The Anita Skibski Story

by Matt Hader

Anita Skibski’s life has gone a little something like this recently. Wake her four children at 6:30 AM. Make lunches for the kids’ school day. Get breakfast into the little ones and send them to the bus stop. Next on the list, write the winning screenplay for the American Screenwriters Association’s 9th Annual International Screenwriting Competition (co-sponsored by Gotham Writers’ Workshop).



"Anita’s winning screenplay is indicative of the amazing talent out there and the reason we do our competition each year, to help find the best writers and their scripts no matter where they live," says John E. Johnson, ASA Executive Director.



Skibski’s winning screenplay, Mine, a gripping drama about a wealthy and respected coal mine owner who spirals into a dangerous obsession over the wife of his best employee in small town, 1950s Kentucky, was recently awarded the grand prize in the 9th Annual International Screenwriting Competition. Understandably, Skibski has been inundated with requests for reads of Mine from numerous LA and New York-based production companies and talent agencies.



Now, before you presume that Anita is residing near Laurel Canyon Blvd in the posh Hollywood Hills, and a nanny is actually involved in the raising of her kids…guess again. She is a very pleasant, soft-spoken Midwesterner with an incredible imagination. A full-time mom who studied creative writing at the University of Illinois, Anita has been married for 19 years to Rich Skibski, a Project Manager, and makes her home in Algonquin, IL, an outlying suburb of Chicago.



Skibski’s been writing screenplays for only 3 years. As Anita puts it, "I simply love working within the set screenwriting framework to create something that’s unique. It showcases the ultimate in writing skills."



So why enter the American Screenwriters Association’s competition?



"ASA has a great reputation on the writing circuit. The prizes are outstanding, and the competition is geared toward making the writer a professional." Skibski continues, "ASA’s prizes aren’t just about forking over money. If you win their competition, take full advantage of the prizes, and still can’t have some success, you’ve missed something somewhere," she says with a laugh.



Some of the advantages of winning the 9th Annual International Screenplay Competition are receiving an all-expense paid trip to ASA’s 19th Annual International Screenwriters Conference (Selling to Hollywood) and the San Diego Film Festival, along with a full day of networking with Hollywood producers over a luncheon, four hours of pitching face-to-face, and a sunset networking party. Additionally, Skibski will receive $10,000 cash, a full script consultation from screenwriter, author and consultant Michael Hauge, and promotion of her script to more than 6,500 decision makers in Hollywood.



On Saturday evening, September 30, 2006, Skibski’s recognition will be complete when she, along with the other six finalists, are honored at the red carpet, celebrity attended Actor’s Ball and Screenwriting Hall of Fame Awards being held at the rockin’ San Diego House of Blues. She will take center stage in front of 1,000 people and the national media to accept her tribute.



"I’m looking forward to meeting people that are already in the game," Skibski says.



There’s an old saying in the writing world – "writer’s write." Anita Skibski lives that credo everyday, working early in the mornings, late at nights, and whenever she can to complete her projects. As for her future aspirations? "I have several screenplay ideas in the hopper. I’m just going to keep writing them. I love creating."



Okay, now it’s off to drive the boys on their paper route.

Updated: 08/22/2006

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