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Santa Barbara Names Diverse Outreach Winners
Marcela Cobb, Izzie Mantese, and Minki Kim have been named the winners of the Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards Diverse Writers Outreach Competition for Fall, 2025.
Best Screenplay Winner
Marcela Cobb
"Work the Inside"
A 34-year-old gay art therapist, haunted by grief and family pressures, is forced to confront her past and embrace her true self—transforming pain into hope and strength, and finding courage to rebuild her life.
Best TV Script Winner
Izzie Mantese
"Burnout"
After a drug incident gets her kicked out of college a newly-sober young woman moves into an all-women’s Los Angeles sober living house, where she must grapple with her past demons while rebuilding her life
Best Short Script Winner
Minki Kim
"6 Seconds"
To escape the crushing uncertainty of her life, a desperate woman must decide whether to embrace the ultimate certainty: a six-second glimpse into her own death.
Updated: 01/23/2026
Additional Contest Info: The Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards
ScriptLinks
Post Your Script Here!Luck Is a Hard Target
The screenplay is in spy, action, thriller jenres Logline When Hamas uncovers the Bulgarian counter terrorist Jean, he is urgently relocated to Canada, where he twice encounters lethal artefacts drawing him into a battle against the Ndrangheta mafia and the FBI, with US national security on the line.
LIPIUNA
A Story of Love that can change the Future of Humanity
DRAGONFLY
Vincent and childhood friend Sue pour years into building the Tomahawk prototype, the key to their dream supercar Dragonfly until a seductive stranger draws him into a deadly undercover sting against crime lord Alphonso DiPasquale, unraveling.
Not About Money
A competent late forties corporate gal gets promoted into management, but is soon demoted and faced with a battle of resilience, justice, and a lawsuit, while an unexpected ally attempts to redeem himself and discloses the unscrupulous ruler behind the scheme to oust her.
The Cajun
When a notorious pirate, made immortal by the curse of a Voodoo Queen, is invited to a mysterious poker game in modern day New Orleans, he discovers a clue to find the treasure that can set him free.
Episode 2: Across the Hudson: The Dark Knight
As media attention and political pressure explode, a shadowy kingpin known only as The Dark Knight makes his first calculated moves, forcing law enforcement into high-risk raids that threaten to expose just how deeply the system is compromised.
Episode 1 - Across the Hudson
An officer haunted by a childhood destroyed by addiction is recruited by a covert DEA task force to hunt the elusive opioid kingpin known as the Dark Knight, only to find her mission becoming a living nightmare when she unknowingly falls in love with the man himself.
TAKEN AWAY
A desperate man kidnaps two teens to bring “family” to his dying mother, but as his plan unravels in a remote mountain hideaway, secrets explode, relationships shatter, and survival comes at a deadly cost.
Fish Fetish
What happens when you mix compulsion with alcohol? A horrific, fast paced story of abuse and revenge inspired by "Tales From The Crypt"
Someplace Safe
Rejecting the bribe of a Russian mob boss sends a DC police officer into hiding, where she must choose between her safety or exposing heself to respond to a family crisis back home.
