OUR WINNERS

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2005 UNOFFICIAL WINNER
CYCLE I WINNERS
CYCLE II WINNERS
CYCLE III WINNERS
CYCLE IV WINNERS
CYCLE V WINNERS
CYCLE VI WINNERS
ALL FINALISTS/SEMI-FINALISTS coming soon!

CYCLE VI WINNERS
Grand Prize Winner

A Super Short has once again captured the Grand Prize!

Censored
By Hilary Graham

(Comedy, NH, USA, 4 pages)

Hilary Weisman Graham has been making films since the debut of her first feature, “Life’s Too Good”, which premiered at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1994. Her second feature, “I Love My Movie” aired on WGBH (PBS in Boston) in 1998 and 1999.  Both films have played in art-houses and festivals around the world.

She is also an Emmy-nominated broadcast television producer with credits including WMUR-TV's nightly half-hour program "Chronicle", the nationally syndicated television show "Wild Web" (CBS/Eyemark), as well as freelance work for The Discovery Health Channel, “Access Hollywood”, A&E, and PBS's "Zoom”.

Hilary’s most recent achievement was being selected as a contestant on the Mark Burnett/Steven Spielberg-produced reality series “On the Lot.” Out of a pool of 12,000 submissions, Hilary made it onto the show as one of the eighteen finalists, and from there, she stayed in the competition as the ninth remaining director.

2nd Place
(tie)
Mother
Zaid’s Cup
Both by Kimberly Coleman

(Iraq War Drama, NC, USA, 24 & 18 pages) 

Kimberly Coleman placed 2nd in Gimme Credit’s Cycle V as well with another short based on life in Iraq, Kiyala.  All three scripts and a finalist from Cycle V, Revolutions, are being assembled into a feature entitled Book of War.  We at Gimme Credit have pledged to Kim that we will make every attempt to find funding for and produce her feature as the Iraqi people she writes about have voices that are not being heard in the world today.  The scripts face many producing challenges as much takes place in such hard to replicate places as Baghdad’s Green Zone.

Kimberly Coleman is a former newspaper journalist, research analyst and psychiatric nurse with Masters Degrees in English and Nursing. Two of her plays (A Child of Promise and A Father's Crimes) were runners-up in the Contemporary Arts Center Competitions ( New Orleans, LA). Kimberly is a full-time screenwriter, married and living in Hendersonville, NC.

3rd Place
Forbidden
By Mark Torrender
 
(Fantasy, Hertfordshire, UK, 18 pages)

Mark Torrender was born in Sacramento, California and grew up in Braintree, Massachusetts. In 1978 he saw his first publication - a weekly comic strip that was used by the town newspaper. Soon after this he and his family moved to the west side of Ireland. After winning a short story contest about extraterrestrial life, he began to outline stories set in the Athaia universe, first writing The Eye of Athaia.

After moving to London, England, he worked on Dreamfire – The Journey of Dathan Rayne- an indirect prequel to The Eye of Athaia, utilizing his experience as a houseparent in Dr.Barnardo's children's homes for the scenes set on the orphanage moon of Monyya. He employed these experiences again in his children’s novel Buzz ~ The Battle Of Bumbleton Wood.

In 1998, Mark worked on scripts for the British children's television series, 'The Wombles'. Then came script work of a very different kind - action-horror screenplays for the fledgling Hollywood production company, Little Slices of Death.

A short story, Them, a tale of alien abduction, part of an anthology, has recently been published and short story The Long View has just been accepted and published by Wet Ink Press this May. www.thewritersden.com.  

Artistic Vision
The Profit Margin for Bonding
By Randy Gillis

(Comedy, NC, USA, 19 pages)

 Randy Gillis placed as the Artistic Vision winner in Gimme Credit’s Cycle V with a hilarious short entitled Fags vs. Hags.  He has an incredibly unique voice and side-splitting wit.

Randy Gillis is a graduate of North Carolina School of the Arts' School of Filmmaking.  His short film credits include: A Reprobate Mind (writer/director), The Immaculate Reception (writer/director) and Wall to Wall (director of photography).  Randy is currently developing 3 short scripts and 2 features.

Super Short Winners
1st Place
Santa’s Gift to Joey
By Pia Cook

(Drama, FL, USA, 5 pages)

This is the second time Pia Cook has won 1st Place in the Super Short Category.  The first was in Gimme Credit’s Cycle III with a dark tale of abuse entitled Burning Bridges.  Her super short drama Old Wounds about a guy who plans revenge at a high school reunion was a semi-finalist this cycle as well.  Pia has an exceptional ability to pack a complete, gut-wrenching story in as little as five pages…and that takes talent!

Pia Cook moved to the US from Sweden at age nineteen and met her husband shortly thereafter. They have a son and twin daughters that all attend University of Florida.

After being a stay at home mom for twenty years, she decided to do something completely different when all the kids had moved out. She started writing screenplays for fun and entered her first contest six months later. The competition was Gimme Credit's Cycle III.

She wishes to thank Don at SimplyScripts.com for running his website where writers can post their scripts and get great feedback and she credits that site and the friends there for her success.

2nd Place
The Yellow Balloon
By CarrieAnn Lee

(Family, WA, USA, 5 pages)

CarrieAnn Lee, also known as The Old Woman in the Shoe, is the mother of seven daughters and three sons.  By day she cares for her family and by night, she works at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tacoma, WA. She has been entertaining her children and her patients with her storytelling for years. She has written and produced stage plays all around the Greater Puget Sound area. She is presently trying her hand at screenwriting. Thus far, she has placed in the finals of 14 screenwriting contests, placed 3rd in four of them (including Gimme Credit’s Cycle II with her coming-of-age drama, Waiting for Mr. Godfrey), 2nd place in one and has taken first place in three major contests.

She is hoping to have her newest story The Yellow Balloon filmed at her hospital. The Yellow Balloon is a magical five-minute piece about a yellow balloon that recruits other balloons to entertain a dying elderly woman.

3rd Place
Censored
(Comedy, NH, USA, 4 pages)
By Hilary Graham

FOR BIO SEE GRAND PRIZE WINNER ABOVE
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CYCLE V

Grand Prize Winner
For the first time our Super Short
Winner captured the Grand Prize!

Phil's script was also a Super
Short Finalist in Cycle II.
Obviously, we liked the revisions!

Not Even Death
Phil Clarke, Jr.

(Horror, 5 pages, NY, USA)

This is Phil's third time receiving recognition with the GCSC.  In past years, he received third place for his film noir spoof, Price Check on Film Noir.  He was also a finalist for his gothic horror tale, Dog Run.  This latter script is currently in production (one of several of Phil's films) by Scar Tissue Films.  Phil is a regular contributor to Ale Street News, the largest syndicated beer newspaper in the United States.

2nd Place
Kiyala
Kimberly Coleman

(War Drama, 26 pages, NC, USA)

Kimberly Coleman is a former newspaper journalist, research analyst and psychiatric nurse with Masters degrees in English and Nursing. Two of her plays ( A Child of Promise and A Father's Crimes) were runners-up in the Contemporary Arts Center Competitions ( New Orleans, LA). Kimberly is a full-time screenwriter, married and living in Hendersonville, NC.

3rd Place
Franklin's Sweetheart
Clint Fletcher

(Teen Comedy, 29 pages, TN, USA)

Clint Fletcher, a 24 year-old Columbia film school grad, hails from Nashville, TN where he runs a small indie company called Doughboy Productions. Along with a posse of talented childhood friends, Clint spends most of his days writing and producing broad comedies in an attempt to break the country image Hollywood has of Nashville.  His recent comedy FAT CHANCE, a spoof of the spy genre, premiered in Nashville in July to rave reviews.  Next up for Clint is writing and producing a spoof called DIE HARD WITH A SPONSOR which pits a drunken John McClane in rehab where he must team up with Hollywood junkies Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, etc. when the facility gets taken over by terrorists. It’s due out this Christmas.

Artistic Vision
Fags vs. Hags
William R. Gillis

(Comedy, 27 pages, NC, USA)

Randy Gillis is a 1998 graduate of North Carolina School of the Arts' School of Filmmaking.  His short film credits include: A Reprobate Mind (writer/director), The Immaculate Reception (writer/director) and Wall to Wall (director of photography).  Randy is currently developing 3 short scripts and 2 features.

SUPER SHORT WINNERS

 1ST Place
Not Even Death
Phil Clarke, Jr.


(Horror, 5 pages, NY, USA)
SEE GRAND PRIZE WINNER ABOVE!

2ND PLACE
Mom's New Toy
Thomas Herring

(Comedy, 5 pages, OR, USA)

Thomas J. Herring started out as an artist painting and drawing comic book characters, animals, and sci-fi art.  He is a musician who plays the guitar and a little keyboard. One way or the other he was going to get involved in the entertainment field.  His background in writing comes from reading books, magazines, comic books and watching movies.  Thomas is a member of the Willamette Writers organization in Portland Oregon.

3RD PLACE
Ground Zero
N. J. Reese

(Drama, 5 pages, CA, USA)

Having just completed Post Production on the video short, I Heart Zombie, a domestic zombie comedy, written by Denise Dougherty, N.J. is back working on a final re-write of his dramatic short, The Stone Bench, which will be produced later this fall by Infinity Plus Productions.  You can visit his web page [ http://www.jeffreesedigitalarts.com/ ] to see excerpts from “Zombie” as well as a previous comedy short he wrote, produced and directed, “The Final Moo”. In addition to “Ground Zero”, one of N.J.’s other shorts, “The Signal”, has won both an Honorable Mention from the American Gem Short Screenplay contest and 2nd place from the L.A. Valley-Light Short Screenplay contest.

During the day, N. J. instructs a high school video workshop in East L.A. He is currently seeking new literary representation.

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CYCLE IV

Grand Prize Winner
Outpatient
Jennifer Boch-Wawrzyniak

(Drama, 21 pages, PA, USA)

Jennifer's scripts have placed in numerous contests, including the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards, Scriptapalooza, the Fade In Awards, Screenwriting Expo and Project Greenlight 3.  She has also optioned two of her features -- "Remains," a supernatural thriller, to Arnon Manor of Critical Films and "I'll Be Your Best Friend," a family/teen comedy, to Julie Richardson of Imaginarium Entertainment.

2ND PLACE
Convenience Store
Michelle Auda

(Comedy, 11 pages, GA, USA)

In addition to Convenience Store, Michelle has written two original feature-length screenplays, Anonymity and Brotherly Love and is currently at work on her third.  Brotherly Love was selected as a semi-finalist for the 2006 Atlanta Film Festival’s Perfect Pitch contest. She is also currently working in collaboration on an original television sitcom, The Royal Inn.

A dean’s list student, Michelle holds a B.A. in Communication from the University at Buffalo where she focused on Public Relations and Advertising and received Distinguished Student Honors from her department.

Michelle, a Buffalo, NY native, resides in  Atlanta, GA. 

3RD PLACE
Crash Landing on Earth
Ben Fiore

(Science Fiction, 10 pages, NY, USA)

Ben is a retired NYC Police Officer who has been taking the craft of screenwriting seriously for almost ten years. His credits include the scripts for several short, independent films, two of which were official selections of three major New York film festivals. He has written several feature length screenplays as well as TV series pilots and is currently represented by Marcus Bryan & Associates of Chicago.  

ARTISTIC VISION
Truelove
Richard Abercrombie

(Noir Drama, 13 pages, CA, USA)

 Richard Abercrombie wrote "Sister Hoods" for Dog Factory/Sterling Pacific Films and "The Untitled Renaissance Project" for Edmonds Entertainment. He has a BA in Theatre with a minor in Journalism from Winthrop University and his short script "Dearborne" won the Practical Paradox Second Bi-Annual Short Screenplay Competition. His six-minute short film "The Games" has been accepted into several festivals and can be found online at http://thegames.envy.nu/ and http://www.myspace.com/RickWriter5000. Richard lives in Culver City, CA where he can be found watching as many movies as possible between rewrites, general goofing off and trying to eat as little as possible to maintain his starving artist's physique.

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2006 CYCLE III SHORT WINNERS

Grand Prize Winner
Confessions of Joel Bronfman's Spotless Mind by Benjamin Ahr Harrison

( Mockumentary, NY USA, 10 pages)

Benjamin Ahr Harrison grew up in America's most diverse city, Oakland, CA. At the age of twelve he took a summer course in ocean science and decided that his childhood dream of becoming a marine biologist just wasn't for him. Thereafter, he committed himself fully to his Plan B career of becoming a filmmaker. He attended NYU's Kanbar Institute for Film and Television Production for his undergraduate education. He is now an award-winning screenwriter and has directed music videos that have screened on MTV and BET, as well as racking up hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube and MySpace (http://www.vimeo.com/user411708). He still maintains a keen interest in ocean and space science, though his taller-than-average build will always stand in the way of his Plan C career: becoming an astronaut. This puts him in the dire position of needing absolutely to succeed in the world of filmmaking. His production company, Machine Man Inc., is based in TriBeCa, and is currently preparing several short format projects and examining the possibility of a feature film in the next 18 to 24 months.

 2nd Place
Citizen Rose by Anne Kruse

(Dark Comedy, CA USA, 18 pages)

This second generation native Southern Californian aspires to bring her comedic voice to the screen.  The leap was taken and she has been attempting to break in the biz full-time subsequent to a seventeen year stint as a career counselor.  Living the paradox of being a career counselor and not knowing what she wanted to be when she grew up changed once screenwriting became her passion, and there’s no looking back.  Helping others find what their passion is and making plans to pursue it provided Anne with a clear understanding of character development, motivation, inspiration, conflict and most of all perseverance.  She graduated from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television’s screenwriting program in 03’ and has her M.S. in counseling from CSU, Long Beach.  She looks forward to the day when she tells her accountant that screenwriting is no longer just a hobby, but rather the biggest dream this girl could dream and it has been ACHIEVED.

3rd Place
Corsage Flow Analysis by Austen Rachlis

(Teen Comedy, NY USA, 17 pages)

Austen Rachlis was born in Boston and raised in Los Angeles. She graduated with a BA in American Studies from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, and is currently pursuing her MFA in screenwriting from Columbia University's School of the Arts. Her short films "Tenderness, Love, and Swelling," which she wrote and directed, and "Chavez," which she wrote and produced, have screened as part of The Underground Lounge Comedy Showcase, Cinequest San Jose's Viewer's Voice Competition, The Roxbury Film Festival, and The Northampton Independent Film Festival (where she won Best Student Film). She plans to direct "Corsage Flow Analysis" this summer.

Artistic Vision
Getting In by Mara Lesemann

(Comedy, NJ USA, 18 pages)

Mara's screenplay The Woman Next Door recently took first prize in the short dramatic screenplay category of Cleveland's Indie Gathering Film Festival.  Her one act play Sunday With Albert and Mandy appeared in the February 2006 Strawberry Festival, and she is in the process of producing it on digital video.  Her full-length play The Fertility Factor was produced off-off-Broadway in July 2005. Mara studies screenwriting at the New School University in Manhattan, and lives in Jersey City, NJ. 

 SUPER SHORT WINNERS

 1st Place
Burning Bridges by
Pia Cook

(Drama, FL USA, 5 pages)

2nd Place
Six Pack by
Solomon Grundy
(Drama, NJ USA, 5 pages)  

Solomon Grundy was born and raised in New Jersey. He only recently began writing screenplays. He decided to give it a try because he thought it would be a good hobby -- cheap, fun, and less dangerous than archery. Turns out, he really enjoys writing screenplays, and just hopes that he can continue to write and improve his writing skills.

3rd Place
God and Cheese by
Actor Cordell

(Comedy, MA USA, 3 pages)

God and Cheese is reminiscent of the Southern town (pop.  3,000) I grew up in during the Great Depression.  Family had a store and gas station whose customers ranged from rich Yankees traveling busy U.S. 29 to sunny Florida, to sharecroppers begging for a little flour, a little fatback, on credit. (Some of Ray's dialogue in God and Cheese quotes my late father almost verbatim.)  After some 40 years on Southern newspapers, am finally getting around to fiction -- like a novel and screenplays harkening back to those Southern times.      Much of the newspapering has been ABOUT movies (best assignment: to Paris to interview Olivia de Havilland on 45th anniversary of "Gone With the Wind") and now I'm determined to WRITE movies.   Moved to Boston to hone perspective  -- like Georgia's Erskine Caldwell going to Maine and working on a potato farm to write "Tobacco Road."  

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2006 CYCLE II WINNERS  

Grand Prize Winner
The Crossing by
Alan R. Baxter

(Drama, CA USA, 22 pages)
A dedicated US Border Patrol Agent
finds himself conflicted when he
encounters someone from his past
trying to illegally cross into the US.

Alan R. Baxter grew up in Valencia, CA.  He graduated from Chapman University with a BFA in Film and TV Production.  His short script, “Alone in a Crowd”, won first place in the Houston International Film Festival and second place in The Writer’s Place Screenplay Contest.  Another short script, “In the Hunt”, is a finalist in the Los Angeles International Horror/Thriller/Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film Festival.  Alan works as an assistant film editor, while he pursues a career in screenwriting.

2nd Place
Gutter Soul by
Diana Kemp-Jones

(Sci-Fi Noir, CA USA, 15 pages)
In the seedy underworld of the
future, a back street merchant of
youth serum becomes the victim
of his own greed.

Since the age of 7, Diana Kemp-Jones has been a prolific writer of science fiction, horror and the paranormal genres. Born in Canada, she was raised in Southern California and spent several years in Britain. In addition to authoring numerous published novels, she has won short screenplay competitions and plans to expand her repertoire of projects.

3rd Place
Waiting for Mr. Godfrey by
Carrie Ann Lee

(Coming of Age/Drama, WA USA, 30 pages)

Artistic Vision
R.I.P. Cousin Henrietta by
Actor Cordell

(Dark Comedy, MA USA, 7 pages)

R.I.P. Cousin Henrietta is reminiscent of the Southern town (pop.  3,000) I grew up in during part of the Great Depression.  Family had a store and gas station whose customers ranged from rich Yankees traveling busy U.S. 29 to sunny Florida, to sharecroppers  begging for a little flour, a little meal, a little fatback.   After some 40 years on Southern newspapers, mostly Atlanta, am finally getting around to fiction -- like a novel and screenplays harkening back to those Southern times.  ("But Harper Lee has already done that," cautions one not-so-literary friend.)   Much of the newspapering has been ABOUT movies (best assignment: to Paris to interview Olivia de Haviland on 45th anniversary of "Gone With the Wind") and now I'm determined to WRITE movies.   Moved to Boston to hone perspective, like Erskine Caldwell going to Maine and working on a potato farm to write "Tobacco Road."   I, too, go to Maine --- for summer painting workshops, usually Monhegan Island.  I have completed a   feature-length screenplay based on Maine's sending mental patients to a tiny island for nature therapy in 1905.  It has elements of Victorian repression, women's lib, environmentalism, ecology, animal rights, Darwin --- and Freud!  

Moose Season
Stuart Creque

(Comedy, CA USA, 13 pages)
A moose in rut mistakes a
decoy for a real female
and his amorous error
has an unexpected audience.

Stuart is an accomplished writer and has completed six feature-length screenplays of various genres: FIRERIDER, UNHAPPY ENDINGS [#2 on Zoetrope.com for April 2003], THE BALLAD OF TOM DOOLEY, DOC, THERE IS A SEASON [official selection, Beverly Hills Film Festival 2006] and TIME AND AGAIN [winner, Sci-Fi Feature Screenplay, The Indie Gathering 2006].  He has also written a number of short scripts. Stuart holds a MBA (with Honors) in Marketing from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, and he studied Electrical Engineering & Computer Science at the University of California at Berkeley.  Contact Stuart by email at screque@sbcglobal.net.

SUPER SHORT WINNERS

1st Place
The Garden
Clark Childers

(Drama, CA USA, 5 pages)
In an interview about a son
who went MIA during the
Vietnam war, we learn about
a father's terrible secret.

 “The Garden” is Clark’s first short script and first ever submission to a screenplay competition. Clark has completed several feature screenplays of his own and just finished his first work for hire. A former executive assistant to a major Hollywood producer, he has also written an original television series based on the lives of five assistants to the most evil Hollywood producer in the business. Though he aspires to write for television and film, his most recent success has been in children’s literature. His first published children’s book “More Snow for Kids”, based on the Christmas Eve Snowstorm that blanketed South Texas in 2004, has sold 40,000 in pre-sales and is scheduled for distribution throughout Texas in October 2006. Clark graduated from Brown University in 2003 with a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing and lives in Los Angeles with his cocker spaniel Sally, who, not surprisingly, got an agent before he did.

2nd Place
Pale Priest of the Mute People by
Dan Borengasser

(Comedy, AR USA, 5 pages)
Rudy Fenster may be deathly
ill, but he’s not ready when
Death comes calling.

In addition to writing screenplays, Dan Borengasser has been a syndicated humor columnist, had a short story nominated for a Hugo and has written greeting cards, and stage plays.  Borengasser is confident that he has had other notable accomplishments, but, for the moment, they escape him.  He lives in Arkansas with wife Sally, along with an inscrutable black cat, a bearded dragon (an obvious misnomer, since it only seems to have a goatee), two rats brighter than most small children, and a Jabba-the-Hutt sized cat who has an impressive collection of dead moles.

3rd Place (a tie noir)
Price Check On Film Noir by
Phil Clarke Jr.

(Noir Comedy, NY USA, 4 pages)
There's no double-coupons
when Nick Branson's on the job!

Phil Clarke Jr. is a regular contributor to Ale Street News, the largest syndicated beer newspaper. He was a finalist in this year's cycle I Gimme Credit Competition with Dog Run, which he is currently a finalist for in Shriekfest's 2006 screenplay writing competition. He currently has several shorts in production.

The Deceptive Detective by
Billy Maddox
(Noir Comedy, CA USA, 5 pages)
A seedy detective meets a
leggy blonde on a dark and
stormy night.

Billy Maddox is a failed actor. Should he fail at screenwriting, he plans to executive produce. He has written many screenplays, teleplays, and stage plays, as well as a couple of ransom notes. Of his numerous writing awards, this is the most recent. He currently resides at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba with his three cats, and enjoys long walks on the beach under heavy guard.  PICTURE WITHHELD BY REQUEST OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.  

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2006 CYCLE I WINNERS

GRAND PRIZE WINNER
My Wife is a Zombie
Menotti

(Dramatic Horror, ITALY, 11 pages)

Menotti started as a comic artist in 1986, in Bologna ( Italy), where he created comic strips and illustrations for daily newspapers and magazines.  His graphic novel "Europa", published in 2004 with Massimo Semerano, was given the Micheluzzi Prize for the best comic of the year. From 1998 to the present, often in collaboration with Marco Marchionni, Menotti works as a tv writer for Italian TV series, such as "Un Posto al sole", "La Squadra", "Incantesimo", "Onore e Rispetto". He also teaches Screenwriting at the Istituto Europeo di Design of Rome.

2ND PLACE
A Letter from Avram by
Tom Rossi

(Drama, USA, 30 pages)  

Tom Rossi was born in Rockford, Illinois and grew up in a family that had died from a poverty of spirit. There was food on the table, but nothing that fed his life. It was an isolating, bleak scenario, bereft of joy. In short, a perfect environment for a writer. Luckily, the nuns at St. Mary's School taught him to read and he discovered life outside the empty shell of his family. He read everything he could find; cereal boxes to encyclopedias. Sitting in the public library, he flew to Mars; he journeyed to the center of the earth and 20,000 leagues under the sea. He learned theology, geology, Renaissance art and the art of war. It was a fantastic journey through someone else's imagination. And then it occurred to him that he could travel his own journey and pilot his own flight. All it took was putting the words on paper.  He has been writing ever since.

When he is not writing, Tom climbs mountains to experience a singular perspective.  According to Tom, “The need to separate oneself from humanity drives you up to the summit. The love of humanity sends you back down. On a mountain summit you realize that silence is the music of awareness. In that silence; in that unique awareness, you understand God just a little bit more clearly.”

He and his wife, Kim Montell own a marketing company that provides business to business communications and video production for clients across the country.  Tom holds advanced degrees from the University of Illinois and Governors State University and has taught corporate video at Columbia College and lectured at Michigan State University. He lives in the middle of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

3RD PLACE
Fin and Euba
Audrey Cefaly

(Drama, USA, 25 pages)  

Audrey Cefaly plays have won the Northern Virginia One-Act Festival, the Maryland One-Act Festival, the Eastern States One-Act Festival, and the University of Maryland Baltimore County’s 10 Minute Play Festival.  Ms. Cefaly studied theater at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama.  Her writings are typically set in Alabama and the gulf-coast region where she spent her summers as a child.  Her writings, which are heavily influenced by McClure, Williams and Henley, often explore themes such as disenchantment, fulfillment, longing and heartache.  Her heavily-themed plays often include rich Southern characters and are made more accessible through simplistic dialogue and humor.  http://www.audreycefaly.com/

 ARTISTIC VISION
(too close to pick just one)

Nowhere House by
Stephen Cosgrove

(Fantasy Drama, USA, 12 pages)

I have written a lot of fantasy books, 300 or so, because I am a naturally prolific storyteller, and I was afforded the opportunity to do so with a variety of mainstream publishers. Writing, to me, is a passion that nearly defies definition.

In addition to sharing a Lumen Award for career achievement with Danny Glover and Vanessa Williams, I have been granted many industry accolades. But, nothing has been as rewarding as discovering the art and craft of screenplay writing. In this storytelling form I have found pure personal magic. If I was passionate before, now I am totally addicted. I wrote “Nowhere House” as an experiment in form, and then plowed into a full-length fantasy adventure called “Diary of an Angel.” Should you be of a curious sort, you may view the back-story to this screenplay at diaryofanangel.com.

Career Virgin by
Angie Comer

(Comedy, USA, 20 pages)

Angela has the power of words to ignite gutsy and brilliant narratives.  She is a savvy young woman who knows to think, analyze and problem solve. With more than eight years progressive experience working in the entertainment industry, she has achieved perseverance and diplomacy through untiring efforts.

Once a full time student at USC, she also labored as an office intern, eventually moving up the ladder to Staff Writer with a variety teen dance show entitled, "The LA Underground," Her duties included promotional strategies, assistant with development and investigative reports on movies, news and fashion. Angela left USC during her first semester as a junior, because she could no longer afford to attend. She worked days as Production Assistant and or Assistant Director with a variety of independent productions. Her nights were spent as an Usher for the Shubert Theater; while performances were on stage, she would diligently work on another script.

In 1996, she wrote & directed her first short; a comedy/drama entitled, "Fair Weather: Between Friends." There was a set budget and contributions were pursued. However, the end results were for Angela to depend solely on her $400 weekly paycheck as a Department Clerk for the Walt Disney Company. She shot the film in one day and evolved into a consummate, team player with take-charge capabilities.

As a Screenwriter, she has completed eight feature screenplays. Each script is an innovative story with intoxicating characters. They demonstrate her abilities to confront different genres, as well as her desire to write. Angela's Romantic Comedy, "The Way You Are” was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Screenwriting – 2005 African American Women in Cinema Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize in Screenwriting-2002 Hollywood Black Film Festival. Also, her TV Pilot, " Mystic Valley" won 1st Place-2005 Scriptapalooza TV Competition.

Though she has yet to sell a script or gain a professional writing assignment from her accomplishments, she continues to be a hip and clever storyteller who refuses to give up on her dream. When it comes to screenwriting, Angela creates trends...she does not follow them. With the determination like a guided missile, she is an undiscovered talent with tenacity and dedication. Writing scripts is more than her passion; it’s a gift. Someone once said that she made this career choice, but the fact remains is writing chose Angela.

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 2005 Unofficial Winner
The script that inspired the creation of
The Gimme Credit Screenplay Competition

The Diary Library by
Paul J. Gitschner

(Sci-Fi/Drama, CANADA, 11 pages)

"I found that Lourdes's choosing and producing my short script and then experiencing the film festival submission and selection process was a very positive and exciting experience. Getting my first IMDB listing was the best."  - Paul J. Gitschner

Somewhere in Between, adapted from Paul Gitschner's short play "The Diary Library," is the story of Dawn, a befuddled young woman who wanders into a strange and cluttered library seemingly located on the edge of nowhere.  She encounters Lib, a quirky and mysterious librarian charged with collecting and filing the diaries of all the library's previous visitors.  As Dawn struggles to make sense of her eerie surroundings and to understand what fate has befallen her, she and the other-worldly Lib form a bond that reaches beyond reality and into the next dimension of time and place. 

Somewhere in Between is equal parts science fiction, surreal fantasy, wry comedy, and heartbreaking drama...an offbeat gem of a film that appeals to all audiences.

In December 2005 the film played two sold out screenings at the Santa Fe Film Festival.

Q&A WITH PAUL J. GITSCHNER

What was the inspiration for Somewhere In Between?

I’d joined a local theater’s playwright workshop in 2003 to help my screenwriting and was keeping an open mind for fresh settings, exaggerated situations or odd combinations that I could use for a ten minute play. There was a bookshelf in the meeting room. I think someone mentioned that Bridget Jones movie. (Light bulb). A diary is a book, books are found in a library. So - what if all the library books were diaries, and then what could that mean?

How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing since September 21, 1999. Yes, I know the exact date. I was between jobs and bored silly. That was the day I was browsing randomly in a supermarket-sized bookstore. I found and bought my first screenwriting book. I wrote the date on the inside cover. A month later I had a bad first draft of my first bad screenplay.

Do you have any advice for aspiring/up and coming writers?

Have fun. Write like no one’s watching, to twist a borrowed phrase. Explore new worlds and call it research. Do things in type you could never do for real. Vent. - And follow Heinlein’s rules.

What are your plans and goals for the future?

To continue to write. To continue to enjoy writing.

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