2023 Writing Contest – Winners and Honorable Mentions Announced!
The WriteMovies 2023 Writing Contest winners…
Spring 2021 Screenwriting Contest – Winners Announced!
It’s the day we’ve all been waiting for – today we announce the winners of the WriteMovies Spring 2021 Screenwriting Contest! This is the last major contest we’ll be running this year, so it’s extra exciting for us to see which entries emerge as the winners that we’ll be working to develop and pitch to industry.
Spring 2021 Screenwriting Contest – Semi-Finalists!
The latest step towards our final Grand Prize of 2021 is revealed today. Our Semi-Finalists for the Spring 2021 Contest cover a fascinating range of subjects, with wideranging and often distinctive execution. Congratulations to all of them for presenting scripts that we felt were engaging and had good potential to go further.
Fall 2020 Screenwriting Contest – Quarter-Finalists Announced!
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!
Summer 2020 Screenwriting Contest – Winners Announced!
After a tough final round of judging, our Summer 2020 Screenwriting Contest comes to an end – and the winners are decided!
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.
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.
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!
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 |