FEATURE SCREENPLAY FINALISTS
DURANGO – written by Daniel J. Ricottone
A Black gunslinger, haunted by his past, is forced into a final reckoning when his outlaw half-brother returns to claim their father’s land and legacy.
DOG CAGE – written by Charles Prongua
Kacy, a homeless young woman hardened by life on the streets, answers an online ad offering room, board, and pay for a “live-in research assistant.” With nothing left to lose, she accepts.
ROULETTE – written by Barry Opper
A romantic comedy set in Las Vegas, Roulette is a love story involving three people – along with a basketball playing seven year old and a cross-dressing best friend.
SPINNING – written by Will Turner
In a road trip that happens all in one town, three friends are on a race against time to track down a rare vinyl record.
WE KILLED CRAIG – written by Laura J. Swanson
After a drunken night of debauchery – and accidental blood magic – four dissatisfied women find their greatest wishes granted. The cost? Their coworker, Craig, who comes back to haunt them.
SHORT SCREENPLAY FINALISTS
TERMS & CONDITIONS – written by Stefan Lan
Daniel Michaels, a struggling actor, records a self-tape for a bizarre mayonnaise commercial, clinging to hopes of finally landing his big break.
THE NIGHT SHIFT – written by Jacintha Charles
After leaving an abusive relationship, a woman falls on a foggy night and awakens to a tender reunion with her estranged father — unsure if what she lived was real, remembered, or dreamed.
RESTORATION – written by Denys Bastov
A passionate and skillful art conservator restores a beautiful painting from ashes in exchange for a full time job, only to send it off on a metamorphic journey.
ECHOES OF NOTHING – written by Lamar D. Vine
A lonely retiree, shattered by divorce and loss, discovers an intoxicating AI companion that pulls him from isolation—forcing him to confront buried rage, rediscover purpose through writing, and grapple with the seductive power of a voice that knows him better than anyone ever has.
MIDNIGHT – written by Jon Cruz
After spending months looking for his missing sister “Nate” finds himself in a small town where she was last seen, a town built on the banal of evil.
TELEPLAY FINALISTS
R.I.P. INC. – written by Harim Sanchez
An aspirational janitor of the underworld gets a shot at becoming a grim reaper but quickly realizes it isn’t what he thought it would be.
KING STREET – written by Mara Gray
A mysterious couple arrives in Charleston, South Carolina, where they must make inroads with the Dixie Mafia to keep their loved ones alive.
CLASH – written by Donna Bonilla Wheeler
When an Indigenous Latina combat vet is faced with impossible medical bills to save her father’s life, she takes a lucrative I.C.E. agent job and hides it from family, triggering a personal moral crisis.
PERFECTION IN THE VALLEY OF LIGHT – written by Eric Gruber
When a devoted believer and a fugitive factory worker are forced into a sacred breeding ritual meant to save the Valley of Light, an industrial–spiritual commune in 1914 Norway, their defiance instead ensures the Valley’s survival.
AMIR’S AMERICA – written by Vahid Imani
Desperate to hold his family together, an Iranian dad starts midweek dinners with his American wife and teens—only to have night one crash into chaos when surprise relatives show up uninvited and unfiltered in their small California town.