2022 FEATURE SCREENPLAY FINALISTS

No Screenings. Unproduced Screenplay Competition. Meet the writers at FilmQuest at Velour!

The following screenplays are the Top 50 Feature Screenplay Finalists for the 2022 FilmQuest Best Unproduced Screenplay Competition. 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 un-produced genre screenplays on the circuit today. If you would like to find out more about the screenplays, please feel free to reach out and we will put you in contact with the writers.

_______________________

A NICE PLACE TO VISIT

Written By: John Munn

Synopsis: A burned out psychic is convinced by a small town police force to come out of retirement and help them convict a serial killer who may have supernatural powers of his own.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: John is the grandson of published fantasy writer H. Warner Munn. He is the proud father of two boys, Jack & Max, and has been lucky enough to have spent the last 20 Years of his life with his spouse, Sarah. He loves to write in the Horror, Thriller and Comedy genres. His screenplays have gained numerous awards and you can see all of them at: https://www.networkisa.org/profile/john-munn

_______________________

AERIALS

Written By: Stephen Vanderpool

Synopsis: In rural Ohio, a woman who has suffered multiple miscarriages must confront a new reality when she is impregnated by extraterrestrials.
Genre(s): Horror, Sci-Fi

Screenwriter’s Bio: Stephen Vanderpool is a writer, director and cinematographer from Los Angeles, CA.

_______________________

ANTARCTICA

Written By: Ryan M. Lance & Alan Peery

Synopsis: TBD
Genre(s): TBD

Screenwriter’s Bio: TBD

_______________________

APOCRYPHAL

Written By: Hudson Henry Franzoni

Synopsis: A family seeks to prevent a sinister entity from terrorizing their home, after bringing home a mysterious violin. Emma, unveils secrets that lead to a harrowing truth, as chaos insues in this music-themed super natural horror.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: A lover of horror and all things supernatural. Hudson Franzoni is a graduate from Berklee College of music turned filmmaker. Obsessed with LoveCraft, Poe, and Bram Stokes, he could never get enough horror themed material. My overall goal is to create something people truly love.

_______________________

BABY GIRL

Written By: Jason Von Godi

Synopsis: A pregnant young woman running from an abusive past, moves into a low-rent neighborhood, hoping for a place to call home. What she finds is a house with a horrific legacy and a malevolent presence that craves the life growing inside her.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: Jason Von Godi has wanted to be a writer since fifth grade English class. A group project awakened not only his love of writing, but also a love for horror. He spent the following years writing short stories and devouring books. It wasn’t until High School when he saw A Clockwork Orange for the first time did he realize that he’s been trying to describe the movies playing out in his head, so the desire to be a filmmaker was awakened. He spent his young adult life making short films and attempting to write a feature length screenplay. After years of failed attempts he finished his first feature screenplay at the age of thirty. He has written seven more features since then and has produced and directed one of them titled The Hoot Owl that is on blu-ray via Brink Vision. He is also the co-author of Slaves For Gods, a graphic novel published by Hermes Press in 2017.

_______________________

CATFISH

Written By: Stephanie Moore & Vincenti DiSanti

Synopsis: A fiercely protective mom and her fractured family of four escape to a secluded lake house for a tech-free vacation, only to find the online menace they’re running from is much closer than they ever could have imagined.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: Stephanie Moore – I’m a Coverfly Endorsed Writer. My horror feature, “Catfish,” took home Best Screenplay honors at this year’s Renegade Film Festival and is a Semi-Finalist at this year’s GenreBlast Film Festival. My pilot, “Predator,” (now also a feature) has been on Coverfly’s Red List twice. I’ve also been a Finalist for the ScreenCraft TV Pilot Competition, Top 100 in this year’s Launch Pad Pilot Competition and a second round selection at the Austin Film Festival.

Vincente DiSanti is an award winning writer, director, and producer based in Los Angeles, California. He is best known for his directorial work on the indie-darling NEVER HIKE ALONE and is currently attached to direct THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS for Circle of Confusion & Schemers Entertainment. Originally from South Coast Massachusetts, Vincente moved to Los Angeles in 2008 after graduating from Worcester State University with a degree in Film Production and Editing. He quickly established himself in the feature animation world working on the development and production of several projects including Relativity Media / Reel FX Animation Studios (FREE BIRDS), Lionsgate / Mandoo Pictures (ROCK DOG), and Netflix / Original Force Animation (DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE.) In late 2016, Vincente left animation to form WOMP STOMP FILMS, an independent live action production company focused on genre content. Their debut project, NEVER HIKE ALONE went on to become an opening night selection of the 2017 TELLURIDE HORROR SHOW and multi-festival award winner. Since then Womp Stomp Films has produced and raised over $350,000 in crowdfunding for various independent genre related projects including NEVER HIKE IN THE SNOW, PATHOSIS, JASON RISING, DYLAN’S NEW NIGHTMARE, as well as the multi-award winning horror / comedy script GHOST CHICKEN.

_______________________

CIZIN

Written By: James Croke

Synopsis: When a Mexican drug cartel stumbles across an ancient Mayan ruin and people start to go missing, a team of elite hitmen are sent to investigate. Lured into the depths of the temple by a terrible evil, they must fight their way out, or be trapped forever.
Genre(s): Horror, Beyond

Screenwriter’s Bio: James Croke is a freelance writer and director with extensive experience in the field of design for both stage and screen. Starting his career in stage design, James was based in London before returning to Sydney, Australia, where he began working in the Australian film and television industry.

_______________________

CLOSE

Written By: Kristen Wade

Synopsis: After an apocalyptic event, a mother must overcome dangers and her traumatic past to reunite her family.
Genre(s): Sci-Fi

Screenwriter’s Bio: I am a professional photographer in Atlanta and mother of three with a passion for story telling. In the midst of reinvention and self-discovery, I’m finally putting my active imaginings on the page.

_______________________

COVE

Written By: Thomas O’Malley

Synopsis: On the eve of a New England town’s 400-year anniversary, a covenant their Pilgrim ancestors made with an ancient evil has come due and threatens to destroy them all.
Genre(s): Horror, Sci-Fi

Screenwriter’s Bio: Thomas O’Malley was raised in Wexford, Ireland. His screenplays and novels have received critical acclaim nationally and internationally. He currently lives outside Boston and teaches creative writing at Dartmouth College.

_______________________

DARK ASTRAL

Written By: Jerry Sampson, JC McNaughton & Jared Rogers

Synopsis: When two siblings discover they can communicate with their dead father through Astral Projection, secrets from their mother’s shadowy past are uncovered that threaten to unmoor the tether that binds the family together.
Genre(s): Horror, Sci-Fi, Beyond

Screenwriter’s Bio: Jerry Sampson is a screenwriter whose focus is strongly on the Horror and Thriller genre. Her supernatural horror script PREYTA has been optioned and two other features are currently being shopped with directors and actors attached. Jerry’s feature screenplays have been Award Winners, Finalists, and Official Selections at such festivals as — Renegade Film Festival, Film Quest, Lake Travis Film Festival, Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival, Shockfest, HorrorHaus, British Horror Film Festival, and Pasadena International Film Festival. Jerry is currently in pre-production on her directorial short film debut, IN DREAMS, a surreal meditation on grief.

_______________________

DECOMPOSER

Written By: Mason & Tabitha McDonald

Synopsis: A parasite that has taken control over the body and mind of a realtor has a singular task, kidnapping people and throwing them down a mysterious hole in the Appalachian forest. But, with the discovery of a single photo, the parasite begins to yearn for the impossible, to be human.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: Mason McDonald: Mason has always been a storyteller. Whether written or visual, he loves crafting thought provoking narratives. But, his love for filmmaking goes even further. As a writer and director, Mason has a clear motive – collaboration. Though precise in his approach, Mason strives to make filmmaking a collaborative experience from the writing process onward.

Tabitha McDonald: Tabitha has an extensive background in production as well as editing. She has produced over a dozen short films and is currently in pre-production and development on two features, including Decomposer, with her husband, Mason. Her passion is creating inclusive and equitable film sets. She is currently exploring ways to implement an ethical filmmaking framework created by Justice Filmmaker Collective, of which she is a member.

_______________________

DRIFT OFF

Written By: Avishai Weinberger

Synopsis: When the crew of a space station loses contact with Earth, their desperate captain makes contact with something else.
Genre(s): Sci-Fi

Screenwriter’s Bio: Avishai Weinberger is a Brooklyn-based Orthodox Jewish filmmaker with a focus on horror and science fiction. He has won awards for several of his feature screenplays, some of which are currently in development at major production companies.

_______________________

EVE OF DESTRUCTION

Written By: James Holmes & Jeffrey Stackhouse

Synopsis: A nurse tasked by a covert agency to monitor an abducted teen with telekinetic powers must choose sides when she discovers the abused girl is hiding a secret that can kill them all. Horror/Action in the vein of “Firestarter” meets “The Exorcist.”
Genre(s): Horror, Beyond

Screenwriter’s Bio: Jeffrey Stackhouse is a 6-time-award-winning Horror Screenwriter, including The PAGE. James Holmes is a retired Police Officer turned award-winning Screenwriter.

_______________________

EYES OF EVE

Written By: Dan Bronzite

Synopsis: The teenage survivor of a sadistic serial killer is transported back in time into the body of his first victim on the day she is to be murdered and must stop him before he starts.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: Dan studied graphic design and photography at art college and worked in computer graphics before pursuing his passion for cinema and a full time career in film. He has directed three award-winning shorts and his writing commissions include adaptations of Irvine Welsh’s “Filth” and Andrea Badenoch’s “Driven”. His spec sales include teen horror Long Time Dead (Working Title Films) and Brit-Listed “Do or Die” (Qwerty Films). Dan is developing several film and television projects for the US and UK including his directorial debut feature.

_______________________

FROSTBITE

Written By: Minsun Park & Teddy Tenenbaum

Synopsis: On a remote prairie in the 1860s, on the coldest day in decades, a small group of school kids and their young teacher have to survive the freezing temperatures when they are attacked by mysterious creatures who hunt their prey in a unique way.
Genre(s): TBD

Screenwriter’s Bio: Minsun Park & Teddy Tenenbaum are a writing/directing team with combined experience in features and television, including work for Paramount, Sony, New Line, Warner Bothers, Universal, Fox, CBS, ABC, NBC and Hulu. In 2021, their short film Koreatown Ghost Story starring Margaret Cho won over 100 festival awards, including 45 wins for best short, 10 wins for best director, and various other awards from such festivals as HollyShorts, FilmQuest, PanicFest, the Los Angeles Film Festival, Portland Horror Film Festival, British Horror Film Festival, and Knoxville Horror Film Fest. They were proud to be featured in Fantasia Fest, Screamfest NOLA, Bentonville Film Festival, The Telluride Horror Show, CAAMFest, Salem Horror Fest, and Fantasy FilmFest Germany among others.

They sold Koreatown Ghost Story to Paramount where they are currently developing it as a feature film, as well as directing and writing an episode of the Hulu anthology series Bite Size Halloween. With Minsun’s background as an Asian-American woman born in Korea and Teddy’s experience as a White dude from Ohio, they cover a lot of bases.

_______________________

HALLOWEEN PARADE

Written By: Julie Sharbutt

Synopsis: After the passing of her father, 90s New York kid Grace and her sixth grade girlfriends escape a Halloween sleepover to attempt a seance, and get caught up in the fun and fear of the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade.
Genre(s): Horror, Comedy, Beyond

Screenwriter’s Bio: JULIE SHARBUTT (Writer) is a filmmaker and writer from New York City, now living in Los Angeles. 2018 WarnerMedia OneFifty New Storyteller Artist. BA: Vanderbilt, MFA: NYU. Her most recent credit, CUPIDS, a comedy short film she co-wrote with Director Zoey Martinson, premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival and screened at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase. Her narrative comedy feature screenplay EXCELLENT FANCY was selected for the 2022 WScripted Cannes Screenplay List.

Her narrative horror comedy feature screenplay, GHOSTIES, was a 2021 Nantucket Film Festival Tony Cox Screenplay Competition Top Three Finalist. Her short horror film 3 DAYS, screened at over thirty film festivals including 2019 Fantastic Fest and Atlanta Shorts Fest (Best Screenplay), and is now on premiere horror channel ALTER. Co-Writer of SWIPE NIGHT: SEASON TWO for Tinder. Her debut feature film debut as a writer and director, MOVED, was distributed by 1091, as was the improvised feature film she co-created and starred in, THE WEEKEND. In addition to acting in Theater, Film, TV, Julie was a regular performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, and her humor writing has been featured in The New Yorker: Shouts & Murmurs, McSweeneys and Funny-Ish. Her recent feature screenplays GHOSTIES, RETREAT, EXCELLENT FANCY and COOL NEW TOWN have won or placed in competitions and festivals, as have her original pilots SALVAGED (2022 Broad Humor Film Festival Winner Audience Award Best Pilot) THE SKID (2020 ScreenCraft Drama Finalist), PLAYERS (2019 Broad Humor Festival Winner Best Pilot) and more. Julie is a member of Film Fatales LA, and is a past or present volunteer at Inner-City Arts, Opening Act and 52nd Street Project. She enjoys gardening, hiking, taking photos of animals with her phone, and ghost stories.

_______________________

HE’S A VAMPIRE, BUT AT LEAST HE’S JEWISH

Written By: Jeremy Padow & Rakefet Abergel

Synopsis: A nice Jewish girl being pressured by her parents to start a family, meets Mr. Right only to find out that he’s a vampire.
Genre(s): Horror, Comedy

Screenwriter’s Bio: Rakefet Abergel is a Los Angeles native. She is the producer, writer and actor for two award winning short films, Jax in Love and Boo (which she also directed). Her scripts have won awards and appeared as a finalist in dozens of festivals. She is currently seeking financing for her first feature, He’s a Vampire, But At Least He’s Jewish. Jeremy Padow is a horror-loving Gen Xer who loves writing genre-bending features and pilots. He dabbled in special make up effects, working as a runner at KNB EFX Group, before attending California State University, Northridge where he majored in Radio-TV-Film with an emphasis in screenwriting. While a junior, he optioned his action-drama feature Teenage Riot. Padow optioned a few other features and pilots in the subsequent years, and continued his screenwriting education in UCLA’s prestigious Professional Program in Screenwriting. He currently curates movies for a major streaming service.

_______________________

HELL

Written By: Lonzo Bently & David Bornstein

Synopsis: A cop and her sister fight to survive when their small town of Hell, Michigan is besieged by an army of killer clowns.
Genre(s): Horror

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. An alumnus of Saddleback College and the University of Arizona’s film programs, Bornstein has directed and written over half a dozen short films and sketches. Bornstein’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. Bornstein’s most recent short film “Unholy ‘Mole” is currently winding down its festival run. Currently, he is developing multiple short and feature film projects.

_______________________

HEY BESTIE!

Written By: Lulenoxx

Synopsis: In a post-pandemic world, Riley finds themselves stuck back in their hometown with a philosophy degree from a defunct university and no job prospects in sight. They get sucked into the world of Miracle Shake, a company that promises financial freedom, run by Courtney, a “mentor” with great hair and sinister intentions.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: Lulenoxx (they/she) is a queer filmmaker based in New York City. Their work focuses mainly on the liberation of queer characters and the celebration of all things strange, while spanning the genres of horror, comedy and drama. As someone who grew up with a severe lack of queer representation in the media, they write the stories they didn’t have when they were a child.

_______________________

HOLLOWED

Written By: David Bowman

Synopsis: A desperate Mississippi farmer hires a Creole shaman to cure his son from cancer, but when an evil deity possesses the boy, the farmer learns how far a father would go to save his son’s soul.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: David grew up in Sherman Oaks, California, in the San Fernando Valley’s heyday — Tommy’s hamburgers, the Van Nuys Drive-In, and Mulholland Drive lookouts. He earned a BFA in Film & Television from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he won Best Original Score at the NYU First Run Film Festival. Winner of the 2009 NYC Midnight Screenwriting Championships for his short horror script Schizoid, David continues his drive to thrill audiences with intense, character-driven storytelling in a nightmarish new feature script: Hollowed.

_______________________

INTERGALACTIC IO

Written By: Seth Nesenholtz

Synopsis: When her final heist goes sideways, a dirtbag thief inadvertently sparks an interstellar war, becomes hunted by both an evil dictator and idealistic rebels, and ultimately must decide if her happy ending is worth screwing over half the galaxy.
Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Comedy, Beyond

Screenwriter’s Bio: Seth creates fantastic worlds to express his struggles with identity and mental health. After a decade in the video game industry, he left to focus on writing movies and comics. He lives in Austin, Texas with his spouse and their cats, all of whom are integral to his writing process.

_______________________

KISS ME BEFORE YOU GO

Written By: Kevin Sluder

Synopsis: After a neglected housewife kills her husband and escapes with a satchel full of his money, her reality begins to fragment in increasingly disturbing ways.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: Based in Los Angeles, Kevin Sluder loves to write genre scripts about characters thrown into seemingly inescapable situations, who find redemption in their fight to escape. He’s won some awards and even a couple contests, but all pale in comparison to the coveted Cthulhu Trophy he won for Best Screenplay in a Short Film in 2018 for Heartless!

_______________________

LEPER KHAN

Written By: Michael Graf

Synopsis: A Romantic Action/Fantasy feature re-imagining Irish mythology about a Celtic prince banished to our modern world for his forbidden love, but must choose between the woman he loves in this world and saving the medieval clan of his world from his treacherous brother and an evil Celtic king.
Genre(s): Fantasy

Screenwriter’s Bio: Named an ISA “Top 25 Screenwriter To Watch In 2021,” Michael Graf, has been making waves with his recent screenplays THE LAST INDIAN WAR and PICKET CHARLIE, both Coverfly Top 1% screenplays on the Red List, winning awards and top writing honors at festivals in Paris, Park City, Los Angeles, New York, Nassau and Toronto. He’s the inaugural Writer In Residence at the University of Wisconsin Institute For Discovery where he wrote PICKET CHARLIE, an environmental action/thriller about climate change. His first produced screenplay, WINTER OF FROZEN DREAMS, stars Thora Birch and Dean Winter. Michael’s an Emmy Award winning commercial director with two Super Bowl campaigns under his belt and is a member of the Director’s Guild of America.

_______________________

LUPE Q AND THE GALACTIC EARWORMS

Written By: Javier Badillo & Nat Marshik

Synopsis: Three teens in a high school band discover their noisy music is the only thing that can save the world from an alien invasion.
Genre(s): Horror, Sci-Fi, Comedy

Screenwriter’s Bio: Javier is a Venezuelan-Canadian writer, director, and producer. After an early career rocking Malaysian stadiums as a punk rocker, Javier moved to Canada, cut his hair, and started making his own movies. He hasn’t looked back since, but it’s not like he has a plan B anyway. He lives in the immigrant neighborhood of East Vancouver where he volunteers at non-profit societies, pulls espressos at a family-run cafe, and teaches filmmaking at the public library. Lupe Q and the Galactic Earworms is his second feature. You can watch his first one, the 2022 Leo Awards-nominated (best picture, best directing, best script, best lead actor and best sound) war drama Roads of Ithriyah on TubiTV, Amazon Prime, or Google Play.”

_______________________

MOURN

Written By: DW Medoff

Synopsis: After burying his mom, a completely alone and grieving man is emotionally and spiritually tortured by ghosts when he defies the Jewish traditions of mourning. It’s a sad horror, but at the core of it is a story about dealing with grief or being destroyed by it.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: DW is a writer and director from Philly who currently lives in Atlanta. When he was young his dad taught him to fear the living and not the dead, but his mom’s unique, spiritual version of Jewish gave him a strange perspective on the world around him.

_______________________

MUTT

Written By: Zachary Eglinton

Synopsis: After being wounded at a party, an alcoholic mess of a man seeks bloody revenge on the puppy who attacked and ate a piece of him.
Genre(s): Horror, Comedy

Screenwriter’s Bio: I was raised on VHS copies of RoboCop, ALIENS and Young Frankenstein. And I write movies about friends being cruel and/or stupid to each other.

_______________________

NOT DEAD ENOUGH

Written By: Joseph DeFrancesco

Synopsis: TBD
Genre(s): TBD

Screenwriter’s Bio: TBD

_______________________

NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS

Written By: Rebecca Moret, Jasper Garner Gore & Lachlan Marks

Synopsis: A coming-of-age story told from two perspectives: a disgraced young inventor, swept into a journey of self-discovery by a quirky new girl – and his sister, forced to battle the supernatural parasite devouring her brother’s soul.
Genre(s): Horror, Comedy

Screenwriter’s Bio: MORET, MARKS & GARNER GORE (MMGG) are a screenwriting trio specializing in punchy, high-concept genre material (horror, sci-fi, fantasy, action) with distinctive, complicated characters. We write original material and adaptations for TV and film, creating stories that are fun, fast-paced and offer sharp social commentary. Biting, not bleak. Our team is as confident writing an awkward family dinner as we are a date crashed by alien ghosts ending in a shootout/car chase/awkward family dinner. First connected through the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) then forged in the fires of lockdown across two continents, we come to screenwriting from vastly different creative fields:

REBECCA MORET escaped via a network of sewers after years spent among the grinning assassins of the opera world as an esteemed diva, director and producer. LACHLAN MARKS has long haunted the dingy dive bars and poorly built festival stages of Planet Earth as a touring metal musician and journalist. JASPER GARNER GORE, a once-beloved child actor, has written and produced for the stage – but is best-known for a Pizza Hut commercial in which he starred as a conjoined twin advertising Two-for-one Tuesdays. Between us, we have created, adapted and developed TV and film projects for local and international production companies. We’ve had original projects optioned, received development funding from industry programs including Scripted Ink, and placed highly in major screenwriting competitions (Shore Scripts, WeScreenplay, Monte Miller Award). All three members of our team have been inducted into the peer-reviewed Australian Writers’ Guild Pathways program, designed to showcase exceptional local screenwriting. As MMGG, we are a portable, all-terrain writers’ room with a streamlined creative process, a slate of cool projects and the capacity to reimagine and extend story universes, pronto.

_______________________

OF THE FOREST

Written By: Bryant Karnes

Synopsis: In Maine, a Native American deputy teams up with her white uncle in investigating a slew of grisly killings that appear to be connected to a dark spirit from tribal folklore.
Genre(s): Horror, Fantastic

Screenwriter’s Bio: Bryant Karnes is fairly confident that he’s the only entrant to have been struck by lightning. A native of Arlington, Texas, Bryant developed a penchant for writing at a young age, under the tutelage of his mother (a writer) and father (a lawyer…the good kind). Bryant is married with two hairy children that bark. He earned his MFA from Loyola Marymount University, celebrates Kurt Russell’s entire catalog, and can often be found in the mountains of Idaho, where he enjoys hiking, camping, and recreating scenes from Jeremiah Johnson.

_______________________

OREAD

Written By: Lee David Copeland

Synopsis: A group of friends takes a trip to the mountains to reconnect and have some fun only to cross into the realm of myth, madness, and horror.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: I’ve been a huge fan of films going way back to my earliest memory of seeing the original Star Wars film in the drive-in. Fresh from high school I attended the Art Institute and studied special FX. I soon realized I wanted to do more so I transferred to Edinboro University and studied film and computer animation. I then had a successful career working at a local TV station producing commercials and promotional spots. I won awards and built a reputation amongst the community, but I really wanted to tell my own stories and make my own films. This led me to quit my job, and go back to school for screenwriting. Upon completing my studies I wrote my first feature-length original screenplay, OREAD.

_______________________

PINE TREE MARY

Written By: Nath Milburn

Synopsis: Two couples at very different points in their relationship cross paths at a remote campsite and soon realize they’ll have to find common ground if they want to defeat the malevolent succubus that haunts the forest that surrounds them.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: Nath has worked in the industry since 2010 on such projects as the Simpsons, Hey Arnold, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. He’s worked in a variety of fields from character design to design supervisor to illustration for companies such as Disney, Fox, Nickelodeon, and others. Nath lives in Los Angeles with his wife and four dogs. Graduated from Savannah College of Art & Design in 2011 with a BFA in Motion Media and a Minor in 2D Animation.

_______________________

PROBLEMATIC

Written By: Jerry Sampson

Synopsis: A man brings his fiancé home to meet his mother for the first time and is slowly pulled back into his mother’s overbearing grip, revealing to his fiancé a man she doesn’t know.
Genre(s): Horror

_______________________

REGENT OF THE SUN

Written By: JB Storey

Synopsis: 300 years in the future, a mysterious mercenary and an enigmatic girl must unlock a celestial power to stop an ancient evil from annihilating mankind.
Genre(s): Sci-Fi

Screenwriter’s Bio: JB Storey is an award winning writer, who has penned shorts, features, stage plays and short stories.

_______________________

RESTORATION

Written By: Don Stroud & Winter Mead

Synopsis: An introverted art restorer slowly succumbs to the evil temptations of a centuries-old religious painting that shouldn’t exist.
Genre(s): Horror, Beyond

Screenwriter’s Bio: As a kid, I told stories using my own homemade comic books and toys. After a lengthy career in the software industry, I decided to dust off my artistic dreams and get back to creating. I became an editor in Hollywood, working on low-budget horror movies and award-winning documentaries. Over the last several years I have dedicated my energies towards screenwriting, producing several award-winning original screenplays in the process. My goal is a lofty one: sitting in a darkened theater and seeing my work up on the big screen.

_______________________

SEPTICEMIA

Written By: Ben Floss

Synopsis: Eli reluctantly takes over his family business- of feeding travelers to something deep below his property.
Genre(s): Horror, Beyond

Screenwriter’s Bio: I am Ben, a writer and director working out of Los Angeles. I love telling stories because stories bring us closer together.

_______________________

STARFIGHTER: ZERO

Written By: C.J. Duke

Synopsis: It’s been twenty years since Zane Bannister and his team of color-coded spandex heroes thrilled Saturday mornings, but a ruthless alien gangster may just force Zane and his friends to assume their legendary TV roles for real!
Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Comedy, Beyond

Screenwriter’s Bio: C.J. Duke is an award-winning screenwriter, producer and freelance artist recently returned to Los Angeles. He has worked with the makers of Haunt, Glorious and Beyond the Gates and even had his writing taught at the University of Nebraska Omaha. His first feature as a writer is currently in post with the second gearing up to shoot at the end of this year.

_______________________

STRANGER DREAMS

Written By: Alyssa Stevens

Synopsis: In a haunted mental hospital, a professor is terrorized by a possessed killer and to survive she must face the ghosts of her past and learn to accept a repressed psychic gift.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: Alyssa is a published author and screenwriter who writes female led genre scripts. Besides being a writer, she’s a baker, kidney donor, and horsewoman.

_______________________

SUSPENSION

Written By: Bryan Ricke

Synopsis: A social media influence is lured into a seeming escape room but finds herself trapped at incredible heights in a sick game.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: Bryan Ricke is a cinematographer and editor having just completed his 4th feature film as a cinematographer. As editor, he has experience with 5 features, dozens of short films, and many other narrative, unscripted, and commercial projects. As a writer, Bryan has written 6 screenplays, 3 of which have been produced and featured in various film festivals. Bryan’s big-picture thinking, knack for research, and ability to rework dialogue, scenes, and characters to best serve the story and reach audiences is a natural compliment to Melissa’s skillset. Bryan has earned awards as a co-director and his most recent script, Vinland was accepted and nominated for FilmQuest 2021.

_______________________

TALES FROM THE NECRONOMICON – CHAPTER 1: THE INNSMOUTH CASE

Written By: Luca Vilante & the Annarosa Schiavone

Synopsis: Following the clues of a brutal murder, a troubled detective and a psychiatrist with a secret arrive in the mysterious town of Innsmouth, where the boundaries between mystical and real merge to reveal a horror that comes from the sea.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: Annarosa has a degree in economics, currently works as a construction engineer and would do anything to quit. Writing is her way of escaping to adventurous worlds far from the gray Milan.

Born in Italy and graduated in Communication and Sociology, Luca has always seen in Cinema and Writing the possibility of not limiting himself to live only one life. Whether those are set twenty thousand leagues under the sea, at the edge of space, or in the grocery store on the street corner, the main focus of his stories is always the same: people and what makes them unique.

_______________________

THE BLACKENING

Written By: Biagio Gulino & Tyler Kamens

Synopsis: Sam, Sarah, Christian, and Miller travel to Norway to interview the sole suspect in a gruesome occult murder from the 1990s – legendary black metal musician, Baator. As they experience strange phenomena on the property, new questions emerge about their subject. They must grapple with their own past in order to learn the truth – and escape with their lives…
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: Biagio Gulino is a collaborative filmmaker based in the New York area with a wide lens of experience in feature film, documentary, and television production, working in the film industry since 2016. Using his background as a creative producer, Biagio cultivates ideas and builds them into fully-fledged projects to bring to market. As a writer, he specializes in horror, fantasy, and genre content.

Tyler Kamens is a screenwriter residing in Connecticut. His favorite filmmakers include David Lynch, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Stanely Kubrick.

_______________________

THE HEARTH

Written By: Joss Refauvelet & Blake Nespica

Synopsis: Four guests and four staff at a remote, luxurious bed and breakfast discover over the course of one harrowing evening that their pasts_and now their futures_are all connected in a violent web of injustice and vengeance.
Genre(s): Fantastic

Screenwriter’s Bio: Jos Refauvelet is a director and producer based in Henderson, Nevada. He has both extensive and intensive knowledge of all phases and elements of film production, having worked previously as an editor, cinematographer, prop master, and SFX makeup artist, and knows how to deliver a quality production on time and in budget. His debut feature, 2017’s PRND (Park Reverse Neutral Drive), was shot in central California and distributed by Indie Rights and Amazon. He has recently wrapped shooting on his next two films, “Aamal” and “Lovers in a Dangerous Time,” to be distributed by Gate 23 Entertainment.

_______________________

THE HORROR IN THE HILLS

Written By: Eric L. Thompson & Andrew Garrett

Synopsis: A self-serving professor in search of his missing twin brother stumbles upon a small town’s ancient secret, which threatens his life and the fabric of reality.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: Eric is a multi-hyphenate filmmaker who has been working in film production since he was 17. A writer, director, and producer of several original projects including his recent short films “Stevie” ( Dances with Films, HollyShorts) and “Flanders” (Winner of Night of Comedy Shorts). The youngest of six children, Eric grew up as a quiet observer, watching and learning from those around him. This habit carried over into adult life, where he continues to be fascinated by the minutia of people’s lives.

_______________________

THE MAN INSIDE

Written By: Kymberly Harris

Synopsis: An idealistic young artist hoping to submit his controversial sculpture into a gallery exhibition, finds himself in over his head as he falls into a strange seduction with his college dean.
Genre(s): Fantastic

Screenwriter’s Bio: Kymberly’s interested in stories that personally deal with how we are formed by our families and by society, and how that effects our ability to connect to each other. Regardless of the scope or genre of the world of the story, her work is going to examine this thread of human relationship and consider the specific psychology of each character. Kymberly’s great passion as a director is working with actors and bringing out their most connected, truthful and empowered work. Her private clients range from Emmy award winners and Oscar nominees, to actors beginning their process. After founding her school TheatresCool, where actors such as Britt Lower began their work, she’s gone on to teach at Susan Batson Studios, the Lee Strasberg Film and Theatre Institute, and the School of Visual Arts in NYC.

Kymberly has directed several plays in NYC and LA (Rogue Machine, Theatre for the New City, PRT). A published and produced playwright, several plays written by Kymberly have been produced in NYC (The Public Theatre, Cherry Lane, la mamma, Harold Clurman Theatre). Her play FAITH is the only drama published in the new anthology, Proofread or Die!, featuring works by colleagues and friends of the late David Foster Wallace. She assisted James Ponsoldt and Jason Segel on the film THE END OF THE TOUR. Some acting credits include originating the role of Holly in Eric Simonson’s BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY opposite Tracy Letts, and the workshop of Terrence McNally’s IT’S ONLY A PLAY opposite Thomas Sadoski, Josh Radnor, and Lisa Kudrow.

BA: Knox College; MA: Illinois State University in Theatre Double MFA: The Actors Studio Drama School at the New School, Acting and Playwriting. REPS:ZERO GRAVITY (JOE RILEY) “Kymberly’s work is done in a way that so far should be a shining example. So brilliantly done and her concept is more than memorable. It’s an innovation – so new, so fresh, so alive. It’s heartfelt and beautiful. This is work of real passion and it’s personal and I love it.” -AL PACINO

_______________________

THE MURDER SHOW

Written By: Shane Spiegal & Justin Reager

Synopsis: Ten years after her sister’s murder by a crazed serial killer, a teenager’s world starts to fall apart when she gets the suspicious feeling she might be living in a TV show.
Genre(s): Horror, Sci-Fi, Comedy

Screenwriter’s Bio: Shane Spiegel and Justin Reager have written shows for NBC, Nickelodeon, and Universal Kids. They hope you fall in love with their first horror comedy feature!!

_______________________

THE RATS IN THE WALLS

Written By: Luca Violante & Annarosa Schiavone

Synopsis: When a 7-years-old goes missing in a rural Yorkshire village, a battle-scarred Missing Child Detective and an impulsive soon-to-be father local cop clash heads to solve the case as the clues lead them to an evil crawling under the town plotting the return of eldritch horrors.
Genre(s): Horror

_______________________

THE SEEKER BROTHERS

Written By: Philip Tice

Synopsis: TBD
Genre(s): TBD

Screenwriter’s Bio: TBD

_______________________

THE SPIRIT WANTS

Written By: Katherine LaVictoire

Synopsis: When a nomadic reporter gets an anonymous tip about a medical mystery deep in the Midwest, she must expel the oppressive narcissistic presence she finds there before it’s too late. But can she harness her own past to suss out the real poltergeist?
Genre(s): Horror, Beyond

Screenwriter’s Bio: Katherine is a writer and an actress 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). The Spirit Wants is her first feature film script.

_______________________

THEATER CRAWLERS

Written By: Jeff Bassetti & Christopher John Fetherolf

Synopsis: A group of slacker ushers rise to the occasion to defend their failing movie theater against a murderous alien invasion or risk losing their lives and their jobs.
Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Comedy

Screenwriter’s Bio: A grad of San Francisco State U. and the American Film Institute. Interned at Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light and Magic. Multi award winning screenwriter and filmmaker. Co-wrote, produced, and directed the indie feature F-STOPS

_______________________

TIME, SPACE, AND THE POET

Written By: John Turner

Synopsis: A Poet in the dystopian future seeks to expose society to the evil plans of the international peace task force known as, The Organized Awareness Agency.
Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Beyond

Screenwriter’s Bio: John Turner is from a small town in Ohio where he grew up in a large family in relative poverty. Nevertheless, he appreciated the opportunity to sit in darkness on various occasional telling stories with his brothers until the lights were restored. His experience loved ones, particularly his mother whom he adored inspired him to write an award winning book of poetry in 2012 entitled, Take This Journey With Me, Poems from the Laboratory of John Turner. Later, his creative inclinations led him to write award winning screenplays

_______________________

TIMESTOP

Written By: John Dowalo & Josh Mabie

Synopsis: A young newscaster in a small desert town investigates sounds coming from an abandoned military airfield and stumbles on to a long-forgotten CIA project that will launch her career or end her life.
Genre(s): Sci-Fi

Screenwriter’s Bio: John Dowalo has had a fulfilling career as an aerospace engineer. Retiring 10 years ago, he finally found the time to pursue his passion of be a filmmaker. He wrote, produced and directed 4 short films and was successful in being selected in a number of film festivals. Subsequently he decided to take on a bigger challenge and write his first feature film script titled TIMESTOP. He is currently pitching his script to a number of producers.

_______________________

TRAMPS LIKE US

Written By: Julian David Hoxter

Synopsis: The diverse crew of the tramp steamer Stella Maris sails into fantastic danger in the South Seas in this horror adventure pilot set in the 1930s.
Genre(s): Horror, Fantasy

Screenwriter’s Bio: A screenwriter and educator who has been in love with classic horror and adventure stories all his life and wanted to try writing one!

_______________________

TRICK OF THE EYE

Written By: Dennis Haseley

Synopsis: A young man with the eerie ability to speak to the figures in paintings must uncover a crime involving the mysterious portrait of a woman, which is part of his forgotten past.
Genre(s): Fantasy

Screenwriter’s Bio: I am a New York City-based screenwriter, and a novelist for adults and YAs, with many publications and work that has been optioned for film.

_______________________

VIDEO NASTIES: A SYNTHWAVE NIGHTMARE

Written By: C.J. Duke

Synopsis: Sam Reese has just discovered a box of dusty VHS tapes in his new office, though he isn’t sure why each one features his long-missing mother or the same (oddly familiar) creature from his nightmares.
Genre(s): Horror, Sci-Fi, Beyond

_______________________

WOLF MOTHER

Written By: Shane & Celina Bernstein

Synopsis: After her husband kills a pregnant wolf, a sharecropper begins to fantasize a relationship with the dead animal’s mate, all while feeling an increasingly insatiable hunger.
Genre(s): Horror

Screenwriter’s Bio: Shane Bannon is a Writer and Director based in Los Angeles by way of San Francisco. His work focuses on characters who seek connection in a world that encourages isolation. Celina Bernstein is a multidisciplinary artist working principally as an actor, producer, and oil painter. Celina particularly loves collaborating with those who have a unique perspective on art & what it’s like to be a human being.