Santa Barbara Names Spring Contest Winners
The Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards has named Daniel Hesford as their Best Screenplay Award Winner for Spring, 2026. The Best TV Script and Best Short Script Winners have also been announced.
Best Screenplay
Daniel Hesford
"The Thirteenth Step"
A recovering junkie sponsors a volatile newcomer in his support group, only to discover his sponsee is a washed-up super-spy whose real addiction is the chaos and danger of a past he can't quit — a past that’s about to drag them both back off the wagon.
Best TV Script
Arthur Tiersky
"Hindsight"
The cruel blinding of a black WWII veteran on his way home at the hands of a racist Southern police chief sets a chain of events in motion that leads to the end of segregation.
Best Short Script
Gregory Paul
"I Love You, Tammy Cunningham"
A neglected nine-year-old in 1980s suburbia builds a homemade go-kart to impress the girl next door, but after a humiliating crash, he must confront the difference between fantasy and self-worth as his broken family begins to come back together.
Updated: 07/28/2026
Additional Contest Info: The Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards
ScriptLinks
Post Your Script Here!Dark Latitude
When a young woman uncovers a hidden photograph tied to a murdered WWII survivor, her search for the truth exposes a forgotten escape—and those determined to keep history buried.
Eternal Blessings
A dying woman enters a time portal to confront her criminal past, only to realize that what she seeks is in the present--but getting back is proving harder than she thought.
Tech Me Out
Fleeing Soviet Ukraine with his mother and grandmother, a quiet teenage immigrant builds a new life in America, where the resilience and kindness of those around him help shape the man who co-founded WhatsApp.
Tech Me Out
Fleeing Soviet Ukraine with his mother and grandmother, a quiet teenage immigrant builds a new life in America, where the resilience and kindness of those around him help shape the man who co-founded WhatsApp.
Bubbling Under the Surface
After an elderly Holocaust survivor is nearly murdered in her nursing home bed, her family and the Muslim carer who saved her are pulled into a widening chain of antisemitic attacks, domestic violence, and police investigation that threatens both communities before the hatred spreads further.
Lab Rats
An anonymous organization uses an ***AI Bot*** to moderate a Focus Group on the topic of ***Fake***.
She Curses Like a Sailor
A thought-provoking view of women and cursing is entertained at this art opening in New York.
Lady Diogenes of the Shadow
Three retired ladies candidly discuss their bizarre neighbor over morning coffee.
Perfect Beau
A Brainiac Plain Jane clones her ideal boyfriend out of her gorgeous girlfriends' boyfriends' DNA for her university's senior class science project.
Cold Pepper
A law-abiding, church-going court stenographer becomes a one-woman vigilante 'offing' violent domestic abusers (and other pathetic souls) after their third offense.
