Mark wants a nice snack and a beer but his kitchen has other ideas.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Julian Ford
Mark: Steve Rizzo
Amicus: Dan Cristofori
Toilet/Beautiful Face: Emily Weir
Mistress: Penelope Corrin
The Phone: Rachel Salsberg
Get to know the winning writer:
What is your screenplay about?
A Day In A Connected Life is a dark SciFi comedy set in the near future in the smart house of a 36-year-old Silicon Valley techie. After a long run, Mark comes home with a strained heart and a need to have a cold beer. His house won’t listen to his irrational needs; they would disrupt his diet and endanger his heart. The refrigerator, toilet, and phone gang up on him to ensure he does what’s best for him. His hilarious argument with the refrigerator (to give him a beer) only encourages his artificially intelligent house to parent Mark toward rational decisions. But, Mark’s emotions just continue to drive him. He ignores their rational choices and they don’t understand his emotions
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Humor and SciFi
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) will be predominant in our lives before 2030. Our current attitude, that machines are to serve us, must change. We will be interacting not with machines, but reflections of our own consciousness
How would you describe this script in two words?
Hilariously Plausible
What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
The movie is The Matrix and the TV series is the 2004 version of Battle Star Galactica.
How long have you been working on this screenplay?
I first started it in 2014 and then I put it down for 21/2 years. I finished it in March 2017
How many stories have you written?
I have written 3 stories.
What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)
I like the blues. Robert Cray is my go to man.
What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
Time and responsibilities were ever present through the process. Writing the back story first, helped me to trim a 23 page script to 13 pages.
Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
Poetry
What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?
I was looking for professional feed back. I also am looking for recognition. The first feeling was happiness. My craftsmanship was validated. I knew I was at least on the right track. The feedback also helped with a script problem that had eluded me.
After the break of the balance between the Light and Dark Powers, enforced by Dark Lord Erk, Mother Universe sends a child of Light – Lanaia to embark on a dangerous journey chasing the magic flute, as only its melody could save the world from disaster.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Sean Ballantyne
Nabi: Rais Moui
Teli: Connie Wang
Guli: Daniella Zappala
Get to know the winning writer:
What is your screenplay about?
My screenplay is about a bullied village girl with the supernatural power, Lanaia, who accepts her destiny of the World Savior.
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Fantasy
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
Because this original screenplay has the most important ingredients of the successful fantasy movie: universal issues, good vs. evil, mythology, human psychology which are fully presented through the breathtaking adventures, unexpected twists and catchy characters. Likewise, the significant reason of its competitiveness is a key hero, a young woman, tender, yet strong enough to take the lead in life-changing events winning the battle in the end. This movie will be an inspiration for millions of girls and women all over the world.
How would you describe this script in two words?
The future blockbuster, which will hold its brand for the next five to ten years.
What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
I like to watch fantasy/adventure genre movies, but according to calculation, the movie that I’ve seen the most times in my life is Harry Potter film series (first watched as a teenager, then together with my kids).
How long have you been working on this screenplay?
11 months
How many stories have you written?
I have written 6 stories (epic-fantasy, animation, fairy tale and short screenplays) and constantly working on new projects.
What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)
“Canto della Terra” by Andrea Bocelli
What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
The most obstacles were connected to the proper formatting issues.
Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
I am also passionate about storytelling, psychology, mythology, and anthropology. Thus, besides of my own imagination, this story is also based on the years’ long research analysis of world mythology and anthropology (including the Paracelsian concept of four elements of nature).
What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?
Despite the positive feedback from more than four hundred potential viewers, I was eager to get the professional opinion.
I am very grateful for the detailed and sincere feedback, which helped me to properly polish my script. I am very satisfied with the feedback, special THANKS to my reader!
Nothing Is Free is a drama short set in a dystopian world where Leonard and Hendrick are stuck in the basement of a skyscraper. The elevator is broken, the doors beyond the stairwell are locked and they must always keep one hand on a wall panel otherwise an alarm goes off. Hendrick wants to escape but Leonard isn’t so sure they can make it.
Narrator: Val Cole
Leonard: Twaine Ward
Hendrick: Peter Nelson
Chinese Woman: Penelope Park
A small boy in a rural town with no authority figures questions the bizarre system in place where justice & judgement is carried out by a forest-dwelling creature known as the “Switchman.”
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
Switchman: Brian Carleton
Tony: Jordy Kieto
Melissa: Andrea Meister
Children: Konstantina Mantelos
McCabe: Anthony Botelho
George: Jack Comerford
*****
The continuing adventures of Brad Callahan, the greatest hero in the universe, and of his sister, who doesn’t believe him.
Get to know the writer:
What is your screenplay about?
Brad Callahan is the greatest hero in the universe, that’s plain to see. Or is it? It depends on who you ask. And you may be asking the wrong question.
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
In terms of setting, it’s cartoonish action; in terms of tone, it’s blatantly ridiculous comedy. In terms of theme, it’s a farce, because it never answers its central question: who is Brad, actually?
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
It’s cagey without being pretentious. There’s lots of narrative clockwork churning beneath the surface, but you can ignore (or miss) all that and still enjoy the superficial action/comedy candy coating.
How would you describe this script in two words?
Unreliable narrators.
What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
Monsters, Inc. We have eleven-year old me to thank for that.
How long have you been working on this screenplay?
From start to finish, about four months. I still tweak it from time to time; an artist’s work is never done.
How many stories have you written?
Lots, but this was my first screenplay. I’ve since written a “sequel” Brad, Actually script, and I’m currently working on a third.
What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)
According to my spinning wheel of random selections: “Roundabout” by Yes.
What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
Finding the right voice. A screenplay is a lot different from a novel, a book report, or a campfire story. I struggled more with the “action” paragraphs than I did with the dialogue, which I’m told is unusual.
Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
Video games, cooking, philosophy, and everything associated with Halloween.
What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?
The story you read on paper is not the story I see in my head. The great Alfred Hitchcock was eternally frustrated by the fact that, even though he wrote his own scripts and shot his own camera, the finished film was never what he envisioned in his mind. But if he had just given up, what a waste it would’ve been!
SHORT STORY Reading – GOD’S HANDS 
SCI-FI SHORT Screenplay – SID 
1st SCENE ADVENTURE Screenplay – THE GATE 
1st SCENE HISTORY Screenplay – THE LEGEND OF JAMESTOWN 
FAN FICTION Screenplay – ROCKETEERS 
STUDENT TV PILOT Screenplay – EVERHART 
WINNING FEATURE Screenplay – THE LAST PRISON 
NOVEL Transcript Reading – A POOR MAN’S TRUCE
BEST SCENE Screenplay – CONTINENTALIS
SCI-FI SHORT Screenplay – SWITCHMAN
FAMILY SHORT Screenplay – GIRL IN THE PAINTING
FANTASY SHORT Screenplay – NOTHING IS FREE
FAN FICTION TV SPEC Screenplay – DOCTOR WHO
DEVIL WEARS A SUIT, 20min, Australia, LGBT, Sci-Fi
CRADLE, 11min, USA, Sci-Fi/Thriller
1950 DA, 7min, France, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
ON SUNDAY, 6min, UK, Sci-Fi/Drama
THE EARTH SURVIVAL CODE, 10min, China, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
MISIEK AND EVE FROM OUTER SPACE, 2min, Poland, Animation/Comedy
I & MYSELF, 5min, Japan, Drama/Fantasy
