UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television Announces 2005 Showcase-Award Winning Scripts
UCLA's School of Theater, Film and
Television has announced to announce its five Showcase Award-winning
screenwriters for 2005. Graduate students earning MFA's in Screenwriting, the
winners submitted their work to a panel of industry judges and were selected as
the creators of the five top scripts in the school's graduate program this year.
The five winners, as well as five honorable mentions, were announced June 13
at the Writers Guild Theatre during the school's annual Festival of New Creative
Work. Selected live scene readings and a Distinguished Alumni Screenwriter
Award for Alexander Payne and his co-writer Jim Taylor (this year's Oscar®®)
winners for "Sideways") were also a part of the evening's festivities.
Previous UCLA screenwriting students include Sacha Gervasi ("The Terminal"),
Nicholas Griffin ("Matchstick Men"), David Koepp ("War of the Worlds"), Dan
Pyne ("The Machurian Candidate"), Eric Roth ("The Insider"), and many others.
Judges for the awards were given an exclusive first look at the scripts for a two-week
period following the event; they are now available to the industry at large.
WINNING SCRIPTS:
Snake Dreaming by Yule Caise (Thriller) A geologist who believes the planet's
last great untapped oil reserve lies beneath aboriginal sacred ground in the
Australian Outback enters the mystical world of Dreamtime, jeopardizing his life.
CONTACT: yulecaise@verizon.net
Green Drops by Ken Gerstein (Action/Adventure) After finding a priceless
emerald and losing his father, a teenage boy must lead his siblings on a perilous
journey from the Colombian jungle to the slums of Bogota. CONTACT:
kgerstein@hotmail.com
Young Democrats by Chris Kyle (Comedy) A third-grade class nominates its
teacher for president of the United States and learns the greatest lesson of all:
that in a democracy, every voice, however small, counts. CONTACT: Maha
Dakhil, CM (310) 288-4545; kyle@alumni.duke.edu
Reverse Psychology by Jenna McGrath (Teen Thriller) Two teenage girls
decide to drive their school psychologist crazy. CONTACT: Matt Bedrosian,
Paradigm (310) 288-8000; jhmcgrath@hotmai.com
Superego by Karl Williams (Comedy) A psychologist is recruited by the
government to counsel a depressed superhero and his quarrelsome team, while
an evil spider-villain with control issues plots to take over the world. CONTACT:
Brian Flaherty, Blain & Associates (310) 358-3111; karlw@ucla.edu
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
5th Grade by David Garber (Comedy) With her wedding two weeks away, a
woman receives signs that she will marry someone else - someone from her fifth
grade class. Risking her future, she tracks down her former classmates to find
her true love. CONTACT: davidgarber@gmaiLcom
Comic Book Heroes by Susan Hurwitz Arneson (Family) During the 1950's, a
ten-year-old boy must help his favorite superhero battle the most daunting
nemesis of all: a Texas politician crusading to rid the nation of comic books.
CONTACT: smhur@mindspring.com
The Route by Laurel Minter (Action) When terrorists discover that a train is
carrying deadly nuclear waste, residents of a small town must choose between
harboring the dangerous train themselves or risking millions of American lives.
CONTACT: laurelie@verizon.net
The Dam by Marcelo Mitnik (Historical Drama) The epic story of one man against
the odds, a country at war with an untamed river, and a fight to build the world's
greatest dam - a struggle that tests loyalty and pushes love to its limits.
CONTACT: marce@mitnik.org; (310) 280-0863
Gordon by Danielle Wolff (Romantic Comedy) Gordon lives in the best country
on earth: Canada. When a bureaucratic error reveals that he's actually a U.S.
citizen, he finds help from an unlikely source - an employee at the Canadian
Embassy whose only flaw is that she's American. CONTACT:
DanielleDW@aoLcom; (323) 913-2518
Updated: 07/12/2005
ScriptLinks
Post Your Script Here!PAPER TRAIL
When a young Army MP becomes a private investigator after he inherits his Grandfather’s storefront in a small town in the mountains of Colorado, his first case reveals a town full of secrets, including one that destroyed his family years before, and a new one he must forever keep from his fiancée.
FURGROW BIRDS SPIRITUAL ROSE
When a dog loses his owner and home, he discovers a dark conspiracy involving an evil king, a hidden realm, and God's magical crystals used to alter the world.
Furgrow Birds back to the beginning
When a dog loses his owner and home, he discovers a dark conspiracy involving an evil king, a hidden realm, and God's magical crystals used to alter the world.
AT THE MERCY OF FAITH
A former preacher, haunted by the tragic rape/murder of his twin sister, spirals into darkness as supernatural forces, both angelic and demonic, wage war for his soul.
TIPPIT
After inheriting his eccentric grandfather’s mansion, a troubled JFK assassination expert discovers a lost manuscript pulling him into a time-bending conspiracy involving his family’s role in Officer J.
Eternal Blessings
After taking up residence at her Indian guru's commune, a woman’s loyalty is pushed to the brink when she’s asked to help assassinate a commune rival.
FULL CONTACT
is a pulse-pounding ProFootball Thriller about a fearsome Championship-obsessed linebacker, who struggles to defeat an unhinged gridiron psychopath in a game of life-or-death consequences.
AND WE WERE LEFT DARKLING
In the aftermath of WW2, in an undefined place, two men, Eichmann and Wallenberg, play chess, using humans as pawns.
ALTA CALIFORNIA
In 1780s California, a mixed-blood scout, torn between his native heritage and Spanish conquerors, is thrust into a battle of survival and identity as he navigates oppressive mission life and brutal colonizers.
Lab Rats
An anonymous organization uses an ***AI Bot*** to moderate a Focus Group on the topic of ***Fake***.
