ScreenCraft Film Fund |
Fall 2024
Offering up to $30,000 in funding for a range of projects from treatments to standalone screenplays to fully-packaged projects seeking finishing funds.
Placement
Genre
Format
Representation Status
Winners
Brownsville Bred
Private
Winner
In Production Film
· Drama
· 88 Pages
A Nuyorican girl learns resilience as she copes with her once-idolized musician father's decline and the challenges of her notorious neighborhood.
- Verified WGA Member
Miami Beach, Florida
Elaine is a native New Yorker and multi- hyphenate Storyteller.
Her awards include the HBO Latinx Director award, the Latino Film Institute works-in-progress feature grant, NY Women in Media Post production grant and from festivals including SXSW, Urbanworld, Catalyst Stories, Seriesfest and more. Elaine is a graduate of the WGA Showrunner Academy,...
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Winner
Feature
· Sci-fi
· 96 Pages
When a disaster traps her in the orbit of a black hole, a space mechanic confronts the memories of her past -- a dying Earth, a mother who never understood her -- while forging a connection with a man marooned on a nearby planet, one broadcast at a time.
Los Angeles, California
A writer/producer based out of Los Angeles, J. has accrued years of entertainment industry experience, from AMC Networks to History Channel's KNIGHTFALL. He loves telling empowering, diversity-filled genre stories across all forms of media, and is currently raising funds for his first indie sci-fi feature, due to shoot in 2025.
Winner
Feature
· Drama
· 71 Pages
Haunted by an accident he caused years earlier, a damaged filmmaker is forced to go back to the scene of the tragedy and face the old friends whose lives he ruined and a town that disdains him. Jumping between the present and an independent film he made about the accident, we learn the true events played out far differently than he depicted in his m...
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Queens, NY
Christian Nilsson is an Emmy Award-winning video journalist and producer, and the award-winning director behind DASHCAM and UNSUBSCRIBE—the $0-budget short film that became the #1 movie in the American box office in 2020.
Christian lives in New York City.
Finalists
Good Boy
Private
Finalist
Feature
· Horror
· 59 Pages
This logline was hidden by the writer.
Montana
No bio available.
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Here I Am v2
Private
Finalist
Feature Documentary
· Drama
· 24 Pages
‘Here I Am’ captures the transformative journey of Syrian-American musician and former punk-rocker Rayya Elias as she sets out on a romantic relationship with best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert (‘Eat, Pray, Love’), and attempts to record her first music album in the final twelve months of her life.
Filmed over a year in New York and Detroit, a...
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Brighton, East Sussex, GB
Marc J. Francis, a distinguished storyteller with a two-decade career, is renowned for directing and producing internationally acclaimed documentaries, distributed in cinemas, on television, and streaming platforms. His recent film “Walk With Me,” narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, premiered at SXSW Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival, ev...
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ISLE CHILD
Private
Finalist
Feature
· Drama
· 102 Pages
When a young Korean-American adoptee discovers that his birth mother is terminally ill in Korea, he must decide whether to preserve the facade of his American life or face the truth of his past and otherness.
Concord, MA
Thomas Percy Kim is a Korean-American writer/director kindled by raw, introspective narratives and poetic imagery. His debut stop-motion short film, TREJUR, premiered at Indyshorts and Busan International before receiving the Harry Winston Brilliant Futures award and YoungArts gold. Before USC, his live-action short, SI, starring Ki Hong Lee (MAZE R...
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Finalist
Feature
· Horror
· 105 Pages
When a murderous stranger who appears to be their late author-mother's most infamous creation – THE CALLING WITCH – lays siege to their isolated home, VIRGINIA (20s) and EDWARD LAYE (10) have only each other to depend upon in their fight to survive.
Los Angeles
Chris Retts is the multiple-produced screenwriter and independent producer of WADE IN THE WATER, which won Audience Choice at DWFLA and was called, "A little movie with a big heart," by legendary storyteller, Stephen King. The script for "WADE" finished at the illustrious Academy Nicholl Fellowships, the second of three times one of Chris' scripts w...
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The Trek
Private
Finalist
Feature
· Western
· 97 Pages
Starvation, suspicion and madness plague a family as they cross the Kalahari under the eyes of two desert spirits.
Cape Town, Western Cape, ZA
Before forming his production company — The Department of Special Projects — James cut his teeth on producing marketing content for studios such as Sony Pictures, Paramount and Netflix. He has since focused on producing and writing auteur-driven genre films with his first feature — horror/comedy FRIED BARRY. Debuting as a Shudder Original, Fried Bar...
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The Truth About Space
Private
Finalist
Short
· Drama
· 12 Pages
A young man is released from prison and has to face up to the lie that his estranged daughter has been led to believe - that he was in space.
Jeremiah Towolawi is a British-Nigerian writer-director who is passionate about telling bold stories that tackle pertinent social issues. His short film "Pepper Soup'' delved into a woman's struggle with her faith and marriage after a traumatic event. It premiered at the Women of The Lens Film Festival. His previous short "MISSED”, produced by Fully...
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Finalist
Short
· Drama
· 19 Pages
A young girl, unable to speak since losing both of her parents in a fire, is jolted out of her grief when she discovers an immigrant mother and daughter hiding in her backyard and must decide what to do.
San Luis Obispo, California
Randi is an award-winning screenwriter, director, and film editor whose character driven stories often focus on misfits, rebels, and unexpected moments of beauty. Her feature screenplay, THE CHICKEN FESTIVAL, is a Nicholl Fellowship semifinalist, and her scripts have been honored by CineStory, The Writers Lab, Austin, and more. She is the writer/di...
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Semifinalists
Semifinalist
Short
· Fantasy
· 15 Pages
A feared Queen's fairytale pits youthful idealism against unwavering hatred, to prepare her naive, cloistered daughter for her destiny on the throne while revealing the horrifying nature of the brutally cruel responsibilities necessary to rule.
Los Angeles, CA
No bio available.
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Semifinalist
Short
· Sci-fi
· 10 Pages
When an ordinary man on the cusp of starting his dream job finds out he is 'pregnant' with an alien parasite, he flashes back to the time he told his teenage girlfriend to not have an abortion.
Los Angeles, CA
When she isn’t appearing on hit shows like HBO’s SILICON VALLEY and ABC's ABBOTT ELEMENTARY, Nandini Bapat writes one-hour genre TV dramas. She previously staffed as a junior writer on a video game project, adapting a popular comic book IP. She’s also written two award-winning short films.
Semifinalist
Feature
· Drama
· 106 Pages
A young woman struggling to break free from her older, invalid husband unwittingly enters into a dangerous relationship with the woman she hires to take care of her husband.
Nora Jaenicke is an award winning filmmaker living in New York City. Her short films have screened at 45+ Festivals and won 30+ Awards.
Semifinalist
Short
· Animated
· 8 Pages
A dog longs for his recently deceased owner, who is bound to their old home as a specter. (Ghost meets Snoopy)
North Hollywood, California
Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Salas was born in Brownsville, Texas. His childhood was spent in a hundred-year-old house that stood in poverty. His wild imagination allowed him to escape from his impoverished upbringing. As his social and academic knowledge grew, so did his appreciation for storytelling and film. Storytelling bridges people. Rudy earned his MFA fro...
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Semifinalist
Short
· Horror
· 13 Pages
A man unearths a malevolent black sphere with the power to change his life for the better, only to discover a blood sacrifice is expected in return.
Elkridge, Md
Matthew has had several scripts place in prestigious competitions, such as the Nicholl Fellowship Competition (Semifinalist for Ghosts of Kiev), the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards Competition (Quarterfinalist for Proffer), and the ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship Competition (Semifinalist for Gravida).
In 2015, Matthew made the Blac...
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Semifinalist
Short
· Horror
· 23 Pages
Boy scouts on a secluded retreat begin to suspect their leader is a vampire.
Minneapolis, MN
Tapan "like Japan with a T" Sharma. I was called tampon in middle school but I'm super absorbent; so, compliment.
Genre-driven satirist in service of creative social justice. Adam McKay meets Greta Gerwig meets Jordan Peele. Those aren’t comps; I just want to be a fly on that wall.
Canada born, Minnesota raised; dropped out of med school to be...
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Semifinalist
Short
· Thriller
· 20 Pages
When missiles strike Ukraine, a dedicated doctor must choose between reuniting with her family or saving the war orphans under her care.
Los Angeles, CA
Mimi began her filmmaking journey directing self-taught Super 8mm films before studying cinematography and editing. Inspired by history, she is writing a novel about the Vietnam War and was a 2020 nominee for the Allegra Johnson Award for Novelist through the UCLA Extension Writers' Program.
Her project, CHILDREN OF WAR, reached Finalist for the...
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Semifinalist
Short
· Drama
· 13 Pages
In a society where abortion is illegal, Jumana, a rape survivor, grapples with accepting her unborn child while her family devises a covert plan to conceal the pregnancy's scandalous nature.
No bio available.
Cora, Eat Your Spaghetti
Private
Semifinalist
Short
· Drama
· 19 Pages
Struggling with an eating disorder and a mother mentally trapped in the past, a Black teen is confronted by her younger self on her 18th birthday.
Brooklyn, New York
Shannon M. Sutherland (she/her) is a writer and director based in New York City. Her stories often feature Black female protagonists in the horror and fantasy genres, exploring themes of Black girlhood through metaphysical lenses.
Her latest short film, They Flew Like Blackbirds, was one of the five winners of the 4th Annual Focus Features & JetB...
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Semifinalist
Feature
· Thriller
· 92 Pages
After their father's death two sisters reunite at their childhood home to uncover forgotten secrets and rip open old wounds.
Two women drawn into a game of cat and mouse in the house of a dead man.
FILM SCREENER: https://f.io/yayO6Nas
No bio available.
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Semifinalist
Feature Documentary
· Historical
· 27 Pages
A determined group of present-day Lakota descendants struggles against impossible odds to revoke the Medals of Honor awarded to soldiers who participated in the Wounded Knee Massacre more than a century ago.
North Branford, Ct, CT
Steve toiled for many years at NBC’s iconic 30 Rock headquarters where a rejected suggestion regarding the act structure of a SMASH primetime show convinced him to someday create his own content that challenged established narratives – and himself. So here we are. His first film, Disputed Honor, exposes the intricate layers of historical responsibil...
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Documented
Private
Semifinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 87 Pages
A young boy documents his and his father's exploits as serial killers over several years, until the son's growing independence brings their relationship into conflict. This psychological slasher film offers a uniquely killer perspective, chronicling the violent and sadistic crimes of the serial
murderers known as "The Butcher," who were active throu...
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Brandon Young
No bio available.
DOMICIDAL
Private
Semifinalist
Feature
· Thriller
· 91 Pages
When a cantankerous feminist podcaster’s smart home is hacked, she has to stop the hacker before her house kills her. A haunted house film where the haunting is caused by hacked smart home technology.
Alexandria, Virginia
I come from the tech world, where I have a PhD in computer science. I've been writing scripts and making films for seven years now. In that time, I've placed in many contests, including being an Austin semi-finalist.
Ecosphere
Private
Semifinalist
TV Script
· Animated
· 16 Pages
A fire ant named Redd ends up separated from her colony inside a huge glass bowl called the Ecosphere. She befriends a group of local bugs who help her get back home, but is that really where she belongs?
Vito Pistone
No bio available.
Semifinalist
Short
· Horror
· 21 Pages
“Epigone” follows the story of Ben, a radicalized young man who becomes complicit in the death of his sister after becoming involved with an underground incel movement.
London, GB
Laurie is a Writer/ Director, currently working as an assistant to the Director on HETV Netflix series such as, The Crown, and The Diplomat.
She began making her own films in 2022, applying what she was learning on set to her own shorts. Since then, she has steadily increased the ambition and scale of her productions.
Prior to working in film, L...
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Flying Like a Bird
Private
Semifinalist
Short Documentary
· Other
· 1 Pages
Jiachen, a fan of Michael Jordan and a basketball player, is trolled online when posting videos of himself playing basketball because he is a Tibetan monk boy.
No bio available.
Semifinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 17 Pages
A fourteen-year-old and her girlfriend run away from home after fears their relationship has been discovered.
As a screenwriter, Scott has worked for companies in LA, Montreal, Germany, Helsinki, New York, and Boston. He adapted the novel, ADELE, by Peter Ronnov-Jensen (optioned 3x), and was hired to write a TV pilot for Academy Award winning actor Morgan Freeman. His adaptation of the memoir “Black Dog of Fate”, by Pulitzer Prize winner Peter Balakian, wa...
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Free the Panther 21
Private
Semifinalist
Feature Documentary
· Historical
· 9 Pages
In the fervent cultural climate of the late Sixties, twenty-one members of the New York’s Black Panther Party and their radical lawyers brave an uphill legal battle to prove the Panthers’ innocence against a hostile political and judiciary system that wants them guilty of horrendous crimes and call them the “most dangerous threat to the internal sec...
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No bio available.
From Sidney, With Love
Private
Semifinalist
Short
· Drama
· 15 Pages
Convinced that she is Sidney Poitier’s daughter, Rilla, a 9-year-old from an otherwise all-white town in North Yorkshire, runs away to London to meet her father at a screening of his new film, TO SIR, WITH LOVE, following an argument with her older brother, Nick.
No bio available.
Semifinalist
Feature
· Other
· 97 Pages
A serial dater thinks he can handle anyone’s quirks, until he starts dating a man whose only flaw is that for one hour every night he turns into a giant snake.
Los Angeles, CA
Zach Siegel is an award-winning gay writer, director, and editor. He’s directed shorts that played at film festivals internationally, live plays that have run for multiple years, and edited on many movies, documentaries, and music videos. His poetry book While I Shit Out Your Cum & Other Gay Poems is available at select bookstores. He's also a proud...
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Good Kids
Private
Semifinalist
Feature Documentary
· Western
· 13 Pages
Set in Helena, Montana, Good Kids is a coming-of-age documentary that follows the mayhem of a group of high schoolers enjoying their final year together as adulthood fast approaches. Jake, an eighteen-year-old shifty entrepreneur opens up a brick-and-mortar skateshop, called Creep Skate Co., which quickly becomes a haven for him and his friends as t...
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Bella Smith
No bio available.
Green Reckoning
Private
Semifinalist
Feature Documentary
· Historical
· 50 Pages
An award-winning filmmaker who spent his life making movies that celebrate the beauty, wonder and exceptionalism of national parks comes face to face with painful truths. He discovers ‘America’s Best Idea’ is haunted by stories of white supremacy and the violent removal of Indigenous People from their ancestral homelands for the creation of national...
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Murpys, CA
No bio available.
Greenwood 2050
Private
Semifinalist
Treatment
· Animated
· 5 Pages
The community of Greenwood, in Tulsa Oklahoma, express their dreams of Black joy and prosperity 104 years after the massacre that decimated the Black community.
New York, NY
I don't play by the establishment's rules, and I never will. As an artist, I constantly seek inspiration from those who have bravely centered their stories on Black Liberation. From the powerful words of Audre Lorde, who spoke of the importance of rest as a form of resistance, to the visionary works of Octavia Butler, who brought Black characters to...
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Groovy Chocolates
Private
Semifinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 9 Pages
An aging hippie accidentally serves his adult children magic mushrooms over a politically-charged family dinner.
Denver, CO
Gawky dark comedy served up with a heap of romance are the hallmarks of Allison’s career. A two-time Austin Film Festival second-rounder, her dark comedy DEANY BEAN IS DEAD was recently released on Amazon Prime. Allison's scripts have been produced, won awards, and showcase her vulnerable, beating heart for all to ogle.
HAND
Private
Semifinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 15 Pages
A heart-broken college student ignores a grotesque hand infection as she develops an obsession with stains on her carpet.
Brooklyn, New York
No bio available.
Semifinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 11 Pages
After realizing she may (maybe not???) like girls (women???), Anna goes to her roommate's cousin's lesbian engagement party in the hopes of finding answers. After all, perhaps these answers will solve all her problems! We all know the gays don't have problems!
Brooklyn, NY
Sara Monge is a Los Angeles-native and Brooklyn-based screenwriter & director who specializes in grounded comedies. Her feature gay rom com, A Magical Place Called Glendale, made in onto the 2019 Blacklist and is currently in development with Pacific Electric Picture Company. On top of that, Sara's been busy writing a movie for Mattel Films and livi...
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Semifinalist
Feature Documentary
· Drama
· 1 Pages
As Ukraine readies its first counteroffensive, the medics at the front lines sacrifice their lives to save those who defend their country, as daily air strikes and artillery attacks continue to cost human lives.
Kristina Usaite is an award-winning Ukrainian/American filmmaker.
Growing up in Ukraine taught her to see the beauty of humanity in the world, and she strives to showcase this in her work.
Kristina has a degree in Film Production from Brooklyn College - CUNY and she continues to write/direct/produce narrative and documentary content that will touc...
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HINDSIGHT
Private
Semifinalist
Short
· Drama
· 12 Pages
A clerk at a small town Prothonotary office is mystified by a young woman searching for answers about her parent’s divorce.
Sarah Nolen is an accomplished television and film writer and producer. After getting her start writing on the Emmy-winning series, THE AMERICANS, she went on to work with David Goyer on Apple’s sci-fi epic FOUNDATION. She has continued to excel in the genre going on to work with Scott Z. Burns on his climate fiction series, EXTRAPOLATIONS ; then AM...
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Hot Chocolate
Private
Semifinalist
Short
· Drama
· 11 Pages
A woman meets her boyfriend's family for the last time.
Elyse Levesque
No bio available.
Hound Bitch Documentary
Private
Semifinalist
Feature Documentary
· Drama
· 110 Pages
When her son’s abduction is met with impunity,
a Mexican woman becomes a self-taught forensic
detective whose quest for closure turns her into
Maritza Carbajal
No bio available.
How to Build a Library
Private
Semifinalist
Feature Documentary
· Other
· 6 Pages
Two tenacious women take on the monumental task of transforming Nairobi’s junk-filled McMillan Memorial Library into a vibrant cultural hub. Along the way, they must navigate the treacherous waters of local politics, raise millions for the rebuild, and confront the lingering ghosts of Kenya’s colonial past.
Maia Lekow
No bio available.
Semifinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 17 Pages
HOW’S ARCHIE? is a millennial divorce film that follows the painful process of co-parenting a pet after a breakup. Two women, Charlie (34) and Mere (27) decide to share custody of their beloved dog Archie after the end of their relationship. This short dramatic comedy is an exploration of divorce through a child’s perspective, an unfiltered view of ...
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Toronto, ON, CA
Jessie Posthumus is a Canadian genderqueer screenwriter, director, and film editor, who explores queer narratives intertwined with working-class struggles and humanity's connection to nature. Known for poetic realism, empathy, and humor, Jessie's directorial debut, ROCKET FUEL, premiered at Palm Springs International ShortFest 2022. The film garnere...
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Hummingbird
Private
Semifinalist
Feature
· Comedy
· 104 Pages
When Wayman Littles best friend goes missing, and the cops wont do anything about it, he decides to solve the case himself to find out what really happened.
No bio available.
Semifinalist
Feature
· Drama
· 116 Pages
High school sophomore, MIKEY, is diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare immune disorder that leaves him partially paralyzed. With no guarantee of recovery, Mikey must navigate through the awkward, turbulent world that is high school all from the seat of his brand-new wheelchair. Inspired by actual events.
- Verified WGA Member
Los Angeles, California
Joey is a professional screenwriter, director & producer. He’s worked in post-production, talent management & development. Joey specializes in telling human stories with relatable characters across genres and has feature screenplays under option by a number of well-known production companies.
A graduate of the University of North Carolina School...
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Influence
Private
Semifinalist
Short
· Thriller
· 9 Pages
When a high-profile influencer vanishes, her assistant goes on a mission to find her, revealing the dark underbelly of influencer culture.
Los Angeles, CA
Sabrina Ehlert is a bicultural Mexican American filmmaker with an MFA in film and television production from USC. Driven by a commitment to increasing Latine representation, Sabrina crafts stories that not only showcase diverse perspectives but also resonate with contemporary social realities.
Sabrina currently works on Acapulco S4 as a showrunne...
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It's Not About The Food
Private
Semifinalist
Feature Documentary
· Other
· 8 Pages
IT’S NOT ABOUT THE FOOD follows filmmaker Jason Christou’s quest to confront the shame of his eating disorder, so his son never has to. Raw and artfully-realized, it rewrites male body image as we know it.
A fallen tennis prodigy (sorry Mum and Bampás!) cum director, writer and script producer, Jason's credits include Emmy-winning Netflix series NOWHERE BOYS. His work across film, TV, documentary, interactive and games, has been recognised and selected by Sundance, Francis Ford Coppola, and the Aussie Blacklist. As a director Jason’s short films have ...
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Semifinalist
Short Documentary
· Other
· 10 Pages
Step into the captivating life of Kema Ward, from battling breast cancer amidst the floodwaters of Texas, to thriving in the lush jungles of Costa Rica as a spiritual end-of-life guide with an intimate relationship to death.
Houston, TX
Sara is an environmental scientist, first-time filmmaker, yoga teacher, and writer. Her science career focused on analyzing and communicating large-scale environmental data. She transitioned into film to realize her passion for documentary as a way to continue communicating environmental issues to wide audiences, but through the unique lens of inti...
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Semifinalist
Feature
· Drama
· 99 Pages
In the midst of her parents’ divorce and a friendship break-up, a lonely teen yearns for aliens to save her from her misery.
Los Angeles, CA
Giovanna Molina’s filmmaking work explores stories of isolation, belief, and surrealism within a female coming-of-age context. She is a Sundance Ignite 2022 Fellow, graduate of UCLA’s Directing M.F.A. program, and received her B.A. from Johns Hopkins University in Film & Creative Writing. She is in development on her debut feature, Kismet, which was...
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Kitchen Talk
Private
Semifinalist
Feature
· Comedy
· 95 Pages
As four middle-aged men navigate major life transitions, they turn to pickleball to get better on and off the court.
Born and raised in Minnesota, brothers Eli and Max Makovetsky are a Los Angeles-based writing, producing, and directing team. They seek to make the world a less lonely place via their heart-centered, comedic content. Max received his master's degree from USC Film School in the Peter Stark Producing Program while working full-time at Rise Management....
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Semifinalist
Short
· Fantasy
· 13 Pages
The ever bickering WILLIAMSON SISTERS struggle to get along on their mothers 45th birthday, but a family secret that throws them into supernatural chaos might just finally bring them together.
Los Angeles, California
Halima Lucas is an LA-based writer/director from Stockton, California. Her short, Amelia’s Closet, was a finalist for the 43rd Student Academy Awards and won the 2017 ABFF HBO Short Film Award. Following that success, Halima helped develop and write the webseries East of La Brea, which premiered at SXSW in 2019. Currently, she’s a Story Editor on Ma...
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