After receiving over 4,000 scripts this season from writers across the globe, Slamdance is honored to recognize the following writers as official Quarterfinalists of the 2026 Slamdance Screenplay Competition. These screenplays are divided into four submission categories: Feature, Horror/Thriller, Pilot, and Shorts.
QUARTERFINALISTS
FEATURES
Arman Taheri
Sarbaz
Howard Hayes
Soul-Less Ginger
Jeremy Schmidt & Jaclyn Chavira
The Place Where We Work
Leon Lee
Unsutured
Michael Rhine
The Sky’s Edge
Rebekah Francoz Miskin
Dress Up
Siegmund Fred Fuchs
Just In Time
W. Alex Reeves
They All Died Happy
Cole Whitaker
The Experimental Aircraft Association
Jacob Andrews & Kevin Breen
The Lobster Thief
Joe LaMattina
Letter from Hollywood
Maddox Finkel
Obscene
Olivia Boreham-Wing
HARE
Rhona Rees
Renaissance Woman
Thomas Bell
Every Which Way But Goose
Wes Andre Goodrich
Citizens
Zena Leigh Logan
Thoughts and Prayers
Dwayne Colbert
N.I.L. (Name, Image and Likeness)
Jared Iversen
Between Two Waves
Julia Hoff & Katarina Hughes
The Payload
Matthew Valvardi
Unassigned
Phillip Alexander
Manzanar
Ryan Clarke
Paper Dolls
Tsung-Long Wu
The Vaccuum We Return To
Zane Bhansali
Participation Award
HORROR/ THRILLER
Aisha Amin
The Redeemer
Caimeen Garrett
Beat a Skip
David Marvin Graham
Home
James Oxyer
Termite
Tsung-Long Wu
Artificial Impact
Lee Bacon
Esca
Nathan Feldman
She Never Came Back
Sara Caldwell
The Pale Ones
Alex Jiang
Out of the Garden
China Daniels & Ro Bennam
Crossing
Jack Napier
The Burning of the Whittled Cross
Jarad Kopciak
Orchid
Jo Garrett
Bah Humbug
Mark A. Alvarez II
Para Ti
Nick Kolev
Exiles
Talia Shea Levin
Make Me a Pizza
Jennifer Levinson, Nicholas Woods, & Almog Avidan Antonir
Aeternum
Brien Kelly
Dark Shore
Dan Joseph Weber & Ben Weber
Clean up in Aisle 6
Jeff Chasin
Blood and Paradise
Kenny Kistner
Electa
Matthew Barnette & Clinton Cornwell
It Came From the Drive-In
Rich Orlow
Hide
Tsung-Long Wu
The Permanent Collection
Jacob Zorn
Becoming a F*cking Lizard in Top-of-the-World, Arizona
SHORTS
Angel Toniaa
Not A Sinner
Christopher Glass
Subscribe
Emma Clare O’Connor
Doormat
Jake Allgeier
Ravenous
Katherine Griffin & Jon Bachmann
The Guides
Rahnuma Panthaky
Mom
Thadeus Kevin Brown
A Small Living Thing
V Oboldin
Form SU-4815
Briana Mowrey & Buzz Andersen
Scratch
Dan Burn
The White Room
Halley Raynes
Conviction
Jonathan Clancy
Just A Joke
Laura F. Segal
The Trauma Plot
Robert Pierosh
The Ashtray
Vanessa Vo
Sweet Tooth
Yijian Shan
愛の様子 (Appearance of Love)
Truman B. Matheny
Flavorful Delectable and Downright Snatched
Chloe Sirene
Bottling It
Daniel Edwards
Off Script
Hongyu An & Hadley Rose
YOYO
Jordan Dubuque
We Lie in Grace
Lizette Barrera
The Anatomy of a Turtle
Ryan Harman
Moorehouse
Tyler Garrett Coe
Boys Don’t Cry
Victor Atkins
Roommates of the Silence
PILOTS
Adam Arkin
TSA – Take Shit Always
Andre T. Matthews
Rebooting Tyrone
Carter Glace
The Soul Scouts
Dominic Cobb
Nostalgia
Gabriel Durán
Matewan
Kasi Brown & Brandon Walter
Sober Living
Kiran Chitanvis
Cricket City
Mac Alsfeld
Arkadelphia
Matthew Syrett
Lethe
Adriana Ducassi & Nick Ducassi
The Ledge
Angela Wong Carbone
Do I Know You From Somewhere?
David Thomas Hunter
Cult Following
Tyler Burke
The Pope’s Executioner
Jessica Ennis & Caitlin Cronenberg
Germaphobe in a Sex Club
Kat Folker
Alfie and Friends
Laura Anne Day
Oracle
Madeline Brestal
The Wild Life of Archer Dagwood
Rudy Jansen
Betsy Riot
Eric Trueheart
Freak Power: The Allegedly True Story of Hunter S. Thompson’s Run for Sheriff
Amanda Anne Warne
Torment
Benjamin Keeshin
TWO KNOCKS
Devony Hof
Sidekicks
Felix McEnroy
The Clinch
Jon Matthews & T.C. Bailey
Beverly
Katarina Hughes
The Vending Machine
Lily Malm
Jean and the Twelve Apostles
Matt Mitchell
Queerleaders
Sean Hemeon
The Good Little Drug Lord