The following screenplays are the Top 25% Short Screenplay Finalists and Official Selections for the 2025 FilmQuest Best Unproduced Screenplay Competition. These screenplays were the top 25% of the submitted short screenplays as scored by our screenplay judges. If you are a producer or filmmaker, collaborating with these writers may produce your next film, so feel free to explore these great projects waiting to be made. Featured here are some of the best unproduced genre screenplays on the circuit today and one of these screenplays will become our eventual Best Unproduced Short Screenplay Winner, with several others being recognized via awards. If you would like to find out more about the screenplays or to read them for consideration, please feel free to reach out to the festival director at jmartin@filmquestfest.com and he will put you in contact with the writers.
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ASH HOLE
Written By: Victoria Fratz Fradkin
Synopsis: When a petty thief steals the cursed ashes of a notorious serial killer, he becomes tormented until the killer’s dark desire is fulfilled.
Genre(s): Horror, Comedy
Screenwriter’s Bio: Victoria Fratz Fradkin is a writer, producer, and actress. She is the co-creator of Social House Films. Her most notable work is co-writing horror feature, Beezel.
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BAD MOURNING
Written By: Meg Swertlow
Synopsis: N/A
Genre(s): N/A
Screenwriter’s Bio: N/A
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BLACK IRIS
Written By: Matthew Shawn Miller
Synopsis: Thirteen-year-old Izzy Moralis wrestles with the weight of her aunt’s superhero legacy until a supernatural battle at their school awakens powers of her own.
Genre(s): Fantasy, Comedy, The Beyond/Fantastic/Other
Screenwriter’s Bio: Shawn Miller is a Seattle-based filmmaker who spins character-driven tales of resilience, identity, and transformation—always with sharp dialogue, plenty of heart, and a touch of the supernatural.
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CARNE
Written By: Bryan Mittelstadt
Synopsis: N/A
Genre(s): N/A
Screenwriter’s Bio: N/A
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CUT
Written By: Sean Kenealy
Synopsis: A friendly conversation between two dads at a cigar shop takes a twisted turn when it’s discovered one of their sons has been bullying the other’s son.
Genre(s): Horror
Screenwriter’s Bio: Sean Kenealy co-wrote & co-directed the award-winning independent feature film, In Action, available on Prime & iTunes, and the horror short Two Knocks on a Door. His next horror short, which he wrote, On Broken Glass, is produced by Crazy Little Monsters Productions and is currently submitting to festivals. Sean has fiction published with Clockhouse, AURORE, Scapegoat Review, The Satirist, Midsummer Dream House, and Humans of the World, as well as a one-act play published with Original Works Publishing.
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CYCLICAL
Written By: Kaitlin N. Larson
Synopsis: While on the red carpet, an aging starlet encounters an ominous figure from her past, forcing her to make a pivotal choice: break the cycle of abuse or succumb to its grip forever.
Genre(s): Fantasy, The Beyond/Fantastic/Other
Screenwriter’s Bio: Kaitlin N. Larson’s wrote her first story at five-years-old about a bear and a dog who were friends, until the dog thought the bear stole his bone, and then they weren’t friends anymore. Since then, she continues to tell stories with characters facing down their traumas, often in experimental and magical ways, turning familiar struggles into extraordinary adventures.
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DOOMSDAY FOR DODOS
Written By: Miguel Vega
Synopsis: As the clock ticks toward midnight on New Year’s Eve 1999, a hyperactive 10-year-old inventor scrambles to save his skeptical Mexican family when the Y2K chaos he feared unleashes a strange new threat in their own home.
Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Comedy
Screenwriter’s Bio: Miguel Vega is a writer and director based in San Diego, CA. Born in Michoacán, Mexico, and raised in California’s Central Coast, his films explore the complexities of the Mexican-American experience, focusing on shifting identities and intergenerational trauma. Through dark comedy and horror, Miguel seeks to bridge cultural perspectives with universal themes. He holds an MFA in Film and TV Production from San Diego State University.
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DYSPHORIA?
Written By: Anissa Matlock
Synopsis: Rian’s newfound body confidence is threatened when an autonomous lump surfaces beneath her cosmetic-surgical scars. She is pushed to extreme measures when her best friend, and her surgeon, insist it’s all in her head.
Genre(s): Horror
Screenwriter’s Bio: Anissa Matlock is a multi-faceted Storyteller. Though she is known across several fandoms for her on camera work, she is equally dedicated to writing and directing.
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EVAL
Written By: Katherine LaVictoire
Synopsis: An AI expert and new mother races against the clock to resolve alignment and evade the apocalypse of her nightmares.
Genre(s): Horror, Sci-Fi
Screenwriter’s Bio: Katherine is a writer and actor whose previous works include Stellar Hosts (Dances with Films Audience Award, Web Series, 2018) and Know-It-All (Austin Other Worlds Mary Shelley Award Nominee honoring female voices in genre film, 2020 & FilmQuest Best Screenplay- Short Nominee, 2020). Her first feature script, The Spirit Wants, won 2nd place Best Unproduced Screenplay – Feature at FilmQuest 2022.
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EVE
Written By: Kirsten Spalding
Synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic Utah desert, a pregnant woman preparing for childbirth discovers a wounded doctor in her barn. Trapped together underground during a radiation storm, they’re forced to face the secrets each is hiding.
Genre(s): Sci-Fi
Screenwriter’s Bio: Kirsten Spalding is a screenwriter and producer who tells character-driven stories across sci-fi, fantasy, westerns, and wine-focused dramas. Her feature “Maenad” was selected for the 2024 Stowe Story Labs Feature Campus, and her short script “Eve” was a 2025 HollyShorts quarterfinalist. Through her production banner, Seawolf Films, she serves as Executive Producer on several upcoming films, and is also the Membership and Events Manager at Park City Film.
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FETCH
Written By: Patrick Curran
Synopsis: Stalked by an ominous apparition, a grieving American mother journeys to a remote cottage in West Ireland, determined to end her own life.
Genre(s): Horror, The Beyond/Fantastic/Other
Screenwriter’s Bio: A native of Newtown, Connecticut, Patrick is a writer, director, producer and actor. He’s the writer/director of ‘Snowbird’, a 2025 award winning short that has played on every continent. He’s been working in independent film for over 15 years. His spec-comedy ‘Golden and Gone’ won Best Screenplay at the 15th LA Comedy Festival Screenplay Competition in May 2014. His spec ‘Fragile’ won the Industry Insider Screenwriting Contest hosted by Sheldon Turner and The Writer’s Store in September 2014 and was a semifinalist (Top 50) in the Academy’s 2015 Nicholl Fellowship. Patrick produced the award-winning web series ‘Keeping Up with the Downs’ (in which he also co-wrote and co-starred). Patrick also works as an actor, most notably as Agent Whitaker on Showtime’s Web Therapy and as a principal in more than 50 national commercial campaigns. He’s a member of SAG/AFTRA and AEA and is a graduate of the theatre department at The Catholic University of America (Washington D.C.) and The London Dramatic Academy (UK). Patric
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FRANKIE
Written By: Rachel THomas-Medwid
Synopsis: After a young girl with a frankfurter fixation inadvertently grows an army of murderous hot dogs, the glossy veneer of her 1950’s American household explodes as the bloodthirsty creatures begin enacting revenge on her behalf.
Genre(s): Horror, Comedy
Screenwriter’s Bio: Rachel S. Thomas-Medwid is an award-winning genre director, screenwriter, and producer who loves exploring the darker side of humanity and complex nature of people in her work. Her films have screened at over 50 film festivals worldwide, garnering over 50 nominations and 20 awards collectively to date. Rachel is on the International Screenwriters Association’s esteemed Development Slate as well as an ISA Top 25 Screenwriter to Watch. A few top recognitions include the Women in Horror Award, Happenstance Horror Fest; Michelle Mower Female Filmmaker of the Year Award; Best Narrative Short Film Director, Mystic Film Festival; Best Writer/Director, Austin Revolution Film Festival; Female Filmmaker of the Year, Lonely Seal International Film and Music Festival; Shawna Shea Film Festival Spirit Award Winner; and New England Film Star Awards Finalist.
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GOUGE
Written By: Kade Linville
Synopsis: When a land owner goes missing, their future oil field is plagued by an unknown breathing resonating in the wells.
Genre(s): Horror, The Beyond/Fantastic/Other
Screenwriter’s Bio: Kade Linville is a young filmmaker/artist residing in Central Oregon. Since receiving his Bachelors of Science in Digital Cinema and Certification in Sound Design from Southern Oregon University in 2023, Kade has been working in social media/content management while developing future projects.
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HIGH-RISE
Written By: Jerry D. Ochoa
Synopsis: Newly engaged couple Rob and Madison are thrilled to start their new life together in the gorgeous high-rise home of their dreams. But as they settle in, Madison begins to wonder if they share the same dream at all. Rosemary’s Baby meets Sliver in this darkly comic horror thriller from the writer of The Virgin and Mermaid.
Genre(s): Horror, The Beyond/Fantastic/Other
Screenwriter’s Bio: Jerry D. Ochoa is a Chicago-based writer and director. His feature film script THE VIRGIN, written with Trysta A. Bissett, was a Finalist in the Horror Feature Screenplay competition at the 2022 Austin Film Festival. THE VIRGIN also won Best Unproduced Feature Screenplay at the 2021 FilmQuest Festival, the 2021 New York City Horror Fest, and the 2022 Hollywood Horror Fest. His short screenplay ‘Mermaid’ won Best Short Screenplay at Film Crash 2023 and was runner-up at Genre Blast 2023, Nightmares Film Fest 2023, and a Top 10 Finalist at FilmQuest 2023.
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HYPNAGOGIA
Written By: Jerry J. Sampson
Synopsis: A grief-stricken man wakes himself up in his hypnagogic dream state when he witnesses his lost lover creating new works of art from beyond the grave.
Genre(s): Horror
Screenwriter’s Bio: Jerry J. Sampson is an award-winning screenwriter and fiction author who specializes in horror, thriller, and other genre storytelling. She’s currently developing a feature-length true crime thriller with a well-known producer.
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LEGENDARY STREET TEAM
Written By: David Bornstein
Synopsis: A Gen-Z duo of DoorDashers/aspiring rappers find themselves in the crosshairs of a Russian Mob hit and have to fight to survive.
Genre(s): Comedy, The Beyond/Fantastic/Other
Screenwriter’s Bio: David Bornstein is a writer, director, and an elusive SoCal native. Born and raised in Laguna Hills, California, he currently hails from Burbank and is an alumnus of Saddleback College and the University of Arizona’s film programs. David’s short film “A King’s Betrayal” was released to critical acclaim on the festival circuit in 2015, screening in over 50 film festivals and winning half a dozen awards, including placing as a finalist in the Francis Ford Coppola Short Film Competition. “A King’s Betrayal” went on to be selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick and picked up by the YouTube channel Omeleto, among other accolades. David’s most recent short film “Unholy ‘Mole” completed its festival run late last year. Featuring the voiceover talents of Ray Wise (Twin Peaks, Fresh Off The Boat, RoboCop, etc.), “Unholy ‘Mole” has screened at over 50 film festivals worldwide including the Seattle International Film Festival, and can now be found online on Vimeo and YouTube, as well as apart of Screambox’s Bloody Bites antholog
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LYLA’S LAST DANCE
Written By: Michael Clifton
Synopsis: Trapped in her sister’s bedroom, a dancer on the brink of losing herself must confront the truths of their bond as the walls close in around her.
Genre(s): Horror
Screenwriter’s Bio: Born in Appalachia, Michael cut his teeth in New York City’s fast-paced art world. Today he writes stories about outsiders caught between real and imagined horrors. In the past year, he was featured on Killer Shorts’ list of LGBTQIA+ writers to watch and his scripted film Bath Bomb picked up an award at Fantasia. His script Kissyfoot is in post-production, starring actress Dale Dickey.
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MANCLAVE
Written By: Frederik Ehrhardt
Synopsis: A lonely teenager, seeking the validation of a charismatic hyper-masculinity influencer, radically transforms his body and mind until a final test leaves him exposed and broken.
Genre(s): The Beyond/Fantastic/Other
Screenwriter’s Bio: Frederik Ehrhardt is a writer and producer based in the United States and Germany. Recent writing honors include Runner-up at Script Pipeline’s First Look, Grand Prize Winner at HollyShorts, Best Short Script at the Cordillera Int. Film Festival, Finalist in CineStory’s TV Contest, Finalist in the Stage 32 Annual TV Comedy Screenwriting Contest, and Semifinalist in the Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition.
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MEETING YOUR MAKER
Written By: Gregory JM Kasunich
Synopsis: A feel-good movie about a puppet that kills himself. Meeting Your Maker is a darkly whimsical and deeply emotional short film that follows Otis, a beloved puppet on a long-running children’s show, as he faces an existential crisis just before the series’ milestone 300th episode.
Genre(s): Comedy, The Beyond
Screenwriter’s Bio: Gregory Kasunich is an award-winning screenwriter and director whose work spans narrative film, branded content, and original series. His scripts balance emotional depth with sharp storytelling, earning recognition at prestigious festivals. With a background in both independent cinema and commercial production, Gregory brings a distinctive voice and cinematic vision to every project.
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MISÉRIA
Written By: J.C. McNaughton
Synopsis: As a woman’s fractured marriage unravels in the suffocating grip of her unrelenting past, she finds herself spiraling into a foreboding descent, where a revelation as ancient and harrowing as her buried trauma threatens to consume her soul and sanity.
Genre(s): Horror
Screenwriter’s Bio: J.C. McNaughton is an award-winning writer, director, and producer with over a decade of experience in filmmaking. His work spans short films, commercials for international brands, and music videos. His most recent short film, Sweet Molly (2024), has received multiple awards at film festivals across the country. Known for crafting bold, emotionally driven stories, J.C. continues to push creative boundaries with every project. Miséria marks his most personal and ambitious film to date.
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OUR HOME IS BETTER BURIED
Written By: Michael Barton
Synopsis: A queer couple move back to rural Wales to be begrudging guardians for their weird nephew. Soon, things in the soil start to unearth themselves and things better left buried rise to their surface.
Genre(s): Horror, Comedy
Screenwriter’s Bio: Caleb Barton (they/them) is a writer/filmmaker based in Scotland. With a love for anything weird, queer, and uncomfortable, they love to play with horror and comedy.
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PLUCK
Written By: Eva Louise Hall
Synopsis: ‘Pluck’ will be a fifteen-minute stop-motion surrealist horror film investigating the tension between nature vs. human control, bodily autonomy, and end-of-life agency, following a professional swimmer at the height of her career as she struggles to hide the symptoms of a horrifying terminal diagnosis that is grotesquely beginning to mutate her body into that of a chicken.
Genre(s): Horror
Screenwriter’s Bio: Eva Louise Hall is a professional, independent screenwriter and animator with over ten years of experience in commercial and fine art contexts. Through the use of textural aesthetics, tonal horror, and arresting visual metaphor, her films explore the darkest parts of the human condition while exploring our potential for beauty and kindness. Her most recent short, ‘Mira,’ toured the festival circuit throughout 2023-2024, winning top awards in animation and horror categories at Fantastic Fest and SCAD Savannah Film Festival and as a shortlisted work for the Sony Pictures Future Filmmaker Awards. Her most recent award-winning script, ‘Pluck,’ is currently in production.
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SECOND HONEYMOON
Written By: Ken Teutsch
Synopsis: A widower assumed he would be getting on with his life. His dead wife has other plans.
Genre(s): Horror, Comedy
Screenwriter’s Bio: Ken Teutsch is a writer, comedian and film maker living in Arkansas. His two published books are S-10 to Valhalla and No Good Stuff in the Book of Job. His short screenplay, “”Berenice’s Basement”” was a Filmquest selection in 2023.
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SOFT
Written By: Matt Moeller
Synopsis: When a desperate fitness influencer injects a new experimental steroid called “”The Dream”” to boost his image and love life, Dante must fight to survive as the drug transforms him into a horrifying, soft-bodied prey hunted by ravenous women—or lose his identity and life in this dark horror thriller.
Genre(s): Horror, Sci-Fi
Screenwriter’s Bio: Matt Moeller has aspired to be a writer, director, and funnyman since living in Orlando, Florida in 2004 which is basically the triassic period at this point. He’s written a book about improv comedy, hosted a live show where he got romantically dumped on stage 20 times in one night, made a ton of little fun videos for channel101 and YouTube, and now he’s full port into writing and directing horror shorts. This is probably the first you’ve heard of him and you’re unimpressed, but somewhat tickled at his self deprecation and meta humor. Wait, he’s standing right behind you right now, isn’t he?
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SPECTACLE SOCIETY
Written By: Alison Leigh Valente
Synopsis: N/A
Genre(s): N/A
Screenwriter’s Bio: N/A
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STUCK
Written By: Shannon Brown
Synopsis: A woman unwillingly becomes a player in a dangerous game when she finds a strange man trapped under her car.
Genre(s): Horror, Comedy
Screenwriter’s Bio: Shannon Brown began her career touring the country doing sketch and improv comedy and now lives in Los Angeles, where she writes and directs horror-comedy shorts. She has a passion for blending scares and belly laughs while bringing fun, relatable female characters to life.
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THE BONDING
Written By: Vincente DiSanti
Synopsis: A young couple struggles with a violent new reality after one of them becomes a Werewolf.
Genre(s): Horror, The Beyond/Fantastic/Other
Screenwriter’s Bio: Vincente DiSanti is an award-winning screenwriter, director, and producer based in South Coast, Massachusetts. Best known for writing and directing the indie-horror phenomenon Never Hike Alone and its sequels, his work blends suspenseful storytelling with grounded character development. Through his company Womp Stomp Films, he has developed multiple acclaimed projects, including the upcoming Ghost Chicken graphic novel, a 2021 FilmQuest selection. DiSanti is currently developing new genre-driven features such as The Bonding, The Kindness of Strangers, and The Beginning of the End.
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THE DROWNING OF A WITCH’S KIN
Written By: Kent David
Synopsis: When 17th century New England townsfolk begin to suspect the daughter of a condemned and executed witch, a Puritan Reverend must choose between his duty and his faith.
Genre(s): Horror
Screenwriter’s Bio: Kent Green is a screenwriter/filmmaker from the Philadelphia area. He loves dogs and movies.
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THE ELEVATOR PITCH
Written By: Kieran Shea
Synopsis: A down-on-her-luck writer gets stuck in an elevator with the incomparable Doug Jones and pitches him the worst idea he’s ever heard. Will he cast her into the dustbin of failed Hollywood hopefuls or will he help her find the spark she was lacking, putting her on a path to cinematic greatness?
Genre(s): Fantasy, Comedy, The Beyond/Fantastic/Other
Screenwriter’s Bio: Kieran Shea is a California native who’s lived on both coasts, in addition to having spent six years in the South American nation of Paraguay, his mother’s home country. He started off in the field of genetics but made a U-turn toward his dream of a career in the filmmaking industry. After moving to Los Angeles, Kieran immediately dove into production, working as a professional Assistant Director on numerous independent features. He eventually teamed up with his current writing partner, David Osorio, and began writing full time. Together, they’ve written many screenplays, ranging from comedy and adventure to drama and horror. THE ELEVATOR PITCH OR: HOW I GOT STUCK IN AN ELEVATOR WITH THE INCOMPARABLE DOUG JONES is a solo project that’s especially personal to him.
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THE JOB INTERVIEW
Written By: Pierfranco Allegri
Synopsis: Early 2000s. Italy. Father Romath is a priest that barely survived the Rwandan Genocide, and escaped to Italy to study psychology: the man, in the middle of a crisis of faith, now believes that God and the Devil are merely concepts, that the human mind is capable of harboring both heaven and hell. Romath arrives at San Francisco Borgia’s, a church hospital spcialized in the cure of the “”possessed””, managed by the jovial but experienced Father Monsignor Graffi. Coming for a job interview, to get the job Romath must prove his “”metal”” on the field, by having a trial session with one of the most challenging patients in the hospital. But doctor and patient both hide more than one secret…
Genre(s): Horror, The Beyond/Fantastic/Other
Screenwriter’s Bio: Pierfranco Allegri has worked in most aspects of filmmaking: actor, screenwriter, producer, editor and more. He also writes for different film magazines, university publications and more.
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THE MENACING ORB
Written By: Ryan Callahan
Synopsis: N/A
Genre(s): N/A
Screenwriter’s Bio: N/A
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THE SANGRIA MURDERS
Written By: R.S. Tiemstra
Synopsis: A group of young friends gather for a blowout summer party. It’s a perfect, idyllic hang… and none of them are getting out alive.
Genre(s): Horror, Comedy, The Beyond/Fantastic/Other
Screenwriter’s Bio: R.S. Tiemstra is an author and filmmaker living in Los Angeles, California. A member of both the WGA and the Horror Writers’ Association, they specialize in genre stories about identity, repression and rebellion.
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THE STAIN
Written By: Phil Bucci
Synopsis: After discovering a new clue in her mothers missing persons case, Nina returns to her childhood home where a phantasmal predator transports her to another realm.
Genre(s): Horror, Sci-Fi
Screenwriter’s Bio: Originally from New York, Phil is an award winning Trailer editor, Director and Editor. With notable trailers for Magic Mike Last Dance, The Sandman, Fleabag, Stoker and Django Unchained. His short film debut Special Forces played at Dances with Films, Hollyshorts, Dragon Con and Other Worlds Austin. This was followed by the award winning micro short Paul’s Bad Day. He also co-directed the award winning web series Brooding.
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THE THOMPSON GIRLS
Written By: William Vincent
Synopsis: In 1781 colonial America, two young sisters must fight for survival when their home is besieged by supernatural British loyalist soldiers known as the Red Tories.
Genre(s): Horror, The Beyond/Fantastic/Other
Screenwriter’s Bio: After writing and directing the award winning short film ‘Insomnium’, NY native William Vincent has written ‘The Thompson Girls’ with intent to shoot in 2026.
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WE’RE NOT THEM
Written By: Stirling McLaughlin & Wilder Konschak
Synopsis: A group of hapless survivors huddle in a desert cabin, surrounded by murderous cultists. But a far greater danger lies in their midst: valid criticism.
Genre(s): Horror, Comedy
Screenwriter’s Bio: Separately they’ve had commercials in the Superbowl and billboards in Time Square, projects setup at Relativity, Myriad Pictures, Amazon Studios, and more. Together they’ve been making shorts, series, and features since Prince’s 1999 was still set in the future. They both find solace and humor in the dark, the surreal, and the absurd, and share an abiding love for the beauty of a good nightmare.
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ZMB-17
Written By: J. Rhys Kaiser
Synopsis: When Theresa’s boyfriend turns into a zombie, she takes on the challenge of rehabilitating him back to life.
Genre(s): Horror, Comedy
Screenwriter’s Bio: Rhys graduated from SUU in Philosophy and Theater, grinds Magic: The Gathering, and is infinitely curious about life.
