2025 SCREENPLAY WINNERS

After receiving nearly 4,000 scripts this season from writers across the globe, Slamdance is honored to recognize the following writers as the official winners of the 2025 Slamdance Screenplay Competition. These screenplays are divided into five submission categories: Feature, Horror/Thriller, Pilot, Short, and Mentorship Recipient.


WINNERS

GRAND PRIZE

Yokai by Jorge Lucas
@thejeanlantern

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MENTORSHIP AWARD

Yokai by Jorge Lucas
@thejeanlantern

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Bio:

FEATURES

Yokai by Jorge Lucas
@thejeanlantern

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Yokai by Jorge Lucas
@thejeanlantern

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Bio:

Yokai by Jorge Lucas
@thejeanlantern

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Bio:

HORROR/ THRILLER

Yokai by Jorge Lucas
@thejeanlantern

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Yokai by Jorge Lucas
@thejeanlantern

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Yokai by Jorge Lucas
@thejeanlantern

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Bio:

PILOTS

Yokai by Jorge Lucas
@thejeanlantern

Logline:

Bio:

Yokai by Jorge Lucas
@thejeanlantern

Logline:

Bio:

Yokai by Jorge Lucas
@thejeanlantern

Logline:

Bio:


FINALISTS

MENTORSHIP AWARD

Arden Earnest
COUNTERPOINT

Crystal Muma Rivers
The Match

Kristen McNaule
Revolutionary Medicine

FEATURES

Arden Earnest
COUNTERPOINT

Crystal Muma Rivers
The Match

Kristen McNaule
Revolutionary Medicine

HORROR/ THRILLER

Arden Earnest
COUNTERPOINT

Crystal Muma Rivers
The Match

Kristen McNaule
Revolutionary Medicine

SHORTS

Arden Earnest
COUNTERPOINT

Crystal Muma Rivers
The Match

Kristen McNaule
Revolutionary Medicine

PILOTS

Arden Earnest
COUNTERPOINT

Crystal Muma Rivers
The Match

Kristen McNaule
Revolutionary Medicine


SEMIFINALISTS

FEATURES

Arden Earnest
COUNTERPOINT

Crystal Muma Rivers
The Match

Juan Manuel Armijos
The Helper

Michael Gordon
Harmony

Cory David Bortnicker
Enoch

Derek Adam Thomas
Fragments

Kristen McNaule
Revolutionary Medicine

Weiyang Liu
Undocumented Minors

HORROR/ THRILLER

Arden Earnest
COUNTERPOINT

Crystal Muma Rivers
The Match

Juan Manuel Armijos
The Helper

Michael Gordon
Harmony

Cory David Bortnicker
Enoch

Derek Adam Thomas
Fragments

Kristen McNaule
Revolutionary Medicine

Weiyang Liu
Undocumented Minors

SHORTS

Arden Earnest
COUNTERPOINT

Crystal Muma Rivers
The Match

Juan Manuel Armijos
The Helper

Michael Gordon
Harmony

Cory David Bortnicker
Enoch

Derek Adam Thomas
Fragments

Kristen McNaule
Revolutionary Medicine

Weiyang Liu
Undocumented Minors

PILOTS

Arden Earnest
COUNTERPOINT

Crystal Muma Rivers
The Match

Juan Manuel Armijos
The Helper

Michael Gordon
Harmony

Cory David Bortnicker
Enoch

Derek Adam Thomas
Fragments

Kristen McNaule
Revolutionary Medicine

Weiyang Liu
Undocumented Minors


QUARTERFINALISTS

FEATURES

Amanda Holland
Dangerous Fruits

Amir Zargara, Gabe Berry 
Vital

Benny Goldenhour, James Case
Tarrare

Brent Triff
Gooseneck Killer

Callie Marie Bloem, Christopher Jay Ewing
Bounce House

Carole Ryavec
Tulare Basin

Cody Ashford, Eric Vue
Exo

Dan Kim
Chairman

Dean Jaloudi
11:59

Dwayne Colbert
Who’s The Dummy?

Edith Storm
Burn Her Slowly

Jade Leo Yurich
ROADS

Jane Ballentyne
S p a c e

Jenna Dorian
Memory is a Fish

John Graney
The Van

Katherine Dudas, Giovannie Cruz, Elisabeth Ness, Carly Christopher, Kenneisha Thompson
Lady Kings of Texas

Parm Saini
The Gateway

Pavel Sanaev
HAFFKINE

Renn Tan
The Gift of Rain

Rose King
The Speechwriter

Rosie Nisanyan
The Taraz Heist

Serena Dykman
BABKA

Shiva Ramanathan
Demons

Tien Chi Fu
The Sheep

Tony Gandia
Backen

Vincent Essid
Maladh

Will Link
Delma

HORROR/ THRILLER

Aaron Warner
Cling

Adam Meridan
Whitewood

Alex Vlahov
Dark Rooms

Angelo Pitsillis, Sebastian Ibarra del Castillo
The Monk

Byron Mason II
SOMETHING’S WRONG WITH GRANNY

Clarissa Brandeis
Ezili

Deborah Richards
Scissor Mouth

Edson Jean
Sea Spirits (Lespri Lanmè)

Eric R Lotter
Frozen Lies

Grant Chauncey
The Apartment

Jared Piller
The Rabbi and the Golem

Jordan Tragash
Cinghiale

Joshua Labata
Many Dead, More Taken

Kristian Hager
Blood Hallows

Marcos Meconi
Muscle Memory

Matthew Troy
The Dark Room

Max Rissman
IMMOLATION

Mike Scherschel
The Dowry

Pam Covington
MESA

Pauline McAlonan
The Scorched Face

Saurin Lakhia
Never Let Her In

Shayna Weber
Sadie Hawkins

Tijuana Ricks
Home Bound

Tye Nelson
FORSAKEN

WIlliam Tyler Wiseman
Fear Not

Winnie Soldi
Night Father

SHORTS

Alex Mehta
The Inheritance of Purpose

Angelo Rocha
TICS AND STONES

Ben Hirschhorn
The Nose Whistler

Carmine Carpenito
Let Me Think For You

Cédric Friedli
Clouded Memory

Devi Bhaduri
Psychomanteum

Erick Torres
Cucuy

Gádor Camacho Cervantes
Sourdough (Masa Madre)

Haili Fransham, Roderick Fransham
The Snack Shack

Jameel Scott – Muhammad
The Right Way

James Newman
Inbetweening

Jason Stefaniak
Homewrecker

Jaz Moore
MY BELOVED MONSTER

John Gonzales
Calico

Jordan Troublefield
Stuffing

Keith Moore
The Confession Room

Kiril Shmidov
The Losing Game

Kyung-Ja Lee
The Comfort Woman Statue

Leon Masters
DEAD DAUGHTER

Matthew Brooks
Birdwatching

Ness Wilson
North

Rob Watts
Until the Lemon Drops

Sam Pinnelas
Shotgun

Steven McMichael
Signal

Tate Wilde
Treehouse

Xin Liu
Fenghuang

PILOTS

Adam Meridan
Frostbite

Alan Canode, Justin Rossbacher
Beware Miracles

Alison Whitney
The Heavy

Brennan Cusack
The Badlands Women’s Clinic

Chanel Downey
The Findings of Sunny & Rah

Christina Keach
Entre Nous

Cindy Lee
American Rhapsody

David DeGusta
PAST TENSE FUTURE PERFECT

David Herman
Gorilla

Dawn Kalani Cowle
Thumpers

Jas Kandola
Broker

Julianne Korogodon
The One Anothers

Kasi Brown, Brandon Walter
Sober Living

Kelsey Harper
The Mouse

KiAnna Dorsey
UNHEARD

Lindsay Carpenter
Imagining Practice

Lizzie Logan
Baker High

Matthew A Sprosty
Our Thing

Mehrnaz Mohammadi
Burned Secrets

Najy Kamal
The Haus of Mirth

Nick Jack Pappas
Haka

PJ Landry
Extraction

Robert Dewey
Labyrinthians

Ruth Trippitt
Siren

Steve Brown
The Age of the Empath