WeScreenplay Short Script Lab |
2024
6 writers will be selected for a multi-day virtual Shorts Lab! Plus, free feedback for all entries.
Placement
Genre
Format
Representation Status
Winners
Winner
Short
· Drama
· 13 Pages
In 1950s Taiwan, the rebellious daughter of a military family escapes an arranged marriage to an American man, discovering her path to freedom from an ancient tigress.
Los Angeles, California
Abigail Bloom and Laura Huie are an LA-based screenwriting duo who’ve been inseparable since they were cast as conjoined twins in a hilariously bad high school play. Now, they channel their tongue-in-cheek humor and decade-long female friendship into witty, genre-bending shorts and features—the kind of stories teen Abigail and Laura would’ve been ob...
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Winner
Short
· Horror
· 15 Pages
A teenage boy is hired to house sit for a wealthy couple whose young daughter has just died. The grieving parents have only one request for the night: Stay out of Maya's room.
Denver, Colorado
Andrew is a screenwriter who specializes in offbeat horror, dark comedy, and genre scripts with a strong emotional core. He was a 2024 WeScreenplay Short Script Lab Fellow and a winner of the 2024 Vail Film Festival Screenplay Competition. Andrew has a degree in Creative Writing from Middlebury College and worked for many years as a journalist.
Winner
Short
· Drama
· 10 Pages
A group of messy lifelong friends must work out their issues at a bachelorette party before the clock ticks down to Armageddon.
Los Angeles, California
Growing up in small-town Virginia, Laura Hunter Drago was a shy child who found her voice through storytelling. An alumna of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Drago writes fantasies and thrillers that center women and is a 2025 Film Independent Project Involve Writing Fellow. She won the Austin Film Festival Fiction Podcast Award for h...
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Winner
Short
· Drama
· 12 Pages
An elderly Korean woman, burdened by her mother's tragic history during the Japanese occupation, accuses her Japanese neighbor of vandalizing the Comfort Women Statue.
Los Angeles, CA
Throughout my challenging journey as an Asian American female writer/director, including the turnaround from HBO Pictures after the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, my passion for filmmaking has remained unwavering.
My dedication stems from a promise I made to my mother, whom I cared for over a decade while stepping away from filmmaking.
I’ve crea...
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Winner
Short
· Historical
· 18 Pages
1944, Heart Mountain internment camp. When a young Japanese American man finds out his best friend evaded the draft, he must rethink his loyalty to his country or risk being left behind.
Portland, OR
Julia is a writer/producer/actor based in Portland and Los Angeles. Produced credits include "Dragonfly" (animated short film), "JesusCat (or How I Accidentally Joined a Cult)" (feature film), "Sin & Lyle" (short film), "Twenty-Two" (play), and "American Comedy Horror Story" (fiction podcast). Julia is also a freelance script analyst, the Short Film...
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Finalists
Finalist
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
Finalist
Short
· Comedy
· 17 Pages
An aging, jaded priest discovers his new passion in life: to become a sommelier.
Los Angeles, CA
Originally from the Bay Area, Che graduated film school in the UK, where his most recent short, that he wrote/directed, won the Audience Award for Best Film. His award-winning screenplay SENSORY, motivated him to pursue directing outside his hometown. He is currently based in LA and plans to bring what he’s learned from European filmmaking to Hollyw...
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Finalist
Short
· Drama
· 21 Pages
A daughter spends a Christmas weekend away with her overbearing, narcissistic mother
I have been writing from a very young age. I used to take part in the Young Writers’ Club at my local library, and I wrote pantomimes for my Girl Guiding group. When I studied Law at university (not my decision!) I wasn’t able to focus on my writing, but once I graduated I became determined to make writing a career.
Finalist
Short
· Horror
· 14 Pages
A compulsive hoarder with dementia struggles to leave her house while retaining her family memories.
Los Angeles, CA
Alia Zeid is a screenwriter who won Best Adult Storyreel in Pixar’s Story Xperiential Program, participated in the UCLA Professional Program for three years, was selected for the Mosalsalat Screenwriters Lab by the Jordanian Royal Film Commission, and is a two-time winner of the Emerging Content Creators Scholarship from NALIP. She writes high-conce...
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Finalist
Short
· Drama
· 14 Pages
A young inventor turned her dad into a duck. By accident. Oops. Can she get him back before the big father/daughter dance at school -- and without mom finding out?
Portland, OR
Shaun is a thoughtful dreamer who loves to tell inventive tales that are character-driven with heart. In addition to screenplays, he also likes to write comics and picture books.
Spin Cycle
Private
Finalist
Short
· Drama
· 15 Pages
While navigating her new job in a foreign country, Kaameh attracts the attention of a grumpy, vulgar old man. As they begin to connect, the parallels of their lives become clear.
Vancouver, BC, CA
Michael Goyert is a writer and director working out of Vancouver, Canada. His work is characterized by dark humour, a focus on fringe social environments and the study of human connection set against unforgiving circumstances.
He is currently in the development and preproduction stages for two short films, 'Underbelly' and 'Lulubelle', as well wo...
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Finalist
Short
· Family
· 21 Pages
A story about hope in the face of grief, and a sharp-witted little girl who believes that kidnapping Santa might be the key to healing her broken heart—and saving Christmas.
Atlanta, GA
Filmmaker. Story wrangler. Enthusiastic avoider of normal hobbies.
Brandon tells stories about oddballs, underdogs, and emotionally complex humans. His work has confused algorithms, delighted audiences, and won awards that look great in bios like this one.
When not making films, he splits his time between creative breakthroughs and creative br...
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The One-Two
Private
Finalist
Short
· Drama
· 13 Pages
On the heels of an abusive relationship, a woman finds unexpected catharsis in a boxing lesson.
Los Angeles, CA
Rae Binstock is a playwright and screenwriter from Cambridge, MA. Her work interrogates climate change and social justice through the lens of intersectional reckoning. Rae served as the Writers’ Assistant on both FX Networks’ FOSSE/VERDON and Apple TV+’s shows Schmigadoon, IF/THEN, and LIBERTY. She lives in Los Angeles with her cats, Lila and Garli...
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Finalist
Short
· Historical
· 12 Pages
Set in 1945 during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, 10 year old Kaito, a mischievous prankster, must use his wits to get expelled from school so he can follow his parent to war.
New York, NY
Matthew Lai is a NYC based Taiwanese-American filmmaker originally from Houston, TX.
As a lover of nature, animals, and all things genre-bending, Matthew’s goal is to spotlight a world of stories that have never been illuminated but have always existed beyond the common eye. His directorial work has premiered and won awards in festivals across the...
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Semifinalists
Semifinalist
Short
· Family
· 12 Pages
Living and working alone in the Bay Area in the early 2000's, a young father has only a single 1000 minute phone card to stay connected with his wife and kids while he awaits the tedious immigration process to relocate his family to America.
Queens, NY
Shane P. Liao is a Taiwanese American writer, director, and editor based in New York City. He traveled the world in search of different stories to tell, learning about different cultures and the lives of people in various corners of the world. Relocated to NYC as a freelance filmmaker who focuses on documentaries, commercials, and narratives. His na...
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Semifinalist
Short
· Animated
· 5 Pages
A short film about the story of two toothbrushes in love
São Paulo, BR
Passionate for writing since childhood. Always seek to innovate and bring new and fresh stories, with complex characters and worlds that have not been explored.
Published the innovative book Journey of Empathy, in which the reader chooses its own path, with more than 30 possible endings.
Approved
Private
Semifinalist
Short
· Horror
· 7 Pages
“A disabled content moderator who flags disturbing social media content all day, notices a trend of videos involving children killing animals and recognizes one of the kids.
Los Angeles, CA
When he wasn’t bringing home every stray animal off the street, Steve Miranda spent his childhood in the library reading because it was the only quiet place he could find in Los Angeles. His comedic writing often pairs odd couple outsiders trying to find their forever home. Steve Miranda is more interested in making laughs than winning awards, but h...
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Semifinalist
Short
· Horror
· 15 Pages
Tormented by his manipulative violin teacher and the cutthroat culture of his elite music conservatory, a teenage prodigy's fears and suppressed trauma manifest as an evil shadow that threatens to consume him and the boy he loves. CARRIE meets WHIPLASH.
New York, NY
Frederik Ehrhardt is a writer & producer based in the US & Germany. He got his industry start as an associate producer for four-time Independent Spirit Award nominee Darren Dean. Most recently, Frederik produced the screen adaptation of Markus Potter’s Outer Critics Circle nominated Off-Broadway play STALKING THE BOGEYMAN starring Tony winner Santin...
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Semifinalist
Short
· Drama
· 16 Pages
On the verge of his 10th birthday, a painfully sensitive boy reminisces about how much easier life was when he was 6.
Chicago, IL
Jordan initially studied film within a unique cinema art degree program in upstate NY, developed by subversive underground, avant-garde filmmakers such as Ken Jacobs, Larry Gottheim, Mark McElhatten and Nicholas Ray. He employs intensely dark humor laced with drama to explore identity, psychological rifts and childhood trauma. He has garnered vario...
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Semifinalist
Short
· Drama
· 10 Pages
A long night in prison leads to a new day for a man struggling to outrun his past.
Los Angeles, CA
Alysha's career started in the San Francisco theater community before transitioning to Los Angeles where she spent almost a decade producing commercials and music videos. After a change in travel plans saved her from the events of September 11th, she spent seventeen years serving all over the world as an Officer in the US Navy. A member of the Drama...
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I NEED YOU
Private
Semifinalist
Short
· Thriller
· 12 Pages
After postpartum transforms a high-achieving, career-focused first-time mom into a dependent and insecure woman, her husband realizes he prefers this version of his wife, and she discovers that he has been responsible for making sure she stays that way.
Brooklyn, NY
No bio available.
Semifinalist
Short
· Drama
· 15 Pages
When sixteen year old Ramona is hit with the news of her parents' impending divorce, she kidnaps her stroke-victim grandfather, and the unlikely pair go on a roadtrip adventure.
Originally from Munich, Germany. Bilingual. Actress & writer by trade, baker by heart.
Outer Child
Private
Semifinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 16 Pages
A young women in the middle of a mental health crisis due to her hellish boss, is given an "Outer Child" - an 8 year old who had to mimic her behaviour, including the self-destructive parts, in an attempt to teach her self-love.
London, GB
No bio available.
Semifinalist
Short
· Horror
· 14 Pages
When the King's favorite feline falls ill, the Royal Veterinarian must heal it by morning to prove her worth. But if her feckless experimentation pays off, she'll save far more than a cat...
Los Angeles, CA
Austin Langley is a Drama Writer with Issues® whose work investigates the humanity of the inhuman. A TV editor with over fifteen years of experience, Austin has always thrived by constructing stories. That’s why he maintains an eternal affair with his true love, television writing.
At Chapman University, Austin wrote and produced the web series "...
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Semifinalist
Short
· Drama
· 9 Pages
A scared young cancer patient and his stubborn friend attempt to steal a jar of lollipops from the nurse’s lounge before he has to go into surgery.
Boulder, Colorado
Will is a childhood cancer survivor turned filmmaker who loves writing, producing, and directing. He is the Founder of Everflow Films, a production company for people who have been affected by cancer and want to create entertaining narrative films. His short films have played across the US and are now available on Vimeo and Everflow Film's website. ...
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The Intricate Mind of Nina Slivovich
Private
Semifinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 15 Pages
Nina, a young woman struggling with her personal and family relationships, navigates her emotional journey through a series of therapy sessions that blur the lines between reality and imagination.
Limassol, CY
No bio available.
THE SPEECH
Private
Semifinalist
Short
· Historical
· 14 Pages
Set in 1895 and based on a true story, New York City Police Commissioner THEODORE ROOSEVELT must provide protection to German diplomat and orator HERMANN AHLWARDT. Under the law, Roosevelt must safeguard free speech, yet somehow find a way to avoid alienating the Jewish community, who already distrust the police.
- Verified WGA Member
Rancho Mirage, CA
Known as an imaginative "world-builder," Josh works across multiple genres including comedy, science fiction, thrillers, procedurals and true stories. After graduating with a BA from the University of Alberta, Josh earned an MFA in film production from NYU and then attended the AFI as a screenwriting fellow. He has created, written and show-run scri...
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Semifinalist
Short
· Animated
· 7 Pages
Story of a little girl named "Raha", with magical hair.
Karaj, Alborz, IR
Saeid Ghasemi, born in 1992, honed his filmmaking skills at "Kanoon Cinemagaran Javan" (KCJ) in Tehran, Iran. Serving as a dedicated film crew member, he contributed to various projects spanning shorts, features, and series.
In 2021, Saeid Ghasemi marked a milestone with his debut short film, "Form," garnering recognition through multiple internati...
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Word of Mouth
Private
Semifinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 21 Pages
When a woman becomes addicted to an AI-driven mobile app that monetizes word-of-mouth recommendations, she descends into a disorienting reality where the lines between authentic conversation and paid marketing start to blur.
Los Angeles, CA
Aliya Kamalova is a Kazakh-American writer who is passionate about telling stories that inspire, educate, and make people laugh (with her and hopefully not at her).
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Quarterfinalists
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Western
· 19 Pages
In the harsh, unforgiving world of the Old West, a notorious outlaw and ruthless killer battles to raise his six-year-old daughter, ultimately forcing a heart-wrenching choice between her safety and his own survival.
Santa Rosa, CA
As a retired fire chief who has battled fires across the western states, an award-winning screenwriter, and a faculty member at Santa Rosa Junior College, I bring a wealth of diverse life experiences to my storytelling. My unconventional background includes roles as a dolphin trainer, whale researcher, and search-and-rescue pilot, as well as the thr...
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Quarterfinalist
Short
· Animated
· 10 Pages
A boy desperately tries to hold onto the memory of his father… and his hair.
Los Angeles, California
Ben Hirschhorn is an award winning actor, writer, and director. He most recently starred in the Off-Broadway world premiere of ROOM 1214, and was previously nominated for an “LA Drama Critic Circle Award” for his performance in the West Coast premiere of TRAYF at the Geffen Playhouse. Additionally he received the “Best Actor Award” at the Los Angele...
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A Road, a Mile of Kingdom
Private
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Drama
· 10 Pages
A young man, returning to his rural hometown in Ireland, grapples with guilt surrounding the death of his brother.
No bio available.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Drama
· 14 Pages
During the peak of the Mexican Revolution, a quiet but complex young woman’s domestic life is disrupted when a spirited general and her group of soldaderas arrive, igniting a passionate bond that forces her to choose between fulfilling her familial duty, or leaving it all behind.
Los Angeles, CA
Paula Crichton is a queer and Mexican filmmaker with a strong focus on visual and poetic storytelling. As a writer and director, she is known for her highly stylized metaphorical imagery combined with social statements, that create a magical realism that envelops her work. She attended Santa Fe University of Art and Design, and later transferred to ...
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Quarterfinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 11 Pages
A middle-aged South Asian wife and mother is jolted into digging around for deeper meaning in the stable container that is her family life.
Chicago, IL
Anita’s an actor and writer. Her pilot FALLING IN LINE is a 2021 quarter-finalist for Screencraft's Comedy Competition, Emerging Screenwriters Genre Competition and Chicago Screenplay Awards. It's about a head-strong South Asian-American comedian who adopts a previously preposterous pursuit: an arranged marriage and all the “normalcy” she can st...
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Quarterfinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 7 Pages
Two best friends are held hostage during a bank heist by a super hot robber and despite the obvious red flags, the two concoct a way to talk to him. (Think two idiots in a Christopher Nolan film)
New York City, NY
Ruby Mainieri is a screenwriter, actress, and producer whose work has earned recognition across multiple prestigious screenplay competitions. Her half-hour animated comedy "Miss Demeanor" has emerged as a standout project, winning the Script2Comic Contest and securing a publication deal with Scout Comics.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 27 Pages
A career-driven divorced father adopts a shelter dog to keep a promise to his son. But when he is offered a lucrative job in New York, he finds he's bitten off more than he can chew.
Melbourne, Vic, AU
Peter is a writer/director passionate about telling relevant, compelling, and darkly funny stories that will leave you thoroughly entertained.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Drama
· 15 Pages
A coming of age story about a Ukrainian teenager, Georgii, on a student exchange programme in California, who survives a school shooting and has to make a tough choice about his future.
Munich, Bavaria, DE
Before fully embracing my screenwriting passion, I authored a middle-grade adventure series titled Project Adventure under the pen name David Konrad. Born and raised in Croatia, my journey has taken me through some of Europe's most vibrant and diverse cities, including Moscow, Madrid, and London. My family and I now call Munich, Germany, home.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Drama
· 10 Pages
A suburban white kid refuses to ditch his gun after a successful robbery, pissing off his experienced Black accomplices. Tensions escalate to a breaking point in the getaway car.
Brooklyn, New York
Dedicated filmmaker. Voracious reader. Lover of words. Currently works as a line producer in New York City but working toward becoming an artist worth engaging with.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Thriller
· 13 Pages
In 2062, a dystopian corporate future, Thomas, a desperate job seeker, endures a harrowing interview process, involving truth pills and agonizing tests, to secure a coveted Analyst position, so he can financially provide for his grief ridden family in a world dominated by The Corporation.
Michael Dufek is a Writer, Director, and Producer based in New York City. He is a graduate of The New School for Drama and the NBC East Coast Page Program. His Pilot Goodbye, Sam won the LGBTQ+ Toronto Film Festival. Michael’s Pilot script Curved Lines was a semi-finalist at the Big Apple Film Festival. He is also the Founder of As a Matter of Fact ...
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Quarterfinalist
Short
· Other
· 29 Pages
Chain Reaction: Noun. A process in which the subjects themselves promote or spread a reaction, which accelerates dramatically and with unpredictable results.
Portland, Oregon
Warren might SEEM like your typical Engineer/Project Manager/Improviser/Comedian/Writer, but he's actually slightly taller. A keen observer (and sufferer) of the humor emerging from the madness of everyday life, Warren's comic voice comes from a place of survival, with jokes. His diverse body of work includes live theater, sketch, television, and st...
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Quarterfinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 11 Pages
Cici visits a trendy hair salon only to get talked into a haircut she doesn't want.
Brooklyn, NY
Sara Shelton is a writer, director, improvisor and comedic storytelling performer. She studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade, PIT, and Magnet Theatre.
Her debut short film, Teddy Bear, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2022 and gained traction in film festivals around the country.
Most recently she directed the cold open for Netflix’...
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DEMENTED
Private
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Horror
· 35 Pages
Following a seemingly trivial supermarket bust-up, busy-body Linda discovers that the line between mental illness and witchcraft can be very, very thin.
London, GB
No bio available.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Drama
· 16 Pages
Jenny Byrne, an emotionally-stunted suburban housewife, must confront her painful past when she's forced to put a family member down.
No bio available.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Drama
· 22 Pages
A man dying of brain cancer spends his final days binging an old TV show with his family. As he struggles to face the end, he finds reality slowly blurring with the world of the show.
Denver, Colorado
Andrew is a screenwriter who specializes in offbeat horror, dark comedy, and genre scripts with a strong emotional core. He was a 2024 WeScreenplay Short Script Lab Fellow and a winner of the 2024 Vail Film Festival Screenplay Competition. Andrew has a degree in Creative Writing from Middlebury College and worked for many years as a journalist.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Drama
· 20 Pages
A synaesthetic child falling through the cracks of the foster care system uses his music talents to escape an abusive home with the help of his foster brother.
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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Quarterfinalist
Short
· Fantasy
· 16 Pages
After putting aside his ambitions and taking a normal job for financial stability, a stressed out screenwriter's characters stage an intervention for him on the night a make-or-break assignment is due.
Windsor Heights, Iowa
Erik's creative journey began as a script reader for the production company, Underground Films. Wanting to develop his own voice as a storyteller, he enrolled at the New York Film Academy soon after, receiving an MFA in Filmmaking. His award-winning directorial debut short, "A Night At The Movies" is currently available on YouTube.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Comedy
· 11 Pages
Set in the early aughts, two queer high-school students can’t agree on posting the anticipated chapter of their online fan fiction when their manuscript is stolen.
Shannon Sears-Rivera
No bio available.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Horror
· 12 Pages
Deep in the mountains, an inn-keeping vampire meets a lonely traveler, both hungry for something the other might be able to provide.
No bio available.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Drama
· 13 Pages
A man returns home for a weekend and tries to help his mentally-ill alcoholic mother move on with her life.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Andre Cherry is a black screenwriter who realized his love for writing at an early age. He specializes in writing sports dramas and he is a 5x 2nd Rounder at the Austin Film Festival. His feature, GENTRY, was a Semi-finalist in the 2022 Stowe Story Labs Fellowship. GENTRY also earned a score of 8 on the Blcklst.
Quarterfinalist
Short
· Horror
· 13 Pages
A former frat guy learns a little too late that his careless words and actions can have deadly consequences.
San Pedro, CA
As the Black Sheep Liberal, raised by a family of Conservatives, Susan Eileen Jizba has always felt like an outsider. She's a LA based writer who creates stories that echo her personal quest to find "her tribe”; a home where she’s understood, heard, and feels a sense of belonging. Her dramatic features have female leads with the elements of grounde...
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