2023 Screenplay Award Finalists

A conqueror of fears, Travis has taken his acrophobia to the top of a 108-foot-tall Mayan temple, swam with sharks, and attended a mixer where he knew no one. He currently has a feature film project setup with Eclectic Pictures as well as a forthcoming graphic novel through Motor Content and Thunder

Wrote and directed following films, Sheppard Boys, Lees Offering, David's Child and The Good Family. Wrote countless scripts and directed countless short films in a 30 year career.

Having grown up in North Texas, USA where my choices in life included playing women's sports or going to church, I obviously sided with Satan and got out of there to pursue film school at UT. Since then I've worked in broadcast news, tv/film production and lately as Producer in gaming. Dramatic

After meeting Robert, you realize he was raised right- right inside a movie theater. His childhood happy-place was escaping to the cinema and the magic that came alive on screen. After trying his hand on an independent film, he realized his greater passion was writing. He’s inspired by visual

Rod Kent started his career in computers in high school by getting a job at a top secret government laboratory after hacking into their computers to do homework…and getting caught. This led to a top secret clearance and finding out where Martians are buried in Area 51. After graduating, he went on

My adult daughter said, "You know, Dad. seems like you've had 50 careers." The list includes HS English teacher, studio musician, stand-up comic. Was represented by Brenda Feigen at William Morris from 84-87. Swore I'd never return to screenwriting until I did in 2019. Won many awards, top 2% on

Wrote and directed following films, Sheppard Boys, Lees Offering, David's Child and The Good Family. Wrote countless scripts and directed countless short films in a 30 year career.

Sunday Blackwell is an author and a scriptwriter. His goal is to see people enjoy the value of their time when they sit to watch a movie or read a book. He has contributed to articles, research, and book publication. When he is not writing or reading books, he enjoys listening and watching comedy

Wrote and directed following films, Sheppard Boys, Lees Offering, David's Child and The Good Family. Wrote countless scripts and directed countless short films in a 30 year career.

Stowe Story Labs alumna. Writer/director of an award-winning short THE ZAHIR. Trilingual multi-ethnic multinational. Mathematician whose journey led from humble beginnings in the Urals to professorships in Berkeley and Berlin. Olga's writing explores follies of genius, elusiveness of belonging, and

Brian Bossetta is a native of New Orleans, a die-hard Saints fan, a frequent consumer of classical music, jazz, dark beer and Scotch — a photographer, a woefully average guitar player, avid runner, dog lover and eternally struggling writer still trying to determine if writing the great American

Stowe Story Labs alumna. Writer/director of an award-winning short THE ZAHIR. Trilingual multi-ethnic multinational. Mathematician whose journey led from humble beginnings in the Urals to professorships in Berkeley and Berlin. Olga's writing explores follies of genius, elusiveness of belonging, and

T. C. Smith's career was launched when he won the Nicholl Fellowship. He has written for the big screen, the small screen and the stage. He has worked for Fox Television, Fox Family Films, ABC, Disney, the Disney Channel, Warner Brothers and Showtime. He co-wrote and co-starred in the controversial

Since dropping out of film school to be a rock star. I've been in love, pain, debt, accidents, bands, bomb shelters, and a bad music video for a Norwegian girl group. I've been writing it all down, reaching the finals at Nashville Film Fest (twice), LA Screenplay Awards, Creative World Awards, and

Drawn to the arts at a young age, Andrew quickly embraced his love of writing and film. The goal for all of his screenplays is to produce scripts with unique opportunities to showcase character development, extensive world building, and a balance between practical and digital effects. Above all, he

Tyler is a writer, filmmaker and producer based in San Francisco, CA. With a degree in Screenwriting from San Francisco State University, Tyler has worked in the film industry for 10 years. Tyler's writing style is high-concept, high-brow. Always tasteful, never pretentious. Exploring genres and

I am a former journalist, publisher, TV producer and media executive, now writing books (crime fiction) and TV scripts (comedy and drama). I am a Brit, now based in Sydney, Australia.

Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Salas was born in Brownsville, Texas. His childhood was spent in a hundred-year-old house that stood in poverty. His wild imagination allowed him to escape from his impoverished upbringing. As his social and academic knowledge grew, so did his appreciation for storytelling and film

Born Nov. 23 1985 in Vladikavkaz, Russia to Inna Tedeeva, who was just a freshman at the time in a Moscow University and Boris Basiev, an aspiring actor at the VGIK drama school. He has Ossetian and Alani ancestry. George spent much of his youth in Brooklyn and graduated from Grover Cleveland H.S.

After earning a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Hofstra University, Denise attended the USC Graduate film producing program while simultaneously holding her first job in Hollywood as a production assistant at Lucasfilm and Steven Spielberg's Amblin’ Ent. Denise was a Story Editor at 20th Century Fox, a

Katy Dore is a screenwriter and director living on California’s Central Coast. Katy creates TV and film projects with relatable stories and social relevance. Her historic drama TV series about Mary Ellen Pleasant, is currently in pre-production with Quincy Jones Productions, Flavor Unit and Goldmann

John Munn is a native of Washington State and is married to his wife of over fifteen years who inspires him to write every day. His two boys, Jack and Max, are his world. He has also lived in the United Kingdom, for a short period, where he studied literature and attended college at the University

Condemned to writing by audition room butterflies, now serves consecutive sentences in Portland, Oregon. Influences include Shepard, Beckett, Mamet, Pinter, and Stoppard.

I write sci-fi/fantasy screenplays. Aliens, abductions(no anal probing), interspecies romance(Kirk did it), all that wonderful stuff. Well, that and a whole dollop of fantasy thrown in. I have been told “ your stuff is so different” but, I can only do me. I spent a bazillion years developing

Born in Maine, I've lived in Los Angeles, New York, Massachusetts and Ireland for stretches. I'm inspired by the real people in my life, love to research to enrich my projects beyond what I've got in my own head, and find the comedy in the serious.

Hilary Angelo is an actress turned writer known for her roles in AMERICAN PIE and CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR. Recently, she sold a spec TV pilot to Mark Gordon/Eone called PATIENT ZERO based on disease detectives at the Centers for Disease Control. Sony TV bought a time travel pilot spec she wrote called

Amy began her career as a Casting Director in New York City where her office served as East Coast Casting for Paramount. From character development to dialogue, Amy’s writing is informed by her years reading with and directing actors. Her projects have found success in well-respected screenwriting

Annique Arredondo is an outspoken Latinx screenwriter, filmmaker, and social activist who, growing up along the border of San Diego, was never Latin enough for the Latinxs, or American enough for the Americans. Her goal: to convey a fresh perspective on what it means to be bicultural, female, and

Ryan is a West L.A. based emerging screenwriter with over twenty finalist selections from the top screenplay comps in the industry. Ryan looks for highly marketable projects with a focus on genre-bending true stories and biopics, where sports, crimes, vices, drama, comedy, and inspiring real-life

Dru Bhattacharya is an author, poet, screenwriter, and aspiring novelist. His pilot feature, The Grey Eminence, has received numerous accolades, including placement in the L.A. International Screenplay Awards; The Film Empire Diversity Mentorship; Table Read My Screenplay Genre Screenplay

I was born in Cincinnati and lived in Chicago for a couple of years before moving to Los Angeles. I won the Let's Make it! competition 4th addition(2020) & was a quarterfinalist in the SWN competition(2021). I also completed screenwriting classes at Second City.

R.L.’s life in film began at Miramax Films followed up by earning an MFA from USC. His short THE KNIFE GRINDER’S TALE screened at festivals around the world, including The Telluride Film Festival. After taking a break from the film industry to take care of his ailing father, get married and raise

Leila's writing and filmmaking journey started when she travelled from the UK to New Zealand without flying. Inspired by all the stories she found, she decided to pursue film and applied for Sydney Film School in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Having won awards for her films and writing, she can

Growing up in Europe before moving back to the USA in his late teens, Michael enjoys bringing an outsider perspective to high-concept genre stories. A graduate of UCLA's Professional Program in Screenwriting, Michael enjoys writing elevated horror, action-comedies, and grounded science fiction. A

Dylan Wilson is an independent screenwriter and published short story author based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Dylan hopes to one day pursue a career in professional wrestling once they find a way to make it not hurt so much.

Jimmy Prosser is a writer/director from Los Angeles. He is a graduate of New York University's (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts, Kanbar Institute of Film and Television, where his pilot for the limited series "John & Meryl" was selected by NYU Tisch faculty as the Outstanding TV Drama Thesis. The

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aspiring screenwriter

Bill Taylor is an award-winning queer filmmaker who is committed to telling stories deeply rooted in the human condition. After making a slew of independent short and feature projects, he’s currently looking for representation to take his career to the next level. He’s at home writing in Drama

STATON RABIN is a screenwriter, and a YA novelist (Simon & Schuster) with a global audience. She's hired for her skill in adapting IP, true stories, & biographies into screenplays with roles that are catnip to A-list actors. She wrote a feature script based on Alex Rosenberg's Holocaust novel "The

Michael is an award-winning screenwriter and producer, and Facebook’s former Chief Privacy Officer. Michael writes, directs, and produces elevated genre and prestige projects for film and television. He is currently producing Only Apparently Real based on an award-winning screenplay which he wrote

Micah Sloat is best known for starring in the micro-budget hit PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. Combining that successful franchise with his degrees in philosophy and psychology, as well as his extensive background in the occult, he's currently creating and co-hosting PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE PODCAST for

Shirley's training in mental health counseling inspires her fiction. Her stories often include various features of psychology as she loves researching and learning about unusual psychological conditions, then surprising her readers with those elusive conditions in her stories. She's also a single

Lover of words. Observer of humans. Connoisseur of weirdness. Changing the world one slang silver bullet at a time. Notable accolades: Winner with 'Sleeper' - SWN Short Screenplay Competition, 2nd Place award winner with 'City of Rats' - Film Pittsburgh Shorts. Born and raised on the fair emerald

Andrea’s experiences as a nurse, flight attendant, and avid traveler have provided her with a unique global background from which she draws her inspiration. It imbues her scripts with a level of detail and authenticity that have been well received in the industry. Her first screenplay titled “The

Andrew Essig was born in Cincinnati, Ohio but moved to Los Angeles after earning a degree in screenwriting and producing from Ohio University. In LA, he co-produced a half dozen comedy skits as one half of the What a Guy Media creative team, as well as a couple short films that have performed

Kevin has directed eight short films and his credits as a producer have exceeded 50 at the time of this writing. His recent works include three short series starring Golden Globe and Tony Award winner Barry Bostwick and Saturn Award Winner Doug Jones, and a short musical/educational video starring

David Ward was born and raised in Salt Lake City and has lived in Shanghai, Honolulu, Taiwan and northern Virginia. Drawn to writing by his love of Russian literature, he supports his writing habit by working as a corporate attorney.

I'm the son of a kidney transplant recipient and I wrote, 'Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe never' because I wanted to tell a more relatable story about organ donation. Not one about miracles, or second chances or waking up in a bathtub full of ice in a war-torn country. My writing background is