First Draft Contest Announces Winner
(Edinburg, TX) "Texarkana," an original screenplay by Christopher Lucas of Seattle, Wash., is the winner of the inaugural First Draft Script Writing Contest conducted by The University of Texas-Pan American in conjunction with SCNRWRiT, an Internet e-mail discussion list for screenwriters. Lucas' script was chosen from a field of five finalists by Lou Grant, Los Angeles script consultant and editor of The Hollywood Scriptwriter, a respected industry newsletter.
The other finalists were "Behind The Badge," by Dave Eisenstark of Venice, Calif.; "The Judas Horse," by Blacky Bokich of Berkeley, Calif.; "Holy Land," by Ray Chatelin of Point Roberts, Wash.; and "The Fall In Budapest," by Aniko' J. Bartos of Budapest, Hungary, and Alan C. Baird of Glendale, Calif.
Lucas' "Texarkana" is his first script and, according to script consultant and editor Grant, it is a "very cast-able, character-driven piece."
The competition at the finalist level included thrillers and dramas. Grant was looking for the script among the five which best demonstrated professional writing and a story telling ability which set it apart. This she found in "Texarkana."
The First Draft Script Writing Contest is not actually for first draft scripts, said contest director Dr. Jack R. Stanley.
"One of the realities of the film and television business is that when a producer, studio or network purchases a script, no matter how many rewrites it may have been through to get it to the stage where it is worth buying, the very first thing that happens to that script is that it is stamped, `First Draft,'" Stanley said.
The SCRNWRiT contest, according to Stanley, is an attempt to address that reality. The First Draft Script Writing Contest was open to members of SCRNWRiT (pronounced "screenwrite"), a worldwide e-mail based discussion list for and about the arts and crafts of writing for feature films and television. The list is owned by Dr. Jack R. Stanley, chair of The University of Texas-Pan American's Communication Department, and it is operated from the U.T.P.A. campus in Edinburg, Texas. SCRNWRiT has subscribers from Australia to Israel, Sweden to South Africa, as well from every state in the Union.
Fifty original scripts from the 1,486 members of SCRNWRiT advanced to the quarterfinals in October. Ten of the quarter-finalists made it to the semi-final stage and that group was cut in half with the selection of the final five.
SCRNWRiT is a much-cited source for Internet basics about screen writing. The list's home page, http://www.panam.edu/scrnwrit/, contains the F.A.Q. (frequently asked questions) file which has earned Internet awards for its ease and access to the beginning scripters.
Plans are under way for the 2nd Annual First Draft Script Writing Contest. List owner Dr. Stanley says interested writers should watch the web and professional script writing publications for details.
Updated: 12/15/1998
Additional Contest Info:
ScriptLinks
Post Your Script Here!RIAN COUNTRY SAFARI
In the mid-80s, a twenty-something personal injury lawyer inherits an unregulated drive-through safari park and must keep it running long enough to sell it--despite knowing it’s an accident waiting to happen.
LAST SHOPPER STANDING
A bitterly divorcing couple competes in a deadly game of survival on Christmas Eve when a disgruntled big-box store manager locks them inside with five other players and stages a twisted competition as punishment for their consumer misdeeds.
Lucy vs. The HOA
After uncovering a million-dollar fraud in her neighborhood HOA, a precocious 11-year-old enlists her Private Detective father to help finish the investigation her deceased mother started years ago.
Henry, Henry
Twenty years after failing to stop his charismatic mentor from abusing children, a guilt-ridden former priest with two warring personalities uses his intimate knowledge of the predator’s mind to infiltrate a child-trafficking ring.
The Wylde Side
After his brother is presumed killed investigating Isla de Cinque, a criminal island-state beyond government control, retired black-ops legend Joe Wylde returns to the world he abandoned to stop a masked tech mogul from using a devastating cyber weapon to hold the world to ransom.
Jeb
In the wake of Stonewall, Yale professor John Boswell races against time and his own mortality to unearth secrets buried within the historical record, igniting a struggle for truth and acceptance that will outlive him.
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"
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.
Triggered
After a failed assassination attempt on a populist politician, two mismatched London detectives uncover a conspiracy using augmented-reality glasses to manipulate ordinary people into violence, pushing an already divided Britain toward civil collapse.
Eternal Blessings
After suffering a head injury that leaves her suspended in an altered state, a woman with a troubled past time travels back to 1980 to warn her younger self of the dangers ahead.
