The Slamdance Screenplay Competition is dedicated to discovering and supporting emerging writing talent.
Placement
Genre
Format
Representation Status
Grand Prize Winners
Grand Prize Winner
Feature
· Horror
· 98 Pages
After seven years of estrangement, Kazuko has decided to reconnect with her overbearing mother. But when Kazuko’s daughter grows fascinated with the old woman's superstitions, she accidentally releases a vengeful spirit from the family’s dark past.
San Francisco, CA
Jorge Lucas is an Argentine-born, East-coast-raised, San Francisco-based filmmaker. By day, he works as an assistant editor at Pixar Animation Studios. By night, he makes short films and writes genre screenplays that explore humanity’s loneliness in the face of an unknowable and terrifying universe. And sometimes throws in monsters and time-travel ...
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Winners
Winner
Short
· Drama
· 10 Pages
In a close-knit rural community, a teenage girl and her grandfather struggle to navigate the delicate balance between tradition and change.
Atlanta, GA
An ex-Army sergeant turned Emmy award-winning filmmaker, she won the Audience Award at the ATLFF and Best Doc at LCFF for her documentary, THE FOUNDERS. She followed that film with four award winning short films LIMERENCE, THE LICK, RIDESHARE and THE MOTH. She directed the Emmy winning web series INTERSECTION and most recently she directed network e...
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COUNTERPOINT
Private
Winner
Feature
· Drama
· 93 Pages
In New York City, the friendship between two violinists at an elite high school conservatory turns vicious when a life-changing competition is announced.
Los Angeles, CA
Arden Earnest is the recipient of the Slamdance Screenplay Award, a ScreenCraft Grand Prize Winner, and was recently awarded AFI's Writers Room Ready distinction. An alum of the AFI Conservatory and USC School of Cinematic Arts, she is currently in post-production on a short film she wrote and directed, inspired by her award-winning feature script C...
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Winner
TV Script
· Horror
· 56 Pages
A grieving social worker takes in a young boy who claims his parents were killed by a wolf, forcing their rural community to confront an ancient curse clawing at the door.
When Zoe isn't traveling, she writes high-concept genre pieces. Her writing and direction has been recognized by the Sundance Institute, Slamdance Screenplay Competition, CineStory, the Austin Film Festival, Launch Pad, the Moonshot Initiative, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation Arts Residency, and the Dramatists Guild, among others.
Winner
Feature
· Thriller
· 106 Pages
In the pre-cellphone 90s, a college freshman with face-blindness witnesses a murder; dismissed by the police, she must track down the killer herself.
Born in Northern Ireland, Pauline has a PhD in English from McGill University and taught in the humanities department of a Montreal college-- courses in dystopian fiction, World War II, and the Icelandic sagas. Her latest project is a screenplay about polar explorer Ernest Shackleton.
Winner
Feature
· Drama
· 114 Pages
A disgraced Vietnam combat medic joins forces with a transgender WWII veteran to launch an underground vigilante street clinic to serve New York's LGBTQ homeless community in the 1960s
Ottawa, ON, CA
Kristen McNaule (she/they) is a writer and filmmaker who tells revolutionary stories set in gritty landscapes with a bit of sparkle. Her interest in International Development led her to Sierra Leone to make a documentary about post-conflict development. She founded the production company Element 109 to make films that shed light on mental illness, c...
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Winner
Short
· Drama
· 16 Pages
In the not-too-distant future – where having a Genetic Life Double is the ultimate symbol of self-actualisation – one man is haunted by the decision to euthanise his rapidly regressing, childlike clone.
Sydney, Nsw, AU
Jeremy has been a freelance writer/director since 2009 after spending his life savings on camera gear and teaching himself how to make films through trial and error. He hasn’t starved yet. Since then, his work has enjoyed success at both domestic and international film festivals. Most recently, Jeremy was involved with the online series 'Liberty Str...
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The Match
Private
Winner
Feature
· Drama
· 81 Pages
Paige's acclimate to her new life in a wheelchair at her first Mardi Gras, while visiting her ableist Aunt.
Los Angeles, CA
No bio available.
Winner
TV Script
· Fantasy
· 48 Pages
The Hedeby Viking settlement of 810 CE is run - in part - by an ancient Siren posing as a human. She must keep her identity a secret when mangled bodies start washing up on shore and a monster hunter comes to town.
Los Angeles, California
Olivia is a queer, differently abled screenwriter originally from Tennessee. In her early twenties, Olivia spent two years in Bradley County Jail, as a biweekly volunteer teacher, that is. She received her MFA in Dramatic Writing from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2021. That same year, Olivia moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams of writ...
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Winner
TV Script
· Drama
· 53 Pages
A sheltered vampiric teenager starts to suspect her parents of harboring sinister secrets at their quaint, family-run assisted living facility - just as her fangs finally decide to burst from her mouth.
New York, New York
Eric is a playwright and screenwriter, new dad, and long-time cat lover. He and his wife fell in love while doing theater in the back of a truck. His work has been produced or developed by Playwrights Horizons, Vineyard Theater, Clubbed Thumb, and Theater Wit, among others. His play THE ANTELOPE PARTY (New York Times Critics Pick) has been performed...
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Mentorship Winner s
Mentorship Winner
Feature
· Thriller
· 104 Pages
After following her mother’s last wishes to take her ashes to her home country, in the middle of a feminist revolution, Mona - An Americanized Iranian woman - discovers a web of family secrets that rewrites her entire past.
Los Angeles, CA
Growing up as a queer woman in a persecuted religious minority in Iran helped Maaman develop a dark sense of humor which she later utilized for a career in filmmaking. She went from being a political prisoner at the age of 17 to becoming a political refugee in the US.
After receiving her MFA, she pursued an academic career as a professor of fil...
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Semifinalists
Semifinalist
TV Script
· Drama
· 64 Pages
Coco Chanel, orphaned at a young age, reinvents herself as an iconoclastic fashion designer in early twentieth-century Paris, while navigating romantic affairs with influential men.
Santa Monica, CA
Anne is a French American who grew up in Paris, New York, and Orange County. She majored in Art History and Italian at USC, with research centered on women who adeptly navigated the male-dominated societies of their time. She writes and develops projects with her husband, Dan Williams, from a sweeping series chronicling the early life of Coco Chanel...
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Semifinalist
TV Script
· Drama
· 59 Pages
A food-addict who funds her mother’s medical care by eating on camera for fetishists, faces a dilemma after witnessing an assault - fight for justice, or continue a deadly path of self-destruction.
Co. Mayo, IE
Cathriona Slammon is a screenwriter from the West of Ireland. Typically writing in the vein of psychological drama, horror and the surreal, Cathriona has particular interest in exploring identity, trauma, family dysfunction and memory in unique and authentic ways. In 2023, her debut feature script won 'Best Unproduced Screenplay' at the Raindance Fi...
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Semifinalist
Feature
· Drama
· 115 Pages
At the start of COVID-19, a reclusive long-term AIDS survivor haunted by feelings of guilt must confront his past when the ghosts of his dead friends return and convince him to share his life story with a young graphic novelist.
New York City, NY
Cory is an emerging screenwriter and filmmaker. His work explores queer identity, drug addiction and recovery, HIV/AIDS, spirituality and magical realism. Oh, and they're also funny. His scripts Enoch and My Name Is Jonas are both modern reimaginings of Jewish legends from the Hebrew Bible.
His screenplays have earned accolades at various compet...
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Semifinalist
Feature
· Sci-fi
· 97 Pages
When a young woman wakes in a subterranean lab with no memories, she is told that her memories were erased as part of a research study. As the study progresses, she begins to suspect that the neuroscientist running tests on her may be lying about the true nature of the research study he claims she agreed to.
EX MACHINA meets MEMENTO
Baltimore, MD
Ryan is a screenwriter based out of Baltimore, MD who writes mind-bending sci-fi and horror scripts that explore deep philosophical themes. Some of his biggest influences are Christopher Nolan, Alex Garland, and Steven Spielberg. His first script “Erasure” won the 2024 ScreenCraft Sci-Fi and Fantasy Screenwriting Competition.
Semifinalist
Feature
· Drama
· 114 Pages
A man confronts how his relationship with his father has affected his life, relationships, and fears at four different points in his life.
Rockville, Maryland
Derek Adam Thomas is a screenwriter and filmmaker obsessed with mind-bending dramas that explore memory, identity, and the cost of obsession.
His screenplay Fragments, a semi-finalist in the 2024 Slamdance Screenwriting Competition, has been described as "a bit like a Christopher Nolan story, and the result is equally enjoyable." Drawing from his...
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Harmony
Private
Semifinalist
Feature
· Drama
· 101 Pages
Years after an accident leaves an African American piano prodigy with a disfigured hand, he is forced to return home to confront his past and break generational trauma when an unexpected visitor arrives at his doorstep.
Los Angeles, Ca
Born and raised in Philly, Michael was an imaginative child. His kindergarten teacher once said, “He needs to stop daydreaming and playing so much.” Clearly, he didn’t take that advice.
No matter the genre, Michael is drawn to writing stories that explore personal growth and introspection. He envisions his stories on the screen, big and small, a...
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Mommy & Me
Private
Semifinalist
TV Script
· Comedy
· 62 Pages
The mommy blogger Michelle reveals her anonymous identity to millions of subscribers to save her family’s finances by becoming a profitable parent influencer. Her teen daughter Birdie faces social ruin when Michelle exposes all of her personal drama, including the government names of her high school crushes. As Birdie tries to evade her mom’s new so...
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No bio available.
Semifinalist
Short
· Drama
· 35 Pages
On his first trip to Hawaii, Frank Sinatra does someone else a lifessaving favor, but can he turn around his own sinking career? Based on a true story.
Kailua, HI
Seeing a True Story can be fascinating... and also boring, unless it's in Tom's hands. He loves writing screenplays about real people from the past from whom we can learn to create a better future. Because throughout history and now in present day, some patterns just keep happening… over-and-over again. Tom leaves people better educated about the l...
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Stay a Little Longer
Private
Semifinalist
Short
· Drama
· 13 Pages
At her first session as a professional cuddler, an average middle-aged daydreamer meets a lonely man who makes her confront her own loneliness.
No bio available.
Semifinalist
Short
· Drama
· 10 Pages
While rushing to get through a routine annual medical exam, a Filipino caregiver receives a list of probing medical questions by medical practitioners, leading her down a spiral of familial guilt.
Los Angeles, CA
As the eldest child of working-class immigrants with accrued student loans from an Ivy League graduate program, Frances Rubio had no choice but to write about the complexities of class divide and racial inequities. She writes about messy and struggling diverse characters in disastrous, high concept situations through a black comedy-thriller lens. Af...
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Semifinalist
Feature
· Comedy
· 120 Pages
Fresh from 1938, comes a madcap screwball comedy, now in thrilling black and white!
When two engaged anthropologists search for a mysterious idol on a volcanic tropical island, they must tackle man-eating plants, cannibals, lost temples, interdimensional horrors, and a Lovecraftian dance number that could save the world!
New York, NY
No bio available.
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Semifinalist
Feature
· Drama
· 124 Pages
After losing her passport, spoiled Chinese teen Yan finds herself in a US children's immigration center, where she encounters a circumcised Nigerian girl who escaped a Mexican cartel, an Eastern European boy who chased dud missiles for a living, and a Chinese boy who discovered love on his smuggling journey to the US. A revolutionary cross-cultural ...
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Pittsburgh, PA
Weiyang Liu, Director/Actor from China, who has 8 years of experience working with top players in the Chinese film industry, looking forward to breaking into the international market. Instagram (work showcase): @weiyang_liu
Quarterfinalists
Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 96 Pages
When a young mother becomes trapped in an unsettling parallel world, she must decide whether to find a way back or stay in this new reality while discovering horrifying truths about her past and herself.
When Zoe isn't traveling, she writes high-concept genre pieces. Her writing and direction has been recognized by the Sundance Institute, Slamdance Screenplay Competition, CineStory, the Austin Film Festival, Launch Pad, the Moonshot Initiative, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation Arts Residency, and the Dramatists Guild, among others.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 8 Pages
A young girl experiences a sexual awakening at the worst possible moment: her father's funeral.
New York, NY
Lucy is a Brooklyn-based writer, director and producer with a style that is cheerfully macabre. Her work has been recognized by Slamdance, Fantastic Fest, SXSW Sydney, and Bushwick Film Festival. She named her sweet, elderly cat after Robert Carlyle's character in Trainspotting.
Quarterfinalist
TV Script
· Other
· 53 Pages
After a mysterious event occurs, Tommy, an aspiring chef burnt out by New York's daily grind, finds that he is the only person left in the city as he navigates this surreal reality in search of answers or any signs of life.
Lake Balboa, California
Professional day dreamer who suffers from a napping addiction. In between I have somehow managed to gain over seven years of work experience as a script analyst, consultant and writer.
Quarterfinalist
TV Script
· Comedy
· 64 Pages
In 1970s Soviet Russia a gifted math student, desperate to provide for her family, is forced to work at a secret military facility, which turns out to be the only place that values her talents.
Los Angeles, CA
Soviet Union and all-boys boarding school survivor. Reformed banker and an average poker player. Master in Maths from the University of Edinburgh and Master in Producing from AFI. BAFTA LA Newcomer and writer-producer of mediocre (but highly enjoyable) short films.
Quarterfinalist
TV Script
· Comedy
· 62 Pages
An Oedipal satire about a delusional incel searching for his absent father, to defeat him in ritual Samurai combat, and restore his mother's virginity.
Los Angeles, California
Delusional idiot writing about delusional idiots.
For the past ten years, I've been conducting a participatory anthropology on rare types of White People, and my life's work is to transmit my findings through scripted television and film.
#gobruins
Benchwarmer
Private
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 18 Pages
A campy lesbo sex romp.
"A hapless young lesbian pines for her best friend from the sidelines of her soccer games."
No bio available.
Quarterfinalist
TV Script
· Drama
· 58 Pages
Twenty years after the mysterious suicide of Frank Olson, his son Eric takes up a self-funded investigation to discover the truth about the death of the one-time Army scientist and CIA affiliate. Based on a True Story.
No bio available.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Thriller
· 13 Pages
A tattoo artist realizes that his client, a young woman, is being sex trafficked, and he must find a way to stall until the authorities arrive - without her captor catching on.
No bio available.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 20 Pages
Fed up with her inability to orgasm, twenty-something Fran seeks out local porn star Bernardo Bolsa hoping he'll finally get her rocks off. The only problem is...he's gay. However, Bernardo's will to help leads Fran to finally discover pleasure in the most unexpected of places.
Los Angeles, CA
- Writer, producer, actor, & director based in LA
- Co-founder GINGER TITS PRODUCTIONS with Mack Breeden
- Written & sold over seven scripts to MarVista, Tubi, Lifetime, and Hallmark
- USC Film Alum
- Proud redhead
Quarterfinalist
TV Script
· Family
· 57 Pages
Single mother Nancy Nathanson must give a once-in-a-lifetime presentation for her family business when an unexpected and debilitating medical diagnosis not only risks her job but will change her dysfunctional family forever.
New York, New York
Matt Nicholson is a queer screenwriter based in LA with 55 wins and over 140 placements in international screenwriting contests. His portfolio of short scripts and hour-long pilots brings new twists to old myths and champions stories about family legacy. Matt has worked as a stage manager, researcher for "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire," and Editor-I...
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Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Thriller
· 91 Pages
After escaping a cult, a father and daughter must face a truth that will change them both forever.
Wolverhampton, England, GB
Phil Blake started his filmmaking journey writing and directing numerous shorts including ‘Pictures’, starring Andrea Corr and Neil Pearson, and ‘Notes’, with Alison Steadman. He also worked as part of the aerial photography teams on such movies as ‘Criminal’, starring Kevin Costner.
Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Drama
· 104 Pages
An incredibly smart teenage girl living in the Bahamas in the ' 80s unravels some deep family secrets while she discovers her musical skills thanks to a mysterious new tutor.
Abi Perpall
No bio available.
SUNSHOWER
Private
Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Drama
· 103 Pages
A young Chinese American man visits his ailing grandma with dementia, but she mistakes him for her long lost love. As he plays along with this new “role” out of kindness, he begins losing sight of his true self.
Stefanos Tai is a Chinese–Greek–American writer/director. His works remind us of a simple idea: we have more in common than sets us apart. He's played Tribeca, BAM, Cinequest, DOXA, Palm Springs, Hawaii, Houston, Singapore– and has been recognized from Asia Society, the United Nations, Scholastic, and several universities. He has also crafted brande...
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FIRST SUNRISE
Private
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Horror
· 12 Pages
In a rural area of Korea, Ye-In, a shaman from ancestry, shows her deep love for her daughter, Sena, by helping her escape a dark heritage.
No bio available.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Drama
· 17 Pages
A recovering addict struggles with thoughts of relapse as her long-distance relationship is revealed to be an emotionally manipulative romance scam.
Los Angeles, CA
Specializing in drama and comedy, I craft snappy, dialogue-driven scripts that showcase humanity at its flawed best. A Pacific Northwest native and Cornish College alum, my storytelling seeks to explore human emotions with authenticity and humor.
Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Historical
· 104 Pages
A freedom story…
Centers around the idea of freedom. What is freedom? A state of mind…A state of being…an institution…or worst of all, an illusion?
Based on the life of Frederick Douglass and the mental journey he had to go through in his transformation out of slavery into freedom.
This story takes a deep dive into the mind of a slave, ...
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Los Angeles, CA
Originally from Laramie, Wyoming, J.D. began his career producing westerns and didn't even know it. From an early age, he was exposed to camping, fishing and horseback riding through the rugged terrain of the Wild West. He later got tamed to the city life, exploring his creativity. But the spirit of the west still breaths inside him with an unwi...
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Quarterfinalist
TV Script
· Comedy
· 56 Pages
After adopting their niece, a “family” of serial killers changes identities and moves to a new locale- the suburbs.
No bio available.
Quarterfinalist
TV Script
· Horror
· 59 Pages
A woman travels to execute the will of her estranged mother and discovers a remote mountain town plagued by a string of disappearances, suspicious deaths, and an unsettling phenomenon known as communal dreaming.
THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE meets TWIN PEAKS
David Elio Jara
No bio available.
In The Field of Blood
Private
Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 94 Pages
Two World War I soldiers, a Black American and a German prisoner, are forced to work together to defeat a ferocious German vampire, BLUTSAUGER, in the nightmarish landscape of No Man’s Land.
James Banks
No bio available.
Show 1 more writers
Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 94 Pages
A highborn young woman in a secluded community finds herself caught in the center of an ancient prophecy to carry the malevolent child of her community’s tree deity as she desperately fights to gain agency and explore her suppressed sexuality.
Set in a fully fictional universe, this secluded cult lives in a time and place similar to 1500s-1700s N...
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Los Angeles, CA
With twisted sensibilities, a morbid sense of humor, and an eye for visual style, Ryan leans on his background in other visual media, such as photography, illustration, and painting, to create movies with style and substance. His eclectic taste doesn’t stop at movies: he loves comics, reality TV, animation, and most genres of music. This diverse set...
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Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Fantasy
· 97 Pages
After his sleigh crashes in uncharted territory above the Arctic Circle, Santa must survive harsh elements and a terrifying threat in the form of a blood-thirsty creature who hunts at night.
Green Bay, Wisconsin
I co-wrote and directed a feature film that acquired distribution in numerous regions including North America and South Korea. I was a Final Draft Big Break 2020 Category Winner in 2020 (Sci-Fi/Fantasy). I love being a screenwriter. It allows unbridled creativity and it's the one aspect of filmmaking I know I can always afford.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 14 Pages
The notorious Lady Outlaw returns to Beaver Gulch in an attempt to win back the love of her life, the honorable Titty Bartender, the only way she knows how: outlawin'.
Los Angeles, CA
Rachel Dunkel is a screenwriter based in Los Angeles. With one hand each on the extremes of comedy and tragedy, she writes about obsession, addiction, loneliness, and how absurd it is to be alive at all.
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Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Comedy
· 109 Pages
When her husband dies and leaves behind unsettling secrets and an overbearing zealot mother-in-law, an acquiescent mother must learn how to face painful truths and find her angry voice in order to regain agency over her life.
Naperville, IL
Emily Schleiger was born in Louisville, Kentucky and since then has done a thorough tour of living in several flat Midwestern states. She lives in the Chicago area (for now).
Her screenwriting has been recognized by Nicholl, Slamdance, Austin Film Festival, and more. She earned her MFA at the low-residency program at University of California Riv...
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Mutant Zombie Fighting Pits: Cockroach's Creed
Private
Quarterfinalist
TV Script
· Horror
· 59 Pages
After a near death experience, an NYC garbageman confronts his awakened psychic potential - and the dangerous figures his new power attracts.
No bio available.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Horror
· 27 Pages
Set against a background of a mystical island, a rural doctor must uphold her oath and protect the secret of a deceased islander.
Salt Lake City, Utah
Award-winning filmmakers Sonia and Miriam Albert-Sobrino, collectively known as ALSO Sisters, defy the ordinary directing duo. Following their tenure in Nursing, Sonia and Miriam immersed themselves in the world of visual storytelling through comprehensive education in film schools both in Spain and the US. Over the ensuing decade, ALSO Sisters' cr...
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Quarterfinalist
Feature
· Horror
· 116 Pages
After a mysterious plant entity takes control of her small town, a headstrong teen must fight against the evil forces invading her mind and defeat the cult that worships the sinister flora before she succumbs to its manipulations.
Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, GB
After breaking his neck training to be a professional wrestler at the infamous Hart Dungeon, Giuseppe turned his overactive imagination to his other passion, movies. His first script "The Audit", a collaborative project, won at both The Story Pros Awards and Creative World Awards in 2019. His second, and first solo script, “The Final Cut" was a Fina...
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Noise
Private
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Horror
· 12 Pages
A music producer unearths the chilling secret behind his idol's iconic hits during a once-in-a-lifetime studio session, testing how far he’ll go for success.
Los Angeles, California