Dallas Screenplay Competition Announces Contest Winners
(S)hit Squad, by Harry Hunsicker, has been announced as the winning short script to be produced and premiered at the 2022 Dallas International Film Festival.
Hunsicker is a creative writing teacher, the author of eight crime thrillers and creator of numerous short stories. His crime comedy, (S)hit Squad, will be produced by Torfoot Films' Carrie Sternberg, Event Horizon Films' Jodi Frizzell and IdeaMan Studios with legal partners, Litwin Law Group, PLLC, and The Law Office of LaToya L. Blakely. Award-winning filmmaker Johnathan Brownlee will produce, direct and develop the short film.
"Our team is dedicated to helping writers get their works developed and produced," said Johnathan Brownlee, CEO & President of Torfoot Films. "It's great to write these short and feature scripts, but you must get them made and seen by an audience and that is our ultimate goal."
Dallas Screenwriting Competition is dedicated to helping emerging writers break into the industry. Alongside Hunsicker's (S)hit Squad, the competition also recognized the award-winning work of K. Jennifer Llagan for the feature script, BFF's Never Die; Haley Dercher for the TV pilot, The Ties that Bind; and Kristy Budding for the short script, Happy Ending Retirement Home.
The competition also honored several top-quality finalists, including:
Feature Scripts
Van 59 by Brian Trotter
Scuppernongs by Lynne Ashe
Don't You Know who I am? by Izzy Mariano
The Gates by John Burr
TV Pilots
Half-Assed by Tracie Laymon
Betsy and the Emperor by Staton Rabin
Invincible by Andreas Nelander
A Family by Cid Weinberg
Shorts
Identification by Larry Collins
The Last Prophet by Christopher Celestin
Green Love by Penny Jackson
Milo & Milly by Douglas Spaltro
Each script that entered the competition was vetted by readers from the industry's top talent agencies and management companies based on strength of characterization, dialogue, theme, concept and marketability. The winning scripts were selected by three time Oscar-winner Jana Memel; Billy Kelly, veteran screenwriter of Disney's Enchanted; Disney Channel-writer Jonathan Hurwitz; and award-winning director Johnathan Brownlee.
The winning screenwriters receive a writer's enrichment cruise, professional feedback, access to industry networking platforms and festival passes.
Updated: 11/22/2021
Additional Contest Info: Dallas International Film Festival
ScriptLinks
Post Your Script Here!MEND
A young widow with two children pursues her dream of opening a custom upholstery shop in defiance of her critical mother—and finds unexpected support from the brother-in-law she blames for her husband's death.
MAN OUT OF COUNTRY
Pilot log line: When an Iranian music teacher in California launches a nightly dinner tradition to stay close to his wife and two teenage sons, unexpected drop-ins from eccentric American in-laws—and plenty of teenage rebellion—turn his heartfelt plan into a battleground of culture, chaos, and family bonding.
Gabriel's Bones
A Christian zealot determined to create a city of God on the prairies and the savvy captain of the buffalo hunt lead Canadian First Nation people in an epic struggle for survival -- the true story of the Northwest Rebellion.
Protect & Serve
A quick-draw detective teams up with a culinary genius from an offbeat soul food diner to take down a formidable drug kingpin.
One, Second Summer (Young Adult/Romance/Sci-Fi/Dramedy)
Second Summer on Cape Cod is usually a quiet time, until a spaceship of wacky extraterrestrials come to visit, and two fearless tween-agers, determined to meet them, find out why.
Bewitching Hitler: The Coven that Beat the Nazis and Saved the Wolrd! (Historical Fiction/Dramedy/Romance - based on actual events.)
A plucky UK/New Forest Witch Coven conjures an ancient magic spell to prevent Hitler from winning World War II.
Illicit
In a daring escape from their high-stakes corporate lives and familial responsibilities, two married executives find themselves entangled in a passionate affair at an upscale hotel.
Beyond Forever
Reeling from a devastating personal tragedy, a man abandons his successful career, family, and friends to embark on a one-way journey to Mars through an avant-garde space exploration initiative.
BOOM!Town (Parody of Crime/Mob Story/Dramedy)
After a bloody car bombing, a blown-off human foot lands on the roof of a retired, cash-poor mob cleaner who schemes to extort the Mafia Don that ordered the hit, unaware his wacky plan may help the FBI catch the cut-throat gangster.
My Name is Wallace (Romantic Comedy/Differently-Abled/Dramedy)
A lonely, autistic man misunderstands a computer ad, connects to a fantasy-sex site, and falls in love.
