Kairos Announces Contest Winners

The three winners who will share the $50,000 awarded annually in the Kairos Prize for Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays (sponsored by the Templeton Foundation) were announced at the Movieguide Awards Gala in Hollywood, attended by more than 200 top studio executives and celebrities.

The grand prize of $25,000 went to Guy Forest of San Pedro, Calif., for his screenplay "If by Chance," about a successful African-American professor and pastor who returns to his ghetto neighborhood to reopen the old, abandoned church and revive the community.

"Stairways," by James Rogers of St. Davids, Penn., was awarded $15,000 as first runner-up, and "Angels on Earth," by Caroline Friday of Marietta, Ga., won the $10,000 prize for second runner-up. "Stairways" tells the heart-rending story of a young boy who finds that only faith can help him live with the loss of his parents in the World Trade Center collapse. "Angels on Earth" has one of the least likely transients deliver a religious widow from hardheartedness.

Each of the winning scripts had a common theme of an uplifting or encouraging message for its audience. Each was based on faith and values, and helped the audience know God and understand God better. Now they share the additional benefit of being read by the top major studio executives in Hollywood - what many of the competitors value as the real prize in the contest.

Dr. Ted Baehr, president and founder of Movieguide, announced the winners at last night's gala. Commenting that these were three of the best scripts that have ever been submitted in the competition, he said he has high hopes for their future development into great movies.

"Every year, I am blessed by the amount of undiscovered talent we see in these submissions. I am encouraged that this competition is bringing more faith and values to Hollywood," Baehr said.

More information about the competition is available at www.kairosprize.com. A comprehensive understanding of the type of scripts awarded the Kairos Prize can be found in Baehr's book, "So You Want to Be in Pictures," available at www.movieguide.org.

The Kairos Prize was established as a result of Dr. Ted Baehr's and Sir John Templeton's long-held belief that the media - and specifically the entertainment media - plays a role in how individuals form their ideas about morality and spirituality. He determined that individuals and companies should be encouraged to produce entertainment with positive messages about faith and values.

Updated: 02/14/2008

Additional Contest Info: Kairos Prize for Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays