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…
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WINNER Written By Written & Directed by Callie Bloem & Christopher J. Ewing Callie + Chris are a husband and wife writing/directing team from Los Angeles. Written By is their first short film. Once upon a time, they used to make music videos together and get paid in pizza when that was still a financially responsible thing to do. As a former senior producer and creative director at Hulu, Chris produced video campaigns and directed award-winning promos for shows like “Castle Rock,” “Veronica Mars,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Marvel’s Runaways,” “Future Man” and “11.22.63” among many others. He’s made super bowl commercials, shot off Josh Hutcherson’s arm with a laser gun and he still collects compact discs even though it's the modern era. Since leaving the world of healthcare tech with exactly zero longing looks backward, Callie has directed and produced commercials and promos for the likes of Sega, Hasbro, FOX,…
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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…
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Winner Featherweight Written & Directed by Kayleigh Gibbons Since graduating from Bristol UWE with a degree in Animation Kayleigh has worked as an Animator and Compositor on TV Shows for Nickelodeon and the BBC. Her short film FEATHERWEIGHT has won such awards as the Don Quijote Award for Best Animated Short Film at the Galway Film Fleadh, and Best Animation at the The Richard Harris International Film Festival. She currently works as an Animation Generalist for Studio Panda and is developing a new animated short film. Runner-up Bevoldi Written & Directed by Kevin Michael Murphy Born and raised in New York, Kevin has created over 20 self-financed short films in 12 years, while working as a member of SAG-AFTRA performing Stunts and Acting in major motion pictures and network television shows. Finalists Golds Written & Directed by Moses Lawi Moses Lawi is a filmmaker who specializes in directing and writing. Many…
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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…
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Winner Échappé Written & Directed by Allison Mattox Allison Mattox is a writer and director who studied at the University of Southern California. Her short film, Échappé, follows a Soviet ballet company on tour in New York and has screened at festivals including Traverse City, Newport Beach, and Dance on Camera, and has won awards including Festival Favorite at San Francisco Independent and Best Drama Short at Sedona and Golden State. Her previous short film, Three in June, explores marriage and sexuality in 1960s puritanical Georgia and screened at a dozen festivals. She's is developing the feature script for Échappé and a book of personal essays. Allison lives in Brooklyn, New York. Runners-up Black Hat Directed by Sarah Smith Written by Phillip Guttmann In Full Bloom Written & Directed by Maegan Houang Finalists Clay Written & Directed by Leonard Rääf Colony Written & Directed by Catherine Bonny DOM Written &…
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Launched in January 2018, Film Pipeline spotlights both a short script and short film competition intended to find extraordinary directors as well as distinguished projects that merit financing and production. Contest selections are circulated to agencies, producers, and managers looking for emerging directors, proof-of-concept or standalone shorts, and filmmakers across a broad spectrum of backgrounds. Unlike a typical festival, Film Pipeline promotes individual directors and plays an active role in getting content produced and distributed. Film Pipeline joins Script Pipeline (est. 1999) and Book Pipeline (est. 2014) as part of Pipeline Media Group’s suite of platforms connecting creatives with the film and TV industry. Through Script Pipeline, numerous writer/directors have produced their work, sold over $6 million in screenplays and pilots to studios, and found representation due to the guidance of PMG’s development staff–a team fully committed to replicating the success of Script Pipeline with Film Pipeline.
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Script Pipeline contest winner Tripper Clancy signed with a Pipeline industry partner in 2009 before selling several specs. A few months after the screenwriting competition ended, 20th Century Fox selected Tripper for their feature comedy writing team to help develop new material. Later, he was hired to write the animated feature Shedd for Paramount, the Amazon film High Five, the comedy Hacker Camp for Hasbro, and an adaptation of The Art of Fielding for Mandalay / IMG. He also sold additional specs The Ambassadors and Winter Break. His first studio feature, Stuber (2019) sold in the mid-six figures. The action-comedy stars Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy), Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick, Silicon Valley), Mira Sorvino, and Betty Gilpin (Glow). From Tripper: "I can't express the impact Script Pipeline has had on my writing career. Winning the contest directly led to new representation, which in turn led to working with studios such as 20th Century Fox."
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Biophilia, co-produced by Pipeline Media Group (Script Pipeline), won the Best Screenplay award at the 2018 Brooklyn Film Festival. Written and directed by Marina Michelson, the short is "inspired by the effects of the 2008 recession" and serves as a commentary, in part, on self-reliance and our intimate connections to nature. The story: "Rachel, a former Brooklynite, has persuaded her boyfriend to take a stab at farming on his family’s abandoned sheep ranch. But the dream of self-reliance reveals itself to be a harsher reality and strains their relationship. When a sheep dies under their watch, Rachel becomes determined to deal with the remains and in doing so, prove her worth." Biophilia was also accepted to three other festivals in North America. View the trailer. Read Marina's interview with Film Pipeline. Follow: Facebook | Instagram
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Henry Dunham’s The Standoff at Sparrow Creek releases January 2019, featuring the ensemble cast of James Badge Dale (Rubicon), Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker), Chris Mulkey (Whiplash), Happy Anderson (Mindhunter), Robert Armayo (Game of Thrones), and Gene Jones (The Hateful Eight). Dallas Sonnier, Jonathan Brownlee, and Amanda Presmyk producing. Dunham makes his feature directorial debut. The film premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was acquired by RLJ Entertainment. It made its West Coast premiere at Beyond Fest in Hollywood on October 3rd, 2018. It’s due for a January 2019 release. “Without the momentum my win gave me, I don’t know where my screenplay would be. I owe Script Pipeline for everything.” – Henry Dunham (writer/director, The Standoff at Sparrow Creek) Formerly titled Militia, the script was a unanimous pick amongst Script Pipeline staff for top honors. Both CEO Chad Clough and Senior Executive Matt Joseph Misetich pegged the screenplay as a fresh,…
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Winner Little Brother by Spencer Mandel & Dikega Hadnot Photo by: Sheva Kafai 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…
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Winner Mudpots Written & Directed by Cate Smierciak Cate Smierciak a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and half of Wanderkino Productions, along with Nick Clifford. Her short film, CLAIRE, premiered at the Nashville film festival and screened in numerous others, including the Mt. Hood film festival, where it won best narrative short. Cate has also produced a number of short films, premiering at festivals such as Cannes Critics' Week, Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, and The Hamptons International Film Festival. Cate holds a Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University, where she studied Radio/Television/Film, Art Theory & Practice, and participated in the Animate Arts program. In 2009, she received a DAAD Artist Scholar Grant to study directing at the HFF Konrad Wolf, Potsdam, Babelsberg. Runners-up Lola Written & Directed by Isabella Tan Sanyog Written & Directed by Aly Rana Finalists Cathedrals Written & Directed by Benjamin Caro Gloria Talks Funny Written & Directed by…
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Writers Prarthana Mohan and Script Pipeline contest winner Kay Tuxford saw their script The MisEducation of Bindu make a rapid ascent through crowdfunding. The dramedy, which puts a new spin on the coming-of-age story, is seen through the perspective of a 14-year-old Indian girl adjusting to her first high school experience. The project was selected for Seed & Spark’s #HometownHeroes campaign, and Mark and Jay Duplass (Togetherness) came on board as executive producers in 2017. The film premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival in 2019, and later screened in numerous fests worldwide. Kay and her writing partner Lily Dahl won the 2016 Script Pipeline TV Writing Competition with their true story drama pilot Queen of Thieves (aka 40 Elephants). She later sent the screenplay for Bindu to the Script and Film Pipeline team, who instantly saw its potential as a standout character-driven indie. Kay and Prarthana soon landed recognition from Seed & Spark, which led…
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The uniquely iconic dramedy stars Academy Award-Nominee Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, Batman vs. Superman), Mike O'Connell, comedian Jim Gaffigan, Ann Dowd (The Handmaid's Tale), and an ensemble cast. Pipeline Media Group CEO Chad Clough produced and raised financing for the indie. Script Pipeline assisted in the development of the film from concept to production. From Variety: "Pic defies all categorization. . . . Playing opposite the monumental O’Connell would seem to be an impossible assignment, but Eisenberg is note-perfect as his steady servant and go-to guy. Supporting ensemble couldn’t be more colorful." Now available on Amazon Prime and Netflix (previously available on Hulu and other streaming networks). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPDWddS6ftw
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Off the Menu, written by Script Pipeline Screenwriting Competition finalist Jen Goldson, wrapped production in October 2016 and is set for a 2017 release. Industry partner Jay Silverman (Girl on the Edge), who directed the romcom, picked up the project in 2015. Silverman and producer Bethany Cerrona met Goldson at the annual Script Pipeline writer/industry event in Los Angeles. "Off the Menu came about 100% due to Script Pipeline," Goldson said. "I was a finalist in the 2015 Screenplay Competition and attended their writer/industry event. There were a lot of producers there, but I remember Matt Misetich steering me toward Jay Silverman and Bethany Cerrona, saying they would appreciate my work--and they did! We soon had a meeting where I pitched the script, and boom: Jay offered to option the script right then and there, promising to make it. A year later, Jay, my director, was very true to his word, and we wrapped what…
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