2019 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition Quarterfinalists

The Atlanta Film Festival is proud to announce the quarterfinalists in the 2019 Screenplay Competition. Chosen from over 1,200 submissions, these screenplays represent those moving forward from our feature film, television pilot, and short film categories.

Our writers are competing for once in a lifetime mentorship opportunities to help hone their screenplays and plan the next steps in their careers.

Congratulations to the writers so far. Stay tuned as our programming team narrows this list down to semifinalists, finalists, and this year’s winners.

Feature Screenplay Quarterfinalists

25 Special Spells to Get Your Man Back—Cara Washington
A Dance Before The War—Michael Stark
A Good Son—Suzanne Weinert
A Native Land—Caitlin McCarthy
A Witch In Salem—Patrick Lewis
A World Without Secrets—Scott Nelson
Above and Beyond—Margaret Elam, Martha Burkert
Accidental Patriot—JD Deane
Across The Aisle—Josh Covitt
Adulteress—Allison Radomski
Aktion T-4—John L. Martins III
All The Things Left Unsaid—Michelle Malley Campos
Amaris—Ian A. White
An East Wind in The West—Ben Imperato
Andrew—Charles W. Miller
Angels—Camille Griffin
Audrey, 2.0—Imogen Grace
Ba Ge (Myna Bird)—Yongle Wang
Barbara Rose—Nancy LeBrun
Bay of Kings—Zach Stein
Between the Pines—Emma Bell
BIN—Asad Farooqui
Blood and the Rye—Rajiv Shah
Broken—Sandra Lindqvist
Burning In Water—Caleb Samples
Cabbagetown—Paul Todd
Calls To Virginia—Jason Ruscio
Captain C!—John Paul Su
Carolina—June Neely
Cherry—Sophie Galibert, Arthur Cohen
City of Trees—Christian Lybrook
Civil Death—Zac Loy
Clean—Suzanne Griffin
Connections—Bill Papa
Covet—Erik W. Van Der Wolf
Cricket—Ohad Ira Amram
Cruel Pecans—Jonny Flores
Darryn the Bold and the Sword of Boldness—Justin Best
Death of a Telemarketer—Khaled Ridgeway
Deerslayer—Nathan Cabaniss
Don—Alberto Battistutti
Dukes of Biohazard—Jaime Villarreal
Eats You Alive—Zack Eagles
Escape Velocity—Jillian Crane, J.T. Walker
Facsimile—Gary Makin
False Sense—Craig Cambria
Fight for It All—Jeff S. Gordon
Follow Me—Aviva Dove-Viebahn, Brittany K. Fonte
Forget-Me-Nots—John Dummer
Freedom Soldier—Armelle Lajus
Fruit Punch—Alessandro Nicolaci
Goat Island—Nathan Cabaniss
God's Acre—Colin Adams-Toomey, Dan John Witherall
Goodbye, My Brother—Jason Grote
Gramercy Park—Toni Ann Johnson
Greenwood—Nathan Patton
Grip—Craig Cambria
Guilt—Jamie Severson
Hell's Acre—Alexander Salazar
Here To Stay—Ella Gabriel
Hibakusha—Kevin Podgers, Clifton Daniel
How I Got to the Moon by Subway—Tyler Rabinowitz, Jack Healy
Ibrahim—Terron Jones
Immaculate—Gareth P. Smith
Inside Passage—Bryan Fierro
Invaders!—Deven Spencer
Jeliya (I Hear You)—Eric Bomba-Ire
Johnny Ace—Moon Molson
Juan for the Road—Ross Fischer
Junction—Emma Schranz
Like a Thief in the Night—Kyle D'Odorico
Lufthansa 181—Jack Eckert
Married in 24 Hours—Marjory Kaptanoglu
Mating—Rae Shaw
Measure of Vengeance—Danielle Eliska Lyle
Midnight at the Movies—Jen Gutierrez
Miss Liberty—Craig Paulsen
Modern Love—Francesca Mirabella
Mother Christmas—Donald Cameron
Muscle and Bark—Gina DeAngelis
NancyGirl—David McMahon
Negative Space—Amelia Mathews, Adam Bradley
Ni Ta—TS Botkin
No Man's Land—Shivani Davé
Oath—Paul Frank
On Time—Xavier Neal-Burgin
Pickett Gap—M. Ray
Prey—Casey Sincic
Queens —Max Sokoloff
Race To Tilébin—Rhym Guissé
Red Light—Dempsey Tillman
Road Trippy—Joe Heath
Rust—J. Motts
S.H.A.R.P.—Josh Auter
SACAGAWEA—Peggy Bruen
Safelight—Olivia Sulkowicz
Savior—Teri Rusike
Sedger Mor—C.J. Wright
Seven Washington Place—Lawrence Leinoff
Shapeshifter—James Sweeney
Shinkolobwe—Rishabh Bhavnani
Stuck—Ian Southwood
Summertimes—Lamar Woods, Weldon Wong Powers
Sundogs—Elizabeth Chatelain
Temperance Mountain—Sean Harris Oliver
The Anklebiter—Andy Jones
The Blood Grinder—Dave Conte, Nick Schwartz, Matt Braunsdorf
The Christmas Millionaire—Ron Riekki
The Collecting Point—Danna Scott
The Displaced—Renata Manzo Scruggs
The Dying Machine—Joseph Cahill
The Exchange—Jeff Meyers
The Immigration Game—Asad Farooqui
The Italian Lover—Suzanne Griffin
The Lake Trip—Logan Austin
The Last Canadian Virgins—Jon Rizik, Evan Rindler
The Last Good Cheat—Jacob Hart
The Lease of Nature—Anderson Boyd
The Man by the River—Bryan Kelsey
The Memory Bank—Daniel Cooper, Adam Cooper
The Mystery Gang—AJ Jones
The Rose—Tavyn Gentry
The Saudi—Moutaz Jad
The Sin Eater—Samantha E. Talbot
The Story On The Wall—Marwan Mokbel
The Surveillance of Ordinary Things—Susan Brunig
They Sound Human—Bryan Ott
To Have and To Hold—Ida Yazdi
Vault—Roni Brown
Waiting Games—Jeffrey Field
Weapon Focus—Paul A. Julian
What We Know—Juliana Roth
Will Be The Strength—Robb Hanson
Will to Power—Michael Mul
Yuba City—Gursimran Sandhu

Pilot Screenplay Quarterfinalists

1099—Hayley Simpson
A Version—Asad Farooqui
American Giants—Michael Chandler
Apache—Cameron Barsanti
Baked—Jane Davis, Mandy Mushlin, Priscilla Wise
Big Stick—Linda MacPherson Davidson
Blood and Dreams—Suzanne Griffin
Bounty—Gary M. Howell
Brown Country—Asad Farooqui
Cadaverosity—Gabe Berry
Close to the Bone—Ella Gabriel
Closer To Cuba—Elena Melener
Cold War Charlie—Cheryl Gallegos Agbunag
Cradle of the Bayou—Alexander Salazar
Dark Horizons—Carlo Carere, Erin Carere
Derblin Paranormal—Ryan Manns
Destruction, Inc.—Stephen Chen
El Dorado—Andrew Jasperson
Fairhaven—Kurt Wright
FanGirl—Will Ropp, Ellie Monohan, Jacqueline Toboni
Finding the Dark—Mychal Sargent
Five Points—Vivian Kerr
Fix—Jeff Bower
Florida Woman Saves the Day—Julie O'Hora, Leanna Adams
Freedman—Bryan Frank
Frontier Zero—Tod Fennell
Hard is the Good—Susan Brunig
Heather Has Four Moms—Rani Deighe Crowe
Heaven Springs, NY—Micah Paisner
Heirloom—Antonia Grilikhes-Lasky
Insurrection—Simon Bowler
King Street—Justin Kohlas
Lifers Anonymous—Sean Collins-Smith
Marked—Leah Pollack
Mother Nature—E. Napoletano
New World Order—Molly Vogel
No Reservation—Ross Fischer
Parts—Craig C. Page
Rhiannon—Amanda Eberhardt
Rust—Justin Moran
Sabela Gold—Ian Gabriel, Ella Gabriel
Short-Term Rental—Wendy Willard
Softer—Lovell Holder, Roger Q. Mason
Soldiers & Bandits—Eduardo Soto-Falcon
Space Captain Smith—John Palfery-Smith, Bruce Hanson
Talk—Morgan English, Topher Harless
The Last Laugh—Roni Brown
The Life and Times of Francie Page—Victoria Lucia
The Mascot League—Drew Robinson
The Outlaw Years—Maura O'Connell
The Secret Life of Inbred Mutants—Sean Collins-Smith (Story by Michael Leonberger and Sean Collins-Smith)
The Sensualist—Suzanne Griffin
Wakers—Garrett Atkinson
White Trash Heroes—Peter Stallo
Wizard Fest—Margaret Kaminski
Year Without Summer—Amanda Eberhardt
חי (living)—K. Alixandra Levitt

Short Screenplay Quarterfinalists

#instaGOOD—Aris Tyros
A Well Decorated Corner—Sam Kench
Amendment—Belinda Gosbee
Backbone—Alex Breaux
Beatrice—Sophia Costanzo
Blood Sugar—Sam Thompson
Break—Celeste Banks
Castle in the Air—Miley Yamamoto
Change for the Better—Joseph DiFrancesco
Cigarette—Caroline Granger
Circles—Renee Marie Petropoulos
Do No Harm—Ferzan Uddin
Ester in Wonderland—Stephanie Bollag, Lily Lyor Askenazi
Flat Squirrels—Jess Ansik
Flight—Alexis Stratton
Freezer—Elisabeth Watts
Girls Are Strong Here—Scott Burkhardt
Go Your Own Way—Adam Harris
Hello Stranger—Christopher K. Nwagbara
Hi Mom, It's Your Son, The Asshole—Greg Runnels
I Know Your Number By Heart—Alexis Barzin
iDL—Jayson Morgan, Mari Walker
Ignored—Shaun Radecki
It Takes Two—A. Gay Magnus
Jump—Michael Davison
Just Me—Darcy Lueking Bahensky
Landromat Tango—Charles LaTourette
Living in the past—Bernhard Riedhammer
My Mother's Shoes—Jake McKone
Our Father—Francesca Nider
Our Last Game Night—Jen Gutierrez
Passing of a Cloudy Day—Ina Williams
Past Partum—Jeffrey Howe
Reel Life—Jeremy Span
Rubber and Glue—Cat Dale
Sergio: A Scorpion's Tale—Shaun Radecki
Stay with me, Adelaida.—Nathalie Álvarez Mesén
The Bend—Mia Tate
The Chocolate Kandinsky—Suzanne Griffin
The Deliverer—Gil Saint
The Rain God—Wiley McCain
The Weight of Rain—Jess Ansik
Tracks—Tessa Duke
Tuesday—Jess Ansik
Under the Lamppost—Skylar Kim
Wed—Kristen McGary
Where There's Smoke—Andrew Akada