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WriteMovies Spring 2018 Contest Winner

WriteMovies Spring 2018 Contest Winner

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.

WriteMovies Spring 2018 Contest WinnerAnd 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.

Want to follow Chris and become a Grand Prize Winner? Our Winter 2019 contest is now open – final deadline January 2019! Enter today and take your first steps towards writing success with WriteMovies!

Spring 2018 Screenwriting Contest – Semi-Finalists and Best Studio Script, Indie Script and Short Script!

Spring 2018 Screenwriting Contest – Semi-Finalists and Best Studio Script, Indie Script and Short Script!

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!

Screenplay

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
Spring 2018 Screenwriting Contest – Quarter Finalists, Book and Stageplay WINNERS!

Spring 2018 Screenwriting Contest – Quarter Finalists, Book and Stageplay WINNERS!

We are delighted to announce the Quarter-Finalists for our Spring 2018 Screenwriting Contest! And even more importantly, our next two winners…

 

ScreenplayThere 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

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