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2023 Pitch (II) Results

By Pitch Results
- WINNER - Disco Inferno by Oliver Woolf Oliver Woolf is a writer/actor from London. He wrapped the feature film Two Big Feet by Noah Stratton-Twine, acting as the lead alongside Luke Rollason (Extraordinary, Disney Plus) slated for a 2024 release. He first started scriptwriting to get revenge on a roommate—who was a writer himself, and claimed he needed the biggest room in the house in order to write efficiently, leaving Oliver with the tiny room—thus making Oliver want to prove that big rooms aren't essential for scriptwriting. His first pilot Whoops and feature film With Hate, From Love caught the attention of producers and lead him to write his passion project, Disco Inferno, a TV Series about the unknown, insane world of VIP nightclubs—a topic deeply connected to Oliver and his family, himself having worked in nightclubs for 8 years, and his dad 30 years. In a world where...
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2023 First Look Project Results

By First Look Project Results
Action & Sci-Fi | Comedy | Drama | Horror & Thriller TV (Hourlong) | TV (Half-Hour) ACTION & SCI-FI Winner Parallel by Nate Wilcoxen Growing up in the rural Midwest, Nate found an escape from the mundane through books and movies. Years later, when he discovered the magic of screenwriting, he dove in headfirst and never looked back. Now an award-winning screenwriter with over 20 feature scripts and TV pilots under his belt, Nate's talent for specializing in elevated action, sci-fi, horror, and thriller projects was discovered in 2021 when he was signed by Gravity Squared Entertainment to represent his vast catalog of work. Some of Nate's other notable awards include being a two-time semi-finalist in the Academy Nicholl Fellowship Competition, a Tracking Board Launch Pad Top 10 finalist, as well as a Silver Prize winner in the PAGE International Screenwriting Contest. Follow on: X Runner-up Charlotte D'Artagna by Julia Bergeron...
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2023 Pitch (I) Results

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WINNER 7 Prom Dresses (feature) by G.S. Prendergast G.S. (Gabrielle) Prendergast is the bestselling author of numerous books for children and teens. She studied at the University of New South Wales in Australia, at San Francisco State University and the University of British Columbia. After working in the music industry and in social welfare, Gabrielle wrote the screenplay for Hildegarde, which starred Oscar nominee Richard E. Grant. Gabrielle went on to work in TV, but began writing books when she became a mother, so she could work from home. Her books have received nominations for the White Pine Award, the Canadian Library Association Award, the Vancouver Book Prize and several other honors. She won the BC Book Prize for her YA sci-fi Zero Repeat Forever and the Westchester Award for her YA novel in verse Audacious. Born in the UK and both an Australian and New Zealand citizen, Gabrielle now lives…

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2023 TV Writing Contest Results

By TV Writing Contest Results

Winner Meme Girls Matthew Manson Matthew Manson is a writer and director whose work can be seen across multiple platforms: from TV and film to sketches and commercials. He has won awards at the Tribeca Film Festival, Cannes Lions, and Telly Awards. Additionally, he won the 2022 Final Draft Big Break TV Award, and the 2023 Script Pipeline TV Writing Contest. Born and raised in Manhattan, Matthew is a graduate of NYU’s Film & TV program. His thesis film screened at festivals worldwide, winning multiple awards, including the Audience Award for Best Short at the Tribeca Film Festival. After creating hundreds of webseries and sketches for production companies such as FunnyOrDie and UCB – many of which were among the most viewed on YouTube – Matthew worked as the comedy executive and in-house writer/director at AwesomenessTV. While there, he created and oversaw production on several series, including two seasons of…

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2023 Screenwriting Contest Results

By Screenwriting Contest Results

Winner Brobot Island James Anderson Hunt James Anderson Hunt is a writer/director based in Los Angeles, California. He grew up in Georgetown, Texas and graduated from Baylor University with a BA in Film & Digital Media. Whether imagining elaborate tales with action figures as a kid, writing and directing parodies of The Lord of the Rings in high school (where he and his best friend played every character) or expanding his creative voice beyond screenwriting through improv courses at the Upright Citizens Brigade, James has only wanted to do one thing: tell stories. Having been raised on The Twilight Zone, he’s most drawn to stories that can entertain us on a large scale while also revealing something to us about what it means to be human. The bigger the premise but more intimate the story, the better. His previous scripts have placed in the ScreenCraft Sci-Fi & Fantasy Screenplay Competition…

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Only Murders in the Building – Pilot

By Essential Reading - Screenplays and Pilots

The strongest comedy stems from character. Sure, it’s fun to write a witty joke or devise a spectacular slapstick set piece, but for half-hour comedies, the thing that keeps audiences coming back episode to episode (and season to season) are the characters. If you can get the audience to care about what happens to the fictional humans on screen, then the hardest part is over. What is a character, if not their traits? Take Only Murders in the Building (written and created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman) as an example. After a brief flashforward teaser, the story starts in earnest and wastes no time in establishing the show’s core trio: semi-retired actor Charles-Haden Savage (Martin), struggling Broadway producer Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), and young artist Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), who all share little in common, save for an obsession with the same true crime podcast. But the way the show…

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Women Talking – Screenplay

By Essential Reading - Screenplays and Pilots

Women Talking is a quiet movie. A sort of gender-flipped 12 Angry Men, writer/director Sarah Polley’s film (based on Miriam Toews’ novel) observes a group of Mennonite women as they debate what to do about predatory men in their community. Should they stay and forgive, stay and fight, or flee and chart their own path separate from the men? Eleven women meet in a hayloft to discuss their options and decide for the rest. Appropriately for something called Women Talking, the movie is mostly dialogue-driven to the point that it almost feels like a stage play at times. Flashbacks add an occasional cinematic flare, filling in the necessary backstory, but conversations drive the narrative. There are no action-driven set pieces or anything of the sort—just women talking—but the stakes are as high as any blockbuster, and for the women at its center, the consequences are equally as perilous. The titular women—led by a cast…

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Abbott Elementary – Pilot

By Essential Reading - Screenplays and Pilots

Abbott Elementary, one of the most recent sitcoms to find its place in the cultural zeitgeist, has a deceptively simple premise: It’s a workplace mockumentary set in a Philadelphia public school. That’s the starting point, but it’s all the smaller details series creator and star Quinta Brunson adds to the premise that elevates Abbott above most other network sitcoms. The world is probably one of the most important aspects to television series, and the one in Abbott feels especially lived in. The school isn’t just a regular school, but it’s an underfunded, mismanaged one. From there, the show builds out its cast. They all live in and contend with the realities of that world, and many of the show’s conflicts stem from the fact that they want to do what’s best for the students but don’t have the resources to give them everything they deserve or need. Despite all that, Brunson and…

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The Banshees of Inisherin – Screenplay

By Essential Reading - Screenplays and Pilots

The Banshees of Inisherin is a very funny movie. Mind you, this isn’t a zany or wacky or otherwise madcap comedy that has been the norm in the genre for some time, but this is a dark comedy, one in which the punchline is only barely removed from misery and depression. Written and directed by Martin McDonagh, Banshees fits right in with the rest of his works, all of which blend comedy and tragedy expertly. In the midst of the Irish Civil War, two friends find themselves at the pub like any other day. But unlike any other day, one friend (Colm) tells the other (Padraic), “I just don’t like you no more,” and decides to cut Padraic out of his life completely for being too dull. It’s a shocking moment for Padraic, particularly since the announcement came out of nowhere—they weren’t rowing or anything—but it sparks a feud that…

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2022 First Look Project Results

By First Look Project Results

Action & Scifi – Winner – Against All Entropy by Nick McMurdy Nick McMurdy was born and raised in the rural Rust Belt wasteland just outside of Pittsburgh, where he witnessed his hometown slowly fade away like blotted watercolor. In fact, Nick’s own childhood home was converted into a meth lab by the last owners, and sold at a police auction for $1,000.* That’s why he writes offbeat dramatic features about working-class loners, focusing on themes of purpose and belonging. Some of Nick’s other notable screenplay awards include the Roadmap Writers Top Tier Grand Prize, Winner of the Summer Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards, and Top 1% on Coverfly. He also has nearly 20 years of experience in the advertising industry, with over 80 productions under his creative direction. (*Nick has never done meth.) – Runner-up – Sonny is a God! by Scott Tinkham Scott Tinkham is an award-winning Writer & Director…

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November 2022 Script Sales

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Here are some of the most notable script sales from November 2022. StudioCanal and The Picture Company have picked up April Wolfe’s action spec Honey Trapped. VMI World Wide and BondIt Media Capital will produce Darkness of Man, a noir action film written by James Cullen Bressack and Alethea Cho, from an original story by Bressack and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Bressack will also produce and direct, and Van Damme will executive produce and star. Writer/director Bryan Fuller has found his next feature: the horror drama Dust Bunny. eOne, Thunder Road Pictures, and Fuller’s company Living Dead Guy Productions will produce. Mads Mikkelsen is set to star. Riverside Entertainment, Margate House Films, and Stride Management are moving forward with the crime drama Dixie Crystal, written by Jake Allyn. Conor Allyn will direct, and Rob Morgan will star. Mandalay Sports Media and Bluestone Entertainment will produce the Hank Aaron biopic 715!, written…

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October 2022 Script Sales

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Here are some of the most notable script sales from October 2022. Legendary Pictures has picked up Chris Sparling’s action/drama spec Fight Fast. Speck Gordon (Will Speck and Josh Gordon) will be turning The Oregon Trail into a musical feature. Pasek and Paul will help write the songs. VMI Worldwide and BondIt Media Capital are moving forward with the action film Darkness of Man. Director James Cullen Bressack co-wrote the script with Alethea Cho from an original story by Bressack and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Van Damme will executive produce and star. Sophie Hyde will write and direct An Ideal Wife for Curiosa Films, Embankment Films, and Zephyr Films. The film will be based on the life of Oscar Wilde’s wife Constance Lloyd, and Emilia Clarke is set to star. For Mongrel Media and Crescent Entertainment, Ann Marie Fleming will write and direct the sci-fi/thriller Can I Get a Witness. Sandra…

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September 2022 Script Sales

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Here are some of the most notable script sales from September 2022. Sony Pictures and Olive Bridge Entertainment have picked up Matthew Kellard and Jackson Kellard’s comedy Locked Out, based on their pitch. 3dot productions, G-Unit Film (Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson), and Electromagnetic Productions have picked up two horror scripts: The Gun by Kirkland Morris and Trackmaster by Justin Calen-Chenn. Eli Roth will also produce both films. Universal 1440 Entertainment is producing a new, fresh take on American Pie. Sujata Day will write, based on her pitch. The original 1999 movie was written by Adam Herz. Yassir Lester will write the Armor Wars film for Marvel and Disney. Don Cheadle will star and reprise his role, and Kevin Feige will produce. The film will be based on the comics written by David Michelinie and Bob Layton, and it was previously announced as a TV show before switching over to a…

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August 2022 Script Sales

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Here are some of the most notable script sales from August 2022. Writer/director duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are making Freaky Tales, a 1987-set love letter to Oakland, CA, for Entertainment One Films and MACRO. A24 and Square Peg (Ari Aster) are teaming up for Dream Scenario, a comedy written by Kristoffer Borgli. Borgli will direct, and Nicolas Cage is in talks to star. Lance Bass Productions is producing an as-of-now untitled movie about Bass’s relationship with Boy Meets World’s Danielle Fishel. Lauren Lapkus and Marie Holland will write the script. Writer Michael Green will adapt BioShock for Vertigo Entertainment and about:blank. Francis Lawrence will produce and direct. The original game was published by 2K Games and written and directed by Ken Levine. SISTER and Circle of Confusion Productions will produce Taylor Jenkins Reid and Ashley Rodgers’ untitled comedy. Kay Cannon will produce and direct. Oren Uziel will script…

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