The following screenplays are the Top 35 Feature Screenplay Finalists for the 2019 FilmQuest Best Un-Produced Screenplay Competition. Featured here are some fo the best un-produced screenplays on the circuit today:
… A CHANCE OF RAIN
Written By: Alan C. Beard & Patrick Green
Synopsis: An astronaut from the future arrives in Present Day – New York to stop a terrorist before he strikes. When the mission goes awry, he’s forced to track down & protect the younger version of himself to make sure he can return home.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Patrick Green and Alan C. Beard met, while both pursuing their MA in Screenwriting from California State University, Northridge. They were fans of each other’s writing and decided to team up and bring the world “… a chance of rain”.
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6 FEET ABOVE
Written By: Summer Moore
Synopsis: Every mother remembers the intricacies of her pregnancy: the moment she learned she had a life growing inside of her, that tiny foot’s first kick, and the realization that she is the one and only defense to stand in the way of harm coming to her unborn child. When KENNEDY arrives eight months pregnant with her husband, at the isolated family lake house, she has no comprehension that she will have to become that defense.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Setting the stage for her performance and writing careers, Summer Moore was born into a southern military family and predominately raised in Colorado in a forest filled with animals. Even if it was only for her captive stuffed animals, she loved performing. She told her grandma that she was going to be a “star” and then never stopped acting like one after that.
Her dramatic acting career took life, when she learned her parents were getting something called a “divorce” and she cried so her brother did not hog all of the attention. She progressed to the stage, in a musical she had no business being in; but supposedly, kids are cute when they sing off key. The divorce sculpted her childhood and she began to write fueled by lots of material. Upon attending the University of Southern California, she joined a sorority, the antithesis of her altruistic spirit. Needless to say, a white girl who loves rap is not a great fit for sorority life in Los Angeles; she survived and received a BA in Environmental Studies and a minor in Theater. She then became well trained in Eastern Philosophy, as if her life was not weird enough already.
With her share of tragedies, friends ask upon occasion, “Are you sure this karma stuff really works for you?” Her house burned down. She was run over by a car on a blind date (not by her date!). She received the Heimlich Maneuver by her Executive Producer at a Harvard University film meeting with a captivated audience. She turned all of life’s material into good in her screenplay writing. Yet despite all this, Summer keeps a smile on her face and believes that a smile can change the world. Although, she does love a good scare from time-to-time!
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BLACKWOOD FALLS
Written By: Jennifer Nicole Stang
Synopsis: Two orphaned children, 16 year old Claire and 10 year old Amy Warren, are mysteriously invited to live with their aunt in the town of Blackwood Falls. Something about the town isn’t right; children begin to disappear and strange deaths occur inspired by brutal, Puritan torture. Once Amy disappears, Claire must uncover the sinister truth in hopes of saving her sister and ultimately herself…
Screenwriter’s Bio: Director/Writer, JENNIFER NICOLE STANG was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has lived in England, Canada, the U.S., and Spain. Jennifer founded her film production company, Round Table Pictures in 2011. With her company, Jennifer has directed award-winning music videos and short films.
Her short film, El Lago (The Lake) received various awards, including Best Fantasy Film at the Mexico International Film Festival, and 1st place at the Honolulu Film Awards. Her horror short, The Devil’s Snare, was nominated for best short film screenplay, best sound design, and best actor at the TERROR film festival in 2013. Jennifer directed Livvy Stubenrauch (young Anna from Disney’s Oscar-winning film, FROZEN), in her short film Les Nuages (The Clouds), which she wrote as well, and which was featured at Raindance Web Fest and Miami Web Fest, amongst other festivals.
Jennifer also completed a feature film for Dark Matter Studios that is currently in post-production.
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COVE
Written By: Thomas O’Malley
Synopsis: Fisherman Patrick Hennessey and his wife, Maggie, live an idyllic life with their two children in the remote New England fishing community of Cove Hill on isolated Garret Peninsula, but Cove Hill has a dark past. On the eve of the town’s 400-year anniversary, a pact their ancestors made with an ancient evil has come due, and Patrick and Maggie must risk everything to protect their family from the horror that threatens to destroy them all.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Thomas O’Malley was raised in Wexford, Ireland. He is the author of This Magnificent Desolation, a New York Times Editor’s Choice, featured in New Writing from Ireland 2013, and shortlisted for the 2013 Irish Novel of the Year Award, and In the Province of Saints, which received critical acclaim from The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal, among others. It was voted one of the ten best first novels by Booklist and chosen by the New York Public Library as one of the top twenty-five books of the year in their Books to Remember.
He is also the author of the noir, Serpents in the Cold, co-authored with Douglas Graham Purdy, which garnered praise from The New York Times Book Review, The Boston Globe, Kirkus Reviews, Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist. It was a Boston Globe Special Feature and praised in Boston Magazine and on WBUR and NPR. Its sequel, We Were Kings (2016) was praised by the New York Times Book Review and Publishers Weekly, received a starred review by Booklist and was one of Kirkus Reviews 10 best Novels for Summer Reading. He currently lives outside Boston and is the Director of Creative Writing at Dartmouth College.
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CYBORN
Written By: Mark Renshaw
Synopsis: A cyborg private A.I. is working his last case. Infected with a tekvirus that is stripping away his abilities, he teams up with a sexbot operated by his estranged daughter to uncover a master criminal and find a cure before he shuts down.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Mark is a writer/producer and a Page awards semi-finalist with his TV Pilot Script for The Nearscape called The Survivors. He is also the winner of the 2018 Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship.
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DARKNESS VISIBLE
Written By: Christopher Lopez
Synopsis: A team of scientists working on a secret government project in New England discover the magnitude of the work they’ve undertaken far exceeds how much they’re willing to sacrifice, their life included.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Christopher James Lopez was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic and grew up in Queens, NY. He is an Academy Nicholl Quarterfinalist, for “The Final Act”, currently in development. Christopher’s directorial debut America Adrift was produced by James Manos Jr., (creator of Showtime’s “Dexter”). The film is available worldwide. Christopher is currently working on his 2nd feature film, Control. Production started in April of 2019 and will go through January 2020.
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GOD WREST HIS SOUL
Written By: JT Seaton & Michael Varrati
Synopsis: When an estranged son travels to the home of his recently deceased father to handle the estate, he’s surprised to discover a stranger has taken up residence in the house. What’s more, as increasingly unnatural and unsettling occurrences begin to manifest around the home, the son learns that the stranger may not be who he claims, and that his late father might just have made a deal with the Devil himself.
Inspired by the short film “God Wrest His Soul” (2016). Official Selection of the 2016 Slamdance Film Festival Digital Bolex Fearless Filmmakers Showcase.
Screenwriter’s Bio: JT Seaton is a graduate of the CalArts Directing program. Shortly after snagging a diploma, he wrote and directed the short gay themed horror film “Nightshadows”, which won several awards at various film festivals. His first leap into the world of feature films came with the horror/comedy “George’s Intervention”. “George’s Intervention” screened all over the world, winning multiple awards before landing a distribution deal with Breaking Glass Pictures. Next came “Divination”, a multi award winning short film. “Divination” found a home at the Hillbilly Horror Show (Vol. 3) and was seen during the 2014 Halloween season at amusement parks across the country, brought to you by HorrorHound! “The Peripheral” followed, a short horror film starring cult actress Lynn Lowry (“Shivers”, “The Crazies”, “Cat People”). “The Peripheral” screened at almost 100 film festivals throughout the world, winning over 20 awards.
In addition to terrifying people with his own creations, JT is also responsible for sharing the nightmares of other horror filmmakers. In 2011, he co-founded the NOLA HORROR FILM FEST (in New Orleans). Now in its 9th season, the NOLAHFF is growing and spreading fear throughout Louisiana… and the world.
Michael Varrati is an American screenwriter, columnist, and actor known primarily for his work within the horror genre and the world of TV movies. Outside of his film work, Varrati has used his platform to discuss pop culture and the horror genre as it relates to the LGBTQ experience, frequently writing about and arranging curated speaking events on the topic at such venues as San Diego Comic Con.
As a screenwriter, some of Michael Varrati’s notable works include Tales of Poe, The Sins of Dracula, Flesh for the Inferno, A Christmas in Vermont, A Christmas Reunion, and episodes of the popular audio series Darkest Night and Deadly Manners.
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GREEN YOYO
Written By: Kelsey Wilkins & Megan Kuntz
Synopsis: When the dark trauma of her childhood manifests into a malevolent being that hurts those around her, one girl must discover the truth or risk losing everything she loves forever.
Screenwriter’s Bio: N/A
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LAND LORD
Written By: Remington Smith
Synopsis: A black woman moves into an aging apartment complex while tracking a stolen bag of money, but is forced to choose between her job as a bounty hunter and saving a young African American boy after his mother is killed by the sun-obsessed, white vampire landlord.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Remington Smith is a working filmmaker and assistant professor of film production at the University of Louisville.
In 2009 he earned his MA in Film Studies from the University of Edinburgh in 2010 for his thesis, “Unsafe Horrors: A Critical Analysis of Horror Cinema, Torture Porn and
the Unsafe Horror Film”. While at Edinburgh he made his first documentary short, Last Good Thing, which spurred his eventual interest in pursuing an MFA in Film and Video Production from the University of Iowa, which he earned in 2014.
His MFA thesis film, Rubbertown, is now a feature length documentary of the same name, available on Amazon Prime. His arthouse horror short The Woods screened at film festivals, comic cons and art shows nationally and abroad, and has earned over 22,000 views on Vimeo.
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LAWSUITS, LOVE AND LUCIFER
Written By: Jeff Burke
Synopsis: Lucifer, immortal yet living on Earth without any special powers and without a demonic appearance, gets dumped by his girlfriend. Seizing on the reality that his likeness is unjustly used by companies to sell their products, he embarks on an ambitious plan to prove to mankind who he is so he can collect royalties as love glances in his direction for a second chance.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Entering the writing world at the age of 28, Jeff wrote his first short and first feature during his second tour of Bosnia as a Canadian peacekeeper in 2003. His films and scripts have been selected into numerous festivals while gathering numerous nominations. Having recently graduated from the UCLA Professional Program for Screenwriting, Jeff continues to write with an eye on returning to the director’s chair.
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M – DEMON KILLER
Written By: Mark William Hammond
Synopsis: A young Asian waitress discovers she is the last in a long line of Demon Killers when a billionaire/sorcerer opens a portal to Hell under City Hall in New York City. Local Native American demons hunt in the tunnels and, even more strangely, powerful Chinese warrior demons are sent to slaughter her before she can stop the invasion from hell. M is a New York City waitress but this may be asking too much.
Screenwriter’s Bio: New England born and raised. I live and write in New York City. I currently work for Tribune Media and most recently received an Emmy for Broadcast Excellence – Director.
My deep background includes stage performance, and also production work on music videos, low budget films, docs, commercials, soaps and network talk shows, mostly in NYC and some LA.
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MITZVAH CRASHER
Written By: Amy Axelson Capeci
Synopsis: Nora-a wannabe Pinterest perfect parent and Katie – a checked out single mom – discover that crashing Bar & Bat Mitzvahs magically gets their train wreck of a life back on track.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Amy Axelson is a trained opera singer and prolific opera director. She segued into filmmaking with the award winning documentary short Why We Wax. Written, directed and co-produced by Axelson, the comedy short had a very successful film festival run before it was picked up for distribution by 7th Art. It broadcast on Current TV for the North American market and Canal Plus for the European market.
When she took a sabbatical to raise her two boys she was inspired to write her first full length narrative script Mitzvah Crashers about a couple of burnt out moms who start crashing bar & bat mitzvahs to get their mojo back.
Axelson earned her Bachelor’s Degree from the School of Music at DePaul University, Chicago. Her secret super power is that she trained in improvisational comedy at no less than The Second City also in Chicago.
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MOM DIED
Written By: Michael Klug
Synopsis: Peter returns to his small hometown following news of his mother’s death. Estranged from his three siblings, he has also never met his two young nieces. When a zombie outbreak occurs, he becomes trapped with his family (and all of their strained histories) inside the funeral home where his mother’s wake was to take place.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Born and raised in South Dakota, Michael now lives in Los Angeles with his husband. He has a long history with all types of writing (his first short story was penned at age 10). He is also an actor and film critic.
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PERSONA
Written By: Jeffrey Howe
Synopsis: Years after the car crash that killed her husband and put her in a wheelchair, a black artist receives an experimental implant to make her walk again, paid for by her wealthy, white father-in-law–but to him, rehab is only a pathway to revenge.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Jeffrey stumbled into screenwriting from the prose world in 2015. Since then his feature and short scripts have won or placed in over 80 contests. His first produced short, “Past Partum,” is lurching onto the festival circuit this fall.
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ROCK & ROLL HIGH SCHOOL VAMPIRES
Written By: Scott Grady
Synopsis: A teenage vampire with his 18th birthday around the corner and a limited amount of time to make his first kill stumbles across vampires from a past life bent on using him to slaughter mankind.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Scott Grady is an award winning writer/director/actor. He began his career in entertainment bringing home the title of “Boise’s Funniest Person” (an amateur stand-up competition) in 2015. Since then he has studied acting at “Platform Boise” under the tutelage of April Matson. His first short film “Swipe” won “Best of Fest” at the “Idaho Laugh Festival”. His second short film “Blend In” which he co-wrote with April Matson, took home “Best Film” and “Best Screenplay.”
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ROMAN CANDLE
Written By: Derek Abbott
Synopsis: A group of misfit kids must battle against a monster with a mysterious connection to a low-budget horror movie on the last Friday of the Summer in 1995.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Derek Abbott is a lifelong film fanatic who is making his return to screenwriting. After studying filmmaking in college at LIU Post in New York and a few stints teaching filmmaking at the School of Cinema and Performing Arts, he got sidetracked for a decade in the world of Lighting Rentals. Now, Derek is writing genre screenplays on spec, with a focus on creating personal stories in fantastic environments. When not spending his free time writing, you can probably find him watching an old movie at Film Forum or Anthology Film Archives in New York.
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RUST
Written By: Guy Pooles
Synopsis: When sent to England to live with her estranged mother, a young, teenage girl has never felt more alone. Upon discovering an old workshop, secluded in the woods, she awakens an abandoned Robot. As she works to rebuild the rusted figure, she might have found the company she longs for, but was this robot shut down for a reason?
Screenwriter’s Bio: Guy was born and raised in England, where his study of Theatre, Photography and Literature nurtured a passion for the craft of Film. He moved to Los Angeles to study Cinematography at the American Film Institute Conservatory, where he earned an MFA in the discipline. The first short film Guy wrote, Dirty Laundry, went on to earn awards from the Directors Guild of America, The American Society of CInematographers & The Hamptons international film festival.
His next writing credit was on the short film The Light and the Little Girl, which went on to become an official selection of Short of the Week. Since then, Guy has had the privilege of shooting a multitude of narrative projects, from the CW series Two Sentence Horror Stories, to being hired as the cinematographer on the third season of the Sundance and SXSW selected series Snatchers. His cinematography has been screened at Tribeca Film Festival, Raindance Film Festival, Palm Springs Film Festival, LA Film Festival and many more. Guy has now completed his first feature-length screenplay Rust. He looks forward to returning to England to direct this debut feature project.
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SHIFTER
Written By: Kenny J Wright
Synopsis: During a snowstorm in a small mountain community, a serial killer stalks a lonely man… but nothing is what it seems.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Kenny J. Wright, is a writer and producer living in Los Angeles.
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SICK
Written By: Sylvia Batey Alcalá
Synopsis: Amidst an outbreak of a mysterious, violent illness, an interracial couple takes solace in their work at a prestigious theatre company, mounting a production of “Othello.”
Screenwriter’s Bio: Sylvia Batey Alcalá is a Los Angeles-based writer/director/actor/slash enthusiast. She is the creator of the online miniseries Fame Dogs, which has accrued over sixty thousand views on Facebook alone. Her follow-up, The Spectacular Summer of Weredog and Amy, premiered at the Oscar-qualifying Cinequest Film Festival, going on to earn Best Comedy nominations at multiple festivals, as well as an Award of Commendation and Best Actor win. A classically-trained actress, Sylvia has appeared in projects ranging from Shakespeare to independent film, to her crowning achievement: getting cut from an episode of Mad Men. She enjoys stories about funny people in terrible situations.
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SOL
Written By: James Fox
Synopsis: In the year 2242 citizen and soldier alike are plunged into a dark and violent interplanetary civil war, the scale of which is unprecedented in Human history. Desperate for survival, leaders emerge to protect their families, friends, and futures.
Screenwriter’s Bio: James Fox is the Founder and CEO of Dawnrunner and brings with him the creative power of 12 action-packed years in the film industry. As the principal Director for Dawnrunner he has lead the company through numerous award-winning projects He has been recognized within the industry for his passion and determination to advance the industry through education and outreach, and has spoken numerous events.
His “breaking down barriers” approach to filmmaking, creativity and technical street-smarts have labeled him a visionary for the future of visual storytelling through new methods and technological innovations. He refers to his crew as family, and provides strong and charismatic leadership – and an inexhaustible well of excitement and energy.
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SPECTRUM
Written By: Jennifer Trudrung
Synopsis: A bullied 13 year old girl with autism and OCD goes on her first ever school camping trip where she has to rely on her wits and find her inner strength in order to survive when her classmates and teachers are infected by a strange zombie virus.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Jennifer Trudrung started acting six years ago and fell in love with being on set and seeing how worlds and stories are created on film. She has worked on Goosebumps, The Vampire Diaries, and numerous independent films and commercials. She began writing and producing her own screenplays a few years ago and has been enjoying figuring out the film festival circuit and most recently winning several awards for her short film “Unbearing.”
Her focus is on horror and thriller screenplays and she enjoys taking quiet everyday moments and twisting them into the macabre and horrific. Most of Jennifer’s films incorporate what she considers to be her most important job, motherhood, and often feature her children as actors in her creative works. Most recently Jennifer adapted “Here There be Tygers” based on a Stephen King short story. Plus her feature length horror screenplay “Spectrum” has been a quarterfinalist in the ScreenCraft Feature Screenplay Competition and the Blue Cat Screenplay Competition.
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THE COLDEST HORIZON
Written By: Jeffrey Howe
Synopsis: After an accident leaves a scientist stranded alone at the South Pole, the ghosts of four explorers appear to help her endure the loneliness–and when she discovers she’s pregnant, to help her survive the thousand mile trek across the ice to safety.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Jeffrey stumbled into screenwriting from the prose world in 2015. Since then his feature and short scripts have won or placed in over 80 contests. His first produced short, “Past Partum,” is lurching onto the festival circuit this fall.
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THE EATING GOD
Written By: Abigail Clark
Synopsis: N/A
Screenwriter’s Bio: N/A
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THE HOUSESITTER
Written By: Suju Vijayan & Dave Palamaro
Synopsis: A struggling writer discovers the gruesome corpse of a once famous 1940s starlet in a decrepit house and attempts to uncover the woman’s dark past before an evil specter kills everyone connected to the investigation.
Screenwriter’s Bio: In 2014 Writer/Director Dave Palamaro directed In Heaven There Is No Beer, a music documentary that Film Threat called, “One of the best films of the year”. Dave’s second feature film was Murder Made Easy, a one location murder/mystery which was released by Terror Films and Scream Team Releasing in 2019. Dave Palamaro’s short film, Grandfather, was nominated for a Student Academy Award.
Writer/Director Suju Vijayan’s debut feature film, The Playback Singer, is an award winning drama that was released in 2013. She is also a writer for numerous award winning scripted and non-scripted television shows. The Housesitter screenplay, a horror/ghost story, is Dave and Suju’s first collaboration together.
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THE INVADER
Written By: Phillip Hardy
Synopsis: When several women are murdered in Texas, a small-town lawman suffering violent dreams and premonitions tries to prevent a growing body count, while hunting for what could be a serial killer from another world.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Phillip E. Hardy is creative maverick, who can craft compelling stories in every genre. He is a nine time optioned screenwriter, who is currently having four projects shopped by producers including Shaun O’Banion, Richard Clark Jr, Sean Hoessli and has signed a shopping agreement with de Passe Jones Entertainment. His work has been in front of Tyler Perry Studios, Paramount Studio, Ridley Scott, William Morris Endeavor and many others. He has placed and won over seventy film festivals and contests including Page International, Austin Film Festival, Cannes Screenplay, Shore Scripts, Screencraft, Beverly Hills Film Festival and Harlem International Film Festival.
Phillip has obtained a bachelor of science in business management, a master of management and is a Stanford University Certified Project Manager.
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THE PRINCESS VENGEANCE
Written By: Kamran Khan
Synopsis: A woman goes on a rampage to save her kidnapped lover from an evil, corporate oligarch.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Kamran grew up in Peoria, IL, so knows very well the old vaudeville saying of what “plays in Peoria.” He’s taken this innate industry insight and funnelled it into his passion for visual storytelling through his writing, directing and award winning photography, which has been featured in Ron Howard’s Project Imaginat10n and Hasselblad’s Masters Competition. His scripts (pre-WGA) have placed in the American Zoetrope, Scriptapalooza, WorldFest Houston, Screencraft, New York Television Festival script contests and the New Hope Film Festival.
Kamran’s short film he wrote and directed, Brunch Wars, is currently on the festival circuit having played at the Adirondack Film Festival, the Chicago’s South Asian Film Festival, and the Northeast Mountain Film Festival. Kamran is also a member of the NY State Bar where his passion for fictional storytelling is not as enthusiastically received.
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THE QUICKSILVER PLEASURE CLUB
Written By: Matt Pacini
Synopsis: A National Geographic photographer on assignment discovers a child abduction conspiracy, exposing secrets of his own past.
Screenwriter’s Bio: N/A
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THE SUBURBAN KALEIDOSCOPE
Written By: Samuel R. Peirce
Synopsis: As a family grieves the suicide of a son, their superstitious daughter convinces herself that her brother’s ghost has returned to haunt the family and must persuade her surviving brother to help investigate the haunting, before grief and the ghost can tear the family apart.
Screenwriter’s Bio: A lover of all things genre, with a particular fondness for Lovecraft, horror westerns, giallo, and bonkers third-acts.
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THE WEATHERWAY CONSPIRACY
Written By: Ryan M. Lange & Alan Peery
Synopsis: A series of strange deaths following the disappearance of a Nazi neurosurgeon-turned-author leads law officers on different sides of the globe to uncover a dangerous web of conspiracy.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Ryan and Alan met as co-workers at a Seattle gaming company four years ago, where they discovered a shared passion for screenwriting. After inviting friends and co-workers to table reads for a television series he created, Ryan enlisted the help of Alan in finishing its ten-episode first season, which they completed in 2017.
Alan began writing in college while he was a theatre actor at Western Washington University. During this time, WWU chose his play “Reunion” for performance. In the past four years, the team has written a feature-length screenplay and three episodes for two television series, with plans for many more to come.
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THIRD DATE
Written By: Avishai Weinberger
Synopsis: When a woman learns that her new boyfriend must feed her to a demon in order to survive, she chooses to cut off parts of herself to keep him, and their relationship, alive.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Avishai Weinberger is a writer-director from New York with an affinity for horror and science fiction. He attended Maale Film School in Jerusalem for a year, followed by four years at NYU Tisch, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in film and television production.
His thesis film, a horror-romance short titled Third Date, screened at festivals around the country, and two of his scripts have been optioned. Currently, Avishai lives in Brooklyn with his family, where he enjoys leading Saturday prayer services in his synagogue.
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UNIVERSAL INSURANCE
Written By: Jack Lilburn
Synopsis: When a rebel fleet is badly damaged in an enemy attack, a lowly insurance adjuster must embark on an intergalactic adventure to file paperwork and save the galaxy from the forces of evil.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Jack Lilburn is a screenwriter based out of Boston, Massachusetts. He credits every dead-end office job he’s ever had as the inspiration for Universal Insurance. Before discovering his calling as a storyteller, he got fired a lot.
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UNTIL DEATH…
Written By: Kevin Sluder
Synopsis: An estranged couple, attempting to salvage their marriage at a lakeside getaway, fight to survive an infection that turns people into creatures desperate for their blood.
Screenwriter’s Bio: A graduate of the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill with a degree in Radio, Television and Motion Pictures, Kevin began his career as Director of Development with Esperanza Productions. While there, he marketed/developed projects by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jose Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries, On the Road) and Oxford Literary Award winning novelist Donald Harington (With), among others.
Soon after, he began screenwriting full-time, specializing in medium-budget sci-fi and low-budget horror. A Nicholl Fellowship Semi-finalist and two-time Script Pipeline top 20 finalist, Kevin received a Tracking-Board “Recommend” for his script, The Memory Sphere, in 2014. He subsequently placed on the Young and Hungry List, naming him as one of the industry’s top 100 “Screenwriters on the Verge”.
In 2015, Kevin founded Sunshine Boy Productions and produced his first short film, Play Violet for Me, with producer/director Matt Mercer. In 2017, Kevin stepped behind the camera for his directorial debut, the horror short, Heartless, which has been nominated for multiple awards (including Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Short Film) on the festival circuit.
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VESSELS
Written By: Levi Caleb Smith
Synopsis: Elaina wants nothing more than to bring a child into this world. Following a devastating miscarriage, her marriage deteriorates, leaving her mind and spirit struggling to adapt. All alone in the house she grew up in, Elaina discovers something unnatural blossoming within the walls.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Levi Caleb Smith grew up reading, writing, and watching horror. His fascination with the genre continued through college and in 2009 he moved to Los Angeles to make monster movies. He is currently writing and producing shorts and developing several feature concepts.
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WEREWOLVES FROM OUTER SPACE
Written By: Justin Nosler
Synopsis: On the night before Halloween, in a town that prohibits the holiday, a meteor crashes to Earth and unleashes an alien Werewolf. After surviving its initial attack, and being branded a murderer by the kids at school, Millie teams with her best friend and the local crackpot scientist to
take out the strange creature. Before the secret senior Halloween party, of course.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Award winning screenwriter and costume designer Allyson Adams is a third generation, Hollywood descendant and made her acting debut at one years old playing opposite Elizabeth Montgomery.
Flash forward and she finds herself writing thrillers with daring female protagonists to festival acclaim. Rusalka Revenge, 26 Stabs and Hand of Me have all garnered recent Best Short Screenplay awards. Adams has had over 30 plays produced. PINK, L.A. Weekly Pick of the Week drew sold out audiences. Los Angeles Times wrote, “PINK is a raw but searing drama about exploitation, double sexual standards and females under siege that is free of cliché and bawdily devoid of political correctness.” The L.A. Weekly said, “Besides her rich raw material, playwright Adams has both wit and profound honesty on her side.” An Addict Speaks selected and produced by Urban Theatre Movement One Act Festival Los Angeles. Duck Ugly, a musical produced by Orphan Girl Children’s Theater at the historic Mother Lode Theatre in Butte, Montana.
Adams wrote, directed and acted in the Montana PBS docudrama Peace is a Woman’s Job, about first Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin and toured the one-woman show for a decade. She published The Rebel & The King written by her late father, Oscar nominated actor Nick Adams, about his friendship with Elvis Presley and launched the book at Graceland.
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YELLOW EYE
Written By: Judy Bednarek
Synopsis: A psychiatrist becomes a murder suspect when he joins a Vietnam veteran to search for his wife after Bigfoot kidnaps her.
Screenwriter’s Bio: Judy Bednarek is an award-winning screenwriter who was born and raised in Minnesota. She writes supernatural thrillers, action and dark historical. She has placed as a finalist and semi-finalist in contests with various scripts. Her first feature is in development with an award-winning director in Toronto. She has had offers from recognizable actors, directors, producers, crew and cast.
