FEATURE FILM SCREENPLAY WINNERS

Science Winner: BYSTANDER by Robert Cohen (NY)
Science Runner Up: YOU ARE A COMPETENT FRIEND 2 by Jewel Donohue (NY)
Science Honorable Mention: THE KATMAI TRAGEDY by Tara Blake (MA)

Drama Winner: THE VOYEUR by John Bengel (CA)
Drama Runner Up: BOY BOY GIRL GIRL by Ross Kauffman and Addie Morfoot (NY)
Drama Honorable Mention: THE BROTHERS MCDONAGH by Shannonn Kelly (NY)

Comedy Winner: INITIAL DESCENT (An Oklahoma Hightower Story) by Geordie McClelland (MA)
Comedy Runner Up (tie): THE SIBLING RULE by Mari SanGiovanni (RI)
Comedy Runner Up (tie): SAKI by Stephen Croke & Greg Coutu (NH)
Comedy Honorable Mention: WILD BLUE by Josh Hope (IL)

Family Film Winner: TOO FAT TO FLY SOUTH by Allan Amenta (CA)
Family Film Runner-Up: MEMOIRS OF A DOG BY COUSCOUS MACKEY by Barbara Mackey & Dawn Ireland (TX)
Family Film Honorable Mention: DOGS ON THE RUN by Susan Barron (CA)

Thriller Winner: SHOOT by Donna Bellorado (CA)
Thriller Runner-Up: DEAD DAY by David Carren (TX)
Thriller Honorable Mention: EMULSION by Ryan Lewis (OH)
Thriller Honorable Mention: M.I.T. CAN BE MURDER by Frank Weyer (MA)

Sci-Fi Horror Winner: BREAKING THE FOURTH by Melody Cooper (NY)
Sci-Fi Horror Runner-Up: IN THE IMAGE OF MAN by Arnon Shorr (MD)
Sci-Fi Horror Honorable Mention: AN OLD MAN'S DREAM by Robert Cromartie III (FL)

SHORT SCREENPLAY AWARDS

Short Drama Winner: SONG BIRD by Kelly L. Frey (TN)
Short Drama Runner-up (tie): SEA by Michael Kam (Singapore)
Short Drama Runner-up (tie): BLOOD TRIGGER by Ron Podell (MI)

Short Comedy Winner: MOMFIA by Dean Watts (TX)
Short Comedy Runner-up: THE BAR by Skip Shea (MA)

Short Family Winner: ALIENS AND PRINCESSES by Russ Brandon (NC)
Short Family Runner-up: THE DOOR by Robert Cox (CA)

Short Sci-Fi/Horror Winner: TRANS by Paul Rogalus (NH)
Short Sci-Fi/Horror Runner-up: THE LADDER by Faisal A Qureshi (United Kingdom)
Short Sci-Fi/Horror Honorable Mention: THE CUBE by Scott and Paula Merrow (NM)

REVIEW

It's now over but this year was a banner year for the Woods Hole Film Festival Work-in-Progress Screenplay Competition. A lot of our reviewers came from the students from Boston University's Center for Digital Images Arts and Emerson College's Screenplay Certificate Program. The screenplays were excellent and the decisions hard. Howard Phillips from BU-CDIA who oversees the shorts program said this year's batch were some the finest he's ever seen. We ended up having to give more awards than usual, digging back to the honorable mentions who had to be mentioned. And, as for the attending screenwriters, we had more than usual. And many stayed and networked for a great part of the week. Notably Frank Weyer, Skip Shea, Tara Blake, and Melody Cooper who seemed to turn up at every party and networking event.
       Above left, Frank Weyer and Melody Cooper discuss the arts at the Filmmaker Lunch. Above right, Skip Shea networks with Boston producer Paul Boghosian about screenwriting at the PEN/New England reception. Lower right is myself with screenwriter Russ Brandon at the awards ceremony.
        It was a wonderful experience for all and I had a blast. I hope to keep in touch with all who attended and also learn more about the rest of you who, unfortunately due to time, distance, or previous engagement, could not make it. Best wishes to all, keep writing, Jean-Paul Ouellette

Science Feature Screenplay Winner:

BYSTANDER by Robert Cohen (NY)
In 1964, Kitty Genovese was raped and murdered in Queens while 37 witnesses looked on and did nothing to help. Bystander, a fictional account of the. focuses on Daniel Swingley, the psychologist who studies the event, trying to understand why no one intervened. As Swingley becomes immersed in the study, his research partner begins to question his motives. Does Swingley really want to advance the theory and help potential victims, or does he have more personal interests—like trying to assuage his own guilty conscience? Can they put their research ahead of their personal agendas? The answers—and unintended consequences—surprise them both.

BIO - ATTENDED
Robert Cohen received his MFA in 2009 from the Department of Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he was given the graduate award for excellence in television writing. His stage plays have had workshops and performances at Tisch, including October 11, which was a winner of NYU’s 10-Minute Play Contest. Robert was awarded a screenwriting grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, dedicated to promoting science in the arts, in 2008 for his original screenplay Prisoner’s Dilemma and again in 2009 for Bystander. Bystander was also selected for the 2010 Hamptons International Film Festival Screenwriters’ Lab, and a staged reading will be performed at the festival in October. Recently, Robert was a story consultant for a special event on the History Channel.

Science Feature Screenplay Runner Up:

YOU ARE A COMPETENT FRIEND 2 by Jewel Donohue (NY)
When mental illness strikes, friendship ensues. Through therapy sessions with a psychologist and the day treatment center Mary remembers events in her life and is slowly healed. Some pieces of her mind are delusions and others are real. She is in constant search of a letter and its’ meaning, which she believes has the answer to solving her problems. The objective of this story is to learn about the characters and whether they are ill or just have had life beat down on them.

BIO - ATTENDED
Jewel Donohue has been serving as the West Coast Contributing Writer/ Editor for Animal Fair Magazine since October 2001. At Animal Fair, Jewel has written, overseen and executed a number of successful stories and issues. In continuum with working for Animal Fair, Jewel has acted in many films, TV shows and starred in the indie “Dysfunctional Book Club.” She can be seen in the upcoming “Boardwalk Empire,” on HBO in September 2010. She has spent more than ten years working behind the camera as well as in many aspects of the film business. Jewel has her M.F.A. from the Actor’s Studio Drama School at The New School University. She attended Pine Manor College and the University of Barcelona for her B.A. She is honored to have been chosen as the runner up in the Science category for her screenplay “You Are A Competent Friend 2.”

Science Feature Screenplay Honorable Mention:

THE KATMAI TRAGEDY by Tara Blake (MA)
“The Katmai Tragedy” was inspired by the events that took place on October 22, 2008 aboard the commercial fishing vessel Katmai in the middle of the Bering Sea. The crew members of the Katmai have sacrificed much to provide a living for their families back on land; with the Katmai listing in the dark, frigid waters of the Bering Sea, will they be required to sacrifice everything?

BIO- ATTENDED
Tara graduated from Westfield State College with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication. Shortly after graduation she boarded a plane to Europe where she visited several countries by railway. After returning to her hometown, Worcester, MA, she worked for an environmental consulting company until she saved enough money to move to Alaska. Once there, she met her husband, Joe, a commercial fisherman. His story inspired her to write “The Katmai Tragedy.” Together they hope to further establish and promote the Katmai Memorial Fund. The fund has been set up to help the families of fisherman who are lost at sea.

Drama Feature Screenplay Winner:

THE VOYEUR by John Bengel (CA)
An ethicist/college dean with an obsession for voyeurism sees something that creates the ultimate ethical dilemma.

Drama Feature Screenplay Runner Up:

BOY BOY GIRL GIRL by Ross Kauffman and Addie Morfoot (NY)
The story of Chris Walker and Tom Moore, a gay couple, as they attempt to adopt a baby from a pregnant methamphetamine addict and her lesbian partner. Based on a true story.

Drama Feature Screenplay Honorable Mention:

THE BROTHERS MCDONAGH by Shannonn Kelly (NY)
Ray McDonagh fights for closure to a childhood of torment, but first he must face his worst fear - his father.

Comedy Feature Screenplay Winner:

INITIAL DESCENT (An Oklahoma Hightower Story) by Geordie McClelland (MA)
A famous commercial airline pilot in the '60s tries to recapture his former celebrity status when, after the dawn of manned space travel, pilots go from sex symbols to glorified bus drivers in the sky.

BIO - NON-ATTENDING
Geordie McClelland - Geordie lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife and daughter, and he graduated from Williams College with a degree in English. Initial Descent is the first of Geordie's work to win an award and he is very grateful to the Woods Hole Film Festival for the recognition.

Comedy Feature Screenplay Runner Up (tie):

THE SIBLING RULE by Mari SanGiovanni (RI)
Two women fake a lesbian marriage to take advantage of the sibling rule, which will keep their children in the same school which is a perfect plan, until they fall in love.

BIO: NON-ATTENDING
Mari SanGiovanni is the bestselling author of "Greetings From Jamaica, Wish You Were Queer…" which was nominated for a LAMMY award, and two Golden Crown awards. The novel was promoted by Howard Stern on The Howard Stern Show, and by the national magazine, The Advocate, who reviewed the novel: "A breezy romp!" After a review from AfterEllen.com, the book took the number one spot on Amazon for all gay and lesbian books and was picked up by a major book club and re-released in hard cover. Greetings From Jamaica is about to enter a third printing and the sequel will be out later this year. A screenplay version of Greetings From Jamaica, as well as SanGiovanni’s latest screenplay, The Sibling Rule, at the time of this writing, has placed in the quarter-finals or runner-up positions in five International screenplay writing competitions.

Comedy Feature Screenplay Runner Up (tie):

SAKI by Stephen Croke & Greg Coutu (NH)
Nick, an uptight dentist, quits his profession to pursue his dream of becoming a composer. Nick's life gets complicated as he is forced to share his apartment with Saki, a spirited Japanese student who pretends she can't speak English so Nick can't evict her. Sparks fly - figuratively and literally - as Nick prepares for an important audition and Saki prepares her metal sculptures for a gallery opening. The unlikely pair discover romance as they help each other cope with the hardships. But will this come to a crashing halt when Saki's father shows up to take his daughter back to Japan?

Comedy Feature Screenplay Honorable Mention:

WILD BLUE by Josh Hope (IL)
A young man looking for adventure leaves his small Oklahoma town for the first time and takes a trip across the country with two strangers.

Family Film Feature Screenplay Winner:

TOO FAT TO FLY SOUTH by Allan Amenta (CA)
A young boy who became psychologically lame after his father’s sudden death prays for a miracle to heal his disabled leg while in the boy’s backyard also praying for a miracle to save him is a grossly overweight robin stranded in the snow unable to fly and facing certain death because of his notorious gluttony.

BIO: NON-ATTENDING
Screenwriter, songwriter, and magazine writer. I have written four feature screenplays, one of which, Too Fat To Fly South, has been the winner in two competitions. The other features have also done well in competition. My short scripts have won six First-Place awards. One of my shorts was recently purchased by a European producer. My written work has appeared in Playboy, Writer’s Digest, Rosebud, Audio-Visual Communications, Gallery, William and Mary Review, The New Renaissance, Rangefinder, and other publications, as well as in anthologies by Playboy and Writer’s Digest. I have also written and produced dozens of educational, medical, and corporate films and videos for domestic and overseas markets, a number of them award-winners, including Best-of-Show and Gold Award. I'm a BMI songwriter with songs under contract to various publishers. Numerous awards for songs, including six First-Place winners. Also awards for essays and articles. Spent a number of years as a jazz and dance-band drummer.

Family Film Feature Screenplay Runner-Up:

MEMOIRS OF A DOG BY COUSCOUS MACKEY by Barbara Mackey & Dawn Ireland (TX)
Magical things can happen to anyone, even to a dog. During the few morning moments Feathers, a purebred Pekinese, is allowed outside the confines of her laundry room 'cell' she experiences what is for most dogs (and many people too) a once in a lifetime occurrence. An early north wind, an omen of change in dog lore, sets into motion a series of events that will forever alter Feathers' life. It is from her puppy CousCous that we learn of the perils that Feathers must overcome if she is to survive in a cold, unfeeling, human household, and to find the meaning and love in her life that she has always longed for.

Family Film Feature Screenplay Honorable Mention:

DOGS ON THE RUN by Susan Barron (CA)
Ralph, a tough dog from the wrong side of the tracks, and Anya, a beautiful and smart ex-circus dog living in San Francisco, come together when Ralph escapes from an illegal fighting ring after his sister Ramona (a star fighter) is sold. Trying desperately to find her, he enlists Anya's help. Bored with her owner Tori's new corporate lifestyle, she is more than happy to help. Toni, who quit the circus after a death-defying accident, is act when her missing dog forces her to reconcile her fears and a past romance with a fellow circus star.

Thriller Feature Screenplay Winner:

SHOOT by Donna Bellorado (CA)
A death row defense attorney collides with a dissociated Iraq Vet. The terror of her past and the violence he perpetrates are matched only by the injustice of the system. Her actions lead to unexpected help and a new life.

Thriller Feature Screenplay Runner-Up:

DEAD DAY by David Carren (TX)
Isabella Benavides was seven when she was kidnaped. A ransom was paid but the child was never recovered, and her kidnappers never found. Everyone assumed her dead -- until a young woman swearing she’s Isabella walks into her mother's house with a gun in her hand, blood on her clothes, and no memory of the last 15 years. But the police want her for a murder and the gun is the murder weapon. As Isabella runs for her life and identity, she finds the truth. But will it set her free --- or damn her to Hell?

BIO
David Bennett Carren has written and/or produced more than 200 films and television shows. His credits include Star Trek: The Next Generation, Stargate SG-1, Buck Rogers, TekWar, Battlestar Galactica, Knightrider, and Beauty and the Beast. He directed and co-wrote the 2009 feature film, The Red Queen, which earned a Silver Palm in the Mexico Film Festival and an Honorable Mention in the Los Angeles Reel Film Festival. His recognition as a screenwriter includes a Writer’s Guild Award Nomination for the series Capitol, a Golden Remi Award, Best Screenplay, for his dramatic short, Blue Tears, and a Semi-Finalist, Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition, for his original screenplay, Choctaw Ridge. Medallion Books released his sci-fi novel, No Power on Earth, and his short story If She Dies was published in Twisted Tales before he adapted it as an episode of The New Twilight Zone. An Associate Professor in film production and screenwriting at the University of Texas-Pan American, he lives with this wife and two children in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas.

Thriller Feature Screenplay Honorable Mention:

EMULSION by Ryan Lewis (OH)
A dejected salesman is inadvertently drawn into a dangerous blackmail scheme, forcing him to fight for control of a life he never thought was worth living. Painting a murky film noir world where no one is exactly as they appear, Emulsion follows Dane Allen as he evolves from an utterly forgettable cog into a potent activist who brings the powers that be to their knees.

Thriller Feature Screenplay Honorable Mention:

M.I.T. CAN BE MURDER by Frank Weyer (MA)
New M.I.T. graduate student Mike Werner discovers an old lumberjack ax head buried in the Charles River while doing research. As an escape from his constant studying, Mike tries to connect the ax head to a series of murders that occurred twenty years earlier. As he struggles to get through the semester, unbeknown to Mike, his stirring around in the past puts fellow graduate student Kristin in mortal danger.

BIO - ATTENDED
Frank Weyer is a former Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution graduate student and Peace Corps volunteer whose day job is a patent attorney. He is executive producer of the feature film “Tales from the Catholic Church of Elvis!” which played at the Woods Hole Film Festival in 2009 and which went on to win multiple international awards, including the Audience Award at the 2009 Newport International Film Festival and the Best Microbudget Feature Award at the 2010 Cannes Independent Film Festival. He originally wrote “M.I.T. Can Be Murder” as a novel based on his experiences as a graduate student at M.I.T. His positive experience at the Woods Hole Film Festival in 2009 inspired him to adapt “M.I.T. Can Be Murder” into his first screenplay.

Sci-Fi Horror Feature Screenplay Winner:

BREAKING THE FOURTH by Melody Cooper (NY)
Agent Regina Roberts specializes in solving child abductions, and she's seen her share of violence, having served in Afghanistan. But nothing prepares her for the bizarre double murder she witnesses, or her face off against a child from another dimension who starts using New York as its horrific playground

BIO - ATTENDED
Ms. Cooper's feature screenplay, BREAKING THE FOURTH, is also a nominee for the 2010 Sci Fi Fantasy Award in the Action on Film Festival. Her action thriller, NORTHERN CROSS, was a 2nd Round Finalist in the 2009 Austin Film Festival and a finalist in the Filmmaker International Screenplay Competition. She recently completed SEIZE, a high concept action thriller with Austin Film Fest finalist Jim Stansberry. Ms. Cooper is also an award-winning NYC playwright whose work has been produced Off Broadway and by NY Stage and Film. She won this year's SheWrites Festival with her play SWEET MERCY, about a haunting in Rwanda, which will be produced by Synchronicity Theatre in 2011.

Sci-Fi Horror Feature Screenplay Runner-Up:

IN THE IMAGE OF MAN by Arnon Shorr (MD)
In the midst of an insular Jewish community, a skeptical detective must confront her faith to catch a supernatural killer.

Sci-Fi Horror Feature Screenplay Honorable Mention:

AN OLD MAN'S DREAM by Robert Cromartie III (FL)
Seventy-eight-year-old Bill Stuart develops a drug that reverses aging in rats. Striving for immortality, his aged partner administers the compound to himself and promptly dies. When the police accuse Bill of causing his friend's death, he injects the drug into his own thigh in an attempt at suicide. He undergoes a metamorphosis into a young man and awakens in the hospital. No one knows who he is, but the police believe he has murdered the missing man whose clothes he was wearing. He flees from the police and from brutal men who want to steal the formula for the drug.

BIO - NON-ATTENDING
Robert Samuel Cromartie III, M.D., FACS attended the University of North Carolina where he earned degrees in Chemistry and Medicine. He joined the US Army and received training in anesthesiology at Letterman General Hospital of the Presidio in San Francisco and served as a captain in Vietnam where he was awarded the bronze star. He joined the faculty of Indiana University School of Medicine before serving as Chief, Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach from 1984 until 2006. He has written ten scientific articles published in medical journals, and published "High-Tech Terror: Recognition, Management, and Prevention of Biological, Chemical, and Nuclear Injuries Secondary to Acts of Terrorism" (co-authored by Richard Joseph Duma). Dr. Cromartie obtained board certification in Surgery, Thoracic Surgery, and Laser Surgery and earned Fellowship in the American College of Surgeons, the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Chest Physicians, and the International College of Surgeons.

Short Screenplay Drama Winner:

SONG BIRD by Kelly L. Frey (TN)
Lori is a successful songwriter and singer. But professional success doesn't always translate into personal success. Her life and her lyrics play out in a trendy bar and her home, accompanied by her companion and muse - a detached composite of all she dreamed of and never got.

BIO: NON-ATTENDING
I love working with words. Whether its novels or screenplays, my passion is composing evocative works that capture the moments we keep as memories. Songbird, my Woods Hole entry, captures one night in a complex relationship between a successful songstress and her significant other in a blend of music, mode, and perspective. I am currently working on two projects: an action-adventure about a Secret Service agent who discovers a family secret that pits him against the nation’s intelligence community in a race to save his son and a crime thriller involving a discredited reporter who puts her life at risk trying to solve the ritualistic murder of a young nurse and its improbable connection to local priests and community leaders involved in a satanic cult. Also, check out the novel I co-wrote with my son – Summer Session.

Short Screenplay Drama Runner-up (tie):

SEA by Michael Kam (Singapore)
On a dark night in the open sea, a Malay fisherman reluctantly saves an illegal Burmese immigrant from drowning. The fisherman wants his unwanted guest out of his boat as soon as possible, but the latter refuses to leave until safely ashore. A struggle ensues where not everything is as it seems, and the true nature of both men is revealed.

Short Screenplay Drama Runner-up (tie):

BLOOD TRIGGER by Ron Podell (MI)
April Righetti, a.k.a. The Tarantula, has been an assassin for too long. After her latest kill, in which she hesitates before following through, she considers retiring from the business, a notion her handler scoffs at. On her next assignment, April falls in love with her target and envisions a better and more normal life for herself. However, her failure to finish her assignment triggers a bloody and surprising end result.

BIO: NON-ATTENDING
An award-winning professional journalist who has been telling stories since his high school newspaper days, Podell has had early success in screenwriting contests and the festival circuit, winning awards for his two feature-length and seven short screenplays. Podell has been recognized with awards at such notable film festivals as Cinema City, Action on Film, Moondance, The Indie Gathering, and Woods Hole, all considered top 25 film festivals by MovieMaker Magazine. He received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Franklin College in Franklin, Ind., and has worked for newspapers in Indiana, Florida and Maryland, and national newsletters in Washington, D.C. He currently is editor of the faculty/staff newspaper at Eastern Michigan University.

Short Screenplay Comedy Winner:

MOMFIA by Dean Watts (TX)
A hapless father is terrorized by soccer moms when in briefly parks in a private school drop off line during the first morning of school.

BIO: NON-ATTENDING
Dean Watts is a native of San Diego California. He grew up in Salem Oregon and after high school attended George Washington University in Washington D.C. After graduating from GWU, Dean attended Southern Methodist University School of Law in Dallas Texas, where he met his wife Heather. After graduation, she and Dean practiced law together in East Texas. Along the way, they had two wonderful children, Matthew and Hadley. Dean now practices law in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Short Screenplay Comedy Runner-up:

THE BAR by Skip Shea (MA)
Greg finds himself in a bar with no windows or doors, occupied by Rick, the bartender and apparent owner, and two patrons, Al and George who seemingly accept their place in this absurd world. Limited choices and control force Greg to challenge what is real and, ultimately and violently take matters into his own hands.

BIO - ATTENDED
Skip Shea is an artist, actor, performer, poet and writer from Uxbridge, Massachusetts. He has written and performed a one man show called Catholic (Surviving Abuse & Other Dead End Roads) chronicling his life as a survivor of clergy sexual abuse, the death of his daughter and his road to wellness. The show opened in December 5, 2005 in New York City. He also written, directed and produced two short films Mail, Video Diary: Last Entry as well as They Serve Breakfast Here All Day Long, which is still in post. He has one feature length screenplay written, Today I Took the Train and is presently adapting Catholic (Surviving Abuse & Other Dead End Roads) for the screen.

Short Screenplay Family Winner:

ALIENS AND PRINCESSES by Russ Brandon (NC)
On planet Melodia the king is in a terrible quandary; there are no more females left on his planet. He sends out two dragon aliens to Earth and they try to abduct two sweet little girls playing princesses and having a tea party. Dragons aliens from space battle the princesses using all their fire breathing powers and trickery to their advantage.

BIO: ATTENDED
Russ Brandon was born in Boxborough, Massachusetts and now lives in Durham, North Carolina. A middle school special education teacher by day, he writes, films, directs and edits on his own films on free time. His shorts scripts "American Baptism," "Catching the Mass Pike," and "Aliens and Princesses" have all been official selections into film festivals. His movies "Ellis the Lion," "The Anti-Global Warming League," "Math is Evil But I Like Pi," "Soup Bowl," and "Riley's Roast Beef" have all been official selections into film festivals as well. He has one feature length script, two short scripts for adults, and thirty shorts for children and families which he is putting together into a television show and is looking to talk to an interested producer. He also enjoys playing floorball.

Short Screenplay Family Runner-up:

THE DOOR by Robert Cox (CA)
A young boy with a terminal illness watches as a door forms on the wall of his bedroom, becoming more distinct the sicker he becomes.

BIO: NON-ATTENDING
My name is Robert Cox. I reside in San Diego, California. My experience in writing is of long duration. I have written in various genres since my teen age years, notably in scientific journals and business publications, as well as plays, opera libretti and short stories. In the past (1970’s), I sent ideas to various television shows in the form of synopses and treatments, and had several filmed. I hold a BA in English from San Diego State College as well as a BA in music and a Masters in Botany.

Short Screenplay Sci-Fi/Horror Winner:

TRANS by Paul Rogalus (NH)
Parker is a lonely outsider in a dark, futuristic urban world. He goes to a bar called Altered States to play a game called “Trans” to try to meet a woman to bond with. In Trans, Parker uses miniature replicant versions of himself to make connections—but the connections aren’t human—and they come with problems of their own.

BIO: NON-ATTENDING
Paul Rogalus teaches English at Plymouth State University, in Plymouth, NH. His full- length play Crawling From the Wreckage was produced in New York City in February 2002 by the American Theatre of Actors, and his one act plays have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Boston. His short screenplay, “Sid and Walt,” won screenwriting contests at the Wildsound Film Festival in Toronto and at the PictureStart Film Festival in New York City. A chapbook of his micro-stories entitled “Meat Sculptures” was published by Green Bean Press.

Short Screenplay Sci-Fi/Horror Runner-up:

THE LADDER by Faisal A Qureshi (United Kingdom)
A mother has to decide if the journey to sanctuary is worth the life of her young son.

BIO - NON ATTENDING
Faisal A. Qureshi has won several awards for his work and has previously worked with DNA Films, Dan Films, Granada Drama and BBC Drama amongst them. More recently, he worked as Associate Producer on the award winning feature film, Four Lions (Film Four/Warp Films), the directing debut of acclaimed British satirist Chris Morris. Faisal currently lectures on editing at the Northern Film School and is a visiting Lecturer at the Escula Internacional Cine y TV in Cuba. He has also ran short filmmaking workshops in Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Syria and Uzbekistan. His short films Scribble and The Lift are available to see on Atom Films whilst the controversial short, The Applicant was featured on New York Magazine. He currently is developing his feature project, The Footsoldier.

Short Screenplay Sci-Fi/Horror Honorable Mention:

THE CUBE by Scott and Paula Merrow (NM)
A woman finds a strange black cube in her hotel room. Or...did the cube find her?