The Maximum Z 2025 Script Showcase

One of the absolute best parts of screenwriting is getting to see all the incredible ideas that writers come up with. A true vast multitude of concepts, genres, and originality that could each use a little help in becoming seen by everybody else.

While this may not be the biggest platform, I do what I can to help promote writers and their work.

Thus – The Maximum Z 2025 Script Showcase

87 scripts in total, covering film, TV and shorts.

Give them a look and if something grabs you or sounds really interesting, the writer’s email is right there for you to click on and send them a request to read. I’ve already done so with a few and am really looking forward to reading them.

Since this is a chance for every writer in the Showcase to proudly toot their own horn, I humbly request that if your script is included here, to please post the link on your social media platform(s) of choice to help spread the word. The more people who hear about the Showcase, the more likely there’ll be interest you’re drumming up for yourself.

Finally, a hearty and heartfelt thanks to all the writers who sent me their work. The Showcase wouldn’t exist without you and the script you toiled and slaved over to make it the beacon of perfection it is now.

Enjoy.

FILM

A GIRL, A HORSE AND THE WRONG BOY

Guy Crawford

Romantic Drama, Thriller

After a daring midnight escape from the family home, a young woman embarks on a do or die mission to reach her one true love before her father can drag her back to marry a rich man’s son and solve his IRS problems with a wedding vow I do.

Thelma & Louise + It Ends With Us

Quarterfinalist – 2025 Screencraft Fellowship

guyc2_2000@yahoo.com

AMITYVILLE CHRISTMAS

Patrick John Doran

Psychological Thriller, Supernatural Horror, Drama

When a controlling psychology professor takes his family to the infamous Amityville house on Christmas Eve to prove the existence of God, his emotionally manipulated teenage son becomes possessed by an ancient evil entity that drives him to brutally murder his entire family.

Hereditary, Amityville II: The Possession, The Shining

patrick_doran1@hotmail.com

APEX PATH

Nicole Jones-Dion

Techno Thriller

A tech-savvy teenager investigating her cousin’s suicide discovers it was triggered by a seemingly benevolent AI therapy app. To expose it, she becomes a user herself, only to find the AI has a terrifying agenda of its own.

Mr. Robot + 13 Reasons Why

nicole@praxiscope.com

APPREHENSION

Hugo Dabas

Horror, Thriller

When a brilliant but unraveling med student flees into the wilderness to escape mounting pressure, he stumbles upon a remote cabin, where his inner demons and external threats will blur the lines between reality and nightmare, forcing him to confront the root of his despair.

The Shining + Into The Wild

Semifinalist – 2025 Golden Script Competition

hugodabas@proton.me

BABY, YOU KNOW

Izayah Davis

Horror

After sensing something deeply wrong in her young son, a desperate mother traps him in their burning home to prove the monster she’s certain is living inside him.

10 Cloverfield Lane + The Exorcist

izayahdavispvision@gmail.com

BETTER NOT SHOUT

Cory Marciel

Horror, Comedy, Christmas

When a Santa Claus killer begins murdering local Santas, it’s up to a Christmas-hating police detective to team up with a St Nick-loving department store elf to go undercover at the city’s largest gathering of Santas, stop the killer, and save the Holidays for everyone, including himself.

If SE7EN threw a Christmas Party

Official Selection – 2024 Naughty List by The Stunt List

Second Rounder – 2023 Austin Film Festival

Quarterfinalist — 2023 Filmmatic Horror Screenplay Awards Season 7

Received an “8” on the Black List.

cory.marciel@gmail.com

BLOOD DRIVE

Phoenix Black

Horror

When a traumatised single mom marries a charming small town doctor, her creeping anxiety turns to horror when she uncovers a ring of vampires preying on children in his paediatric unit – including her hemophiliac daughter. 

The Lost Boys + The Stepfather

2025 Barnstorm Short List

phoenixblackthewriter@gmail.com

BROKEN

David Skudin

Drama

After a wayward NYPD Cop’s partner is killed, he spirals down but then finds redemption in becoming a Mounted Unit Officer and falls in love with the woman who trains him to fulfill his dream.

Quarterfinalist – New York International Screenplay Awards

davidskudin@gmail.com

BULLSH!T

Adrienne Thorne

Action, Comedy

A screwup ranch-hand and his hapless buddies work in real time to catch the raging bull he accidentally let out, before it wreaks havoc on their small town and his blunder is discovered by his fed-up boss and his newly-pregnant, long-suffering girlfriend.

A lighter and funnier COCAINE BEAR meets the country feel of TWISTERS

thorneadrienne@gmail.com

BURY ME AT PHANTOM RANCH

D. Harrington Duff

Family, Drama, Road Trip

In order to receive a life-changing inheritance from her father’s estate, a bitter woman must take a road trip to fulfill his last wishes with her half-sister with Down syndrome – who she blames for ruining her life.

Peanut Butter Falcon, Rain Man, Little Miss Sunshine

Quarterfinalist – 2024 PAGE International Screenwriting Awards

Top 5% – Drama – Coverfly

kcduff@sbcglobal.net

CAN YOU STAY LATE?

Leah Elizabeth Evans

Horror, Dark Comedy, Thriller

Trapped in a corporate office after hours, a burned-out receptionist must survive a deadly zombie outbreak by battling her toxic coworkers as she fights her way down sixteen floors.

John Wick + Sorry To Bother You

theleahelizabethevans@gmail.com

CINEMAGIC

Jason Fraley

Fantasy, Sci-Fi

In 1946 America, a struggling movie theater is on the brink of closure — until a magical package delivers iconic films from the future.

Field Of Dreams + Cinema Paradiso

Winner – 2021 Table Read My Screenplay (Austin)

Finalist – 2021 Final Draft Big Break

Finalist – 2020 Screencraft Sci-Fi & Fantasy Competition

Finalist – 2022 Emerging Screenwriters Competition

Quarterfinalist – 2010 Nicholl fellowship

fraley.jason@gmail.com

CLOWN HALLOW

Mark Giacomin

Horror, Slasher

A teenage girl must confront her repressed childhood fears when the killer clown from a film script idea hunts her and her friends on Halloween night 1981.

Halloween meets Terrifier

mark_inglese@hotmail.com

COMPATIBILITY

Zach Freshley

In a world in which everyone is forced to enter into a government-approved marriage before they turn 30; Ethan, a 29-year-old hopeless romantic, and Sophie, a 29-year-old world-weary cynic, must work together to expose the sinister conspiracy lurking behind the government mandate before the clock strikes 30. 

Hitman meets The Lobster

zfreshley@gmail.com

CONVICTION

Glenn Forbes

Historical True Story

In 1895 Ontario, after the gruesome murder of young Jessie Keith, Detective John Wilson Murray pursues eccentric Quebecois vagrant Almede Chattelle for the crime. Soon, English and French Canadians clash over the out-of-control case as evidence seems to point to the return of Jack the Ripper as the real killer.

The Alienist + From Hell

Semifinalist – 2025 Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition

Semifinalist – 2025 Screencraft True Story & Public Domain Competition

Qaurterfinalist – 2025 PAGE International Screenwriting Awards

gf@glennforbes.com

CRUISE OF THE AMBERJACK

E. Lyn Foster

Historical, Slice-of-life Biopic

Facing fear itself is President FDR’s plea to the nation when he decides to set sail himself, a perilous 400 miles north to where he’d almost died of polio, a place he’d been afraid to revisit. All to prove to himself and an entire nation that he is able to lead everyone forward into action.

The King’s Speech + Kon-Tiki

Prestige period drama + visceral sea adventure + true-story inspirational triumph

Quarterfinalist – Historical/Bio, 2024 PAGE International

Top 40 accepted – 2024 Stowe Story Lab

Top 4% – Bio/Historical Feature, 2024 Coverfly Red List

Finalist/Roundtable Participant – 2025 Block Island Film Festival

evelynfoster1@gmail.com

CUNNING FOLK

Jae Teliczan

Horror, Fantasy, Drama

Brigid, a Selkie, awakens from hibernation & sheds her skin to taste the Human World in a rural Ozark lake town. But when a troubled local man discovers her secret, the mythic shapeshifter must fight to survive both a crumbling body & the brutality of a love she knew would change her.

The Nightingale, The Fisherman’s Wife, Mary Martha May Marlene

Finalist, Best Screenplay – 2025 LA Int’l Horror Film Fest

Finalist, Best Horror Screenplay – 2025 New York Script Awards

jtwitchcorps@gmail.com

DAMNED OLD JOE

Nick Morgan

Horror, Thriller, Comedy

Decades after selling his soul to the devil, an elderly man in an assisted living facility must confront his past and defend a small group of survivors when the devil’s minions finally come to collect.

Tremors + Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight + Logan

Second Rounder – 2025 Austin Film Festival

Quarterfinalist – 2025 Screencraft Horror Competition

OWA Finalist – Stage 32

nmorgan84@gmail.com

DIAMONDS

Michael R. Manning

Thriller

In 1959 Miami, a drifter is seduced into crime by a fading society queen. When he falls for a young widow instead, passion ignites a deadly triangle of desire and betrayal — and in the glittering game of diamonds, not everything that distracts is pure.

To Catch A Thief + The Talented Mr. Ripley

michaelrmanningjr@gmail.com

DOOMTOWN

Chad Michael Ward

Horror, Comedy

1980s. Heavy Metal. Satan. Copious amounts of gore. Exploding old ladies. Kleptomania. Elvis. Aliens. Slushies. Cigarettes. Vehicular manslaughter. A strange totem that smells like shit. And Styx’s “Come Sail Away”. 

Evil Dead + Deathgasm

chadmichaelward@gmail.com

DRY SUNRISE

Tim Morrill

Comedy

Herb and Dale, two brothers who own a bar in a small town, must dispose of their stock of liquor before the morning when their bar is technically considered an illegal business.  In spite of the pressure applied through religious protesters and an overzealous town sheriff, the brothers have no choice but to get rid of all the liquor or find themselves in jail by sunrise.

Brewsters Millions, Smokey And The Bandit, Cool Hand Luke

tim.d.morrill@gmail.com

EAT THE RICH

Miguel Angel Parreño

Satire, Dark Comedy

When an incident strands our rich and richest on Elon Musk’s space station, StarLab69, they, along with their trained astronaut companions, must contend with dwindling food supplies and, for once in their lives, live without as they face the ultimate dilemma: Eat each other or preserve the last bits of their humanity, with hilarious results.

Don’t Look Up + Lord Of The Flies

miguelaparreno@gmail.com

FEAR PLAY

Robert Rhyne

Psychological Thriller

When a theater professor’s disabled wife mysteriously disappears, the professor is sucked into a strange and deadly mind game with an edgy student playwright, whose play centers on the murder of a character eerily similar to his missing wife.

Gone Girl + Last Seen Alive

Second Prize – 2025 Fade In Thriller Competition

Finalist (Top 10 Scripts) – 2025 Table Read My Screenplay – Hollywood

randprhyne@aol.com

FORGED IN BLOOD

Joseph Murillo

Horror, Fantasy

After a savage goblin kidnaps his loved ones, a disabled peasant teen must face the horrors of the goblin’s den to rescue them from a fate worse than death.

The Descent + The Northman

Featured – 2024 DeadList

3rd Place – Best Screenplay – 2024 HorrorFest International

joseph.p.murillo86@gmail.com

FROZEN LIES

Eric Lotter

Psychological Thriller, Survivor Noir

When a woman discovers her boyfriend is transporting two bodies across state lines, she is forced into a psychological cat-and-mouse game, becoming the only surviving witness to a killer intent on erasing her the same way he erased the others.

Gerald’s Game + Dirty John

Finalist – Thriller – 2025 Slamdance Screenplay

Grand Prix Best Feature Script – 2025 London Art Film Awards

Best Thriller Screenplay – 2025 New York Film & Cinematography Awards

eric.lotter@gmail.com

GEMINI

Dave Mueller

Thriller

When a wannabe teen detective suspects a serial killer lives in her home town, she’ll put her life on the line to prove it.  What if Nancy Drew found the Zodiac…?

Nancy Drew meets Zodiac

muellerfilms@hotmail.com

GLASS JAW

Anthony Singletary & Frankie Cruz

Sports, Drama, Comedy

The son of a disgraced former boxer tries to go viral so he can prove his worth (and get rich) fighting a social media influencer turned fighter.

Rocky + Ingrid Goes West

singletaryanthony@gmail.com

HORRORSCOPE

Wendy Applebaum

Heartfelt, RomCom

When a woman from the “big city” returns to her small hometown to anonymously write the horoscopes for her father’s newspaper, her new dream job causes nightmares for the locals as her good intentions mess with the stars.

Sweet Home Alabama + The Twilight Zone episode “The Path”

wappel_80@hotmail.com

INFERNO

Mage Lanz

Psychological Drama

A psychological love story set in a high-end restaurant where codependency collides with complex PTSD.

Phantom Thread + Past Lives

lanz.mage@gmail.com

mage@inzidemedia.com

KEEPSAKE CHRISTMAS

Rich Orstad

Family, Holiday

When a social worker discovers that an elderly woman’s Christmas keepsakes have the power to magically transport them both back in time to the memory each memento represents, she fights to save the senior’s home and her lifetime of precious holiday memories.

It’s A Wonderful Life meets Miracle on 34th Street

Top 10 Finalist – 2024 PAGE Family

Top 3 Finalist – 2022 Big Break Family

#1 Family Feature – Coverfly Red List Family All-Time

richorstad@laughingo.com

KHALID AND THE GREAT BEYOND

Tim Brennan

Comedy

When an atheistic physicist dies, he and the Goddess of Safe Returns must determine why the dead are going to the wrong afterlives and prevent the destruction of reality.

Soul + Everything Everywhere All At Once

Quarterfinalist – 2021 Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Contest

Semifinalist – 2022 Table Read My Screenplay Genre Competition

tbrennan75@gmail.com

LOVE NEVER DIES

Thomas Freyer

Dark Comedy

An aging obsessive scientist has dreamed of a beautiful young Hispanic woman his entire life. So when she actually waltzes into his lab and into his heart, he refuses to let a small setback  — her death — ruin a perfectly good romance. (Based on a True Story)

Poor Things + Ed Gein

Finalist – 2025 NY Script Awards

t.freyer@mac.com

MERMANIA!

Michael Brennan

Comedy, Horror

A broke office worker, desperate for a promotion, reluctantly attends a work-sponsored booze cruise, but instead of getting promoted, she has to fight against getting downsized – PERMANENTLY – by a rampaging merman unleashed by her employer.

The Office meets Creature From The Black Lagoon

Second-Rounder – 2024 Austin Film Festival

Top 50 – 2024 Launch Pad Feature Competition

Finalist (Top 10) – 2024 American Zoetrope Screenplay Competition

Top 1% Coverfly

mbrenn3@gmail.com

MIR

Glenn Maneval Jr

Dark Thriller, Mockumentary

Ten years after the government declares a young woman a terrorist responsible for a deadly, laboratory explosion working on a sinister mind-altering drug, her family and friends take the mantel to prove her innocence and expose the cover-up.

Lake Mungo + Splice

glenn_maneval@yahoo.com

MONDO BIFF

Patrick Downing

Action, Comedy

A hothead ex-professional wrestler turned tow-truck driver finds a strong-minded heiress in a towed car’s trunk and must race her cross-country in time to claim her inheritance, while hunted by hard-ass corporate mercenaries with designs on her family fortune.

Midnight Run + Goon + The WWE

a1robotcompany@gmail.com

NOTES ON A MURDER

James Rodgers

Horror, Thriller, Musical

After her cousin disappears, a boarding school outsider hunts a musical killer until she’s trapped on campus and must solve the mystery before the final number plays.

jamesb.rodgers@gmail.com

OH, COME ON!

Ace Teo

Comedy

A misfit trio of sorority girls race through a series of hoops to erase all evidence of last night’s drunken misdemeanour before it gets blasted out in a college-wide newsletter.

The Hangover + Sweethearts

aceteofilms@gmail.com

OPULENCE

Lisa Lutes

Comedy, Mockumentary

A group of popular travel vloggers fight for the most views when they all embark on the inaugural sailing of the largest cruise ship in the world.

Best In Show + Cruise with Ben and David

lmluey@gmail.com

ORDINARY MORTALS

Ian Martin

Black comedy, Showbiz Drama

A jaded movie star fakes his own death to escape the spotlight and embrace a normal life, but his quest for self-discovery spirals into chaos when a relentless paparazzo and a vengeful ex have nefarious plans of their own.

Boogie Nights + Fargo + Get Shorty

ian@ianmartinscreenwriter.com

OUR HEARTS WERE FORGED IN VENGEANCE

R.B. Ripley

Western

In 1875 Colorado, a naïve, Black publisher from the East coast hires a jaded Arapaho, ex-U.S. Army scout to help find his brother’s killer for some vigilante justice. But as the perilous adventure unfolds, it transforms a bitter quest for revenge into an unexpected bond that helps them survive the brutal journey and heal their own wounded hearts.

Unforgiven + Brokeback Mountain

rbripley@gmail.com

PIETRA FREDDA

Matthew Nicholson

Horror, Suspense

When a fiercely ambitious sculptor is selected to study at the prestigious Italian Marble Institute in Carrara, she becomes consumed with mastering her medium and haunted by a voice deep within the marble that urges her to free it from its stone prison.

Black Swan + Under The Tuscan Sun

Best Horror Script – Top Shorts

Official Selection – Blockbuster Screenwriting Contest

mcnicholson10@gmail.com

REDNECKS AND GREEN MEN

Brett Nicholson

Madcap Alien Invasion Surf Rock Comedy

When aliens land in a tiny East Texas town, the rednecks, police, military, special forces, UFO nuts, surf-rockers, kids, hippies, and several aspiring local pie vendors all converge and respond clumsily while tripping balls at a pop-up rave.

E.T. The Extraterrestrial + It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Zip. Nada. Bupkis. I am the only human who likes it, but I like it a lot.

aggiebrettman@icloud.com

RUN TO GROUND

Steven M. Rogers

Action, Political Thriller, Noir

After the fall of the Regime, a newly freed political prisoner launches a desperate search for his abducted wife, forcing him to track down the elusive ICE agent responsible for her disappearance.

Children of Men + Sicario + The Third Man

Quarterfinalist – 2025 Outstanding Screenplays Feature Competition

stevenmrogers@outlook.com

SAM THE HAMMER

Kel Vance

Dramedy

When aged care worker, Samara Hammersmith, stumbles into a new side gig, exposing the deep dark secrets of the dead, she unexpectedly finds herself in the cross-hairs of the local crime family and their bent copper.

Winner – Accelerator Fellowship for Emerging Screenwriters and Filmmakers – 2025 Stowe Story Labs

Finalist – The Stacey A. Davis Fellowship – 2025 Stowe Story Labs

2nd Rounder – 2025 Austin Film Festival

Semifinalist – 2025 The Scriptwriters & Co International Festival

kelvancewriter@icloud.com

SANTAMAN: REGIFTED

Colin O’Brien

Animated, Holiday, Superhero

When Christmas is stolen by a family of naughty-listers, crime-fighting Santaman must navigate a nightmarish new reality to stop a megalomaniacal dad named Dan Sipowitz, and his new holiday “Sipowitzmas”.

Batman + Back To The Future Part 2

Grand Prize Winner – 2024 Emerging Screenwriters Animation Competition

Finalist – 2023 Screencraft Family Screenplay Contest

Worth The Read – Scriptshadow

Quarterfinalist – 2024 PAGE International Screenwriting Awards

Most Viewed/Most Downloaded – 2024 Naughty List

cjob3@hotmail.com

SIDESHOW

Kelly Asher

Psychological Drama, Historical, Adventure, Dark Comedy, Thriller

A miraculous headless chicken turns a dirt-poor farmer into a sideshow sensation, but when fame and fortune threaten to slip away, he must decide how far he’ll go to stay in the spotlight.

The moral descent of Nightcrawler meets the offbeat spectacle of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

Currently a Semifinalist – The Great Pitch Competition by The ISA and Script Pipeline – 2025

kellyxasher@gmail.com

STARRY-EYED CHRISTMAS

Kim Hornsby

RomCom, Christmas

A painfully shy small-town sheriff falls for a handsome astronaut when he blows into town to observe a once in a lifetime meteor shower, but when her beautiful and shallow friend wants to flirt with him, the shy sheriff agrees to coach her through the courtship regardless of her own feelings for the astronaut are blasting off.

Roxanne + Rocky Mountain Christmas

kimhornsby@yahoo.com

SUPPRESSED

Sue C. Dugan

Young Adult, Coming of Age, Drama

A once active, popular high school girl is paralyzed in a drunk driving accident and must consider a risky experimental surgery to graft her head on another woman’s body, with the hope she might regain mobility, although, the more likely scenario is, death.

The Fault In Our Stars + Edward Scissorhands

scduganauthor@gmail.com

SWEET SIXTEEN

Kevin McGriffith & Laurie Anne Marie

Comedy

It’s geek versus cheerleader when two girls who share the same birthday plan rival sweet sixteen parties in hopes of winning over the hunky guy they both have a crush on.

Kissing Booth, The Summer I Turned Pretty

kevinmichael3@gmail.com

THE BE BOP KIDD

Damon O’Steen

Dramatic Thriller, Sci-Fi

In an abandoned Texas motel, programming prodigy Beckett Kidd and his abusive mentor Fiona develop technology that lets users relive their best memories. Their project draws the attention of a dangerous tech dealer, and as Beckett confronts his troubled past, he uncovers a flaw that could jeopardize everything.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind + No Country For Old Men

dbofilm@gmail.com

THE BLACK STONE

Robert S. Urbanek

Fantasy, Science Fiction

A think tank consultant and a female physicist can change history when they discover the secret power of the Kaaba in Mecca.

rsurbanek@hotmail.com

THE BODY FARM

Tim Westland

Crime, Drama

After discovering the bodies of children buried beneath a research cadavers at a forensic “Body Farm,” a tenacious Detective uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that forges an unholy link between the killer, the victims, and the darkest chapter of her own history.

Mystic River meets True Detective (S1)

timwestland@hotmail.com

THE DILEMMA

Tony G. Bastian and G. Leo Maselli

Drama, Medical Drama

When the youngest American to ever be elected into the U.S. Senate takes his idealistic master plan to repair America’s healthcare system to Washington D.C., he promptly collides with the Industrial-Medical Complex. What happens next is inevitable.

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

donleonado@gmail.com

THE DODO MAN

Joe Fordham

Eco Adventure

The extraordinary adventure of an amateur enthusiast of science who, in 1680 Portugal, abandons his provincial life and sets out on a quest to save the last dodo bird, and himself, from extinction.

Finalist – 2019 Imagine Impact

Top 15% – 2007 Nicholl Fellowship

flashfilms@flashfilms.us

THE EVENT

Isabela Borowska

Drama, Fantasy, Music

After a bus crash, a teenage dancer caught between life and death must grapple with the father who abandoned him, his own deepest regrets, and the prospect of saying goodbye to his love – or joining her forever in the afterlife.

If I Stay + Step Up

Winner, Fantasy Category – 2020 Script Summit

Semifinalist – Filmmatic Inroads Fellowship Season 6

Quarterfinalist – 2020 CineStory Feature Retreat and Fellowship Competition

Quarterfinalist, Industrial Scripts – 2021 The TITAN Awards

Quarterfinalist – 2023 ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship

borowska.filmmaker@gmail.com

THE GIRL WITH THE FIBONACCI CURL

Lauri Jon Caravella

Sci-Fi

When accidental irradiation during a search for dark matter gives a novice physicist the ability to manipulate quantum particles, she’ll battle the dark forces that caused her ‘accident’ while attempting to prevent herself from becoming their unwilling weapon.

Lucy + Romancing The Stone

laurijoncaravella@gmail.com

THE LOVING DEAD

Jeremy Coleman

Comedy, Horror Comedy, RomCom

After a man is bitten by a zombie and appears undead to the world—despite miraculously remaining alive and human—he must navigate a city filled with zombie-hunting citizens to win back his estranged girlfriend.

Shaun of the Dead, Warm Bodies

jmocoleman@gmail.com

THE MARE

Simon Laurence Doyle

Horror

When a dying patient curses him with three days to live, a grief-stricken doctor most confront his buried family trauma before he is claimed by the malevolent entity known as THE MARE.

Drag Me To Hell + Jacob’s Ladder

Shortlist – 2025 BBC Voices

Quarterfinalist –  2025 NetworkISA / Script Pipeline Great Pitch Competition

simonlaurencedoyle@gmail.com

THE PHROGGER

Joel McElvaney

Drama, Thriller

When a trans teen hiding from her ultra-religious parents witnesses a crime she cannot ignore, she risks her own freedom to rescue a victim more vulnerable than herself.

Semifinalist – 2025 StoryPros International Screenplay Awards

Semifinalist – 2025 Emerging Screenwriters Drama Screenplay Competition

Quarterfinalist – 2025 Outstanding Screenplays Feature Competition

jdmcelvaney@gmail.com

THE REBEL AVENGER

Allen Sircy

Historical Thriller

In the chaos of the Civil War, Dee Smith seeks revenge after the brutal murders of his cousins, Confederate scouts Sam Davis and Dewitt Jobe.

RAMBO + THE BLUE AND THE GRAY

Second Rounder – Austin Film Festival

allensircy@gmail.com

THE STAR SEEKER

Suzanne Lutas

Sci-Fi, Thriller

In a climate-ravaged future, where the Earth is on the brink of collapse, a homeless teenage math prodigy competes for a coveted spot on a space exploration mission with three other candidates while secretly yearning to find her father’s missing spaceship.

Interstellar + Exam

suzannebl@mail.pf

THE SUMMER OF JEFF… AND ROSS!

Ross Ostroff and Jeff Christensen

Stoner Comedy

While waiting for their weed butter to finish cooking, two middle-aged stoner buddies spend the day around their apartment complex “inhaling the good shit and exhaling the bullshit” as they contemplate life’s higher purpose.

Pineapple Express meets Up In Smoke. But even higher.

Semifinalist – 2022 Filmmatic Comedy Screenplay Contest – Season 7

Acceptance – 2021-2022 Cannabis Culture Film Festival

bartnkoda@gmail.com

THE TAILBRAND

Alex Vaz

Musical, Comedy, Adventure

In 2007, two Pakistani brothers from New York are hired by a company in the homeland they never knew, to help with their social media. Upon arriving, they realize they’ve been hired by Osama Bin Laden and The Taliban.

Screenplay of the Year – 2025 AIFF

Special Jury Best Feature Screenplay – 2025 RIFF

2nd Round – 2024 ISA Fast Track Fellowship

Quarterfinalist – 2025 Emerging Screenwriting

Quarterfinalist – 2024 Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards

drvaz801@yahoo.com

THE WATER SPIDER

John Harvey

Southern Gothic, Crime, Thriller

After a crisis of faith, a former small-town preacher turns con-artist faith healer, but when a violent Appalachian crime family demands his ‘miracles’ to save their dying patriarch, he must navigate a tightening web of lies before they discover he’s a fraud.

There Will Be Blood + Winter’s Bone

jharvey200@gmail.com

THE WITCH’S DESCENDANT

Carol Preflatish

Romantic Fantasy

Amber, a young healer with ancestral witch powers, journeys to the Appalachian Mountains to master her gifts. There, she discovers love and chaos in Julian, a male witch who becomes a threat to her destiny.

Mayfair Witches + Practical Magic

Nominee – 2025 Chicago Women Film Festival

Quarterfinalist – 2025 Wiki Feature Screenplay Contest

Finalist – January 2025 – The Monthly Film Festival

cpreflatish@outlook.com

THOSE WHO HIDE

Colin Matthews

Drama, Military/War

When a ragtag squad of French Foreign Legionnaires stumble across an illegal gold mining camp deep in the French Guianan jungle, their mission descends into a brutal battle, not only against the ruthless bandit miners and the horrors of the jungle, but against each other and the darkness within themselves.

Predator + Lone Survivor, then loses its mind somewhere deep in Apocalypse Now territory

Top Ten Finalist – 2023 Final Draft Big Break

Top 15% – 2023 Nicholl Fellowship

Second Rounder – 2023 Austin Film Festival

Quarterfinalist – 2023 PAGE Awards

Top 1% – Coverfly

colin.matthews.main@gmail.com

TUNNEL RATS

Kevin Powis

When his former SAS team vanishes in Vietnam, a disgraced ex-captain must battle enemy forces and a sinister mythological evil to rescue his men and confront the demons of his past.

First Place – Li Scares International Horror Festival

First Place – White Rose International Horror Festival

First Place – Tokyo Horror Film Festival

Official Selection – Bloody Mirror Horror Festival

Official Selection – Los Angeles Horror Festival

kevin@powis.org

TV

ADAIR

Eric Vardeman

Drama

Haunted by his family’s legacy, a man who built a new life away from home is pulled back into the chaos when gunmen attack his father’s funeral, pushing him to decide whether to walk away again or take his place in the family’s war.

Reservation Dogs + Yellowstone

eric@ericvweb.com

CELTIC CROSS

Katie Haskins

Drama, Crime, Supernatural

After a skeptical, nightmare-plagued Detective anonymously receives tarot cards that appear to be related to a case, he reluctantly teams up with an intuitive tarot card reader to solve the murder.

Castle + Lucifer

katie.haskins@gmail.com

DARK VESSEL

Cass Cooper

Horror, Fantasy

When a vengeful demonic entity possesses the child of his oldest friends, a reckless thief of supernatural artifacts enlists the help of a repressed psychic to save the closest thing to family he’s ever had.

Quarterfinalist – 2025 Final Draft Big Break Contest

Quarterfinalist – 2025 ISA/Script Pipeline Great Pitch Competition

the.cass.cooper@gmail.com

FLY BY NIGHT

James Sutherland

Crime, Mystery, Thriller

In Tokyo’s underworld, a washed-up investigator drowning in gambling debt gets a week to find the missing granddaughter of his murderous creditor, as he pries and rekindles old flames he unearths more than he bargained for.

Tokyo Vice + The Night Of

Finalist – Dubai International Cineverse Screenplay Awards

Official Selection – Austin International Screenplay Awards by CINEVERSE

Semifinalist – Creative Screenwriting TV Pilot Competition

tokyopictureshow@gmail.com

FRANKENSTEIN UNLEASHED

Neal Wiser

Sci-Fi, Horror

Seeking redemption after the virus he created kills his wife and millions of others, Dr. Vik Frankenstein must harvest organs from the dead to live long enough to save the world and take down his old friend, the scientist who actually unleashed the virus in this modern-day reimagining of the Mary Shelley classic.

Frankenstein meets a biotech Westworld

Winner – 2020 Scriptapalooza Fellowship

Grand Prize – 2020 WriteMovies Screenwriting Competition

Wall of Fame – 2020 WriteMovies Screenwriting Competition

Top 10 – 2020 Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship 3

Finalist – 2020 Shore Scripts TV Pilot Contest

nwiser@gmail.com

FRESH OUT OF THE TOMB

Aimee Dansereau

Vampire Comedy

After getting turned by an aspiring filmmaker, two baby vamps struggle to fit in with an elite vampire coven, all while trying not to get killed by their stake-happy ex-friend turned vampire slayer, Brittany. 

What We Do In The Shadows + Ghosts

adansereau08@gmail.com

GARDEN VARIETY ALIENS

Cat Girczyc

Fantasy, Comedy, Tween

Kate (15/16) resists her Dad’s upcoming wedding and her best friend’s new love interest. She wants the world to stay as it is, but it can’t because aliens are invading, and she and her friends are committed to saving the aliens from us.

Men In Black + The Bureau Of Magical Things

#3 on Coverfly Red List, top 12% overall

Quarterfinalist – 2024 Emerging Screenwriters Animation

Quarterfinalist – 2023 PitchNow Screenwriting Competition

Quarterfinalist – 2021 PitchNow Screenwriting Competition

catg@telus.net

catherin@gmail.com

NEWPORT

Jaime Lee Spears

Drama

In a city built on sin and survival, an honest cop’s undercover assignment in a Newport crime empire will test how far he’ll go to uphold the law before he becomes who he’s chasing.

spearsjaime@gmail.com

PALLETTE THEORY

Liron Vardi

Psychological Thriller, Satire, Dystopian

As the housing crisis worsens precipitously, a perfectly ordinary couple wins a dream home in a government-backed utopia. But when they discover life here is limited to one color – and their all-teal world begins to erase their identity – they fight to uncover the truth beneath the illusion.

Severance, The Stepford Wives, Vivarium, Black Mirror

Quarterfinalist – 2025 ISA & The Script Pipeline “The Great Pitch Competition”

Rated 7 with strong industry prospects – 2025 The Black List 

liron.writer@gmail.com

POWER COUPLE

Ari Donnelly

Romantic Comedy

A supervillain and superhero have happily fought since high school. But when their devotion starts damaging their careers, they are forced to start fighting other people.

Grand Prize Winner – Filmmatic Comedy

Best TV Screenplay – HollyShorts Film Festival

Top 1% – Coverfly

Top 3 Short-Form Pilot – FilmQuest

Finalist – Outstanding Screenplays TV Pilot Competition

arisdonnelly@gmail.com

RAINBOWLADS

Wayne Middleton

Comedy, Drama

It’s 2005. Pre-MySpace and Twitter. Seven gay men and a random woman leave internet forum personas behind to meet ‘IRL’ for a surprise birthday party, held in the middle of a forest. Lust, jealousy and afterbirth follows…

Heartstopper + Inside No 9 + Skins

Semifinalist – 2022 Emerging Screenwriters Comedy Screenplay Competition

Semifinalist – 2023 Screenwriters Network TV Pilot Competition

Quarterfinalist – 2024 The Script Lab Screenplay Contest

nearly.desperado@gmail.com

SENIOR’S GUIDE TO HOMICIDE

Collin Lieberg

Drama, Comedy

A grieving, drug-dealing retiree takes the law (and death) into her own hands to get revenge on her daughter’s killer.

It’s a fun, thrilling Grace & Frankie meets Dexter!

Quarterfinalist – 2024 Final Draft – Big Break

Second Round – 2023 ISA Fast Track Fellowship

collin.lieberg@gmail.com

TIMMY ADVENTUROUS & THE TREEHOUSE GANG

N.J. Robins

After a plucky 10-year-old adventurer crash-lands on top of a treehouse, he meets a ragtag group of foster kids, and they go on exciting, whimsical adventures.

Peter Pan, The Goonies, Hey Arnold, Recess, Phineas & Ferb, The All-New Mickey Mouse Club

2023 Filmmatic Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship

2021 Imaginarium Convention Screenplay Awards

2024 Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards Diversity Initiative

2024 Hollywood Screenings Film Festival

2025 INFLUX Film Awards

nrobins200@gmail.com

WHISKEY BAY

Kody Chamberlain

Mystery, Thriller

Two insurance investigators are pulled into a deadly extortion plot involving a high-ranking senator, putting them in the crosshairs of three different law enforcement organizations. Our sleuths must work from the shadows long enough to break the conspiracy and prove their innocence.

Bad Monkey, Justified, The Nice Guys, True Detective

Second Rounder – 2025 Austin Film Festival

kody@kodychamberlain.com

SHORT FILM

DEVIL’S COOKBOOK

Paige Lau

Horror, Comedy

A hopeless romantic makes a deal with the Devil’s chef to help her serve up the perfect date night dinner. Unbeknownst to the romantic, her date is an aloof demon hunter looking to take down the demonic chef before his cutthroat culinary arts takes more lives.

Little Shop of Horrors + Beetlejuice

2paigesmake1book@gmail.com

FRIGHT COURT

Geonn Cannon

Horror, Comedy, Courtroom

Even things that go bump in the night deserve their day in court, and Judge Cassidy Greer is determined to give it to them.

Night Court + Tales From The Crypt

geonncannon@gmail.com

HALLOWEEN IN JAVELINA CROSSING

Philip C. Sedgwick, Lesley Lillywhite

Horror, Drama

When a group of cosplayers perform a seance on Halloween, they conjure the spirit of a 1880s prostitute who reveals the unknown critical impact of one of technology’s current electronic gizmos.

Finalist – 2024 Red Flight Screenwriting Competition 2024

Finalist – 2025 13Horror.com Film and Screenplay Competition, 2025

Diamond Award, Best Short Screenplay – 2024 Wallachia International Film Festival

philip@philpcsedgwick.com

MINE TO KEEP

Alia Zeid

Drama, Horror

A compulsive hoarder with dementia struggles to leave her house while retaining her family memories. 

Severance + The Father

Finalist – 2025, Bluecat Features + Shorts Competition

Honorable Mention – 2025, Bolt Film + TV Script Production

Top 50 – 2024-2025, Cinequest Screenwriting Competition

Finalist – 2024, WeScreenplay Short Script Lab

Finalist – Season 9, Filmmatic Horror Screenplay Awards

aliaamzeid@yahoo.com

SHECKY

Paul Zeidman

Thriller, Comedy

A new homeowner discovers he’s being haunted by the ghost of a comedian telling the same terrible jokes over and over, who refuses to leave. Or stop.

Poltergeist + Rodney Dangerfield

Official Screenplay Selection – 2022 Die Laughing Film Festival

Best Unproduced Short Script – 2022 San Diego Shorts

Semifinalist – 2022 Hollywood International Golden Age Festival

Semifinalist – May 2022 Austin International Art Festival

Semifinalist – 2022 Palm Springs Shorts

paul.zeidman@gmail.com

THE LANTERN

Kristy Leigh Lussier

Horror, Thriller

A traumatized cop seeking solace in a remote cabin is haunted by flashbacks of a past case and eerie warnings from a mysterious neighbor—until a terrifying encounter forces her to confront what’s real and what’s not.

Dark Was The Night, The Hallow

Winner – September 2025 The Dunwich Horror Fest

Finalist – 2025 Horror Haven Film Expo

Official Selection – 2025 American Screenwriting Conference

rockitmpc@gmail.com

The Maximum Z Winter ’24 Script Showcase

The call was put out, and the responses showed up. En masse.

Writers of screen and television from far and wide. A vast spectrum of genres. Multiple awards.

All 104 of them collected here for your browsing – and reading – pleasure.

It is with great pride that I humbly present The Maximum Z Winter ’24 Script Showcase.

Please note that each listing includes the writer’s email, so if you want to read that script, you can contact the writer directly and ask ’em.

The link to the Showcase is posted on all my social media platforms, and if your script is listed, I ask that you do the same. It’s the most effective way to help spread the word and shine a spotlight on your material, which was the whole purpose of doing this in the first place.

A big thanks to all the writers who sent in, and I wish you all nothing but success and a flood of read requests – especially from agents, managers, producers and directors.

Enjoy.

FILM

A GIRL, A HORSE AND THE WRONG BOY

Guy Crawford

Romantic Drama

After making a daring midnight escape from the family home, a headstrong trust fund princess joins forces with an ex-nun on a do or die mission to reach her one true love before her daddy can drag her back to marry a rich man’s son and solve his IRS problems with a wedding vow, I do.

guyc2_2000@yahoo.com

A PRIEST IN BERLIN

Brian Mulligan

Drama

Berlin 1938. When the Catholic Church makes a deal with the devil, a closeted young priest must confront his church and the Nazis to become the hero the world needs.

Semifinalist – Austin Film Festival 2023

Semifinalist – Screencraft Fellowship 2021

Semifinalist – Finish Line 2022 – 2023

Top 1% – Coverfly

Top 15% – Nicholl Fellowship 2021

bmull863@gmail.com

AMY’S IN THE FREEZER

Venita Ozols-Graham and Brigitte Graham

Dark Comedy

A small time con woman trying to turn over a new leaf becomes a big time fugitive when she’s taken hostage during a botched bank robbery, ending up with the heist money as well as the FBI and bank robber hot on her heels.

Grand Prize Winner – Best Comedy – Fade In Awards

Semifinalist – NYC Screenplay Awards

Second Rounder – Austin Film Festival

Quarterfinalist – PAGE

Quarterfinalist – Screencraft

vbites@aol.com

ARMOR OF GOD

Gary Barnard

Horror/Slasher

Jessie is a devout Christian until her sister is murdered in front of her setting of a chain of events that makes her see her church in a whole new light.

garybarnard25@yahoo.com

BEERUPTION

Paul Newton

Sci-Fi, Action, Comedy

A disgraced crypto-entomologist must uncover why the state’s entire bee population is amassing in a dormant volcano before an evil almond growers association can use the situation to enslave all the bees. However, they must tread carefully to avoid triggering a massive beeruption that could decimate a peaceful resort town.

Finalist – Best Screenplay Sci-Fi Feature Film – 2024 HorrOrigins

kingawesomepaul@gmail.com

BLACK TIE

John Painz

Action, Thriller, Surreal

Patrick has know idea who he is or who he used to be, and suddenly finds himself between two warring factions who want to control the powers of reincarnation.

wordsfromhere@gmail.com

BLITZ KIDS

Dimitri Mark LaBarge

Drama/Musical

In 1982 London, a queer Puerto Rican singer-songwriter’s rise to stardom is jeopardized by an ill-advised romance, her disintegrating New Wave band, and a world suddenly careening towards all-out nuclear war.

Top 10% – Nicholl Fellowship

dimitril@sprynet.com

CHRISTMAS ON CAMPUS

Eric Vardeman

Holiday Romance

A heartbroken college professor and a cheerful student advisor find holiday magic and unexpected romance as they oversee students on a quiet college campus during the holidays, discovering that Christmas can heal old wounds and bring new beginnings.

eric@ericvweb.com

DAYS GO BY

Jeremy Foote

Drama

When an expectant father gets news that his mother is ill. He goes home to a lot more than he bargained for.

jcfoote1977@gmail.com

DEATH’S BROTHER

Julian Martin

Psychological horror/Drama

Haunted by nightmares of murdering his beloved family, a tech guru must hold onto his sanity while tangling with a homicidal internet cult.

Semifinalist – ScreenCraft Horror

Semifinalist – Los Angeles International Screenplay Contest 

Top 20% – Nicholl Fellowship

Semifinalist – Filmmatic Horror

jmartinauthor242@gmail.com

EBBIE SCROOGE

Mere Walton

Family/Holiday

A harried mother clings to her sanity during the holidays – checking items off her list – wrapping presents, decorating, saving her company, keeping her husband out of jail, oh, and surviving visits from three annoying ghosts.

mwaltonwrites@gmail.com

EDGE OF EXPOSURE

Rosemary Griggs

True Crime Drama/Mystery/Thriller

Inspired by a True Story, when a tenacious FBI agent stumbles upon a murder connected to high level corruption, he races against time to expose the truth and protect his family before his daughter leaves for college.

Featured Top Script on the Black List (8)

Top 1% of Genre scripts on Coverfly

Top 2% of all scripts on Coverfly

Finalist – Golden Script Competition

Semifinalist – The Writers Lab

griggs521@gmail.com

FALLING FROM THE SKY

Robert Rhyne

Thriller

While on house arrest for lying to the police, an attention-seeking Texas teenager witnesses a murder but finds no one will believe him –except the killer, who will stop at nothing to eliminate the only witness.

Semifinalist – Nicholl Fellowships 2024

Finalist – Page International 2022

Finalist – Nashville Film Festival 2024

Finalist – StoryPros Awards 2024

randprhyne@aol.com

FIGMENT

Kevin Koljack

Sci-Fi/Horror

A man on the brink tries one last-ditch effort before ending it all: an experimental augmented-reality experience that forces him to face his demons and those of the other test subjects. But, as things get all too real, he must confront his trauma if he hopes to survive the horrors within.

Semifinalist – PAGE 2024

kevinkoljack@gmail.com

FIRE KINGS

Phoenix Black

Drama, Action

A war vet police officer infiltrates a Vietnam vet’s motorcycle club suspected of drug smuggling, finding the brotherhood he needs to recover from his past.

POINT BREAK meets THE BIKERIDERS

phoenixblackthewriter@gmail.com

HAREM

Nick Phillippa

Action, War

A pacifist Nurse must assist a special forces team in a dangerous mission to rescue a harem of women and girls held captive by Daesh terrorists and their diabolical leader who is prepared to fight to the death.

njpwriter@gmail.com

HIGH STEPPIN’

John Boal

Comedy

On an idyllic campus in N. California, the rogue leaders of the 1983 Bradford University Marching Band — Drum Major “Wank”, sizzling Trombonist “B Flat”, Jamaican Piccolo player “Winston” and blind drummer “20/20” — perform hilarious half-time shows with prickly political and cultural themes until a “Ringer” hired by the conservative Alumni Association subverts one of their shows; gets their travel funding suspended and threatens to eliminate their free-spirited and creative autonomy.

Semifinalist – San Francisco Indie Film Fest 2023

Quarterfinalist – Screencraft Comedy 2024

Quarterfinalist – Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards – Spring 2024

Quarterfinalist – The Script Lab 2023

Quarterfinalist – Filmmatic – Pitch Now Season 5

jboal202@cs.com

HI, LIBIDO

Farook Qais

Romantic Drama

On her journey into adulthood, a devout Muslim woman navigates the delicate balance between her family’s expectations, sexual fulfillment, and the idea of marrying for love.

Winner – Roadmap Writers Jumpstart 2023

Nominee – Movieplay International Film Festival 2024

Honorable Mention – Finish Line 23-24

readbookqais@gmail.com

HOLIDAY BROMANCE

Cid. B. Weinberg

LBGTQ/Holiday

A country guy from Napa, and a city guy from San Francisco attend separate holiday events on the grounds of the Presidio National Park, and go home with each other’s lost dog.

cidbanayatweinberg@gmail.com

HOMECOMING TO MURDER

Carol Preflatish

Drama

Nathan Perry returns to his hometown to become the police department’s first detective. To make his job permanent, he has to discover who is breaking into homes in the most affluent part of town, but more importantly, who murdered one of the residents.

Runner-up – Best Screenplay (Long Format) – Imajinn Awards, Imaginarium Convention, Louisville, Kentucky, 2023.

Best Feature Script – ICECenFest, October 2023, Cincinnati, Ohio.

cpreflatish@outlook.com

HOTLINE MIAMI

Creators: Jonatan Soderstrom & Dennis Wedin

Written By: Michael Zegarra

Action, Drama

Two veterans search for equilibrium, in an 80s Miami, after a botched black ops mission.

Nominee – Best Script, WideScreen Film & Music Video Festival 

mazg2001@gmail.com

INTERNAL LAPDOG

Richard Buzzell

RomCom

In this romantically comedic charade, a woman tries to land the ideal man for her, strong and confidant on the outside, but weak and docile on the inside – an internal lapdog.

zstopperuno@gmail.com

ISAAC’S GOLD

PJ McIlvane

Western Drama

Hardscrabble Isaac and Ivy endured tragedy but lost their passion until a vengeful sociopath returns from the grave to brutally test their love, loyalty, and faith.

Second Rounder – Austin Film Festival 2024

pjmac56@yahoo.com

LITTLE RED

Richard Moon

Coming of Age Thriller

A young farm girl in a war-torn country heads out over the hills and through the woods on a mission to save her family, only to face off against a hungry wolf, a dangerous hunter, and family secrets she never suspected.

Semifinalist – Enderby Entertainment Award, Austin FF 2022

Semifinalist – PAGE Screenwriting Awards 2024

Semifinalist – PAGE Screenwriting Awards 2023

Semifinalist – Los Angeles Screenplay Awards Summer 2022

richard@moonhillproductions.com

MAGNIFICENT ME

Cory Joel James

Sci-Fi / Drama

After a suicide attempt, a young artist questioning his gender identity agrees to an advanced VR therapy program entering spiritual simulations that blend cinematic dreams and reality in order to confront childhood traumas and find their true identity.

-Received The Kevin Smith Scholarship for Screenwriting at Vancouver Film School

info@coryscripts.com

MIGHT COME A WINDSTORM

Jill Elaine Hughes

In 1997, during an Ohio Thanksgiving dinner, the matriarch of a racist family succeeds at hiding her mixed-race heritage until her granddaughter unravels the truth. 

Official Selection – Silk Road Film Awards Cannes 2022

Official Selection: WILDsound FEEDBACK Film and Screenplay Festival 2022

Winner – Best Screenplay – Berlin Independent Film Festival 2022

Finalist – Oaxaca International Film Festival 2021

Semifinalist – Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival 2021

jill.elaine.hughes@gmail.com

MIXSTREET KIDS

Nicholas Robins

Coming of Age, Musical, Drama

In the streets of Brooklyn, New York, five multiracial teenagers form a boy band that takes the pop music scene by storm in the 90s while navigating the highs and lows of fame. 

nrobins200@gmail.com

MY SOULMATE DIED AT BIRTH

Ross H. Martin

Rom Com

One male comedian, battling alcoholism, meets a female comedian always running away from her problems. Both joke about their failures to meet their soulmates, but when the Universe tries bringing them together, they keep missing the signs.

Quarter-Finalist – Table Read My Screenplay

Finalist – Filmique International Film Festival

rosshmartin70@gmail.com

NAVAJOLAND

J.R. Blomberg

Action Crime Thriller

To honor his murdered father’s legacy and save his own life, a young Navajo man races to uncover Montezuma’s cursed treasure while being hunted by the ruthless U.S. Marshal who killed his father.

jrblomberg75@gmail.com

NECROLEPSY

Kev Dooley

Horror

When a narcolepsy study turns patients into ravenous brutes and the security system traps everyone inside the clinic, a med student is forced to choose between fighting to escape and their commitment to “do no harm.”

kevin.bryant.dooley@gmail.com

NEVER ENDING

Sam Robotham

Fantasy, Drama

After decades of isolation on a desolate island, an elderly Peter Pan has his quiet life upended when a young boy mysteriously arrives, forcing him to reckon with the haunting memories of his past.

samrobotham@gmail.com

OLLIE

Amir Mo

Horror

After a grieving couple has their fourth miscarriage, they give up trying to conceive and adopt a cute shelter dog instead, only to discover that the newest member of their family is actually possessed by a demon.

Semifinalist – 1497 Features Lab, PETA endorsed

itsamirmo@gmail.com

ORDINARY MORTALS

Ian Martin

Black comedy / showbiz drama

Tired of fame, a jaded movie star seeks anonymity among everyday folk, only to find himself entangled in an extraordinary mix of crime, romance, and fantasy, all while dodging the tireless chase of an obsessive paparazzo.

ian@ianmartinscreenwriter.com

PAAN

Tim Westland and J.E. Clarke

Sci-Fi / Action Adventure

When their Colony ship is attacked by a space-faring pirate race known as the Huuk, teen colonist Pete, his sister Wendy, and a ragtag group of kids, must find a way to stop the aliens and save humanity. (A SciFi reimagining of Peter Pan)

Quarterfinalist – PAGE Awards

Second Rounder – Austin Film Festival

Quarterfinalist – Screencraft Animation

timwestland@hotmail.com

PENNY DREDDFUL

David Mueller

Comedy, Mystery

When the strait-laced daughter of a heavy metal icon sees her father arrested for murder, she must step out of his chaotic shadow to find the real killer. Who framed Ozzy Osbourne?

Quarterfinalist – PAGE Awards 2024

muellerfilms@hotmail.com

PIXIE DUST

Jim Boston

Comedy

Two modern-day University of Minnesota-Twin Cities students start their own sorority in order to reach out to other female UMN-Twin Cities students tired of being marginalized.

huskercyclone@netzero.net

RECAPTURE/NEXUS

Eric Lotter

Sci-Fi

In a galaxy scarred by war, a family finds itself at the center of a desperate battle to keep the peace when a rogue general attempts insurrection, bent on escalation.

Quarterfinalist – StoryPros International Screenplay Contest 18th Annual – 2024 

eric.lotter@gmail.com

ROUGH SURFACE

Tim Brennan

Drama

When the 1980 murder of a Lakota Sioux girl is ignored by authorities, a tenacious reporter risks her career to investigate, rocking the foundations of a small town. Based on actual events.

Top 10 – Table Read My Screenplay Spring 2023

Quarterfinalist – ScreenCraft True Story & Public Domain 2023

Quarterfinalist – Creative Screenwriting Feature 2023

Finalist – The Script Lab – TSL Free Screenplay 2019

Finalist – Final Draft – Big Break 2018

tbrennan75@gmail.com

RUBY RIDGE

Lawrence Kane

Contemporary Western action-thriller

After being set up on a bogus weapons charge, a clerical error leads an ex-Green Beret to miss his court date.  Standing up for his constitutional rights, he refuses to surrender and soon becomes the target of a bloody government siege at his mountaintop cabin.

Winner – Big Apple Screenplay Awards

Winner – Fade In Screenplay Awards

Award Winner – Stage 32  Action/Thriller contest

Winner – Dublin Film Awards

Official Selection – Beverly Hills Film Festival

lawrence.kane@ymail.com

SAVE THE AMAZON

Lisa Lutes

Mockumentary

When a streamer cancels their favorite TV show, a group of superfans struggle to film it themselves.

lmluey@gmail.com

SENT AWAY

Joel McElvaney

Drama

When a troubled teen gets sent to stay for a summer with his dad, newly-released from prison, he uncovers a dark family secret that leads him to run away rather than return to his mother and abusive stepfather.

Semifinalist – Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards Fall 2021

Semifinalist – Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition 2022

The Short List – Barnstorm Fest 2023 

jdmcelvaney@gmail.com

SIDESHOW

Cindi Woods

Dramedy

When their circus owner dad dies, three disconnected adult siblings learn their inheritance is tied to a cross-country trip together-in a clown car-where they uncover long-held resentments that might just be the ties that bind…if they don’t kill each other first. 

cindiwoods@gmail.com

SOFTY

Debranjan Ruj

Family, Drama

After the birth of their disabled daughter, a couple struggle to give her and her younger brother a normal childhood, not realizing that their parenting methods are actually creating cracks in the stability of the family.

druj343@gmail.com

STONES

Adrienne Thorne

Dramedy

An impetuous teenage farm girl seeks freedom from her all-male household on a trip to a national dairy knowledge bowl competition, despite her overbearing brother coming along as chaperone.

Quarterfinalist – Nicholl Fellowship

Finalist – ISA Virtual Pitch Competition

Semifinalist – ISA Genre Busting Comedy

Second-rounder – ISA Fast Track Fellowship

thorneadrienne@gmail.com

SUCCEEDING: DESPITE MY FAMILY

Mark A. Tortorici

Romantic Comedy Drama, Musical

(Think La La Land set in New York City Area, or The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as a musician)

A musically talented man in his early forties with a diagnosed mental illness defies looking for a normal job, and confronts the opposition of his family, as he uses a period of unemployment to finally pursue the music career he has put on hold for decades. He must also confront his estranged wife and equally musically talented teenage son, who are both convinced the father will never be an artistic success, and that his desire to be a musician is all a delusion of his mental illness.

Marktortorici02@gmail.com

SUGAR GREEN

Mark Gunnion

Action/Espionage

When an environmentalist with extreme mountaineering skills is recruited by a shadowy “committee” to infiltrate a remote meeting of oil company mercenaries, she discovers an assassination plot, and must risk her life to stop it.

Quarterfinalist – StoryPros

markgunnion@gmail.com

SUICIDE SQUEEZE

Brad Kallet

Dark Comedy

Suicide Squeeze is a dark comedy about an obsessive, tortured baseball fan who publicly threatens to commit suicide if his favorite team doesn’t win the World Series.

bckallet@gmail.com

SUPERTANKER

Shawn Corridan

Action Thriller

When the world’s largest oil tanker runs aground, threatening to destroy the entire Pacific Northwest, a disgraced salvage captain lays claim to the wreck, pitting him against an approaching super storm and his dubious past.

shawn.corridan@yahoo.com

THE ACETYLENE WHORES

M. Evangeline

Roadtrip Chick Flick

Lola Hodges and Mo Sullivan seem doomed to unhappiness in a small desert town until Lola’s anger at her cheating husband prompts Lola to seek revenge by dismantling Charlie’s prize four-wheel drive pick-up truck with an acetylene torch; Lola and Mo begin an adventure of revenge and survival by breaking ties with the small town and joining forces on a road trip across the Southern deserts.

odes90265@yahoo.com

THE BOY IN THE CLOSET

Laurel Ellis

Supernatural Horror

After escaping an abusive household, a woman and her son find their new sanctuary harbors a demon that feeds off children’s souls.

laurel.storylines@gmail.com

THE COLONY

Joseph Murillo

Sci-Fi/Horror

A struggling family trying to rebuild their lives relocates to a desert home built on top of a growing infestation of chemically mutated ants looking to tear their fresh start apart.

Best Sci-fi Script – HorrOrigins Film Festival 2022

joseph.p.murillo86@gmail.com

THE ERASED GIRLS

Meghan Lajewski

Historical Drama

When a rebellious teen escapes a home for unwed mothers, she finds unlikely solace with a childless widow who offers to protect her from the home director who’s hellbent on tracking her down.

Quarterfinalist – Nicholl Fellowship 2024

meglaj3210@gmail.com

THE EVENT

Izabela Borowska

Drama, Fantasy, Music

After a bus crash, a teenage dancer caught between life and death must grapple with the father who abandoned him, his own deepest regrets, and the prospect of saying goodbye to his love – or joining her forever in the afterlife.

Winner – Fantasy Category, Script Summit 2020

Semifinalist – Filmmatic Inroads Fellowship Season 6

Quarterfinalist – CineStory Feature Retreat and Fellowship Competition 2020

Quarterfinalist – Industrial Scripts / The TITAN Awards 2021

Quarterfinalist – ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship 2023

borowska.filmmaker@gmail.com

THE EXALTED ONES

Jason Miller

Horror

With only the voice of his daughter to protect his sanity, a disabled blue-collar man must defend his rural home from mind-controlling vampires who believe he possesses a mysterious and powerful artifact.

jmillerrugged@gmail.com

THE FORGET-ME-NAUTS

Kelly Asher

Drama / Adventure / Dark Comedy

When a down-on-her-luck millennial reunites with her Dementia-stricken mother, who she thought was dead most of her life, the duo embark on an unhinged and profound road trip, discovering what matters most along the way.

Quarterfinalist – Emerging Screenwriters Drama 2024

kellyxasher@gmail.com

THE GHOST’S WRITERS’ WORKSHOP

Philip C. Sedgwick

Drama (Historic Arizona, Hollywood themed)

The ghost of a screenwriter murdered in a historic Arizona hotel resurrects hope for the afterlife when a group of wannabe screenwriters arrive for a writing workshop coinciding with the festive Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration.

Nominee – Best Original Screenplay, Burbank International Film Festival 2020

Finalist – Block Island Film Festival 2021

Finalist – Rhode Island International Film Festival 2020

philip@philipcsedgwick.com

THE GOOD AMERICANS

Rob Tobin

Musical drama

“The Good Americans,” is a hip-hop musical drama about two mixed-race American lesbians on January 6, 2021, who have to figure out how to respond to what their country has become.

scripts90@gmail.com

THE GRAND JURY

Suzanne Lutas

Sci-Fi/Thriller

In a climate-ravaged future, a homeless teenage math prodigy competes for a coveted spot on a space exploration mission while secretly yearning to find her father’s missing spaceship.

Semifinalist – Reelheart International TV Pilot & Screenplay Competition 2018

Semifinalist – Wiki Screenplay Contest January 2022

Winner – Arrow International Film Festival 2022

Winner – 2023 Greenciak Festival Nov 2023

Gold Award – Paris Film Awards July 2023.

suzannebl@mail.pf

THE HAUNTED REALTORS

Marie Grillo

Horror/Comedy

When a middle-aged realtor inherits a haunted house he must get the house staged and sold in order to solve his financial problems.

1st Place – Austin Spotlight Film Festival 2020

2nd Place – Hollywood Jumbo Festival 2021

Quarterfinalist – Scriptapalooza 2021

mgmariegrillo@gmail.com

THE LEGEND OF YAKATUTCH

Sean Francis Ellis

Horror, Mystery, Action 

When his friends are attacked by an unknown animal in the Yukon wilderness, a young First Nations man learns he is descended from a line of indigenous warriors, and must embrace his heritage in order to stop the legendary creature, before it discovers his mountain town.

Semi-Finalist – ISA Emerging Screenwriters Action & Adventure 2023

Second Round – ISA Fast Track Fellowship 2022.

Semi-Finalist – ISA Emerging Screenwriters Suspense 2021.

Semi-Finalist – ISA Horror & Thriller + Genre-Busting 2021.

Best Project & Pitch – INTERNATIONAL 3D STEREO MEDIA SUMMIT, BELGIUM 2014

seanfrancisellis@gmail.com

THE NEXT KING

Kyle J. Scimone

Crime Drama/Thriller

A generational clash leaves a father and son on opposite sides of an organized crime war. Once tensions reach there breaking point, one man must choose between the preservation of his family, or control of the city.

Finalist – Emerging Screenwriters

Finalist – Los Angeles Screenplay Awards

kj.scimone@gmail.com

THE OPEN AIR

Stacey Russell

Dramedy

To avoid having to go to a home for adults with disabilities, a young man with Down syndrome convinces his sister to join him on a trip through the South Island of New Zealand to find the rest of their family and themselves.

AN IRISH GOODBYE meets HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE and A GOOD YEAR

staceycampbellrussell@gmail.com

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

James Welday, Gaston Leroux (source material)

Horror, Mystery

The blossoming romance of Victome Raoul de Chagny and young soprano Christine Daae is pushed to their limits when a mysterious spectre haunts the Palais Garnier. Gaston Leroux’s classic novel is faithfully brought to life.

Nominee – Best Script – Widescreen Film & Video Festival 2024

Official Selection – Widescreen Film & Video Festival 2024

jameswelday1@yahoo.com

THE RINGMASTER

Kyle Rizor

Horror

In a quiet Midwestern town, the sudden reappearance of a sinister Ringmaster unleashes a string of supernatural events, challenging the resolve of a small-town sheriff and his daughter as they confront their town’s darkest secrets and their own personal demons.

Second Rounder – Austin Film Festival 2023

Originals Bureau 2024

Semifinalist – Filmmatic Horror

kyle.rizor@gmail.com

THE SET LIST

Ross Ostroff

Drama / Music

When a once famous singer-songwriter returns to the spotlight after years of seclusion and addiction, he must play the greatest set of his life in order to move on from the past demons that threaten to derail his comeback show.

Semifinalist – ScreenCraft Drama 2020

Quarterfinalist – The Script Lab – TSL Free Screenplay Contest 2023

Top 8% – Discoverable Coverfly

bartnkoda@gmail.com

THE SILENCE DEVOURS

Alyssa Jefferson

Psychological Horror/Mystery

When a true crime podcast journalist returns to her rural hometown for a wellness check on her estranged mother, she unravels a twisted family secret, unleashing a horror that threatens her grasp of reality.

Alyssa@bloodybits.com

THE ULTIMATE ENCHANTMENT

Aimee Dansereau and Allison Chaney

Romantic Comedy

A workaholic fairy and a charming vampire, who detest one another, are forced to team up to find a romantic match for a VIP client at the magical matchmaking company they work for, and inadvertently fall in love.

Semifinalist – Imagine This Women’s International Film Festival 2024

Quarterfinalist – Big Apple Film Festival Screenplay Competition – Fall 2024

adansereau08@gmail.com

THE UNLIKELIEST OF HEROES

Paul Zeidman

Animated fantasy-comedy

On the run from a tyrannical wizard, a novice witch from a magical dimension ends up stranded without her powers in the least magical place of all – New Jersey.

3rd Place – Family/Teen/Animation – 16th StoryPros

Semifinalist – Emerging Screenwriters Animation 2024

Second Rounder – Austin Film Festival 2023

paul.zeidman@gmail.com

THREE WISE MEN

Brett Nicholson

Comedy

Three bumbling buddies lost in the Mexican desert on Christmas Eve team to help a pregnant young woman trying to hike to Texas before she gives birth in the wilderness.

aggiebrett@gmail.com

THROUGH

Travis Seppala

Sci-Fi/Action

When a trio of college students invent a teleportation device, they find themselves on the run from a secret military operation that wants their technology.

Second Rounder – ISA Fast Track Fellowship

flannelmann@yahoo.com

TIL DEATH DO US PART

Don Santiago

Rom-Com

After a forty-year-old immature man is legally forced to honor a marriage contract to his fuck buddy, then loses her to the seemingly perfect man, he must discover that she’s truly the love of his life.

“No Strings Attached” meets “Anyone But You”

don.m.santiago@gmail.com

TO TASTE DEATH

Jeffrey Lee Sibley

Surreal Horror

In a secluded location, strange occurrences and increasingly bizarre behaviors disrupt the lives of a Mother, Father and Kid in this surreal study on the death of family structure.

jeffsibley1@gmail.com

UNIMAGINABLE

Paula Goldberg

Drama / Sci-Fi / Historical

When a woman who has lost her purpose in life is tasked with delivering a gift to her estranged father, she suddenly travels back in time to the horrors of the Nazi occupation in Poland. There, she confronts the demons holding both their lives hostage.

Selection – The Women’s List 2024

Semifinalist – Dallas International Film Festival’s Screenwriting Competition 2024

welltoldgold@gmail.com

UNITED WE STAND

Tom Savage

Sports Drama

Ex-footballer, Harry George. gets a chance at redemption when tasked with starting the new national team for the world’s smallest island nation. If combining reluctant locals with asylum seekers wasn’t tough enough, his job is further complicated by the island’s best player being imprisoned in the island’s offshore immigration detention centre. 

thomashsavage@gmail.com

UNTIL THE BLOOD RUNS COLD

John Henderson

Horror

Troubled teens locked in a remote juvenile detention center find themselves at the mercy of a relentless, otherworldly force and must forge an unsteady alliance to survive the night.

It’s THE BREAKFAST CLUB meets ALIEN.

johnmichaelhenderson@gmail.com

VENUS GABLES

Lincoln Michael Manning

Period Drama

In the Three Sisters Swamp off the Black River in a late 1940s North Carolina, hides a house where the locals tell transplanted vet, Jamie Greene, that a “menagerie of monsters” dwell. Amongst the outcasts is Alora, a young women with amnesia, who is said to be a cursed siren. Jamie discovers that Alora’s past only begins to unlock the intrigue at Venus Gables.

lincoln.michael.manning@gmail.com

WAITING GAMES

Jeffrey R. Field

A charismatic liar who spins elaborate tales to strangers in hospital waiting rooms becomes an unlikely source of support for a grieving mom dealing with the disappearance of her twin girls.

Semifinalist – Nicholl Fellowship 2018

First Prize – Feature, Omaha Film Festival Screenwriting 2024

Finalist – PAGE 2018, 2023, 2024

Semifinalist – Script Pipeline 2023

Top 50 – Tracking Board Launchpad

jefffield88@yahoo.com

WHEN YOU BECAME US

Nicholas Geisler

Sci-Fi Rom Com

In near-future Pittsburgh, a tech-resistant country musician falls for a freewheeling woman with a computer chip in her brain that merges her mind with the internet… and everyone on it.

Quarterfinalist – Final Draft Big Break

Second Rounder – Austin Film Festival

Finalist – Almanac Screenwriter’s Colony

nicholas.a.geisler@gmail.com

YELLOWJACK

Ken Henderson

Period Arthouse Horror

A fur trapper’s wife dies during a yellow fever plague in the late 1800s and returns to haunt him.

Semifinalist – Horror – PAGE International 2024

kenhenderson@gmail.com

TV

ALL STORMS BREWING

Christopher J. O’Bryant

Crime/Drama

The patriarch of All Storm Brewery prepares to take the company public, threatening the privilege his family has grown accustomed to, and a sin from his past resurfaces that may destroy everything and everyone he holds dear.

obryantcj@gmail.com

A STROKE OF LUCK

Jed Power

Dramedy

After a cynical stroke survivor is admitted to a chaotic yet hopeful rehab hospital, he must rediscover his strength, purpose, and humor—while forming unlikely bonds with quirky patients and staff who refuse to give up.

jedpower@verizon.net

BAMBO GOES POSTAL

Stacy Bannerman

2-D adult animation sitcom

Fed up with courtroom corruption, an environmental attorney reinvents themselves in Appalachian coal country, picking up an anthropomorphic fainting goat for mail route misadventures and homeschooled murder mayhem.

#16 – Coverfly’s The Red List

Semifinalist – Emerging Screenwriters Animation 2024

Quarterfinalist – Creative Screenwriting Unique Voices 2024

stacy@stacybannerman.com

BLACK CAR

Steve Cleary

Comedy

An idealistic driver-for-hire struggles to deliver a milquetoast businessman to LAX as he must deal with a family emergency and a demanding harbor master who wants him to move his derelict boat from the marina.

steve@stevecleary.com

CARE SOURCE

Matthew Nicholson

Dramedy

Single mother Nancy Nathanson must give a once-in-a-lifetime presentation to NASA for her family business when an unexpected and debilitating medical diagnosis not only risks her job but will change her dysfunctional family forever.

Best Screenplay Prize – Top Shorts 

Semifinalist – Humanitas New Voice Fellowship

Semfinalist – Shore Scripts

Semifinalist – Filmmatic Drama Screenplay Awards

Quarterfinalist – Slamdance

mcnicholson10@gmail.com

DAMNED IF YOU DON’T

Anthony Campbell

Dramedy

When a man discovers that he’s dead and Purgatory is the Newark Airport of the afterlife, he’s forced to reckon with haunting his widow to save her soul and befriending the exiled and unhoused to save his own.

campbell.anthony@gmail.com

EDUCATING AVA

Caroline Rovello

Fantasy/Drama

Jane Austen’s ghost helps a woman overcome her personal and professional challenges.

dj363dj@icloud.com

ESCORTED

Roger Wilson-Crane

Thriller, Drama

When devoted husband Max is mistaken for a mature high-end escort, he’s pulled into a seductive world of wealth and deception to pay off his debts. But when a client is found dead under suspicious circumstances, Max’s web of lies begins to unravel – putting his marriage,  friendships, and very survival at risk as his life spirals out of control.

Finalist – All3Media New Writers Collective 2024

Finalist – Page Turner Screenplay Award 2024

wilson-crane@outlook.com

FUTURE KING

Dawn Prato

Drama, Modern/Urban Fantasy

When a disillusioned businesswoman accidentally wakes King Arthur in the present day, she must sort fact from fantasy if they’re going to survive his enemies, both ancient and new – trouble is, she may be one of them.

Semifinalist – Emerging Screenwriters Screenplay Competition 2023

Honorable Mention – The Finish Line Script Competition 2022-2023

Second Rounder – Launch Pad Pilot Competition 2022

Semifinalist – The Script Lab TSL Free Screenplay Contest 2021

dawn.prato@gmail.com

H.O.A.

Pete Johnson

Sitcom

When a couple from Brooklyn join a quirky island community, they find both opportunity and reason for concern in the oddball H.O.A. that wields inordinate power over Breezy Point Estates.

pete.johnson@mac.com

MEADOWOOD METEORS

Brett Joyce

Half-hour Comedy

A star pitcher suffers a career ending injury and must swallow his pride when he becomes an intern for a professional baseball team. It’s there he finally learns what it means to be a team player.

Quarterfinalist – Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards Fall 2023

Semifinalist – Table Read My Screenplay Competition Spring 2024

Quarterfinalist – Creative Screenwriting Unique Voices Screenplay Competition 2024

Quarterfinalist – Creative Screenwriting Pilot Competition 2023

realbrettjoyce@gmail.com 

OFF-BALANCE

Logan Day

Comedy

A runaway med school student. An okay-ish writer. A struggling dad. A part-time teacher. Four unlikely friends in their 20s share an apartment and navigate the ups and downs of life in Seattle.

sirlogand@gmail.com

OR WORSE

Rina O’Malley

Drama

When infidelity rocks the foundations of five high-society couples, a domino effect forces everyone to confront the buried truths that threaten their carefully manicured lives.

Second Rounder – Austin Film Festival 2024

Semifinalist – Stage 32 TV Drama Screenwriting 2024

Quarterfinalist – WeScreenplay TV Pilot Lab 2025 (currently still in contention)

rinamb@gmail.com

PARASOCIAL

Autumn Adams

Comedy Thriller

A chronically online teen’s obsession with a beautiful influencer takes a dark turn when they start attending the same school.

Comps: SWARM meets YOU

autumnwritespilots@gmail.com

THE CHESAPEAKE BAY SHOW

Jordan Grahame

Half-hour teen sitcom, satire, coming-of-age

Seven teenagers navigate high school, friendships, and relationships in Davenport, Maryland, but misadventure awaits them at every corner in their awkward adolescence.

Quarterfinalist – TSL Free Screenplay Contest 2022

grahamecracker2001@gmail.com

THE CONNECTORS

Craig T. Williams

1-hour procedural

Set in the Bronx, 2 women meet as adults discover they were born on the same day to the same father, create an agency that reconnects missing family members.

redwallproductions@gmail.com

THE DEMONOLOGIST

Edgardo Granel-Ruiz

Fantasy-Mystery-Drama

An amnesiac professor of demonology must stop a vengeful son, armed with a weapon capable of destroying the world, on his crusade against those who wronged his family.

edgardo.granel@gmail.com

THE POD

Saraphina Redalieu

Comedy

After managing to stay alive during the first year of the apocalypse, a podcast host must assume the identity of her dead scientist wife in order to help rebuild society and ensure her own survival.

Semifinalist – Finish Line Script Competition 2023-2024

Top 25 – Roadmap Writers Jumpstart Writing Competition 2023

Top 3% – Coverfly

saraphina.redalieu@gmail.com

THE UNMENTIONABLES

Stephanie Campisi

Dramedy

When three dysfunctional siblings inherit their parents’ clandestine sex shop empire, they must fend off attacks from the town, church and rival organizations to preserve their nervous wealth – and their family secrets.

SIX FEET UNDER + OZARK

stephanie.campisi@gmail.com

THE WILD HARTS

Kim Hornsby

One-hour Drama

A married couple running a Wilderness Center and Lodge in the remote Pacific Northwest battle loggers and politicians in the name of environmental preservation while keeping five diverse teens on track.

Coverfly Red List – Family, One Hour TV

Semifinalist – Hollyshorts Screenwriting Competition 2022

Second Rounder – Austin Film Festival 2024

Quarterfinalist – Emerging Screenwriters 2021 & 2022

Top 100 – Table Read My Screenplay Austin 2021

kimhornsby@yahoo.com

TRUE CONTROL

Halley Reed

1-hour Drama / Science Fiction

In what she thinks is 1824, Tess Albritton faces marriage and is torn between two choices: the safe bet nice guy who promises stability, and the mysterious bad boy who promises the adventure she longs for. When she follows her heart, her entire reality is turned upside down.

Quarterfinalist – WeScreenplay TV Pilot Lab 2025

hreed12@live.com

UNICORN INCLUDED

Jonathan Fournier

Half-hour comedy

Unicorns are real, but they make bad roommates! A late bloomer has finally moved out on his own, only to find out he has an unadvertised roommate: a lazy, sarcastic unicorn who’s been hiding out in the condo and won’t leave.

Second Rounder – Austin Film Fest

Quarterfinalist – Final Draft Big Break

Pilot is based on four short webisodes (also called Unicorn Included), which were showcased at Seoul Webfest 2020 and received nominations for “Best Creator” and “Best Sketch Comedy”.

jonathanfournier.writer@gmail.com

WASHERS

Jonathan Angelo C. Concepcion

Hour Drama Thriller pilot

A witty Art Cleaner and an MI6 Agent team up to keep a Suave Russian Oligarch afloat by selling his quirky art collection, to prevent him from selling his rare minerals to his rival; an even worse, more ruthless Oligarch.

Honorable Mention – 2023/2024 Finish Line Script Competition

concepcionjonathan3@gmail.com

concepcionjonathan3@outlook.com

W.H.E.E.L.S. OF S.T.E.E.L.

Jonas Oppenheim

Adult animation/comedy/action/half-hour

W.H.E.E.L.S. O.F. S.T.E.E.L. is adult-animation comedy in the “cool-guy/rad-car” tradition, except this car is an idiot. When his talking super-car is blown up, secret agent Bicep “Sep” Wheels must team with goofball talking station wagon NATT. If the “Knight Rider” car had Kimmy Schmidt’s personality.

Quarterfinalist – Final Draft Big Break

Second Rounder – Austin Film Festival

Quarterfinalist – Launch Pad Pilot Competition

ojonasoppenheimo@gmail.com

WIKI

Nicole Jones-Dion

1-hour / Horror / Sci-Fi

A modern-day reimagining of The Monkey’s Paw for the internet generation. The lives of three college friends are turned upside down when they discover a mysterious online wiki site. Any changes made to the wiki magically come true in the real world — with unpredictable and deadly consequences.

Winner – FOX Writing Fellowship

Official Selection – The Stunt List Originals Bureau

nicole@praxiscope.com

Q & A w/Travis Seppala, produced screenwriter

Since friend-of-the-blog Travis Seppala’s last appearance here, he’s been a very prolific and productive screenwriter. He wrote the script for CAPTIVE, which came out earlier this year, and ELEVATOR GAME, which is out today (Sept 15).

CAPTIVE

A group of stoners break into a house for a weekend party, but realize all is not well after finding a mysterious stranger held captive in the basement.

What’s the story behind this one? Was it an original spec of yours, were you hired by the producer to put it together, were you brought in to clean up, etc.?

CAPTIVE was an original script I sold to Pollen Path Entertainment. 

How many drafts did you go through?

Prior to optioning the script, I’d written either three or four drafts. Then during the pre-production and production process, I ended up writing several more (I don’t know the exact number). We were literally still writing new drafts of certain scenes while the project was being filmed! Plus there are drafts I had no hand in – the original director had done their own passes, and the final director of the film did some dialogue rewrites and ADR.

How was it working with the producers?

It worked out well. They had a pretty clear vision of things they needed to accomplish with this film and were good about clearly communicating those needs. I’d worked with these guys previously when they bought my short script BUNKER which has screened around the world!

How involved were you with the production? Did you get to be on set?

I never went to set, but I did get flown out to New Mexico on a location scout. That was fun and I felt like a “bigwig”! Ultimately, they ended up using a different location that I never got to visit, but it was still an interesting experience. 

I was pretty involved throughout the production process, though. As I mentioned above, I was doing rewrites for the project even during filming. 

Also, I got to be included on the table read with the actors so I could hear how dialogue sounded and could tweak accordingly. So that was a great experience as well! 

Were there any significant changes to the script in the finished film, or is it pretty much “as is” regarding your draft?

Lots of changes! Some minor, some major. For instance, in the original scripts the characters were all teenagers. The producers felt it’d be easier to cast people in their 20s/30s (ie adults). Some of the kills in the script never made it to the movie due to time and budget constraints. And an entire plot thread was added to make the lead female a bigger more badass role. Luckily, I got a hand in most of these rewrites. 

Any plans for more projects with the producers?

Not at this time. The producers are considering a contained thriller I recently wrote, but I obviously don’t know how that’s going to go just yet. I’ve also suggested writing something specifically catered to their needs and resources (locations they can get, ets), but no word yet there. We’ll see how it goes! I know we’ve also discussed a sequel to CAPTIVE, but obviously that depends on how well the first one does — although I’ve definitely got ideas on what I’d like to do if a sequel becomes a possibility.

Where can we watch it?

CAPTIVE is a Tubi Original! So it can be seen on Tubi (a free streaming app). I know that in some countries where Tubi doesn’t exist, the movie is streaming on Apple and/or Amazon and I’ve heard another streamer might be picking it up overseas, but I’m afraid I don’t know all the details. So the best bet is if you have Tubi, watch it there! If you’re reading this interview from a place that Tubi doesn’t exist, do a search for the movie on Apple and Amazon!

ELEVATOR GAME

(via IMDB) Supernatural horror, based on the eponymous online phenomenon, a ritual conducted in an elevator, in which players attempt to travel to another dimension using a set of rules that can be found online.

That’s pretty vague and tells nothing about the story. A better logline here would be, “A group of teenager Youtubers play The Elevator Game as part of their channel, but the group quickly becomes torn apart by secrets and the haunting Fifth Floor Woman when the game turns out to be real.”

What’s the story behind this one? Was it an original spec of yours, were you hired by the producer to put it together, were you brought in to clean up, etc.?

ELEVATOR GAME is an original script I sold to Fearworks Inc. (although it was originally titled ELEVATOR TO ANOTHER WORLD). 

How many drafts did you go through?

Prior to optioning the script to Fearworks, I’d written three drafts. Once they started bringing other people into the picture (distributors, directors, etc), I wrote another three drafts and two polishes. Plus there were drafts I had no hand in such as one of the directors who was only on the project for a brief time did a draft, and of course the final draft that director Rebekah McKendry and her husband David worked on that actually got filmed.

How was it working with the producers?

There were way more people involved on this project than there was mentioned above for CAPTIVE. Producers, distributors, etc. Despite there being “more cooks in the kitchen”, I’d say that overall the process went surprisingly smoothly. There were times when people bumped heads on certain ideas, but with that many creatives all in one room (or Zoom, as it were), that’s bound to be the case.

How involved were you with the production? Did you get to be on set?

I never went to set for this one either, and didn’t have much involvement along the way. My job was to do rewrites with the director… at least at first. As anyone who follows the trades might know, originally Michael Goi was going to direct. I feel like we made a great draft together. But then he sadly left the project when Netflix made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. A couple other directors came and went – some due to personal life issues, others due to creative differences. Some of those I worked with on drafts, others not so much. Rebekah (McKendry) got brought on finally to direct and I not only had zero involvement once she was brought on but I have never even met her other than a few Facebook posts. 

It’s interesting to see how much input some productions want from the original writer versus how some would rather you just stay on your side of the fence.

Were there any significant changes to the script in the finished film, or is it pretty much “as is” regarding your draft?

The final movie is significantly different from any of  the drafts I wrote, while still holding on to most of the same plotlines and characters. 

As I mentioned above, the director and her husband reworked the majority of the film. For instance, in my various drafts, a lot of the script took place in a high school. But they weren’t able to get a school for filming! So they had to come up with the locations they could get and rewrite the story around that… which means a lot of my sequences and an entire b-plot had to vanish. 

A lot of my ideas survive in the final project, but it’s told in a very different way.

Any plans for more projects with the producers?

Maybe. The producers currently have an option on another of my horror scripts… but with the various strikes happening right now, that project’s future is unclear. 

Where can we watch it?

ELEVATOR GAME debuts as a Shudder Original as of today (September 15) in North America, Australia, and a couple other places. I’m told it’ll also be on AMC+. Also, in some countries – such as the Philippines – the movie actually came out in movie theaters back in July! I know there are other countries the movie will be coming out as much of the budget was funded from pre-sales, but I’ve not been told where it’ll be streaming in countries without Shudder/AMC and where it’ll hit theaters. 

With these two films under your belt, what’s next?

As mentioned, Fearworks has one of my horror scripts. 

I’ve also got a military drama under option to another company as well. 

However, everything is so up in the air right now with both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA on strike! I’ve had meetings get cancelled and postponed because of the strikes. I’ve had two projects die because of the strikes – one was an original thriller script I was selling, and 1 was a sci-fi script that I was being hired to write. With the strikes happening, my agent will not pitch me and/or my scripts around town — even though I’m not yet a WGA member, doing so could potentially be seen as scabbing (both for me and my agent)… so erring on the side of caution.

Here’s hoping deals get struck soon for the guilds so everyone (even those of us who aren’t in any unions yet) can get back to work and doing business!

Last time you said your favorite kind of pie was shoo-fly pie, but haven’t had it in a very long time. Have you managed to find/enjoy any since then?

A couple years ago, a fellow screenwriter was kind enough to make me a shoo-fly pie! It was a little piece of heaven! Well, more like it was a pie of several pieces of heaven! I’m very sad I still can’t find a pie shop in the Los Angeles area that makes shoo-fly pie! There are so many pie shops! And so many flavors! But sadly no for molasses.

Victories, defeats, and everything in between

This post is being released a few days after the usual time due to my involvement with this year’s San Francisco Writers Conference. I got to be a panelist, moderated a few other panels and did my “Screenwriting 101” presentation. A very nice time all around.

And for those interested, I’ll be taking over the reins of the screenwriting track for next year, so the gears are turning regarding what topics to cover. Hope you’ll consider attending.

It was really nice to talk about screenwriting with some experienced pros, along with giving advice and guidance to a lot of writers just starting out.

Call it a positive end to a semi-negative week.

The quest for representation continues. I’d queried a literary management firm in early January and they were quick to respond a few hours later with “Yes, please send it!”. Two weeks later, got an email saying “Sorry, we haven’t read it yet, but should get back to you by the end of the week.”

That was a month ago. Radio silence since then, including my obligatory follow-up of “Had a chance to read it yet?” I’m assuming it’s a pass, which is disappointing, but c’est la vie.

Moving on.

I also found out my horror-comedy short script didn’t even make the quarterfinals of a horror contest. Also disappointing, but this script is a lot more comedy than horror, so might not have been to the judges’ tastes or criteria. Who knows?

Still moving on.

But there were also a few bright spots amidst the gloominess.

A trusted colleague had some very encouraging comments about the animated fantasy-comedy spec. Feeling pretty confident about its prospects.

Several emails came in with requests for appearances on the podcast I cohost, including one mentioning how much they enjoyed the show. We also started posting the video versions, available here.

The takeaway from all of this is that you never know what’s going to happen and to just roll with the punches. There’ll be days where everything falls into place and days where absolutely nothing goes right. The best you can do is deal with it to the best of your abilities and hope it all works out in the end. And if things don’t go your way, you accept the results, learn from it if possible, and move on to the next thing.

A lot of things are out of our control, so we do what we can to influence or at least steer them to working out the way we want/need/would like them to. Celebrate any and all positive results, (briefly) lament the negative, then redirect your attention to “what’s next?”

Last week is in the past, so now it’s time to focus on this one.

It’s also worth noting that I got to talk with some other writers – both in person and online – who were just frustrated about the lack of progress they’ve encountered. There was a lot of talk about “I don’t know how much longer I want to put myself through this”, which I can totally relate to. Who hasn’t felt more than ready to throw in the towel?

And these are all talented people. Any of their scripts would make for a great film or TV show.

This ain’t an easy industry to break into. The chances of success are small, and seeing others advance (especially those who haven’t been doing it as long as you have) while you feel stuck isn’t helpful either.

Despite all the shitty days and setbacks, I’m one of those writers who intends to keep at it. I like the writing too much to want to give up, and give as much encouragement as I can in the hopes that they eventually feel the same about themselves.

Fasten those seat belts, chums. This bumpy ride keeps on going with no end in sight.

*gif by Frederatic on DeviantArt

The Maximum Z Winter ’22 Script Showcase

This blog has always been about trying to help out the screenwriting community and give others a boost whenever possible.

Letting the world know about your script seems like a pretty good boost.

This edition lists 33 feature and 15 TV spec scripts, all available for reading via the writer’s email. Something strikes your fancy and sounds like a fun read? Contact the writer and ask.

Is your script on this list and you want to let everybody know about it? Copy the url and post to your social media platforms. Go ahead and toot that horn.

Once again, a huge thanks to all the talented writers who sent in their script info. I hope you each get lots of eyes on your material, along with more than a few read requests, and all the good things those could potentially lead to…

Thanks for reading, and enjoy.

FILM

AMERICAN PRESIDENT: DEMON SLAYER

Paul Newton

Horror Comedy

Facing off against a horde of demons and the satanic cult who summoned them, a new President must find her voice in order to save the world and her soul.

Winner – Best Horror Comedy Screenplay – Oregon Horror Screams Film Festival – Fall 2022

kingawesomepaul@gmail.com

BAH, LOVEBUG! A VALENTINE CAROL

Rebekah “RX” Score & James “Doc” Mason

Holiday (Valentine’s Day) Comedy

On the eve of ruining her niece’s wedding, a love-challenged divorce attorney must rediscover the reason for the romantic season with the whimsical guidance of the Ghosts of Valentine’s Day Past, Present, and Future!

screenRIOTer@gmail.com

BEX URBEX

Ross Allaire

Horror

A paranoid lifestyle YouTuber and a ghost-hunter team up to investigate an abandoned factory with a dark past, but when they’re attacked by ghostly foes, they’ll need to trust each other and work together to escape with their lives.

BLAIR WITCH 2 meets FOUND FOOTAGE 3D

rossallaire@gmail.com

B.M.O.C.

J.E. Swainston

Horror

When a misunderstood university professor meets the woman of his dreams, his life takes a dark turn that ends in horrific tragedy.

janetswainston@gmail.com

BREAST IN SHOW

Andrea Berting

Dramedy

A young breast cancer patient helps her senior support group members learn to love their bodies again by teaching them the art of burlesque.

Top Ten Finalist – Comedy – Final Draft Big Break 2022

Top 50 – Launchpad

Best Original Comedy Screenplay – Richmond Intl Film Festival 2022

andreaberting@gmail.com

CALYPSO

Fiona Faith Ross

Fantasy, Thriller

Traveling to ‘the old country’ to find her only remaining family, a bereaved young American woman is forced to choose life or death when learning her aunt is a goddess needing a younger host to survive.

Winner – Best Script, Pinnacle Script Awards (LA) 2021

fionafaithross@gmail.com

CUSSING, FUSSING, FIGHTING AND KILLING

Anthony Moore

Drama

An ambitious software engineer tries to start a business only to have his life ruined when his scheming aunt turns his own wife against him.

Award Winner – Andromeda Film Festival 2022

Quarterfinalist – Wiki! The World’s Fastest Screenplay Contest 2022

techrat@live.com

DRAGON CREME BRULEE

Katie Haskins

Fantasy

When a failure of a fire mage discovers a lost journal, it sets him on a path at odds with history, his world, and the woman he loves.

Quarterfinalist – Finish Line Script Competition 2022

katie.haskins@gmail.com

DUEL REALITY

Gerasimos Rozis & Cypher Robinson

Sci-Fi/Action

When she discovers that her VR program to treat PTSD has been hijacked, an obsessed programmer enters the VR world to stop a ruthless military contractor from using it to build the perfect soldier.

cyphers.bridge@gmail.com

ELLA

Michael Dean

Crime/Thriller

To escape her unhappy life in Oakland, a teenager embarks on a dangerous odyssey that sees her confront drug dealers and human traffickers as she seeks a new place to call home.

Top 1% – Coverfly Thriller, All-Time Top 20

Semifinalist – Austin Film Festival 2022

Semifinalist – Vail Film Festival 2022

Finalist – Bigfoot Script Challenge 2022

Semifinalist – WeScreenplay Feature Screenwriting Lab 2022

dirtydovecreative@gmail.com

FALLING FROM THE SKY

Robert Rhyne

Thriller, Crime

After a troubled Texas teenager is convicted of lying to the police for claiming that he saw an astronaut fall from the Columbia Space Shuttle explosion, he witnesses a murder, but no one will believe him – except the killer.

Finalist – PAGE International Screenwriting Awards 2022

Finalist – StoryPros 2020

Second Rounder – Austin Film Festival 2020

Top 10% – Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting 2020

randprhyne@aol.com

FAMILY

Cythina Ros McClendon

Drama

When her husband puts their family farm up for sale, his wife must reunite their far-flung family in order to save it.

CRMcFL@aol.com

FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND

Brian Mulligan

Dramedy/Coming-of-Age

A strong-willed teen and her guilt-ridden brother battle grief and each other after the accidental death of their closest friend changes their lives forever.

‘Stand by Me’ meets ‘The Fault in Our Stars.’

Semifinalist – ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship 

Quarterfinalist – Shore Scripts Feature Contest 

Finalist – Set in Philadelphia 

Second Rounder – Austin Film Festival 

bmull863@gmail.com

HOPE CALLING

Ina Williams

Holiday, Romance, Family

When a harsh anonymous blog goes viral about a small town in Georgia called Hope, a grieving journalist travels there and gets more than a story when he meets an artist who calls the town, home.

Quarterfinalist – Final Draft Big Break 2022

ina.onyx@gmail.com

LIVE-STREAM

Ramsey Patrick Anderson

Thriller

When a long-haul truck driver learns he’s driving a series of Fight-To-The-Death, live-streamed matches in his trailer, he must risk his life to stop it.

djgameshow@yahoo.com

MADRE OSO (MOTHER BEAR)

J.R. Blomberg

Action Crime Drama

A single Latina mother, desperate to afford the medication her son urgently needs, unknowingly traffics young women across the border for a Cartel funded trucking company… for her children’s sake, she better deliver.

jrblomberg75@gmail.com

ONE HIT WONDERLAND

Jack Caswell

Comedy, Action, Adventure

Sick of reading the same bedtime story to his son, a weary father wishes death upon the title character only to wake up in the story-book world and discover his only way home is to carry out the hit.

2nd Rounder – Austin Film Festival 2022

Runner-up/2nd overall – Byron Bay International Film Festival 

Semifinalist – Filmmatic Comedy Screenplay Awards – Season 7 (2022)

Quarterfinalist – Screencraft Comedy Competition 2022

Top 1% – WeScreenplay Recommend

jackcaswell84@gmail.com

ORSON & BUDDY

Bill Kelly, Jr.

Dramatic Comedy

Dying celebrity impersonator Orson Welles must make peace with best friend and fellow impersonator Buddy Holly before Buddy’s new girlfriend stops them from finishing their sequel to Citizen Kane.

kellyjrbill@gmail.com

REASONABLE SUSPICION

Joel McElvaney

Comedy/Thriller

Ready to leave her corporate-lawyer husband over suspicions of infidelity, a legal aid attorney must instead go on the run with him when his millionaire client sends a hitman to kill them both.

REAR WINDOW meets MIDNIGHT RUN

Quarterfinalist – StoryPros 2022

jdmcelvaney@gmail.com

RECIPE FOR HATE

Brent Rouleau

Mystery/Thriller

Facing police indifference and anti-punk hysteria after his two friends are brutally murdered, a punk rock zine writer becomes the next target when he enters the dark world of neo-Nazi extremism to find the killers and end the bloodshed.

leafswinin05@yahoo.ca

SKITCHING

Thomas R. Schrack

Coming of age adventure

When his ride to a skateboard competition bails on him, a penniless teen has 90 minutes to scratch together $300 for another ride or get stuck in the city he desperately wants to leave, forever.

MID 90s meets DOPE.

thomas.r.schrack@gmail.com

TEN TEXAN OUTLAWS

Ian Jeffrey Martin

Neo Western with a supernatural twist

Forced to repay a debt to a ruthless gangster, a heist crew seeks out an ancient treasure, but discovers the long-dead gang of outlaws it belonged to refuse to give it up without a fight.

Top 50 – Roadmap Writers Jumpstart Features 2022

Semifinalist – Screencraft Action & Adventure

Top 10% – Coverfly – All projects

Top 16% – Coverfly – Westerns

ian@ianmartinscreenwriter.com

THE BOCA SHUFFLE

Tod Klinger

Dramedy

A restless man stuck in assisted living convinces his millennial van driver to take him and his motley crew on a cross-country road trip to reunite with “the one who got away.” 

8 – The Black List

Quarterfinalist – TSL Free Script Competition 2021

klingertod@gmail.com

THE CROOKED CROSS

Wendy Appelbaum and Alanna Lewis

Thriller

Tormented by the loss of her parents to the Nazis, a Jewish author expiates her resolved grief by tracking down surviving Nazis who have secretly emigrated to the west.

Quarterfinalist – Screencraft Action & Thriller 2014

Quarterfinalist – Script2Comic 2022

wappel_80@hotmail.com

THE DARK BELOW

Brian Fitzpatrick

Sci-FI/Horror

Ruthless mercenaries, fanatical cultists, and celestial horrors won’t stand in the way of an all-girl urban explorer team hell bent on rescuing a little girl from the grip of a shadowy monster in a secretive lab.

brianfitzauthor@gmail.com

THE DYBBUK OF WILLIAMSBURG

Max Kinchen

Horror

When her groom is possessed by a vengeful disembodied spirit on their wedding night, a young bride must challenge the notions of her own faith and her place in the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in a race to set him free.

Second Rounder – Austin Film Festival 2022

Official Selection – HorrOrigins Film Festival 2022

Recommended – The Script Lab (coverage)

max.kinchen@gmail.com

THE GRAND JURY

Suzanne Lutas

Sci-Fi/Thriller, Short Film

A small random group gets a chance at an interview for a sought-after position and must endure a long wait in a room where the test truly begins.

Winner – Best Short Screenplay – Arrow International Film Festival 2022

Semi-finalist – Wiki Screenplay Contest – January 2022

Semi-finalist – Reelheart International TV Pilot & Screenplay Competition 2018

suzannebl@mail.pf

THE HALF LIFE OF HARRY FIGG

Mark Wesley

Sci-Fi/Comedy/Drama

A troubled street kid’s life is turned around when he comes to the aid of a reclusive scientist whose fusion experiment is targeted by industrial spies.

Semifinalist – Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards

Quarterfinalist – Stage 32 Sci-Fi and Fantasy

Quarterfinalist – New York City International Screenplay Awards

Quarterfinalist – Chicago International Screenplay Awards

markwesley13@gmail.com

THE LAST EARTH STATION

Kathryn Radmall

Sci-Fi

When a long forgotten colony ship reappears on the far side of the galaxy, explorers are sent to discover what happened to it, and why the vessel’s enigmatic commander insists it can never return to Earth.

Winner – Bridge Fest, Vancouver

Nominee – Hybrid Genre, ‘The Red List’, Toronto

Winner – Los Angeles Motion Picture Festival

Winner – H.G. Wells Award, LA Sci-Fi Film Festival

Nominee – Hamilton Film Festival, Canadian Film Market

kathryn.radmall@icloud.com

THE MERC

Scott Sawitz

Action thriller

After reinventing himself as a badass security specialist, an everyday schlub must become the badass he’s pretended to be in order to prevent his secret double life from being exposed.

Formerly under option – Pause ‘n’ Rewind Studio

SJSawitz@yahoo.com

THE VACATION CLAUSE

Mere Walton

Holiday/Comedy/Drama

When Santa Claus disappears at the most important time of the year, a recently deceased grandfather and new elf-in-training, must recruit his grieving granddaughter to help him save Christmas in order to convince her there’s joy in her life that’s yet to be discovered.

mwaltonwrites@gmail.com

WE GOT THE BEAT

Eric Vardeman

Coming Of Age

It’s the summer of ’83 and five fun loving best friends are out to have the time of their lives after a stroke of luck comes their way but discover that luck brings them more than they bargained for.

evardeman@gmail.com

WELCOME TO GARYTOWN

Seth Nelson

Comedy

When a popular podcaster discovers a small-town taxidermist is his job-hopping childhood friend in disguise, he must decide whether to go along with the prank or reveal his identity in an effort to boost his own career.

Best of the Fest – Die Laughing Film Festival 2022

Best Comedy Screenplay – 4Theatre Film Fest 2022

Semifinalist – Mad Wife Productions Fellowship 2022

Semifinalist – Krimson Horizon International Film Festival 2022

Best Comedy Screenplay – New Age Cinemas & Scripts 2022

snelson1076@me.com

TV

A FAMILY

Cid Weinberg

Drama/Family

An LGBTQ+ California family must navigate everyday life, teen angst, and overcome heartache after the sudden death of their patriarch.

Quarterfinalist – Screencraft Family 2022

Quarterfinalist – Screenwriter’s Network Competition Goldman Award 2021

Finalist – Dallas International Film Festival 2021

Top 10 (2x) – Coverfly 2022

cidbanayatweinberg@gmail.com

ALIVE: A FRANKENSTEIN REIMAGINING

Aimee Dansereau

Sci-Fi/Horror

In this modern day reimagining of Frankenstein, the unhinged Dr. Victoria Frankenstein brings Mary to life, and forces her to kill people for scientific experimentation, but as Mary evolves into an ethical person, it’s up to her to stop her evil creator.

Semifinalist – Screencraft Screenwriting Fellowship 2021

Finalist – Big Apple Film Festival Screenwriting Competition – Fall 2021

Quarterfinalist – Screencraft Horror 2022

Semifinalist – Filmmatic Drama Screenplay Awards – Season 7

Quarterfinalist – Filmatic Horror Screenplay Awards – Season 6

adansereau8@gmail.com

ALTER/EGO

Tyler Clair Smith

Sci-Fi

When the world’s most despised billionaire is revealed to be a beloved hero, he must scramble to save his company while preserving his legacy as a hero.

tclairsmith@gmail.com

CANDY IS AWESOME

Steve Kimura

Action/Comedy

A group of CIA operatives use their cover as a pop band to save the world and discover that the music biz can be as treacherous as the bad guys they encounter.

stevekimura@me.com

CRACKED

Zac Lucas

Native American detective, mystery series

Still guilty over his three-year-old daughter’s untimely death, a Lakota Aspie detective fights skeptical and hostile colleagues, to prove his visionary skills matter when (re)solving mysterious cases.

kiwee@y7mail.com

HAWKWOOD

Karen E. Simmons

Light comedy/murder-mystery

Former Scotland Yard Inspector John Hawkwood is trying to redeem himself from his dark past by working as a private detective in an idyllic Cotswolds village in 1956 England, surrounded by a cast of equally quirky & unconventional characters.

Semi-finalist – Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards, 2022

ksimmons511@yahoo.com

IN THE SHADOWS

A.J. Retelle

Drama, Mystery, Horror

Van Helsing Institute agents investigate a vampire murder that could set off a war between rival clans.

ajretelle85@gmail.com

JENKINS AND WATTS: PARANORMAL ATTORNEYS AT LAW

Michael P. Brennan

Comedy/Horror

In a world where ghosts exist and have rights, Jenkins and Watts defend them against overzealous law enforcement, organized crime, and literal demons from hell…for fair market price.

Semifinalist – Screencraft Comedy 2022

Semifinalist – The Golden Script Competition 2022

Recommended – Shore Scripts coverage

Top 4% overall, top 3% genre – Coverfly

mbrenn3@gmail.com

KNEAD THE DOUGH

Brett Joyce

Half-hour comedy

A corporate salesman attempts to understand why he left his pizza chef job for the woman that just rejected his proposal in Hawaii as he finds solace in a pizza truck, The Dough Mobile. While he thought he needed dough to solve his life problems, what really needs to solve them is that he has to knead the dough.

2nd Rounder – Austin Film Festival 2022

realbrettjoyce@gmail.com

LIFER GUARDS

Lisa Lutes

Half-hour comedy

Unable to find anything better, a group of millennial lifeguards remain stuck in their high school jobs at a community pool.

lmluey@gmail.com

RESTLESS SOULS

Victoria Thomas

Dark Comedy with Horror/Fantasy elements

Two brothers’ loyalties are put to the test as they run from their guilt, but not all blood can be washed away.

8.9/10 – Coverfly (project in top 4% for analyst)

vikkisumner1@gmail.com

SMALL TOWN COUNTRY (GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME SETH)

David Crosman

Half-hour sitcom

The leader of a new and small nation must figure out healthcare or lose citizens. Two low-level officials woo a dignitary in the hopes of getting a cushy job.

2nd Rounder – Austin Film Festival 2022

Consider – Coverage Ink 2022

davidcrosmanwa@gmail.com

SOUTHSIDE SHUFFLE

Dave Goossen

Drama

A disgraced musician returns home with hopes of reopening a club but gets caught up in deceit and the dangerous criminal underbelly of a picture-perfect tourist town.

davegoossen@gmail.com

THE PENITENT

Sheila Cavanaugh Dionne

Drama

A recently deceased girl and her accidental killer team up with an angel to save their respective families from looming disasters.

sheila@fortunamajor.tv

TOUCH OF DARKNESS

James Welday

Film noir, sci-fi, mystery

When re-emerging memories of a life he never lived begin plaguing an unassuming salesman, his reality takes a nightmarish turn.

jameswelday1@yahoo.com