Program & Events
WIFV/NE Screenwriting Competition Announces Winners!
The three winners selected by our judge, BU Professor Debbie Danielpour, are:
SECOND PRIZE: DARKNESS KNOWS THE NIGHT by Michelle Muldoon
"Alexandra, an operative of the British secret service, infiltrates a meeting of international energy diplomats as an 'event consultant', but is
really keeping tabs, in conjunction with the American CIA, on the current project--Haradh. She is also there to take revenge for the death of the
previous spy and to fulfill her own personal agenda. Informative, particularly around espionage and women's themes. Writer is skilled in screenplay convention and structure."
Michelle Muldoon is a Vancouver based writer who has written five feature film screenplays. In 2008 she produced and directed the short film One Pez Short of a Pick-Up, as well as won the Best Drama Award at the 2008 Action on Film (AOF) International Film Festival. The New Year has proven equally successful, with a feature screenplay award at the 2009 Cinema City International Film Festival Writer's Competition. This summer she will return to Pasadena to join three other women in accepting the Women of Independent Film Award at the 2009 Action On Film International Film Festival, where she will also be previewing her latest short film, Potluck. Michelle Muldoon is a member of Women in Film and Television, Vancouver.
FIRST PRIZE: TILLY'S BOX by Celeste Parr
"Frustrated, well educated wannabe journalist, Theresa, with incompetent boss on a Burlington Vt paper, needs a radical change in her life. Protagonist starts her own blog as "Tilly." Uses it to "call her on her own crap," which is essentially what the script is about. The blog makes her end her affair, seems to promise transformation, then complications arise...Well written and clever. Dialogue excellent."
Céleste Parr is a published, produced, and four-time award-winning screenwriter and playwright. She has a BA (with distinction) in Honours English Literature and Creative Writing from Concordia University and is currently pursuing her M.A. at McGill University. She has studied screenwriting at Dawson College, Concordia University, and UCLA Extension.
GRAND PRIZE: THE LAST PIRATE OF NEW PROVIDENCE by John Bain
"Based on what appears to be a true story. 1718 -19, Bahamas, Charleston woman escapes her plantation-lord father's shackles to join pirates on an island in the middle of being overtaken by the English Navy. This begins the story of Anne Bonny, renegade advocate of pirates, women's rights and the disenfranchised."
"Captivating historical drama with an uncommon female POV. Hooks us in opening with a worn-out Anne, looking pregnant and injured, being pursued by militia men. Focus is therefore on the woman's development rather than on her equivalence with men or success of a mission. Furthermore, characters portrayed with nuance, even the villains are sympathetic. Climax well constructed, epilogue instructive."
John Bain has spent years interpreting scripts as an Acting teacher and has always wanted to give scriptwriting a try himself. He lives with his wife in North Vancouver, B.C. and loves spending the many rainy days writing. Last Pirate of New Providence is his first screenplay and has been a winner of the One in Ten Screenplay Competition and a finalist in the Red Inkworks, the Beverly Hills and Charleston Film festivals. Being the Grand Prize winner of the 2009 WIFVNE Screenwriting competition is a special honor, for which he is extremely grateful. He is currently working on his second screenplay.
There will be an awards event at the end of the month at Boston University, where the winners will be publicly acknowledged. Awards announcement includes a guest speaker, announcement of contest winners, and an opportunity to network with WIFVNE members and other local screenwriters. Date and location will be posted on WIFV/NE website soon!
Congratulations to the winners, and best wishes to all of our entrants.
Thanks too, to our readers, Professor Danielpour, board member Thato Mwosa,
2007 Screenplay Competition Winner Mary Conroy, and our sponsors for helping to make the Seventh Annual WIFVNE Screenwriting Competition a success.
2009 WIFV/NE Screenwriting Competition: CLOSED2009 WIFV/NE Screenwriting Competition Announces Winners!
The winners will be announced sometime in April.
This year marks our competition's seventh anniversary. Women in Film & Video / New England's annual screenwriting competition aims to promote the work of women screenwriters and support the creation of worthy film roles for women. Each year, the volume of entries grows. We are co-sponsored by Lesley University's MFA in Creative Writing program.
The grand prize winners in 2003 and 2008 received film options soon after the wins were announced. Debbie Danielpour, a screenwriting professor at Boston University, will judge the top 3 scripts.
Debbie Danielpour has been teaching film and fiction writing for more than 20 years—at San Francisco State University, Emerson College where she created the Screenwriting Certificate Program, Harvard University Extension, and in a variety of workshops and seminars in the U.S., Europe, and South America. She has written feature and television scripts (Stand Accused, 2001, Sony Pictures, Star Trek: TNG and DS9), published short fiction and essays, and works as a freelance consultant for film production companies and individuals. She recently completed her sixth motion picture screenplay, Between a Rock and a Romance, and her first novel, Fugitive Colors. Professor Danielpour has an AB from Harvard College (1980), an MA in film production and screenwriting from San Francisco State University (1985), and an MFA in fiction and literature from the Bennington Writing Seminars (2001).
The grand winner will receive a monetary award in addition to a script reading by prominent Los Angeles agent. All three finalists will receive Final Draft software packages and a six-month online script placement service by Inktip.com.
PAST EVENTS
2008 Screenwriting Awards Event
JULY 31ST
The WIFVNE Screenwriting Awards celebration was held at Lesley University's University Hall Theater. The three 2008 Screenwriting Competition finalists were recognized with awards. Drew Yanno, who is an accomplished screenwriter gave a brief lecture at the beginning of the event.
Time: 7-9pm
Location: Lesley University Hall Theater
The Sixth Annual WIFV/NE Screenwriting Competition
WINNERS
Winner: ME AND CHRISTIAN by Jessica DiGiacinto
2nd Place: LONELY HUNTER by Sarah Schulman
3rd Place: WONDER DRUG by Caitlin McCarthy
The contest aims to promote the work of women screenwriters and support the creation of worthy film roles for women. Aspiring screenwriters, both women and men, are invited to enter. Entries must be authored or co-authored by a woman and/or feature a woman or women in prominent roles. Grand Prize: Winner's script will be reviewed by a prominent literary agent for possible representation, granted $200.00 in cash, receive a Final Draft software package, 6-month online script placement service by Inktip.com and professional script coverage valued at $250. Finalists: Final Draft software package and 6-month online script placement service by Inktip.com.
This years Screenwriting competition is co-sponsored by Lesley University's MFA in Creative Writing program. Described as one of “the more distinguished low-residency programs” by MFA Handbook, Lesley University’s MFA in Creative Writing program is excited to announce a new concentration—Writing for Stage and Screen—focusing on playwriting and screenwriting. Faculty includes Kate Snodgrass, Elliot Norton award-winner and artistic director for the Boston Playwright Theater; Jami Bradli, Elliot Norton award-winner; and Barry Brodsky, Hollywood’s Next Success finalist. The program is currently accepting applications for the June 2008 residency. Learn more at http://www.lesley.edu/gsass/creative_writing/stageandscreen.html
SCREENWRITING COMPETITION APPLICATION
Deadlines and Fees:
Regular Deadline: March 15, 2008. Entry fee: $45; for WIFV/NE members: $30.
Final Deadline: March 30, 2008. Late entry fee: $55; for WIFV/NE members: $40. Extended Deadline: April 10, 2008 Extended fee: $75; for WIFV/NE members: $60
Fifth Annual WIFV/NE Screenwriting Competition
The contest aims to promote the work of women screenwriters and support the creation of worthy film roles for women. Aspiring screenwriters, both women and men, are invited to enter. Entries must be authored or co-authored by a woman and/or feature a woman or women in prominent roles. Los Angeles-based screenwriter Kate Boutilier (The Rugrats; The Wild Thornberrys) will judge the top 3 scripts. Grand Prize: Winner's script will be reviewed by a prominent literary agent for possible representation, Final Draft software package, 6-month online script placement service by Inktip.com and professional script coverage valued at $250. Finalists: Final Draft software package and 6-month online script placement service by Inktip.com.
Deadlines and Fees:
Regular Deadline: Jan. 15, 2007. Entry fee: $45; for WIFV/NE members: $30.
Final Deadline: Feb. 1, 2007. Late entry fee: $55; for WIFV/NE members: $40.
April 25, 2007, 7pm
Screenwriting Awards with Diane Lake
Winners of the WIFV/NE Screenwriting Contest Announced!
Los Angeles-based screenwriter Kate Boutilier (The Rugrats, The Wild Thornberrys) selected the four finalists from over ninety submissions from around the country. WIFV/NE member and Emerson College professor Jami Brandli served as Screenwriting Competition Chair. This year’s first place winner was Mary Conroy, whose script THE OTHER WAR was called “COMING HOME for this generation’s war” by Kate. The runners-up were Naomi Ekperigen (SKIN THICK) and Rhonda Grimm (THOSE WHO WAIT) and honorable mention went to ALPHA BABE by Paula Brancato and Nancy Hendrickson.
Full press release in our news section.
Thank you to everyone who participated!
Jami Brandli named 2007 chair of WIFV/NE Screenwriting Competition
Biography
After spending several years as a script reader for Egg Pictures and Miramax Films, Jami Brandli received her M.F.A. from Emerson College, where she now teaches screenwriting. She also teaches screenwriting and creative writing at Grub Street, Northeastern University and Emmanuel College. In addition to being Alarm Clock Theatre's Literary Manager (www.alarmclocktheatre.org), she was one of the contributing writers of the 2006 Elliot Norton Award-Winning play PS: Page Me Later. She is currently at work on another Alarm Clock collaborative piece, which will be produced in January 2007 at the Boston Center for the Arts. Her short plays have been produced and/or staged in Boston, Detroit, Oxford, Miss., and Washington, D.C. Most recently, Jami was accepted as a Visiting Artist at the Kennedy Center for their Playwriting Intensive, and her play Normal, which was produced as part of The Boston Theatre Marathon VIII, has been nominated for Smith and Kraus’ 10-Minute Play Anthology 2006. In screenwriting, she has had four short films produced, one of which is an Elliot Norton Award Winner, and has been a semi-finalist in several screenwriting contests. Her short stories have been published in Salt Hill and Other Voices.
Screenwriting Competition 2006 Results
Grand Prize: RELATIVITY by Adrienne Lusby and Emiliana Monahan Dore of Glendale, Calif.
Finalist: LAST TRAIN by Jane Wells and Ian Ginsburg of Cottonwood, Ariz.
Finalist: ACT OF GRACE by Leigh Podgorski of Van Nuys, Calif.
Honorable Mention: MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT by Nancy Bilyeau of New York City
2005 Screenwriters Schmooze Is a Hit
In 2005, WIFV/NE introduced an innovative, new event: The Screenwriters Schmooze. Held in April 2005 at the elegant 38 Cameron Street in Cambridge, the evening featured a moderated discussion with a panel of New England-based screenwriting experts and an awards ceremony to honor the winners of WIFV/NE’s 2005 Screenwriting Competition (grand prize winner Barbara Shapiro; finalists Alice Stone and Melinda Rose). The evening was capped with an hour-long ‘schmooze’ that featured opportunities for audience members to rub elbows with the pros.
The 2005 panelists were Laura Bernieri, producer at Saint Aire Productions of Boston, founder of Harvard Square Scriptwriters, and co-producer of the film Next Stop Wonderland; Vinca Jarrett, a Boston-based entertainment attorney who operates FilmPro Finance, which introduces financiers to top-tier packaged projects, and Skriptease Script Consulting, a consulting firm for screenwriters and producers; Janice Pieroni, a Boston-based entertainment attorney who worked as an executive and business affairs attorney at Universal Studios, and owns Story Arts Management, through which she offers an array of services to writers, including story development and preparation of pitches; and Drew Yanno, a screenwriting instructor at Boston College and author or co-author of 11 screenplays.
Winners of the 2005 Screenwriting Competition Announced
The 2005 WIFV/NE Screenwriting Competition winners are: Grand Prize: Barbara Shapiro of Lexington, Mass., for Blindspot, in which a mother must confront the possibility of the supernatural in order to save her 17-year-old daughter from a murder conviction. The finalists are Alice Stone of Boston, Mass., for her script The Comforts of Home, a sci-fi romantic comedy that imagines the dating scene in a future where people rarely venture outside; and Melinda Rose of New Tripoli, Pa., for In Their Hands, a twist on the infamous Lindbergh baby kidnapping trial of 1932.
Click here to read an article about the 2005 Contest (from Imagine magazine)
Annual Screenwriting Competition
Women in Film & Video / New England’s annual screenwriting competition aims to promote the work of women screenwriters and support the creation of worthy film roles for women. Aspiring screenwriters (women and men) are invited to enter. Entries must be authored or co-authored by a woman and/or feature a woman or women in prominent roles. The grand prize winner in 2003 and 2008 received a film option soon after the win was announced.
Screenwriting event
Each year, Women in Film & Video/New England presents a public screenwriting event which aims to provide information and/or networking opportunities for established and aspiring screenwriters in the Northeast.
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