Just a week ago we announced the winner of our Horror Award, but the wheels never stop turning here at WriteMovies – it’s now time to announce the Quarter-Finalists for our Fall 2020 Screenwriting Contest!
After a tough final round of judging, our Summer 2020 Screenwriting Contest comes to an end – and the winners are decided!
The desert takes care of its own… A hard-bitten oil explorer and a desperate group of orphans led by two unorthodox nuns are forced into a hellish desert confrontation to escape the Nazis and help ensure an Allied victory.
From the fierce competition of our most recent contest, one script emerged victorious. We are proud to introduce the WriteMovies Spring 2018 Contest Winner: DESERT RUN by Christopher Thomas!
A wartime action-adventure script set in Egypt, 1942, DESERT RUN is a thrilling script that rejuvenates the classic era of adventure. Full of excitement and romance, it kept us on the edge of our seats from the first page to the last, and deservedly took the top spot in our contest. Chris wins a cash prize of $2000, a year of script development worth up to $3200, and more!
Here’s a summary of the WriteMovies Spring 2018 Contest winner…
Michael Quinn, a man haunted by memories of a war-scarred childhood, grows into the roughshod desert explorer who discovers the enormous oil reserves in Saudi Arabia. By 1942, his company is the most important source of oil in the world – a world that craves his product – a world at war.
As Quinn tries to keep the oilfields out of Hitler’s hands, he discovers that the lives of a young nun and her crew of streetwise orphans are pawns in a deadly deal. And as the Nazis brutalize North Africa, Quinn and the boys devise their escape.
With Nazis at their back and the Sahara desert before them, a monster sandstorm offers them refuge. It’s said that the desert takes care of its own but the price is high, and when the survivors are finally confronted with a real hell-on-earth, they find their bonds irrevocably forged and their mettle tested.
And a short bio of Chris…
As a little girl growing up in Saudi Arabia, I was aware that I was surrounded by stories of epic proportions. History was happening everywhere and it gave me a particularly urgent perspective on humans, their conditions and their resilience that continues to feed my screenwriting. When I’m not mired in some dark and dire world I’ve created, I’m a creative writing instructor and a writer/designer of educational material based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I’m also the Director and Lead Instructor for the Boulder Writing Studio’s Summer Creative Writing Camp series in Boulder, Colorado and serve on the Board of Directors. Prior to that I spent over 20 years as a senior level creative in the fields of animation, broadcast advertising, media design and film/video production. I have an MA in Educational Design E-learning from the University of Colorado Denver.
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 |
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 |
The results are in… Winter 2018 Screenwriting Contest winners are revealed below!
Another contest complete, another group of winners revealed. We’ve seen the growth and improvement in many writers who have submitted – something that is reflected by the results! Thank you to all of you who entered for making our jobs of judging the scripts enjoyable.
We strongly encourage you to take advantage of our script consultancies to find out why your script placed where it did. Our top 3 now get those for free for the next year!
Here’s what our Top 3 win…
CONGRATULATIONS to SLAVE SHIP by Tyler True for winning the Winter 2018 Screenwriting Competition!
A great win for Tyler for this excellent script about harrowing history and inspirational change. Tyler now takes home those wonderful prizes listed above. But we must also congratulate…
Second Placed Winner, CHARMER by David Kurtz – David has improved on his Third Placed finish in our Summer contest and was so close to taking home the main prize! Good job, David!
Third Placed Winner, INSURRECTION by Simon Bowler. Another win for Simon following on from his “Best Teleplay” win – another script that has continued to improve over multiple submissions!
And, of course, a special congrats to our Honorable Mentions: NEW REALITY by Carolyn Kras, MAGIC MAN by Norma Hickox, THE CRAWL-UP by Gabriell DeBear Paye, VALENTYNE by Dashiell Finley, THE DAWN OF EVE by James Bingham, A Shadow in Space by Bryan Reilly, and THE FOURTH COURIER by TIMOTHY JAY SMITH.
A very well done to everyone named here and the many other impressive scripts we read this time round. It’s been a tough field to choose from!
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!
Simon now receives free Development Notes to help make his pilot breakthrough. With on-demand bringing the best shows into our homes whenever we want them, the appetite for scripted TV shows is massive and so are the range of new ways to get them made.
Our second placed television entry is SHAKESPEARE OF AVON by James Hanson! For finishing in second place, James will also gain free Development Notes on his pilot. We think there’s some great potential in these two teleplays and we’re looking forward to setting them on the path to success…
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