Screamfest |
2024
Screamfest Horror Film Festival is the largest and longest running horror film festival in the United States.
Placement
Genre
Format
Representation Status
Winners
Winner
Feature
· Thriller
· 103 Pages
On a luxury airliner, a genius flight attendant believes she receives a message from the future: she has to kill a tech billionaire before the plane lands, or millions of people will die.
New York City, New York
Justin is a Canadian-American ad exec whose love for learning and storytelling has taken him everywhere from moonshot tech innovation labs to Sumatran coffee farms. He was once a Hollywood assistant, but only recently tried screenwriting – and now, he enjoys writing movies almost as much as watching them. He loves mysteries and high-concept, genre...
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Finalists
Finalist
Feature
· Thriller
· 107 Pages
A mother travels with her young daughter to an AI tech mogul's estate to compete for a life-changing job opportunity in robotics -- but when the other candidates start mysteriously dying, the stakes become higher than they could have ever imagined.
New York City, New York
Justin is a Canadian-American ad exec whose love for learning and storytelling has taken him everywhere from moonshot tech innovation labs to Sumatran coffee farms. He was once a Hollywood assistant, but only recently tried screenwriting – and now, he enjoys writing movies almost as much as watching them. He loves mysteries and high-concept, genre...
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Finalist
Feature
· Thriller
· 95 Pages
Marseille Port, France. Summer 1720. Trapped in the hold of a merchant ship, a group of slaves and a young nobleman must join forces for an interminable night to fight off the attacks of a crazed mob set on burning them alive for witchcraft, as an outbreak of plague ravages the city…
Paris, FR
Since childhood, Cedric has been passionate about storytelling and cinema. As a French-based screenwriter, he has carved out a niche in the horror and thriller genres. Cedric chose to embrace his own vision and adopted an approach inspired by American storytelling, allowing him to fully express his creativity and bring his compelling stories to life...
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Semifinalists
Semifinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 96 Pages
Seizing a career-making opportunity, a troubled but talented jewelry designer finds herself in a fight for her life when an influencer retreat in the High Desert takes a sinister turn. THE CRAFT meets YOU’RE NEXT
Los Angeles, CA
Sasha Kai is a neurospicy writer, producer, and ex-techie with a knack for turning life’s plot twists into genre-bending stories. Raised blue-collar in rural Ohio, her path has been anything but straight—she broke away from a religious cult, became the first in her family to go to college, organized on the frontlines of national politics, and eventu...
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Semifinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 115 Pages
Desperately in debt to ruthless, violent criminals, a grieving widower and father will do anything to support his daughter and salvage his life, but he is not ready for what she has become in the wake of a shocking tragedy.
Edison, NJ
Born and raised in Ogdensburg, NY. Based in NJ today. MFA in playwriting from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers. Published short plays: GUYS and SLOP-CULTURE. Worked in development for ten years at NYC indie film companies like Artisan Entertainment and Filbert Steps Prods. Worked for 22+ years at HBO in NYC.
Nicholl Fellowship semi-finalist...
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Semifinalist
Feature
· Sci-fi
· 101 Pages
A group of engineering students break into an eccentric tech billionaire’s mansion to steal a piece of equipment to finish their thesis project. The heist takes an unexpected turn when they encounter his new invention.
Fresno, CA
We met in our high school theater class and quickly discovered a creative partnership based on a common love of fighting digital monsters, searching for rumored ghosts on abandoned farms, and being the worst understudies ever in a musical.
Now, we write the types of adventures that we loved to see when we were growing up - finding joy in friends...
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Semifinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 105 Pages
A dysfunctional liberal couple on a cross-country move are too busy breaking up to realize they're being stalked by a neo-conservative cult.
Los Angeles, CA
James is an actor, stand up comedian, writer and director who studied theater at NYU thanks to a buttload of predatory student loans. They're also queer, nonbinary, and HIV Positive (subjects they openly discuss in their stand-up). They were raised in a family of truck drivers and addicts in Bakersfield, CA. Featured for their comedy in NY Times, Ou...
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Semifinalist
Feature
· Thriller
· 100 Pages
In post-World War II America, an estranged couple attends a dinner party at a remote mansion, but something sinister throws the evening into chaos. This place is not what it seems, and this night together could be their last.
Los Angeles, CA
As a child, Don was subjected to a (probably unhealthy) diet of murder mystery films. While his therapist has more details, this is likely what led Don to write dark thrillers that upend genre conventions, with plot twists that yield chatter around the water cooler (if offices still have those). Don is also an attorney and brags about having a way...
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Indigent
Private
Semifinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 93 Pages
When a young Black man uncovers a grotesque secret in his decaying apartment complex, his investigation draws him into a dark conspiracy involving his neighbors, mysterious deaths, and an insidious parasite that infects him with a never-ending hunger.
Nashville, TN
Briana was born and raised in Tullahoma, TN — a town inexplicably found on state maps. (It just got a Publix!) She is the oldest of seven children and a first-generation academic with degrees in cognitive linguistics, Japanese language, and speech-language pathology. In 2019, she became a fellow with the TN Playwrights Studio and has been writing s...
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Semifinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 108 Pages
A self-centered punk singer and her bitter bandmates agree to play one last show, but when a rival band turns demonic and traps them in the music venue, they must work together to survive the night.
Los Angeles, CA
Let me introduce myself. I’m a film nerd, a tv geek, a music junkie, a yoga enthusiast, a plant slant fanatic, a newly minted member to the world of fatherhood, and a passionate advocate of my scripts. I have a deep love for film and tv and the power both can have on people from all walks of life. I cut my teeth as a writer’s assistant to profession...
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Semifinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 110 Pages
When an upper-class man brings his younger fiancé home for the first time, the visit reveals a disconcerting mother-son dynamic that thrusts the fiancé into a world of hidden rooms, deviant secrets, and a haunting confrontation of the man’s problematic past.
Portland, OR
Jerry J. Sampson is an award-winning screenwriter and fiction author who specializes in horror, thriller, and other genre storytelling. Her latest short film, "The Safety Games" is preparing for the festival circuit, she is the author of the short story collection "The Scream & Other Dark Stories", and is at work on a new book of horror tales.
Her ...
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Semifinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 124 Pages
Martin's Thanksgiving suicide attempt takes a sinister turn when his estranged family barges in, bringing with them the specter of a long-buried past. As they attempt to rebuild, Martin battles inner demons that threaten to devour them all.
Los Angeles, California
Brian, deeply rooted in the horror community since his days at Blumhouse, crafts tales that infuse dark themes into vibrant stories of love, loss, and redemption. His boundary-pushing storytelling exudes a captivating darkness with a mission to ignite change on crucial subjects like mental health and addiction. Founder of Red End Productions.
Dive ...
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Throat Goat
Private
Semifinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 100 Pages
While attending a queer adult summer camp, a 30-year-old virgin and his new friends are attacked by a goat-masked psychopath.
Los Angeles, California
Jeremy Alan Pappas has an absurdist vision of transcending parochial confines through queer formalist filmmaking and genre stories. A CSULB alum with produced works that have appeared in various festivals including SXSW 2023, LALIFF 2023, and Official Latino 2019 where he was nominated for the American Diversity Award.
Jeremy writes and directs ...
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Quarterfinalists
A Girl's Guide to Vampirism
Private
Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Comedy
· 110 Pages
A college girl and her squad try to help her best friend, who's become a vampire. Can they keep her fed and safe? Can they keep themselves safe?
Write LA Semifinalist (Top 15),
Shore Scripts Feature Contest Semifinalist,
The Golden Script Fellowship Semifinalist,
Scriptation Showcase Semifinalist,
Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition Semifinalist,
Filmmatic Inroads Fellowship Semifinalist,
Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition Semifinalist,
Plot Point Awards Finalist
Blood Quartz
Private
Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 113 Pages
When a grieving woman attends a desert retreat led by a charismatic guru, she and her friends discover the leader is actually a vampire exploiting seekers to feed his coven's bloodlust and must fight through a psychedelic nightmare to try to escape and survive.
Van Nuys, Ca
Scott is a screenwriter specializing in horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and comedy. He has achieved placements in multiple contests and earned a degree in Film and Media studies from the University of Kansas (2010). With a background in film/television production as a production coordinator, he brings a unique skill set to screenwriting. His writing style ...
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Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 98 Pages
After a devastating late-term miscarriage, a codependent woman takes in a stray dog, determined to mother it. But when it exhibits troubling behavior, she's plunged into a nightmare, and the only way out is to confront her grief.
Santa Monica, CA
Madi Stine is an award-winning filmmaker and recovering valley girl. Her work explores isolation and unexpected community. Madi graduated from Harvard, Columbia (Film MFA), and is a Fulbright Scholar. Her shorts have screened at Palm Springs ShortFest, Nantucket, and American Cinemathéque’s PROOF Film Festival. She’s won the Harvardwood Writers Comp...
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Guardian
Private
Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 109 Pages
When a blizzard causes a blackout at an elderly care facility, an overnight security guard and a resident must battle a Djinn hellbent on apocalypse.
No bio available.
Holy Mountain
Private
Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 99 Pages
A young woman travels for Thanksgiving to the backwoods of North Carolina with her family to commemorate her father’s death anniversary. Instead of a peaceful week of healing, she discovers a murderous cult controls their Airbnb, and her family is on the chopping block next.
Glendale, California
Natasha's comfort movie is Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Her unique take on horror infuses everything she loves about classic slashers with her advocacy for feminism within the genre. Recent alum of UCLA TFT Professional Program in Screenwriting and Writing for Television.
June of the Apocalypse
Private
Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 104 Pages
A down on her luck woman finds herself out of work, living with her parents, and oh, in a freaking zombie apocalypse! Together with her zany bunch of family and friends, she must navigate and hopefully survive this deadly new world.
Hailing from small town Ohio, Rachel grew up watching a crap ton of TV. She soon fell in love with comedy and horror, and began crafting her own stories. After studying film at Kent State University, she went on to write, act, and do film work in North Carolina and Colorado. Rachel loves to tell stories where girls kick some ass.
Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 108 Pages
After an outcast teen strikes a reckless deal with a foul-mouthed demon for high school popularity, she must stop his bloody rampage before he destroys everything—and everyone—she cares about.
Houston, TX
Darrell studied film at the University of Houston, where he wrote and directed several short films, but was forced to take a long hiatus from film due to a rare brain disorder. With the support of his amazing family, he navigated his condition and returned to screenwriting. He’s placed in the Nicholl, AFF, PAGE, Launch Pad, and ScreenCraft contests ...
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Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 103 Pages
Horror prop artist Alison Dawkins returns to her childhood home to find that her dying father has founded a cannibalistic cult.
Burbank, CA
Danielle loves creating original genre-bending stories featuring female leaders - particularly adventure thrillers.
Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 102 Pages
In 1986, a troubled woman kidnaps a teenage pop star and is driven to commit horrific acts.
Las Vegas, Nevada
James Steele Haney is an award-winning horror screenwriter and a graduate of the University of Louisville. After 16 years of writing experience in marketing, he is now pursuing a career in screenwriting, directing, and acting.
His work includes four feature films: the psychological horror "ReddeR," the LGBT+ crime horror "Greenville Society," th...
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Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 113 Pages
In 1999, on the last day of summer in New Jersey - a group of teenage water park employees, two twelve year-old girls, and, an out-of-state tourist, must face and survive the Jersey Devil.
Los Angeles, CA
Proud New Jersey-an (current LA resident) who specializes in horror, genre television, and comedies that blend genre conventions and contain top-tier dialogue. Currently seeking representation.
Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Thriller
· 108 Pages
After starting a passionate affair with a mysterious older man, a young woman uncovers his deadly secret: he seduces and hunts the daughters of his (dead) ex-lovers. Trapped in his twisted game, she must break free before she becomes his next victim.
Los Angeles, CA
Based in West Hollywood, Maria is a writer who works in the entertainment industry. She hails from Farmington Hills, Michigan and moved to LA after acquiring a BFA in Screenwriting at DePaul University in Chicago. She enjoys writing female-driven stories and her writing has been an AFF second-rounder, Screencraft finalist and won numerous other awa...
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