreary unemployed Scots accountant travels to Calgary to order a dance team’s cowboy boots. At the Stampede, he wanders into a secure area, and into the unhappy life of a glamorous Country and Western superstar.
Aaron Guzikowski, Brooklyn NY
aguzikow@digitas.com
Panacea
When a tiny statue a boy has found in the woods apparently awakens his comatose father, his mother sets out to heal the world, one person at a time, until she slowly realizes each and every cure has a disturbing cost.
Megan Johnson, Clackamas OR
megancjohnson@msn.com
Stealing Roses
A sixty year old man, down on his luck with no medical insurance, decides to rob a bank to pay for his wife's critical medical treatments. He then recruits his crony friends from the senior center to assist him - and by surprise his wife says she’ll drive the getaway car.
Carly Lyn, Los Angeles CA
carlylyn@gmail.com
Teen Piracy
Starling Liu is an idealistic yet introverted high school student who deals with her estranged father’s emotional neglect by saving animals and being shy around boys. But when she teams up with the new girl in school – eccentric Red Beglarian – who dresses like a Pirate and doesn’t take crap from anyone, a new subculture begins to form and Starling may very well learn about what it takes to change the world.
Adam McClary, Minneapolis MN
adammcclary@gmail.com
Gatsby's House
Reincarnation is a fact, and finding out you were once someone famous is the new reality-show-celebrity. When disenchanted Avan McNeil learns he was once F. Scott Fitzgerald, he's inspired to reconstruct a Gatsby-esque romantic illusion to lure his scientifically designated soul mate Zelda.
Steve Nolan, Charlotte NC
stevennolan@mac.com
Infected
The mundane routine of operating the South Pole's Antarctic research center is interrupted when an unwanted visitor shows up forcing a complete evacuation off the ice. Trekking across three hundred miles of hostile terrain, the survivors quickly discover that an alien virus has infected the planet and this band of unlikely heroes must overcome insurmountable odds to save the human race from extinction.
Lisa O'Donnell, London United Kingdom
odonnell1972@hotmail.com
Cruel World
Cruel World is a black comedy about a suicide pact between two teenage girls, Karen a popular cheerleader and Lara, a troubled Goth whose many attempts to kill herself have failed, but with Karen cheering them both on, will they succeed in their obsessive pursuit of death?
Neil Pollack, Port Jefferson NY
neil112945@aol.com
The Doomsday Entity
After his father's death, the son discovers that his father was hiding out from a radical white power group intent on overthrowing the government - and now intent on killing him and his girlfriend too.
James Rothenberg, New York NY
jamie@shenandoahproductions.com
The Big Lay Down
Five con artists are all screwing each other and screwing each other over as a fifteen year old confidence game hangs in the balance.
Bart Sumner, Simi Valley CA
brtman@sbcglobal.net www.bartsumner.com
Micheaux
He left the family farm at 17 and worked in factories and on the rails. He established homesteads, plowing the fields in his bare feet, and wrote best-selling semi autobiographical novels, turning them into the first films ever made by a Black man. The epic story of Oscar Micheaux, an American original.
Charles Wiedman & Richard Preston, Jr., Austin TX
charlie@ruffhousin.com
Hotrod Texas Hellcats
In a sun-scorched world where water is more valuable than gasoline and life is cheaper than both, two pistol-packin’, gear-jammin’ roadhouse divas with sassy attitudes must out-run and out-fight diabolical bad guys, avenge the death of their mentor and deliver a mysterious package that may very well save the world.
Quarterfinalists:
Congratulations to the following screenwriters whose scripts have placed them in the quarterfinals! Their entries will be judged again and the top scores will advance to the final round.IMPORTANT NOTE: QUARTERFINALISTS should click here to send an email and provide us with your script logline (2-3 sentences). We will place your logline and contact email below so anyone interested in your script can follow-up with you.
FAST FACTS ABOUT OUR 9TH ANNUAL QUARTERFINALISTS...
- 60 Quarterfinalists were selected from more than 1,200 screenplays submitted
- 29 of the Quarterfinalist screenplays were written by writers with one or more co-writers (31 were the work of only one screenwriter)
- Quarterfinalists live in 19 different states:
Alaska
Arizona
California
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Montana
North Carolina
New Jersey
Nevada
New York
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Texas
Vermont
- Five countries are represented
USA
UK
Canada
Australia
Greece
(Scripts are listed in alphabetical order by writer)
Screenwriter Hometown Script Title Logline Contact Email Carley Andrews Malvern East Australia Isobel Orphaned as a baby and raised by her grandmother who has recently died, Isobel feels completely alone in the world. Through her grandmother's Will, Isobel discovers that her mother is alive and needs a bone marrow transplant. Will Isobel save the life of the woman who abandoned her? c_andrews81@yahoo.com.au Marc Arneson Santa Monica CA Peck At American High half the class was raised on Ritalin, Prozac is old school, and 'Bowling for Columbine' is just another movie. When Michael Peck's overbearing parents force him to compete in the Science Fair, this sophomore
thinks he can shock everyone. What he finds is teen angst might be cliché
but it still sucks.marcaa@mindspring.com Jim Beggarly New York NY In The Lens After the death of his parents, a young man moves to New York with friends from high school who are now in a successful rock band. Over the course of a few weeks, he starts to build a surrogate family just by asking people he meets on the street if he can take their picture. When a new crises arises, it again tests the young man's faith in others. jimbeggarly@hotmail.com Deborah Block & John Dwyer Austin TX Blowing Up Oxnard bayhorse@att.net Ryan Bonner & John Roche Los Angeles CA Midnight Riders When a cynical tour guide and his nerdy best friend are thrust back in time to the late 1700's, both are forced to live out the famous events that they were just re-enacting in modern day Boston. The future is about to contaminate the past! ryanpbonner@earthlink.net Robert Bridge Isle of Wight, UK Honor Lt Laird Shaw is an uncompromising military machine hell-bent on saving his captured friend from his inter-galactic enemy. He's released from detention and sanctioned with obsequious Commander Kelly Hammond to investigate a murder aboard his Father's space-carrier. He must now join forces with his torturer to rescue his friend and locate the one man who could incriminate the hierarchy and end the war. robertbridge17@hotmail.com Walter Caddow Phoenix AZ God Save the Queen During a 1947 transatlantic voyage, the captain and crew of the Queen Mary
is confronted by the Anti-Christ posing as the ship's doctor. Riddled with
bullets, the evil-one curses the captain, vows to return to the ship and plunges into the ocean. Keeping his promise, the Son-of-Satan returns to the now famous tourist attraction and takes the Long Beach P.D. on a trail of death and destruction.wcaddow@walshbros.com Julie Chapman Prineville OR Hage Nevada cattle rancher Wayne Hage takes on the U.S. Government in a landmark case after greedy federal agencies threaten, harass and attempt to take his land. Based on a true story. ptandjc@juno.com David Crane Monterey, MA Blue Monday A rotund hypochondriac leads his small-time Brooklyn gang in a battle of wits against the entire New York City Police Department (sort of) and wins (sort of). It's a comedy (sort of). davidmcrane@netzero.net Michael Dainard New York NY Lifescan mikewriter@gmail.com John Dart & Jeff Swanson Woodland Hills CA Luna After the colonists of American moonbase LUNA discover a plot to eliminate them and the nearby Chinese base in order to hijack the moon's priceless resources, they race against time to expose the plot, save their colony, and prevent war from breaking out on both worlds. john@johndart.com Lisa DeMartini Menlo Park CA Phantom Limbs A modern-day Poe-like love story, Phantom Limbs tells the tale of a college freshman who “gets the girl” by cutting off his body parts one by one. hedge243@aol.com Rae Devito Hermosa Beach CA The Eulogist rae.devito@verizon.net Elaine Mary Dutton Piraeus, Greece Shadows in the Fog The life of a girl with an ancient psychic ability is threatened when she is targeted for her powers. elainemdutton@hotmail.com John Dwyer Charleston SC Sixth Position A gay NYPD detective and his bigoted senior hunt down a serial killer who targets prima ballerinas. Their race against time ends in a spectacle of flames and hysteria on the Metropolitan Opera House stage. caranx@bellsouth.net Sylvia Eastman Vancouver BC Canada Forgetting Edie After a trip to Casket Depot to pick out a present for her 80th birthday, Edie realizes it’s time to take control of her own destiny – before it’s too late. Edie sets out to find a man from her past and win him back. sylvia_eastman@telus.net Marguerite Fair Los Angeles CA Exit Quietly Claire Denver proves that obsession is only a heartbeat away. When her love for her ex-boss Marty is not returned, she makes a desperate attempt to resolve their conflicted relationship by kidnapping him. writerperson48@yahoo.com Frank Richard Faller Calgary, Alberta Canada Meetin Enya A dreary unemployed Scots accountant travels to Calgary to order a dance team’s cowboy boots. At the Stampede, he wanders into a secure area, and into the unhappy life of a glamorous Country and Western superstar. frank.faller@sait.ca Frank Richard Faller Calgary, Alberta Canada Year of The Sheep Nancy’s a Scot with three passions: Highland history, genealogy, and disliking the English! A hapless quintessential Englishman becomes her lodger. Their star-crossed genealogies make past and present collide. The fur flies...but they’re made for each other. frank.faller@sait.ca Louis Felder Studio City CA Reach for the Sun An African-American high-school student invents a solar cell so powerful it could replace oil, coal and natural gas as the world’s energy source. Frantic forces want to exploit it, others to destroy it. But the kid forgot how he made it so he's got the only one! Gangs, cops, FBI, CIA, and agents from North Korea chase the ultimate American Inventor. louisfelder@aol.com Sarah Garvey Los Angeles CA Under A Nevada Sky Twelve-year old Jenny Callaway wants a fancy horse and a trip to the show ring. Instead she gets a visit to a Nevada prison, a down-on-his-luck mustang and the adventure of a lifetime. sarahgarvey@yahoo.com Gary Graham San Diego CA The Setup A wiseguy reluctantly joins forces with his banker brother after the brother knocks off a bank that had been targeted by the mob. ggraham@san.rr.com Aaron Guzikowski Brooklyn NY Panacea When a tiny statue a boy has found in the woods apparently awakens his comatose father, his mother sets out to heal the world, one person at a time, until she slowly realizes each and every cure has a disturbing cost. aguzikow@digitas.com David Hartzheim Oakland CA Latent Image A troubled model is given a last chance to prove herself but only if she works with an enigmatic client bent on making her face her inner
demons and dark past.dlhartz@earthlink.net Greg Hittelman Sonoma CA Quarantine Zone An action thriller set in a failed state war zone in 2013. A war correspondent hunts for a kidnapped scientist, in a journey that leads him into a modern heart of darkness. ghittelman@earthlink.net Barbara Hunter Avon CT Tattooed Phoenix When a suicidal clairvoyant girl escapes from a mental institution she uses her visions to fight crime despite the police and her psychologist in hot pursuit. swordandsaga@aol.com Megan Johnson Clackamas OR Stealing Roses A sixty year-old man, down on his luck with no medical insurance, decides to rob a bank to pay for his wife's critical medical treatments. He then recruits his crony friends from the senior center to assist him - and by surprise his wife says she’ll drive the getaway car. Email Not Available Mauriel Joslyn Sparta GA Time Shift Teenage reenactors attending 60th anniversary events at Normandy, find themselves back in time and must set history right after their presence causes historic German orders to go wrong that would change the outcome of D-Day. maurielj@aol.com Marjory Kaptanoglu Belmont CA Lying on the floor dead Emma, an over-achieving Silicon Valley girl geek, would rather die than lose a dare. But when she takes on the biggest challenge of her life – proving her project leader innocent of murdering the VP from hell – she may have to lose in order to win. The killer would rather she die. margiebk@comcast.net Denise Kass Brooklyn NY Ring Around The Rosy Charlie can no longer handle the life he is living. He takes off in his car, unaware of where he wants to go, but ends up heading into a mess of murders and confusing situations he has to figure out. In the end he is much more surprised by the outcome than he could have ever suspected. denoosenstoon@aol.com David Kline Los Angeles CA The Big Orange dhkline@hotmail.com Zakary Kurzawski Vernon Hills IL Fire Drill nothingtoprove@hotmail.com Will Luers Portland OR Mink Painter George Catlin arrives at an Indian village to demonstrate the best of the civilized world and unleashes the worst. A tale of magic, lust and betrayal set during the 19th century fur trade. wluers@taylorstreetstudio.com Carly Lyn Los Angeles CA Teen Piracy Starling Liu is an idealistic yet introverted high school student who deals with her estranged Father’s emotional neglect by saving animals and being shy around boys. But when she teams up with the new girl in school – eccentric Red Beglarian – who dresses like a Pirate and doesn’t take crap from anyone, a new subculture begins to form and Starling may very well learn about what it takes to change the world. carlylyn@gmail.com Adam McClary Minneapolis MN Gatsby's House Reincarnation is a fact, and finding out you were once someone famous is the new reality-show-celebrity. When disenchanted Avan McNeil learns he was once F. Scott Fitzgerald, he's inspired to reconstruct a Gatsby-esque romantic illusion to lure his scientifically designated soulmate Zelda. adammcclary@gmail.com Donald Morrison Green Oaks IL To See Afar Amid the soaring beauty and hushed intrigues of 16th century Italian universities and cathedrals, unfolds the love affair of Professor Galileo for Venetian dressmaker Marina Gamba. Although Galileo gains international acclaim for his invention of the telescope, Marina has to sacrifice her personal happiness to save him from jealous professors. Later, when Galileo was betrayed and imprisoned by the pope who had befriended him, Marina' spirit led him from despair to the decision that led mankind to modern physics. donmorrison@earthlink.net Steve Nolan Charlotte NC Infected The mundane routine of operating the South Pole's Antarctic research center is interrupted when an unwanted visitor shows up forcing a complete evacuation off the ice. Trekking across three hundred miles of hostile terrain, the survivors quickly discover that an alien virus has infected the planet and this band of unlikely heroes must overcome insurmountable odds to save the human race from extinction. stevennolan@mac.com Katharine O'Brien Venice CA Burn Card A Native American youth resists the commercialization a new casino brings to his destitute reservation. katharine.obrien@gmail.com Lisa O'Donnell London United Kingdom Cruel World Cruel World is a black comedy about a suicide pact between two teenage girls
Karen, a popular cheerleader and Lara, a troubled Goth who's many attempt to
kill herself have failed, but with Karen cheering them both on will they
succeed in their obsessive pursuit of death?odonnell1972@hotmail.com Tristan Pinkerton Redmond OR Grunt John and Brad meet during the battle of the Ia Drang Valley, come back home
and find they cannot return to a civilian life. They go back to Vietnam together, where the next line of America's youth, including city boy Peter Kent, are fighting a very different war. Peter struggles to find his place in the hellacious quagmire of the platoon as Brad struggles with his fading humanity.fox378@hotmail.com Neil Pollack Port Jefferson NY The Doomsday Entity neil112945@aol.com Roger Rock Fort Peck MT Ghost Dancers A Montana deputy must redeem himself in order to save the woman he loves
from white extremists and prevent a terrorist act.rorock@nemontel.net James Rothenberg New York NY The Big Lay Down Five con artists are all screwing each other and screwing each other over as a fifteen year old confidence game hangs in the balance. jamie@shenandoahproductions.com Fred Rubin Valley Village CA Sixteen Lids 1972 Chicago - A cold Winter Night. Hippie Lonnie Goldman, so indecisive he makes Hamlet look like a go-to guy, is at odds with his life. He drives to the south side , buys a pound of marijuana, divides it into sixteen lids (ounces) and has it all pre sold on his drive back to the north side. On this magical night, as he stops at every quirky customer they each have a gem of wisdom to make Lonnie think. Adventure, karma, fate and coincidence all converge and by the time he gets home Spring has arrived and Lonnie knows what to do with his life. ChiFreddie@aol.com Michelle Ryan & Jon Meyer Rancho Cordova CA Living in Shadows A troubled boy escapes into the imaginative worlds of alternate personalities as he struggles to cope with violence and instability in his family. michelle@gossamersound.com Nathan Scoggins Glendale CA The Least of These When Father Andre James, an African-American priest with a troubled past, is transferred to a Catholic boarding school after the mysterious disappearance of one of the priests, he soon uncovers a dark secret about the priest’s disappearance – a secret one of his students may have committed murder to hide. nscoggins@msn.com Anita Skibski Algonquin IL Mine A wealthy and respected coal mine owner spirals into dangerous obsession over the wife of his best employee in small-town, 1950s Kentucky. askibski@yahoo.com Henderson Smith Las Vegas NV The Ugly Princess The Ugly Princess (Fantasy/Adventure/Family): An infamous highwayman cleverly plots to kidnap a beautiful princess, but captures her ugly sister instead. So begins their forced alliance: a couple of mismatched uglies, who are the only ones who can save their kingdom from total annihilation. hendersonsmith@hotmail.com Dasha Snyder New York NY Transit Karma NYC, 1993: As a production assistant on a sitcom, Mic must baby-sit it's closeted lesbian star while hiding her own burgeoning gay romance to the social worker of her HIV+ best friend. dasha@mac.com Paul Solet Los Angeles CA Heartland In a ghetto called Heartland, a breeding ground for sin, a heroin addict becomes a suspect in a series of murders in which the hearts
of the victims have been removed. In his quest to prove his innocence, he discovers that Heartland is a farm for sinful human hearts, being harvested and eaten by the rich and powerful – the real secret of their success.paul_solet@yahoo.com Maxine Stanley Longwood FL Molly's Maternity Leave An attractive unmarried career woman, desperate for a break from work, fakes being pregnant in order to take a maternity leave! Add a sprinkling of Jewish humor, sassy dialogue and an unlikely love interest, for a FUN romantic comedy. max2u3@aol.com Bart Sumner Simi Valley CA Micheaux He left the family farm at 17, worked in factories and on the rails, and established homesteads, plowing the fields in his bare feet. He wrote best-selling semi-autobiographical novels, and turned them into films, the first ones ever made by a Black man. The All-American epic story of Oscar Micheaux, American original. brtman@sbcglobal.net Chris Thorndyke North Hollywood CA The Ever-winding Path To Pathos The lives of four people-a lonely, lovesick sports reporter; a privileged professional athlete; a
glamorous runway model with a debilitating secret; and
a mysterious man with an eye patch-are turned upside
down when their paths cross in a most happenstance and
unpredictable way.ima_lil_teapot_ru@yahoo.com Connie Tonsgard Juneau AK A Death in Concord akaconsuelo@acsalaska.net Erik Venema Princeton NJ Final Flight An aging navy pilot (CAG) discovers that he has to stop flying at a time when terrorists take over his aircraft carrier and steal nuclear bombs. He is the only one who stands in their way from destroying the carrier and dropping the bombs on Tel Aviv. erik@bedford-falls.com David Warnock Brooklyn NY Runaway Colt ISAIAH is a runaway slave who eludes hunters as he embarks on a perilous journey across the American South. He soon finds refuge among the Seminole Indians who themselves are in the midst of turmoil with U.S. soldiers. Desperate for a safe haven, Isaiah leads Seminole Blacks and Indians to freedom in Mexico. dwarnock@earthlink.net Jason Whiton Putney VT The Bonsai A distant father reconnects with his family after a mystical Bonsai tree takes him on an emotional journey through its past. jasonwhiton@hotmail.com Charles Wiedman & Richard Preston, Jr. Austin TX Hotrod Texas Hellcats In a sun-scorched world where water is more valuable than gasoline and life is cheaper than both, two pistol-packin’, gear-jammin’
roadhouse divas with sassy attitudes must out-run and out-fight diabolical bad guys, avenge the death of their mentor and deliver a
mysterious package that may very well save the world.charlie@ruffhousin.com Tommy Wood & Shannon Cruey Lawrenceville GA Antagon A troubled bestselling fantasy author struggles with the dark secrets of his past when the demonic villain of his novels refuses to be killed off and invades the real world. tommy@stimulusfilms.com Michael Yurinko Easton PA For the Love of Jade After being blamed for the tragic death of his teenaged friend, a boy is forced to protect himself and his loved ones from the town’s sheriff who has been snapped by grief. myurinko@rcn.com
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