- WINNER - Massagers 4 Sale Written by Chris Lui Chris Lui hails from Honolulu, Hawaii, where his childhood was spent at his Popo’s (grandma) place, right on the edge of Chinatown. Watching Hong Kong action movies at an early age, he later graduated to grindhouse kung fu flicks and high-flying wuxia fantasy films. An interest in economics led him to serve in the trenches of the State Legislature before jumping ship to USC for an MFA in Film Production. His writing has placed as a finalist in the Austin Film Festival, Humanitas Originals, PAGE International Screenwriting Awards and the Top 50 of the 2023 Nicholl Fellowships. - FINALISTS - Doors by Gina DeAngelis Gina DeAngelis is the youngest of 10 kids who all talked at once. She started writing just to get a word in. A professional writer for 20+ years, she won an Emmy Award for historical drama,...
Read More
WINNER Fishtank by Wendi Tang Wendi Tang is a Chinese writer/director based in Los Angeles. She is a graduate of NYU’s BFA-BS dual-degree program. Wendi’s work focuses on character-driven stories that explore various corners of female narratives. Her short films have been screened at film festivals worldwide and won several awards. She is a 2022 NYC Women’s Fund recipient, a Sundance Uprise Grant Fund Finalist, and a 2022 BAFTA Newcomer. Her upcoming short film project, FISHTANK, is the winner of the 8th Tribeca Chanel Through Her Lens program. RUNNER-UP Mina Finds Her Edge! by Robin Rose Singer Robin Rose Singer is a film and TV writer. She loves big emotional impact, cinematic storytelling, and finding fresh takes on genre to make exploring the human condition exciting. Recent recognition/awards: Academy Nicholl Finalist, Wscripted Cannes List of 25 Women Screenwriters to Watch, Black List Recommends, Tracking Board Recommends, Winner of the Hollyshorts…
Winner Wall by Erin Cantelo Erin Cantelo was most recently tapped by Mayans MC showrunner and co-creator Elgin James to co-write the character driven action THE HEIGHTS ABOVE that James will direct. She created and directed the short documentary series SUBCULTURES that helped launch SoulPancake’s production company. She has directed and produced documentaries for the Oprah Winfrey Network/Harpo Studios, SoulPancake,Sandwich Video, as well as narrative content for Funny or Die, and more. With a drive to tell truly meaningful stories and a belief that as a storyteller you have to live stories worth telling, some of her most compelling accomplishments have been off camera. Including a 4 month solo trip to Southeast Asia where she took a 5 day motorbike trip in rural Laos alone, a 10 day silent meditation retreat in Southern Thailand, and a 16 day cargo ship ride home from Hong Kong to California in which she…
Winner Bahar, Born at Night by Michael Bina Michael A. Bina is a writer, director, and producer who graduated from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. His script Bahar, Born at Night tells the story of a woman who looks back on her childhood in Iran as a gay man, where she reminisces on her first love, its fallout, and the gender reassignment surgery she was pressured to have. Michael is compelled to explore themes of immigration, growth, and adaptation in his projects and is confident that audiences will respond positively to these compelling stories and create a dialogue surrounding such topics of human life. His previous short film, Children of the Revolution, was set during the Iran-Iraq War and told the story of a mother who worries about her son who has gone missing in combat. The film was awarded 2nd place by Kathy Bates,…
Winner Blank by Bernardo Duran Bernardo Duran Jr. was born and raised in East Los Angeles, CA. He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in Business Administration from Cal State LA and the University of La Verne and later earned a second graduate degree in Film & TV production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 2014. Bernardo served as In-House Producer for Canana, a Mexican-based production company previously run by Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal and later pursued a career in film finance under famed producer Joel Silver’s banner, Silver Pictures Entertainment. Bernardo served as Associate Producer on MGM’s blockbuster hit, Creed II, starring Michael B Jordan and Sylvester Stallone, directed by Steven Caple Jr. Bernardo is working on completing the animated short Blank, in addition to writing its feature adaptation, and Trokita, a character comedy set in East Los Angeles. Runners-up Neptune by Julia Batavia Run, My…
Winner Little Brother by Spencer Mandel & Dikega Hadnot Perón “Dikega” Hadnot (Director/Story) Born in South LA to a Liberian mother and an African-American father, Dikega’s teacher mother arranged a scholarship for her precocious son to attend Oakwood School, a school whose curriculum balances academics with the arts. Meeting Spencer in the 1st grade, the two were regular collaborators on both drama and film/video projects in their 12 years at Oakwood, a friendship that took them on a 2-week road trip to South Dakota (into towns that had never seen a black kid) and an archaeological dig at a Roman fort in Northern England. In 2005, Dikega was accepted to Johns Hopkins University, turning down a full ride to USC to take part in Hopkins’ emerging film theory and production program. After graduating in 2009, he gained valuable field experience as an assistant to Terrence Malick and “Chivo” Lubezki on…