As a story analyst I’ve judged competition entries at all levels from first round to finals. First round competition weeds out the not-ready-for-primetime scripts and determines which scripts possess the potential to compete at the next level. By the time the hundreds and hundreds of submissions have been culled to the finals – the best of the best – its gets very difficult to decide which ones are the best. That’s why I consider it a privilege to be a final round judge for the 30 Minute Teleplay category of this year’s Cinequest Film Festival’s screenwriting competitions. The quality of the submissions to this festival's competitions continues to impress me. Congratulations to the winners in all categories:

30 Minute Teleplay:

Winner: “Throwing Shade” by Ada Lee Halofsky
2nd Place: “Isaac Newton” Gifted by Bo Price
3rd Place: “Department of Ghouls” by Jeremy Dorfman

60 Minute Teleplay:

Winner: “Nightingale” by AJ Bermudez
2nd Place: “Company Town” by Samantha Levenshus
3rd Place: “Nevermore” by Lilly Slaydon

Feature Screenplay:

Winner: “Rubbish” by John Dilley & Seth Corr
2nd Place: “WorkingMan” by Robert Jury
3rd Place: “Johnny Ace” by Moon Molson

Short Screenplay:

Winner: “Against the River” by Dan Ritter
2nd Place: “Flop by Nick” Coleman
3rd Place: “It Gets Heavier” by Sam Davis

For a list of all the finalists scroll down to the bottom of this Cinequest site page.