2021 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 on to the second round!

The most frequent question we get asked is, “What percentage of scripts make it through the first round?”  This year, the First Round screenplays listed below 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!

Semi-Finalist Round Results

Movie: Action / Adventure

Adventures of an Honorable Scoundrel by Michael Casey
American Gulag by Michael Casey
B.L.A.C.K. by Allen Jones
Blood Runs Red by James Gilbertsen
Cesar and Max by Susan Klos
Chief Nip by Dawn Brown
Days Remaining by Nathan Zevenhuizen
Dead In The Water by Russ Martin
Delivery Boy by Jeremy Sless
Escape from EveryWorld by Paul Shiban
Everglades by les katz
Kamikaze Jade by Arnel Banzon
Keeper Of The Watch by Ricardo Espinosa
Leaving Arizona by Mark Karinja
Mammoth Revenge by Leanne Wake
Mannaz by Morgane B
Preacher’s Daughter: Giant Slayer by Gregory Bonds
Real Heroes by Richard Hohenrath
Roswell ’97 by Samuel Bollen
Sergeant Freeman by Gloria J Browne-Marshall
Sixgun Saint by Warren Lane
South of Purgatory by Algis Danaitis
TARO: Legend of Japan by Blue Spruell
The Caretaker by Gerald Teaster
The Euripides Engine by Peter Andrews
The House on Park Place by Debra Karr
The Impairer by Pozsgai Zsolt
The Legend of Lizzy Flynn by Paul Awad
The Maccabees by Zev Ledman
The Mayor of Armageddon by Anna Guerrero
The Minlet by Malik Stalbert
The Next Gen Spies by Rocco Geary
The Revenge of The Christ by Ruben Varela
The Rommel Gambit by John Doble
The Seer’s Crystal by James Gilbertsen
Three of a Kind by CV Herst, Virginia Travers, & Ruben Maria Soriquez
To Hell by Matthew Rafferty
Weapon by Michael J Bowler
Wolflike Grin by Demian Cuthbertson

Movie: Comedy

.Omissions. by Jessica Sadler
A Girl, A Beer and a Cigarette by John Arnau
And No One Mourned by Kyle Rogers
Are you Sirius? by Kristin Anne Fieseler
Battleground State by Jon Holmes
Benjamin Lee High School by John Pastore
Better Than It Was (fcsa) by Lynelle Souleiel
Black Shabbas by Max Lehman
Central Red by Davon Gilliam
Children’s Party War by Warren Lane
Fantasy Clash by William Mullins
Flash and Stretch by Jim Norman
Free Agent by Leigh Hunt
go-LOVE-go by John Griffin
Gods of Rock by Roi Tamkin
Going For Broke by Alec Cuddeback
Hattie’s Hard Hats by D.J. Broderick
Home for Christmas by Danielle Silverstone
If Walls Could Talk by Jonathan Aboaf
Jefferson, Franklin and Larry by John Martins III
Justice in Bulk by Jay Strong
Loonatoona by Shockadelic
Love Is Afoot! by Michael LaFata
Open Casket by Richard Stirling
Penelope’s War!! by Nancy Ellis
Stand Tall! by Vincent Paterno
TESStosterone by ERIN ELIZABETH KEEFER
The Adventurers by Emmanuel Flaire
The Loser’s Club by Jonathan Turner Smith
The Night Before (the other 7 nights) by Chen Drachman
The Not Ready for Prime Time Family by Richard Willett
The Officiant by Carla Miles
The Strip Club by Laura Belle
The Syntax of Life by Kristin Anne Fieseler
The Travesty of Romeo and His Ho by Jim Sullivan
The Zombays by Lance Barnett
Tribe by Laila Abdo
Undercover L.A.P.E. by Christopher Prince
We Now Know by Lan Artis

Movie: Drama

A Siren’s Sweet Whisper by Fred G Stemme
Angry and Afraid by Laurie Cho
Ash Wednesday by Bryan Artiles
Austin! A Love Story by Keith Carey
Back Porch Secrets by Tanya Hilson
Beguiling Dreams by Fred G Stemme
Between the Salt and the Sky by Pamela Hunt
Bound by Australia Kincannon
City Dwellers by Kirk Kolar
Cold Blue Hearts by Dean Harakas
Drama Department by Richard Willett
Face Painters by Giovanni Sanseviero
Fateville by Gary Blackwood
Fins by Kevin Brunner
Flat Head by Amir Abbasi
In Between The River by Tishia Malone
In Ottie’s World by David Preece
More Than One Idiot Brother by Pearse Lehane
Nour by Maitha Alawadi
Only Trees Hear The Silence by Brandon Troeller
Peace Hero by Amir Abbasi
Ruby’s Diner by Tanya Hilson
Sarah Tracy by Lori Bauman
The Desert Shrine by V.R. Marianne Zahn
The Exit Strategy by Michelle Quirk
The Failed Domestication of Nicholas G. by Pierre St-Jacques
The Gentlewolf by Willow O
The Last Day of Paradise by Kiki Denis
The Long Trip Home by James Hsiao
The Man Doctrine by Christopher Prince
The Mountains Are Calling by Eva Bennett
The Movement by Dina Six
The Sheriff by Andrew Crane
Time, Space, And The Poet by John Turner
Travis by Brian Day
Violet by Sarah Deakins
We The People by Abdallah Saleh
Win A Date With Rachel Ciemone by Regina Junior
Winnie & Clyde by Matthew Rafferty

Movie: Thriller/Horror

A Lovely Mess by Brandon Trask
A Weeping in the Woods by Cailin Tamplin
ArACNEphobia by Stephen Chen
Blood Roots by David Wurawa
Burn Pattern by Laura Kemp
Dark and Stormy by Rick Purdy
Dark Tastes by Daniel Couto
Devil’s Chair by Warren Lane
Dying For the Suburbs by Rick Purdy
Flash Card by Joseph Stephen Meadows
Forever After by Emil Faithe
Fractured by Wes Eastin
Fulfillment by Jeremy Christensen
Hate the Player by Julian Tepfers
I am awake by Mikhail Koptel & Svetlana Biryukova
I Didn’t Want to Remember You Dead by Rudy Riveron Sanchez
Love Thy Neighbor by Reverend Kyle Love
Malady by Cesar Caballero
MALLed by Janna Jones
Mantis by Theo Hogben
Mia by Matt Townsend
More than a Friend by David Preece
Murder Cabin by Nick Bankhead
Nocturnal by Peter Hardy
Operator by Fatima Litim
Out of Body by Gary Blackwood
Perfect World by Emil Faithe
Pickman’s Model by James Van Fleet
Quatch by Jasper Winters
Rigged by Steven Ellis
Senior Haunting by John Morrisey
Stranded by Cesar Caballero
The Deadtime Man by Benjamin Pollack
The Hiding by Christian Hearn
The Life That Wasn’t by Emilio Santín
The way to a man’s heart by Alessandro Berellini
Three Black Sheep by Sam Reynard
Time, Space, And The Poet by John Turner
Worst Fears by Bryan Bakker

Television: Half Hour Script

Amateurs by Kirsty Budding
Back in Business by Jim Norman
Barcadia by Annique Arredondo
Be My Guest by Jim Norman
Best Four Years – ‘Speed Dating’ by Josh Perry
Checked Out by Andrew Ortiz
Climbing and Digging by Colin Dodds
Cringe by Warren Lane
Damsel by Avery Girion
Deadline by Phil Valentine
Gospel According to Admin by Grace Fetterman
Gray Space “Still Serving” by Peter Andrews
Grin & Bear It by Jacqueline Fisher
Hacks: New York, New York by Shannon Constantine
Haunted by Madeleine McCann
Losing the Plot by Nicola Morris
Manly Men of the Mountains by David L. Anderson
Nobody Likes You When You’re 23 by Katrina Magat
Performing Love by Vanessa Kalil
Racism Is Funny by Greg Fusco
Sheep’s Clothing by Warren Lane
Starsearch by Alexis Quance
Ted Lasso “The Tryout” by Geoffrey Prather
The Big House by John Griffin
The Classroom by RYAN CHRISTIAN
The Creek Dweller in the Bayou by Melissa Caudle
The Gang Gets Diverse by Jordan Champagne
The Spotlights by Warren Lane
The Telltale Snore by Gregory Sarno
The Z by Danielle Silverstone
What We Do In The Shadows “Sallie Mae” by Billy Lorusso
What We Do in the Shadows “Mummy’s Curse” by Jessica Sproge

Television: One Hour Script

And Call Me in the Morning “The Story of Thalidomide” by Richard Willett
Animal DOCS by Heidi Morrell
AntiT.R.U.S.T. by Jay Bednar
Ballycotton by James Shanklin
Berlin Boys by Marc Cohen
Carolyn by Kevin Watts
Chicago Underground by T.J. Barkwill
Connie by Gerald Teaster
Cream City by Jeffrey James Keyes & Matt W. Cody
Credence by D B Colbert
DILF by Orlando Wood
Dummy “Speak from the Gut” by Michael Cirelli
Georgia Beats by Gregory Vines
Gilding the Lily by Wayne Watkins
Half Bad by Laura Fortier
High Water by Caitlin Brands
Inflection Points by Peter Andrews
Ivy League by John Griffin
Killer by Jack Salvatore
Lake Town by Rob Harmon
Lieners “First Day of School” by Brian Savage
Lineage by Michael Crews
Mr and Mrs Muse by Rob Styles
Necropolis by Caledonia Hanson
Newcomers by Brian Scanlan
On Patrol by Linda Rebman
QB by Brett Scieszka
Return Path “No Way Back” by Janine Pecenkova
Sarah Startup by Gregg Greenberg
Scars From Another Pain by Mariana Rosa
School of Reform by Brandon Troeller
SEED: The Beginning of the End by Rob Skiba
Shepherds Gone Wild by Joey Maranto
Solomon’s Ring by Warren Lane
Suburban Wildlife by Joan Sutton
The Earliest Kind by casey tillison
The Evangelical Cell by Timothy Patrick O’Neill
The Malta Scrolls by Carlos Mello (C. F. MELLO JR.)
The Manor by William Mullins
The Vineyard by Jake Rood