Big Bear Lake Announces 2008 Contest Results

Big Bear Lake has announced Megan Breen's Gabriel's Calling as the winner of their 2008 Screenwriting Competition.

First Place
Gabriel's Calling
Written by: Megan Breen


A Pullman Porter denies his artistic talent and defers his dreams of a family as he remains with the railroad, mentoring younger porters. The hostile relationship with his supervisor, a conductor with a personal vendetta, leads to years of conflict and frustration. It is the deepening and enduring relationship with a recurring white female passenger that sustains him through his years of service, and ultimate personal fulfillment.



Second Place
Love Marriage
Written by: Soman Chainani


Two dueling weddings - one for love, one for money - tear apart an Indian family.



Third Place
"The Commando"
Written by Timothy Buck


An explosion in Iraq leaves Green Beret, Nate Thomas, with the mind of a six-year-old. His son, Nicky, mentors him, while Nate's English wife, Ann, struggles with having lost the man she married just before the war. Living in rural England, the entire village gossips about this crazy "Yank Colonel" wearing diapers. One day, Nate reads a comic, and decides to become a super hero, The Commando. After Nate is beaten by the town bully, a local bodybuilder and his funny mates take a liking to him. Humor and tragedy follows.



Honorary Mentions:

Loss of Innocence
Written by: Eric Gaunaurd


LOSS OF INNOCENCE is a story inspired by true events surrounding the Operation Pedro Pan - the largest exodus of children in the Western Hemisphere. The children were secretly transported out of Cuba to the United States in the early 1960's. The script is a gripping drama about a family torn apart during the revolution, forced to send their only daughter to the US in order to avoid becoming property of the state. As the walls of the revolution close in on these "traitors," Carlos and Lucy Ramirez are forced to go through the most extreme measures in an attempt to reunite as a family.



Buccaneer's Cove
Written by: Julian Stone


BUCCANEER'S COVE is a high-energy family film about a rebellious kid (Matt) from New York who is suddenly forced to move in with his drop-out father (Chris) who he's never met. Chris lives on a remote tropical island spending his days diving and swimming in his beautiful bay. But just as Matt arrives, it soon becomes clear that all is not peace and tranquility in this paradise - a big city developer is moving in, and has set his sights on Chris' idyllic bay. Soon father & son must work through their firey new relationship and join forces to stop him.

Updated: 02/15/2009

Additional Contest Info: