GRAND PRIZE WINNER
American Retail by Gabriel Malasig
Gabriel Malasig is a Filipino-American writer and an active-duty Air Force Officer. He received an MFA in Screenwriting, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2021. Since then, he placed Top 5 in the Roadmap Jumpstart Competition, was a Finalist in the Roadmap x Husslup Pitching Competition, and was a Top 3 Feature in Slamdance 2022. Gabriel writes stories that undermine the American façade, exploring the experiences of the disenfranchised and the traumatized.
MENTORSHIP AWARD
The Wanderer by Carlotta Summers
Carlotta Summers is a multiple award winning, biracial (mixed Black and White/Italian) actress, writer, filmmaker, and daydreamer based in NYC. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, a few of her feature film and television credits include the role of Saltire in Choice Film’s “Big Dogs,” on Amazon Prime & Supporting Role in “Lupe,” which premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival in 2019 and is currently streaming on HBO Max.
WINNERS
FIRST-PLACE FEATURE
American Retail by Gabriel Malasig
After barely surviving a twisted patron, a Black millennial woman comes to truly understand the horror that is retail work—there’s only one thing as brutal as the screaming customers and as cold-blooded as corporate: murder.
SECOND-PLACE FEATURE
Løvset’s Manoeuvre by Elizabeth Chatelain
On the same day she’s planning an elaborate graduation party for her daughter Laura, Sandy (54), gets word that her eldest daughter, Jess, has racked up a serious debt to feed her drug addiction. This sends Sandy into a backward spiral of self-destructive codependent behavior that proves to be just as dangerous as her daughter’s addiction.
THIRD-PLACE FEATURE
Take My Hand by Sam Pavich
Collin’s dreading an impending arm amputation. Kitty wants to chop off her own leg. When these two teens team up to compete in a Rube Goldberg competition, their unlikely chemistry sparks a chain reaction that sends them on a journey of self-acceptance.
FIRST-PLACE HORROR
The Vault by Ryan Self
Trapped in a high-tech bunker with her Machiavellian husband and a human-like AI he built, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur is forced to confront her past trauma and find a way out of the literal and metaphorical prison her life has now become.
SECOND-PLACE HORROR
DeadMe by Asabi Lee & Paul Hart-Wilden
Aimless and down-on-her-luck Ash, inadvertently finds herself caught in the world’s most secretive and deadly game, where absolutely anyone — at any moment — could be the death of her and the only way out is to kill or be killed in this ultimate game of survival.
THIRD-PLACE HORROR
Glimpse by Richard Martin & Josh Calvert
A troubled voyeur spies on a married woman and her idyllic family via their home security cameras to pacify his impulses, but when he catches her husband having an affair, the voyeur can no longer control his urges and will stop at nothing to finally be with his obsession…
FIRST-PLACE SHORT
Merrow by Alexander Seltzer
A young boy is forced to grow up after his father brings him on his first fishing trip as part of a disturbing coming-of-age ritual.
SECOND-PLACE SHORT
Past Due by Jesse Nesser
In a society where we are prescribed our day-of-death at birth, a lowly 30 year old man must endure a series of bureaucratic nightmares at a government office to find out why he has outlived his ‘Expiration Day.’
THIRD-PLACE SHORT
Cálmate, Mija by Victor Ridaura
A 20-something Latino immigrant, a recent widower, spends a very, very long day searching for work while caring for his baby daughter. It’s a day full of rejection, where we experience the struggle of being a single parent with no support system in a country he doesn’t know, with a language he doesn’t speak. But as the day progresses, we see a man come to understand what it means to be a father, realize the love he has for his daughter, and what it will really take to keep her safe.
FIRST-PLACE PILOT
Texas Prison Rodeo: “Vaquero” by Aaron Kozak & Driscoll Otto
After being wrongly incarcerated for capital murder, a young Tejano prisoner at Texas’ Huntsville State Penitentiary gets assigned to the Texas Prison Rodeo, a brand-new work and recreation program run entirely by prisoners from the 1930s to the 1980s. Utilizing his childhood experience as a ranch hand, he hopes to tame a mean-spirited bull named Buckaroo and draw the interest of a prison executive with the power to restore his freedom.
SECOND-PLACE PILOT
Workless by Jacob Norremark
After an A.I. breakthrough turns 2033 Manhattan into a post-work utopia, a disparate group of workaholic millennials fights back against it to save their careers & identities.
THIRD-PLACE PILOT
Nora & Sam by Nadia Osman
Optimistic but emotionally unstable Nora leaves a short stint at the psych ward for attempted suicide post-breakup to live with her stubborn, authoritarian Egyptian Muslim immigrant father Sam just as his love life goes into overdrive.
FINALISTS
FEATURES
American Retail by Gabriel Malasig
Løvset’s Manoeuvre by Elizabeth Chatelain
Take My Hand by Sam Pavich
HORROR / THRILLER
DeadMe by Asabi Lee and Paul Hart-Wilden
Glimpse by Richard Martin and Josh Calvert
The Vault by Ryan Self
TV PILOT
Nora & Sam by Nadia Osman
Texas Prison Rodeo: “Vaquero” by Aaron Kozak and Driscoll Otto
Workless by Jacob Norremark
SHORT
Cálmate, Mija by Victor Ridaura
Merrow by Alexander Seltzer
Past Due by Jesse Nesser
SEMIFINALISTS
FEATURES
American Retail by Gabriel Malasig
Epidural by Ayah Abdul-Rauf
Ethan and Arlo by Garth Twa
Løvset’s Manoeuvre by Elizabeth Chatelain
The Man From the Deep by Robert Riley
Mother’s Helper by Maureen McEly
Take My Hand by Sam Pavich
Young Lions by Sam Barnett
HORROR / THRILLER
Blue Winter by Madison Sean Flannery
The Corruption by Alyssa Stevens
DeadMe by Asabi Lee and Paul Hart-Wilden
A Family Reunion by Xavier Burgin and Thomas Wright
Fear The Dark by Lewis Taylor
Glimpse by Richard Martin and Josh Calvert
Sundown by Eve Symington
The Vault by Ryan Self
TV PILOT
A Land Fit For Heroes by Sam French
The Lavender Panthers by Heather Farlinger
Nora & Sam by Nadia Osman
Space On Earth by Jem Splitter and Alida Tomas
St Cosmas by Keaton Wooden
Texas Prison Rodeo: “Vaquero” by Aaron Kozak and Driscoll Otto
Whine Town by Rochan Liu
Workless by Jacob Norremark
SHORT
21:19 by Colleen Laeger
Anti-Social by Kyle Cassie
Cálmate, mija by Victor Ridaura
Exhumation by Steven Stiefel and M.E. Ellington
Merrow by Alexander Seltzer
Past Due by Jesse Nesser
Residual by Cristi Rumpza
Something Blue by Billy Bob Thompson
QUARTERFINALISTS
FEATURES
16 Minutes by Caroline Friend
Aakode’ewin by Catherine Martin
The Acluckalypse, or Zombie Chickens by Richard Moon
American Retail by Gabriel Malasig
Belonging by Barbara Palmer
Brave Woman by Melissa Duge Spiers and Rodney Rondeaux
Cuffing Season by Jon Bershad
Epidural by Ayah Abdul-Rauf
Ethan and Arlo by Garth Twa
Forbidden to See Us Scream in Tehran by Farbod Ardebili
Good Change by Tricia Lee
Heartbeat Billionaires by Adrian Prospero
Hillbilly Bath by Lauren Kleeman
Izabela’s Violin by Jessica Silvetti
Jackalope by Jonathan Nowak
Lonley Star by David James Schultz
Løvset’s Manoeuvre by Elizabeth Chatelain
The Man From the Deep by Robert Riley
Mother’s Helper by Maureen McEly
Only When it Rains by Jason Ruscio
Persephone Graves Goes to Hell by Justin Cioppa
Stan by Jay Mansell
Stop Snichin’ by Bill Horace
Stop! In the Name of Love! By Lawrence Davidson
T-Rexorcist: The Musical by Dana Hammer
Take My Hand by Sam Pavich
The Virgin by Trysta A. Bissett
Young Lions by Sam Barnett
HORROR / THRILLER
A Family Reunion by Xavier Burgin and Thomas Wright
Beyond the Pale by Frankie Whitty
Black Kiss Stigmata by Chad Michael Ward
Blue Winter by Madison Sean Flannery
The Corruption by Alyssa Stevens
Covers by Martin Cohn
DeadMe by Asabi Lee and Paul Hart-Wilden
Devil’s Bend by Brian Padian
ESC by Mercedes Bryce Morgan and Katrina Kudlick
Fear The Dark by Lewis Taylor
Glimpse by Richard Martin and Josh Calvert
He Had His Father’s Eyes by Bryan Liberty
The Horse Killers by Ben Hurst and Josh Flanagan
In Here With Us by Mac Grant
Juliet’s Room by Craig Rosenthal
The King in Yellow by Adrienne Arno
The Lamented by Meabh Cadigan
Loves Lies Bleeding by E.C. Ryder
Mercer’s Post by Shaun Crawford
Nurture by Brandon Weavil
The Pit by Neal Dhand
The Pulpit by Tosin Morohunfola
The Space Between by Eric Lehning and Billy Senese
Sparrow’s Song by Elliot Passantino
The Suicide Gospels by Brandon Abney
Sundown by Eve Symington
The Vault by Ryan Self
TV PILOT
A Land Fit For Heroes by Sam French
Artesia by Peter Forbes
Arthur & Lancelot by Victoria Zeutzius
Betty Zane by Matthew Webster and Taylor Ferrera
The Bluestockings by Elizabeth Reichelt
City Of Fire: The Golden Age of Coney Island by Thomas Simard and Brian Watters
Darker Than You Can Imagine by Peter Hoffman Kimball
Dragon’s Den by Jon Comulada
The Lavender Panthers by Heather Farlinger
Nora & Sam by Nadia Osman
Persistent Will by Becca C. Smith
The Pirate Bae by Kayla Klein-Wolf
Poster Boy by Justin Carter
The Price of Service by Ian James Ortiz
The Reservoir by Dylan Allen
Same Old Tricks by Barry Leach
She’s a Bitch by John Lowe
Soul City by Lori Webster Fore
Space On Earth by Jem Splitter and Alida Tomas
St Cosmas by Keaton Wooden
Swole by David Koutsouridis
Taxes, Death and Life by Connor McCahan
Texas Prison Rodeo: “Vaquero” by Aaron Kozak and Driscoll Otto
The Third Son by Shannon Greenland
The Wanderer by Carlotta Summers
Whine Town by Rochan Liu
Wild Life by Morgan J. Hamilton-Lee
Workless by Jacob Norremark
ZOO-MANS! By Jeremy Wadzinski
SHORT
21:19 by Colleen Laeger
Age of Consent by Katherine Gauthier
Anti-Social by Kyle Cassie
Bear Wife by Kio Shijiki
Black Seed by Zia Mohajerjasbi and Christian Rabin
Cafe d’Automatique by Dave C. Hanson
Cálmate, mija by Victor Ridaura
Dark Testament by Josalynn Smith and Alicia Louzoun-Heisler
Devil’s Instrument by Frederik Ehrhardt
Doctor Faustus Part I by Caleb Thompson
Drawing Blood by Zachary Tirgan
Exhumation by Steven Stiefel and M.E. Ellington
Exuviae by Caroline Wilson
The Final Interview by M. Sean Agnew
For Keeps by Dave Malone, Paulette Guerin, Derek Dowell and Isaac Protiva
The Guilt by Giovanni D’Amaro
House of Wolves by Andrew Yeremeyev
Merrow by Alexander Seltzer
Overeager: Ms. McGregor by Jackie Jorgenson
Past Due by Jesse Nesser
Patient by Meg Steedle
Perfect Love by Kelly McCready
Residual by Cristi Rumpza
Something Blue by Billy Bob Thompson
This Weary Flesh by Jarrod Smith
Vibrant by Mary Louise Lukasiewicz
What Goes ‘Round (Or Things That Go Bump in the Night) by Edie Deffebach