by John | Aug 10, 2018 | Our Winners, Updates, WriteMovies News
We are delighted to announce the winners of our Spring 2018 Screenwriting Contest!
We’ve read many fantastic scripts over the last few months, but at long last, our Spring 2018 Contest comes to a close. In every genre and in every format, there have been many scripts that shone – but we’ve finally managed to decide on our winners!
A massive thanks to everyone who entered, and who gave us so much great material to read! If you want to find out why your script placed where it did in our competition, we strongly encourage you to take advantage of our Script Report services – which are currently on special offer until 31st August 2018!
Our Grand Prize Winner walks away with:
- $2000 cash prize
- A year of script and pitching development worth $3200
- Exclusive previews of our Virtual Film School and a copy of our Confidential Studio Manual
And the top three submissions all receive:
- Guaranteed pitching and promotion to the top of the film industry
- Exclusive prizes from InkTip – an InkTip Script Listing and the winning scripts’ loglines will be featured in InkTip’s Magazine, read by thousands of writers and producers.
So, a huge congratulations to our GRAND PRIZE WINNER:
DESERT RUN
by
Christopher Thomas
A great win for Christopher, and a thrilling script with strongly voiced characters. Christopher now takes home those wonderful prizes listed above.
But we must also congratulate our SECOND PLACED WINNER:
KLONDIKE MIKE
by
Thomas Zmiarovich
And our THIRD PLACED WINNER:
FIRE ON THE ISLAND
by
Timothy Jay Smith
A round of applause also for our Honorable Mentions: BLUT WIRD FLIEßEN by Urs Aebersold, LOVERS IN PARIS by Andy Conway, THE CRACK IN PEGGY SUE’S FLOOR by John Woodard, THE UNDERTAKER’S CHILDREN by Natasha Le Petit, THE ELECTRIC WAR by Arthur Tiersky, and HOLLYWOOD’S MOST WANTED: I’M READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP, ESE by Manny Jimenez Sr.
A very well done to everyone named here and the many other impressive scripts we read this time around. It’s been a tough field to choose from! See the results in full below.
We’ll be telling you all about our winners in the coming weeks, and getting their script development phase underway.
Head to our Facebook page and our Twitter feed to congratulate our top three winners and Honorable Mentions yourself!
Here are the Spring 2018 Screenwriting Contest Winners and Honorable Mentions…
|
GRAND PRIZE WINNER |
|
|
DESERT RUN
by Christopher Thomas |
|
SECOND PLACE |
|
THIRD PLACE
|
KLONDIKE MIKE
by Thomas Zmiarovich |
|
FIRE ON THE ISLAND
by Timothy Jay Smith |
|
HONORABLE MENTIONS |
|
BLUT WIRD FLIEßEN
by Urs Aebersold |
LOVERS IN PARIS
by Andy Conway |
THE ELECTRIC WAR
by Arthur Tiersky |
THE UNDERTAKER’S CHILDREN
by Natasha Le Petit |
HOLLYWOOD’S MOST WANTED:
I’M READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP, ESE
by Manny Jimenez Sr |
THE CRACK IN PEGGY SUE’S FLOOR
by John Woodard |
by John | Aug 6, 2018 | Our Winners, Updates, WriteMovies News
We announced the winner of our Best Book award a short while ago, along with our Quarter-Finalists: BLUT WIRD FLIEßEN by Urs Aebersold!
Our congratulations to Urs for winning in this category, in which we assess both the quality of the writing itself and also its potential for screen adaptation. He now receives a copy of our Confidential Studio Manual and exclusive previews of our Virtual Film School as his prizes.
Read on to find out more about the script which so drew our attention: BLUT WIRD FLIEßEN!
Here’s Urs’ summary of his script…
“Several mysterious suicides are disturbing police detective Nina Brandner – and when her partner dies in the same way, she is certain it is murder.”
And a short biography of Urs, too…
“Urs Aebersold was born in Switzerland, in the famous Emmental area. During his High School time in Biel/Bienne, a lakeshore town with excellent wines, he created several short films with close friends culminating in the 90 minute family drama DIE FABRIKANTEN.
In 1967 Urs went to Munich, studying there at the film school, and later on concentrated on screenwriting. He wrote several screenplays for TATORT, the popular crime series of the First German Television Channel. In the 80s Urs worked for several years for Bavarian Television as a producer and gained the Student Oscar with the short ABGESCHMINKT by Katja von Garnier, and was nominated for the Oscar for foreign language with the movie by Caroline Link JENSEITS DER STILLE.
In 2016 Urs began to write prose; his latest book is the psychothriller BLUT WIRD FLIEßEN.”
If you’ve got a book that would adapt well to the screen, why not commission our help to get it there?
With our Summer Offers running until 31st August 2018, you can get all the professional feedback you need at great prices – take a look at our Script Report services!
by John | Aug 3, 2018 | Our Winners, Results, WMC, WriteMovies News
We are pleased to announce the Semi-Finalists for our Spring 2018 Screenwriting Contest – and the winner of our Best Studio Script, Best Indie Script, and Best Short Script Awards!


After another tough judging period, we’ve decided on the Semi-Finalists for our Spring 2018 Contest – plus three awards in new categories!
The scripts that advanced to the semi-finals impressed us for many reasons, with fantastic stories, well-crafted dialogue, and strong commercial potential – and as ever, a lot of great scripts just missed the cut. If yours is one of them, don’t feel downhearted – all of our Quarter-Finalists were impressive entries.
And don’t forget, if you want to find out why your script didn’t make it, and want to take it to the next level, all our Script Report services are on special offer until 31st August – and you get free entry to our next contest as a bonus!
Alternatively, check out our Elite Mentoring service: invaluable one-to-one advice from actual Hollywood producers and studio execs!
See the full list of Semi-Finalists below… but first, we’re announcing the best of those movie scripts that aimed themselves firmly at either a HIGH or a LOW budget which we felt could be the most desirable to producers at the budget it set… and, working to a different kind of constraint, we’re also announcing the Best Short Script! Writing a short film demands a particular skill: the ability to tell a complete, poignant story in the space of only a few short minutes – normally less than 15 pages instead of the usual 120.
Next week: we name our top ten and our Overall Winner! Who will take the big prize for the very best entry in our latest major contest?
Best Studio Script |
Best Indie Script |
Best Short Script |
DESERT RUN, by Christopher Thomas!
With Honorable Mentions to: CHARMER, David Kurtz, and KLONDIKE MIKE, Thomas Zmiarovich. |
FIRE ON THE ISLAND, by Timothy Jay Smith!
With Honorable Mentions to: LOVERS IN PARIS, Andy Conway, and THE UNDERTAKER’S CHILDREN, Natasha Le Petit. |
ROLL WITH IT, by Rosie Byrnes! |
A big congratulations to the latest winners; we’ll be in touch with them soon about their winnings! Meanwhile, these are all of the other SEMI-FINALISTS who are still in the running for the big one… congratulations to all of them!
|
Semi-Finalists |
|
BLUT WIRD FLIEßEN, Urs Aebersold |
REMOTELY WORKING, William Baber |
ROLL WITH IT, Rosie Byrnes |
PARDON MY GENDER: SUCH A FARCE!, Bob Canning |
LOVERS IN PARIS, Andy Conway |
UNE CHANCE POUR GUÉRIR, Christine de Chauvelin |
LES NIOCKS, Edith Devillet |
THE GOOD CITIZEN, Joel Doty |
OPERATION BROTHER SAM, Gustavo Freitas |
ON THE SPARROW, RW Hahn |
THE LAST KING OF AMERICA, Richard Guimond |
SOUL OF AN EMPIRE, Ryan Jaroncyk |
THE SAX, Pascal Kulcsar |
HOLLYWOOD’S MOST WANTED: I’M READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP, ESE, Manny Jimenez Sr. |
SHOOTING ANGELS, RW Hahn |
HOBBY AND FITZ, James Milton |
CHARMER, David Kurtz |
WINDSPIRIT, Paul Penley |
MAUDITE ÉQUATION, Joel Prost |
THE UNDERTAKER’S CHILDREN, Natasha Le Petit |
THE MYTHICAL GOLDEN TROUT, Craig Peters |
DESERT RUN, Christopher Thomas |
WHEN I WAS A CHILD, T. L. Needham |
FIRE ON THE ISLAND, Timothy Smith |
THE LOST OPERA, Rachel, Thomas-Medwid |
THE ARIZONA BALLOON BUSTER, Mark Perlick and Steven Pripps |
THE ELECTRIC WAR, Arthur Tiersky |
THE CRACK IN PEGGY SUE’S FLOOR, John Woodard |
CHILDREN OF EDEN, Raymond Just |
KLONDIKE MIKE, Thomas Zmiarovich |
MANHATTAN MARILYN (book), Philippe Laguerre |
MASON, Andrew Marshall |
|
by John | Jul 27, 2018 | Our Winners, Updates

We’re delighted to be announcing the winners of two more awards from our Spring 2018 Contest: Best Long and Short Form Pilots! These are both demanding categories, requiring a writer to tell a condense their story down to a small number of pages. In addition, any pilot episode needs to both tell a complete story and be the first instalment of a larger, overarching plot – meaning that these scripts have to pull double duty to achieve their goals!
(more…)
by John | Jul 20, 2018 | Deutsch (Neuigkeiten), Our Winners, Results, WMC, WriteMovies News
We are delighted to announce the Quarter-Finalists for our Spring 2018 Screenwriting Contest! And even more importantly, our next two winners…
There have been a lot of great scripts for us to read for this contest, especially with our extended late entry running into June! The competition has been especially fierce, and we’ve enjoyed judging all the scripts we were sent.
So congratulations to our Spring 2018 Quarter-Finalists! Each script here deservedly advances in the contest. We’ll be giving every last one of them a fresh read as we consider which ones will make the Semi-Finals…
With so much competition this time around, a number of promising writers have unfortunately missed out – so don’t feel down if you’re one of them. A lot of the scripts that didn’t make it were strong contenders with a lot of positive features.
If you’d like to know why your script placed where it did, and how to take it to the next level, commission a Script Report from us to get a professional analyst’s opinion on what’s currently working and what’s holding it back. We provide large numbers of studio-quality Script Reports for writers and producers every year – and as an added bonus, you’ll get free entry into our next main contest!
Alternatively, check out our Elite Mentoring service: invaluable one-to-one advice from actual Hollywood producers and studio execs!
See the full list of Quarter-Finalists below… but first, here are the winners of Best Book and Best Stageplay!
BEST BOOK: BLUT WIRD FLIEßEN, by Urs Aebersold
BEST STAGEPLAY: THE CRACK IN PEGGY SUE’S FLOOR, by John Woodard
Hearty congratulations to them and everyone else who is still in the running for our other prizes! We’ll be in touch with them soon about their winnings…
|
Quarter-Finalists |
|
BLUT WIRD FLIEßEN, Urs Aebersold |
REMOTELY WORKING, William Baber |
NICKERBACHER, Terry Barto |
THE DAWN OF EVE, James Bingham |
HOPE IS NOT A BLACK AND WHITE RAINBOW, Harold L. Brown |
ROLL WITH IT, Rosie Byrnes |
PARDON MY GENDER: SUCH A FARCE!, Bob Canning |
LOVERS IN PARIS, Andy Conway |
UNE CHANCE POUR GUÉRIR, Christine de Chauvelin |
LES NIOCKS, Edith Devillet |
THE GOOD CITIZEN, Joel Doty |
RELENTLESS, Jay Fisher |
OPERATION BORTHER SAM, Gustavo Freitas |
THE LAST KING OF AMERICA, Richard Guimond |
BIG BALLS aka FUTUREBALL, Richard Guimond |
ON THE SPARROW, RW Hahn |
SHOOTING ANGELS, RW Hahn |
RACE, Justin Jackson |
THE HAPPY PLACE, Justin Jackson |
THE BROKEN CYPHER, Justin Jackson |
SOUL OF AN EMPIRE, Ryan Jaroncyk |
VIVA – A COLDPLAY MUSICAL, Ines Jimenez |
HOLLYWOOD’S MOST WANTED: I’M READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP, ESE, Manny Jimenez Sr. |
CHILDREN OF EDEN, Raymond A. Just |
THE SAX, Pascal Kulcsar |
CHARMER, David Kurtz |
THE HEART OF A TIGER, SreyRam Kuy (book and screenplay) |
MANHATTAN MARILYN, Philippe Laguerre (book and screenplay) |
THE UNDERTAKER’S CHILDREN, Natasha Le Petit |
INSPIRED, David Lawrence Lynch |
HOBBY AND FITZ, James Milton |
WHEN I WAS A CHILD, T. L. Needham |
WINDSPIRIT, Paul Penley |
THE SHADOW OF DHARMA, Mark Perlick |
THE ARIZONA BALLOON BUSTER, Mark Perlick and Steven Pripps |
THE MYTHICAL GOLDEN TROUT, Craig Peters |
MAUDITE ÉQUATION, Joel Prost |
WHATEVER IT TAKES, Robin Regensburg |
THE LAST JOURNEY OF NOAH, Mark Rigoglioso |
PERISH, Mike Rogers |
IMMORTALIZING RAYMOND, James Rosenfield |
FIRE ON THE ISLAND, Timothy Smith |
DESERT RUN, Christopher Thomas |
THE LOST OPERA, Rachel, Thomas-Medwid |
THE ELECTRIC WAR, Arthur Tiersky |
THE CRACK IN PEGGY SUE’S FLOOR, John Woodard |
KLONDIKE MIKE, Thomas Zmiarovich |
|
by John | Jul 16, 2018 | Our Winners, Updates
We recently announced the winning script in this brand new category: BIG BALLS aka FUTUREBALL by Richard Guimond!
A big congratulations to Richard for being the very first winner of Best Video Game Script – he now receives a copy of our Confidential Studio Manual and exclusive previews of our Virtual Film School.
Read on to find out about the winning script: BIG BALLS aka FUTUREBALL!
Here’s Richard’s summary of his script…
“A Whole New Ballgame: A 21st Century sport, utilizing an incredible history-making vehicle. A classic underdog, Rocky-themed script that levels the playing field for men, women, and teenagers. Will the Reynolds family bring this revolutionary new sport to fruition? With big business stealing their Futureball concept away from them, this script charts their battle with this business entity, as well as their family adventures and comical mis-adventures in launching this new sport of man and machine.”

And a short biography of Richard too…
“I am a former deep sea fisherman, and award winning screenwriter and novelist. I have won over thirty-five awards including but not limited to from Grand Prize, Gold, Silver, and Finalist for many of my screenplay works in adult fiction. Over the last few years, I have won seven Finalist Awards and a Special Jury Award from The West Field Screenplay Competition for METACOMET. I also won First Place in The Kids First Media Competition at the Santa Fe Film Festival for my Family PG Screenplay titled: FUTUREBALL aka BIG BALLS, which now has won WriteMovies competition in their Video Game category.
I began my fishing and writing career at an early age. I started with a small skiff which eventually grew into a fleet of one hundred foot vessels, engaged in the trapping of offshore lobsters on the virgin Continental Shelf. At the time, I was the youngest fisherman in New England to venture out into this no-man’s land of risky, profitable opportunity. On the high seas, I did battle with competitive fishing fleets, stormy weather, winter nor’easters and cranky crews. Some of my novels and screenplays have captured some of those incredible adventures. I have written Fifteen Screenplays, Six Novels, and a Stage Play.”
If you’ve got a great idea for a video game script, check out our Elite Mentoring service. Mark Brendan, our Video Games and Board Games Elite Mentor, can give you valuable advice that will help you develop your script to its maximum potential.
Take a look at Mark’s profile here!
by WriteMovies | Jul 7, 2018 | Our Winners, Updates
We’re really pleased to announce the first winner from our Spring 2018 Contest – and the first winner for our newest category, the Best Video Game Script! Video games are a huge and growing market, and often cost as much as the biggest movies to make. Their scope and scriptwriting are often as intricate as the best movie scripts, and on a much bigger scale. We wanted to offer a new prize for video game scripts to reward writers who can see the potential of that market for writers and who can stake a claim to it. (more…)