2020 Semi-Finalists


In order to choose the Grand Prize and Honorable Mention winners for Screenplay Festival, there are three rounds to the competition. In the first round, every script is read by at least two judges and rated regardless of genre. The screenplays with the highest ratings move into the second round, or the Semi-Final Round. The scripts listed below made it through this process and deserve recognition as Screenplay Festival Semi-Finalists.

The most frequent question we get asked is, “What percentage placement does being a Semi-Finalist make me?”  This year, the Semi-Finalists represent the top 50% of entries that we receive.

We appreciate everyone’s hard work and would again like to congratulate everyone for their great writing!

2020 Semi-Finalists

Movie: Action / Adventure

36 Hours – Rajan Gulati
7 on 10 – Samantha Lavin
Addictive – “T.L. Tribble”
And Death Shall Have No Dominion – Ery De Jong
Black Tiger – Karl Mather
Circle the Wagons – Leigh Hunt
Count Rushmore – Aaron Holmgren
Critical Error – “Samantha Brennan”
Damn the Valley – Daniel Clark
Earth and Sky – Kimberly Cronkite
Exodus – Paul Murdock
Finding Atlantis – Katharine Panzella
Fled – Paul G. Andrews
Guards – Michael Oduah
Hectic – Samantha Brennan
Hurricane Tara – Kyle Curry
In The Redd – Jason Loring
Inversion – Suzy Stein
Karachi Dreams – Alexander Devereaux
Kill the Prince – Laura Fortier
KSC Adventure – Rachel Chapman
Last Chance Cafe – John Rice
Legend of the Meteor Sword – Yiyi Yin
Little Psychos – Alex Flaster
Marshal Dodge – Brad Catherman
Massive Destruction – Julia Lyon
Minor Alterations – Shay Thurmon
No Blood Between Us – Dana Jackson
No Mercy – Sean Mick
Paladin – Bridget Bell McMahon
Path of Vindication – Prakshep Bhatt
Preacher Man – Jay Kanzler
Protect Our Streets – John Ravitz
Rebel in a Modern Age – ed Munter
Rebel Rising – Sarah Taylor
Run Toward Danger – Jane Newcomer
Sarcophagus – John Montgomery
Seven Washington Place – Larry Leinoff
Smooth – Khalil Gravney
Stone – Jaye Lowe
Strawberry Hill – David Tittone
The Cauldron – Edi Ibok
The Dreamfishers – Stephen Taylor
The Eye of Midnight – Anthony Sands
The Knowledge Men – Eric Jones
The Legacy of Heorot – Ryan Walker
The Pawnbroker – J.A. Brown
The Shroud Trinity – Frank McEvoy
The Unfavored One – Ruby Smith
The Untimely Death of Herbert Sullivan – Tash Polczinski
The Wall – Alex Perez
Time, Space, And The Poet – john turner
War and Peace 2044 – Lucia Braccalenti
Wasteland – Sean Mick
Zero Line – Tim Kontje

Movie: Comedy

A Third Wind – Peter Barton
Age Bracket – Mitch Emoff
American Money – Karen E. Johnson and Timothy A. McGhee
American Road Trip – Cassandra Schneider
Apocalypse – Joshua Koffman
Around the Diamond – “Matthew Willis”
Assassin Gram – Benjamin Pollack
Billy Forbes Couch potato – “David Fisher”
Black Eye – “Zak Johnson”
Breaking Rule Number Three – “Donald Hauka”
Brook Farm – Alexander Wake
Buff Nuggs – Judy Lowe
Building Utopia – John Montgomery
Carry On – JD Dorfman
Eggs – James Shockley
Escapes, the Grandpa Chronicles – Joseph Cooper
Five Kingdoms – Craig Koller
Fleaosaurus – Benjamin Pollack
Gallows Humor – Demian Cuthbertson
Gay For Jesus – Jason Laurits
Goodbye, Your ‘Bul – Sean Ryan
Happy Medium – Aaron Lieben
Hit Girl – Wendy R Williams
Holy Sh!t – Christian Hearn
I Don’t Know – Arthur Tiersky
illegal Aliens – Clinton Buckner
In Another World – “Bridget Addison”
Inside Out – Patrick Farrell
It’s Just A Game – Jim Norman
Let’s Take a Break! – Gianmarco D’Agostino
Loserville – John Montgomery
Map of Your Life – Jordan Galland
Meet Me at Maxim’s – Adam Korbitz
MegaBall$ – Marc Baron
Melina’s Dream – Leonidas Demas
Merry Murder – Eric Lambden
Modern Screen – richard tanner
Next Register, Please – Dan O’Sullivan
Plot Twist – Brian Hill
Power Couple – Peter Andrews
Power Move – Michael Ellis
Publish or Perish – David Liban
Renaissance Man – Robert Tolz
Rock Hard – Dan Healey
Shut-In Santas – Joe Doran
Silver Cove – Punkee Productions
Slumming It – Kelly Lamphear-Dash
Snowflakes – Mark Perlick
Spy-chology – Danielle Newport
Stavros and The Last Gyros Pita – Kristin Anne Fieseler
Super Turbo Overdrive – Peter Hsieh
Taming Holden Caulfield – Virginia Austin
The All-American Life of Florence Honeypott – John T. Frederick
The Breakup List – Grant Lyon
The Cookoff – Evelyn Pitt-Stoller
The Devil’s Stick – Chris Reina
The Envelope – Nathan Zevenhuizen
The Final Departure – “Epp Marsh III”
The Fish In The Elevator – Liza Donnelly
The Grim Job – Anthony Sands
The Hotel Palmyra – John Montgomery
The Ingenious Vincent Quinn – Joseph Fisher
The Insidious Impact of Anton – David Hilder
The Love Docta’ – Brus Messinger
The Pink House – Miguel Ángel Parra
The Potential of Dirt – Vince Parenti
The Real Thing – Matthew Papadopoulos
Tobacco Man – Mark Marinovich
Wacky Tabacky – Daxton Dubach

Movie: Drama

175 – Yael Deynes
A Devil in the Pines – Stephanie Holman
A Little Sedated – Joey Sanders
Above The Horizon – Russell Conley
Act Naturally (Big and Rich) – Kenny Rice
Adeliz – A. S. Thompson
Alan Eager – Steven Robertson
An Unfamiliar Life – Toni D’Antonio
Audrey’s Children – Julia Fisher Farbman
Away With My Heart – Hoyt Richards
Beheaded – Helen Williams
bGone – Scott Marshall Taylor
Black Star Rising – Doug Williams
Bloody Mary – Jon Hampton
Carry on – Samuel Tejeda
Class of 1940 – James Morrison
Clean Living – Kim Townsel
Code Red – Alia Zeid
Day of a Slave – Billy Hartmann
Destiny’s Grace – Kirby Freeman
Drenched – Roopal Badheka
Ed Rex – Brian Lewis
Electric Blue – Suzanne Nichols
Finding Redemption – A.M. Massey
Fractal – Euroy Tan
Happy Night – Deirdre Timmons
Her Seventh Death – Virginia Austin
In The Void Of Lies – Kirby Freeman
Innocent One – Christopher Buonopane
Inside Out – “Jack Kearney”
It Chooses You – Jordan Galland
Jessy – Sally Champlin
Journey to Fisterra – Alan Lambert
King of Swing – Alessandro King
Land of the Rising Sun: A fictional tribute to Biafra – Ngozi Obi
Like Normal People – John Montgomery
Lost in the Outdoors – Tanner Kerrins
Love Thy Neighbor – Jean Buschmann
Maeta’s Story – Charles DeRykus
Nightowls – Trevor Norman
Paddy’s Tonsorial Emporium – Ronald Milburn
Pop Video – Richard Stringham
Raggedy Ann Heart – Heather McPhaul
Return to Spalding Drive – Kevin Brunner
Riding Shotgun – Nafi Ayvaci
Roya – Mahmoud Salimi
Saints and Poets – Richard LaPorta
Saving Tabitha – Anu Sukhdial
ScareActor – Kim Donovan
Selling Death – John Maslowski
Smidgely, Alabama 1974 – “Stacey Bean”
Somewhere, Sometime in America – Matt Lewis
Special Arrangements – Patricia Salier
Stealing Dreams – Salvador Paniagua
Stories I Told My Father – William Ebert
Style: A Pop Opera – Michael Coles
Swan Song – Dick Goldberg
The Adoption – Linda Cattani & Mark Schimmel
The Anthropology of Pez the Dispenser – Collin Colson
The Black Sparrow of Death – James Brown III
The Bond of Budgies – Max Eigner
The Book of Life – Peter Groth
The Buzzing Tree – K. Carlton Mayfield
The Christians – Earth’s Cry Heaven’s Smile – Tony Gioutsos
The Connect – Katherine Sainz
The Coyote – Andrew Yusi
The Culling – Conor Gallagher
The Desert Shrine – V.R. Marianne Zahn
The Empathy Room – Jason Schwaede
The Final Candidate – Steve Hernandez
The Girl With The Paintbrush – Christie Allen
The Greek Girl’s Story – Alan Singerman
The Lies We Tell Ourselves – Courtney Froemming
The Millionaire – Darryl G
The Real Deal – Tim Sharer
The Snow Pony – Stephanie Holman
The Statue Garden – Peter Hsieh
There is No One in Hell – Nijean Philippe
There’s No Place Like Home – Leigh Hunt
They Call Me Terrorist – “Amrita Singh”
Those Who Wander – David Neal
Touch of Grey – Daniel Talamantes
Town of Fallsburg – Brian Cheek
Undesirable – Rodolfo Alvarado
Visceral Fatherland – LeLe Park
Warpaint – Helen Taylor
What We Leave Behind – “David Duty”

Movie: Thriller/Horror

At The Mercy of Faith – Samuel Taylor
Bad Summer – Richard Stringham
Between the Walls – “Carmen Brucato”
Birthmark – Damon Russell, Mylissa Fitzsimmons & Brenden Hubbard
Bleak – Daniel Wallner
Bloodletters – Tom Sime
Bone Men – Charles Becco
Burial – Brooke deRosa
Carnivorous – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
Cellular Memory – Brian Erwin
Charlie Horowitz – Dillon Fuhrman
DeadAlive – Christian Hearn
Diversion – Stuart Dobbs
El Chupacabra (The Beginning) – Aaron Willett
Faithful Shadow – Kevin J. Howard
Final Interview – Lou Peterson
Forever – Jed Sutter
Free Range – Howard Bennett
Friday Night Frenzy – Richard Stringham
Full – Joshua T. Wagner
GASP – S. C. S.
Glitterfish – Robert Castle
Good & Evil – Stephen Kayfish
I See You – Michael Keeling
Immortal Immortal – Mark Donnell
In the Land of Angels – Rich Vincent
Invisi-Grizz – Dion Hicks
Kahwoo’s Promise – Ryan Taub
Lust For Blood, Lust For Death – Chris Fay
Maelstrom – Stephen Wise
Monochrome – Chloë J. Hightower
Murder Cabin – Nick Bankhead
Murder Incorporated – Lawrence Moore
Night Wings – “Samantha Brennan”
North Moody Road – Ronald Ecker
Otchipwe-kitchi-gami – Ryan McGivern
Panic – Christian Hearn
Prisoner of Sin – Paolo Taddei
Protector of the Emerald City – Kevin J. Howard
Review – Jonathan Zarantonello
Room Service – Joseph D’Urso
Rush Week – Michael Bretten
Salem – Michael Edwards
Sea Monsters – Karl Mather
Sleep – Jason Lor
Smith Road – james Lemke
Soul Passage – Patrick Mediate & Kristin Ilagan
Swing – David Toussaint
Terror Trip – Darrin Thompson
The Good Go First – Jerome Velinsky
The Heavenly Kingdom of Freedom Eternal, California – Samuel Johnson
The Horror Film Killer – Michael Bowler
The Horror of Daniel Connor – Dan Castle
The Last Mile – Christian Hearn
The Most Dangerous Game – Jonathan Anthony
The Night Hike – Rob Stennett
The Prick – Gareth Ross
The Queen of Death – Cindy Pelligrini
The Shoe Collector – Ray Kermani
To Serve The Poor – Jeremy Christensen
Tourniquet – Steve Wrench
Under the Streetlights – Kelsey Wilkins
Vermin – Chris Warner
VXX – Bridget Bell McMahon
Walking Wounded – Richard P. Alvarez

Television: Half Hour Script

A. P. Bio “The Crush” – Paula Dixon
Best Four Years – ‘Speed Dating’ – Josh Perry
Blood From a Stone – John King
Bob’s Burgers: The Swiss Family Belcher – Carlos Greaves
Brothers From a Psychic Mother (3) – Brett Seamans
Camp Co-Ed – Ava Feneberger
Cartunion – Alessandro King
Click It to Win It (Season 1- Merlin Gets Lost in the Earth) – Andrew Kirby
Community Theatre – Richard Wilson
Complex* – Jake Marin
Curb Your Enthusiasm – Larry’s Celebrity Poker – Scott Marshall Taylor
Detective Show – Chris Warner
Dingle Berry – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
Docents – Grace Fetterman
Doug Helper – Suzan Averitt
Duck. I Have Heroes – Devin Wilson
Expats – Dorian Frankel
Fogies – Collective Punishment – Peter Andrews
Fruit of the Womb – Lidia Sabljic
Gary & The City – Rachel Chapman
Gobble – Pilot Script – Troy DeWinne
Good Lord – Matthew Neff
Gopher Broke – Katie Canty
Graphers – Jeremy Engler
Grass Fed – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
Greenlit – John Stinson
Hey – Tom Sime
Home, Sweet Homeless – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
Honor Among Thieves – Richard Chi
Hot Wax – Dia Hargitai
Hotel California – “Benny Lumpkins”
Incredibull – pilot – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
Inverted – Cat Ventura & Owen Fitzpatrick
Keisha is Coming to Lagos – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
Kill, Marry, Screw – Jamin Keene
La Isla Bonita – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
Lady Parts – “Bonnie Gross”
Leo – Brian McDevitt Jr.
Love, LTD. – Ada Lee Halofsky
Lydia and Juan – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
Mental Custodian – Vince Parenti
My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad – Russell Robertson
My Neighbors The Nudists – Russell Robertson
NeverMind episode 1 – Dennis Chamberlin
New Bunkerville – “Pilot” – Alex Diedrick
Pethahiah Biggs and Geronimo’s Brain – “Peter Steinberg”
Prodigium University – Daniel Garcia
Rico – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
Santa’s Animal Elves – Pilot – Christopher Sartorius
Scarey Tales — Revenge of The Pumpkin King – Matthew Neff
Side Effects May Include – Avery Girion
Soleil Falling – Jacques Point Du Jour
Special Days – Blake Rice
Spiritual Intervention – Riley Madden
Stand-Ups – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
Storytime – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
Surface Tension: Let Them Eat Cake – “Shane Walsh-Smith”
That’s The Spirit – Kelly McInerney
Thē – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
The Brew House – Kevin Matthews
The Family That Appraises Together – Paula Dixon
The Gang Gets Diverse – Jordan Champagne
The Janitor – Christopher Hughes
The Mound – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
The Pyramid – Frank Buttafarro
The Tommy Sessions – James Skowyra
The True Story of the S.S. Rex – Paula Dixon
Thespians – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
Wedding – Rebecca Field
Where You Are – James Brown III

Television: One Hour Script

¡Viva, La Click-Ka! The Television Series – “Rodolfo Alvarado”
1-Star Review – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
Abbeville Season 1 Birth Of A Town – Tiffany Jackman
Awoke – Jeremy Engler
Beverly Hills Finest – Anthony Sands
Blue Spice Queen – Dean Harakas
Broken Mirror – Vincent Edwards
Burning Daylight Series #2 – Wolf At Sea – Eric Johnson & Timothy Ryan
Caregivers: In Sickness and Health – Tessa Clare
Colossus – Adam Stayberg
Confidently Conflicted – Chloé Linn
Cope – Jasmine Davis
Dead Inside – Guilherme Martins
Dead Patch – pilot – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
Desert Star News – robert haus
Endure – Dan Fabrizio
Great White Way – Lawrence Fecho
Here Kitty Kitty – Dana Hammer & Marcus McGee
Hidden Blood – “Seda Anbarci”
High Water – Caitlin Brands
Highland Drive – Rosalyn Rosen
In The Shadows of November (script) – Bill Albert
India Jones – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
It’s hot in L.A. – Philipp Senn
Jungle Jam – Benjamin Pierce
Kill Kappa – Ava Feneberger
Knight Errant – “Sabina Sattar”
Kurds of Nashville – Peter Andrews
Lie With Me – “Allen Amanna”
Light Em’ Up – Sami Richey
Mission Appleseed – pilot – Trent Miller
pHaRma – with names – Madeline Borkin
Phoenix – Jed Sutter
Quantum Bits – Mark Perlick
Rock Bottom – Tiffany Jackman
Roderick – Danny Lewis
Ruin – Justine Browning
Sit.Com – Steve Murray & Robert Meredith
Steal the Bern – Heather Ross
The Bliss Killer – LeLe Park
The Even Darker – “Edi Ibok”
The Factory – Kevin Brunner
The Givers – pilot – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
The Great Revealing – Mark Perlick
The Imperfects – pilot – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
The Light Web – Pilot – Justin Lord
The Lighthouse – Daniel Talbott
The Merc Club – Blake Tamarkin
The Townhouse – David Neal
The Wall – TV Pilot – Alex Perez
The Worst Heroes – Alison Gonzalez
The Wrong Candidate Pilot – John Ravitz
Trollstigen – pilot – Ruben Estremera & Gregory Wolk
Vixens (Pilot) – F#$& a 9-5 – “Epp Marsh III”
Wanted Dead – Glenn Lissner
When In Mexico – Jorge Castro-Salinas