2019 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition Semifinalists
The Atlanta Film Festival is proud to announce the semifinalists 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.
The Atlanta Film Festival is proud to announce the semifinalists 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 Semifinalists
25 Special Spells to Get Your Man Back—Cara Washington
A Good Son—Suzanne Weinert
A Native Land—Caitlin McCarthy
Above and Beyond—Margaret Elam, Martha Burkert
Adulteress—Allison Radomski
Aktion T-4—John L. Martins III
An East Wind in The West—Ben Imperato
Angels—Camille Griffin
Audrey, 2.0—Imogen Grace
Ba Ge (Myna Bird)—Yongle Wang
Bin—Asad Farooqui
Burning In Water—Caleb Samples
Cherry—Sophie Galibert, Arthur Cohen
City of Trees—Christian Lybrook
Civil Death—Zac Loy
Cruel Pecans—Jonny Flores
Darryn The Bold and The Sword of Boldness—Justin Best
Deerslayer—Nathan Cabaniss
Don—Alberto Battistutti
Fight for It All—Jeff S. Gordon
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
Guilt—Jamie Severson
Hell's Acre—Alexander Salazar
Here to Stay—Ella Gabriel
Immaculate—Gareth P. Smith
Inside Passage—Bryan Fierro
Juan for the Road—Ross Fischer
Lufthansa 181—Jack Eckert
Measure of Vengeance—Danielle Eliska Lyle
Miss Liberty—Craig Paulsen
Modern Love—Francesca Mirabella
Mother Christmas—Donald Cameron
NancyGirl—David McMahon
Negative Space—Amelia Mathews, Adam Bradley
Oath—Paul Frank
On Time—Xavier Neal-Burgin
Prey—Casey Sincic
Queens—Max Sokoloff
Race To Tilébin—Rhym Guissé
Red Light—Dempsey Tillman
Road Trippy—Joe Heath
Rust—J. Motts
Savior—Teri Rusike
Sedger Mor—C.J. Wright
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 Dying Machine—Joseph Cahill
The Immigration Game—Asad Farooqui
The Italian Lover—Suzanne Griffin
The Last Good Cheat—Jacob Hart
The Memory Bank—Daniel Cooper, Adam Cooper
The Story On The Wall—Marwan Mokbel
They Sound Human—Bryan Ott
To Have and To Hold—Ida Yazdi
Vault—Roni Brown
What We Know—Juliana Roth
Will to Power—Michael Mul
Pilot Screenplay Semifinalists
Apache—Cameron Barsanti
Big Stick—Linda MacPherson Davidson
Blood and Dreams—Suzanne Griffin
Bounty—Gary M. Howell
Brown Country—Asad Farooqui
Close to the Bone—Ella Gabriel
Dark Horizons—Victoria Lucia
Derblin Paranormal—Ryan Manns
Destruction, Inc.—Stephen Chen
FanGirl—Will Ropp, Ellie Monohan, Jacqueline Toboni
Florida Woman Saves the Day—Julie O'Hora, Leanna Adams
Freedman—Bryan Frank
Heaven Springs, NY—Micah Paisner
Heirloom—Antonia Grilikhes-Lasky
King Street—Justin Kohlas
Lifers Anonymous—Sean Collins-Smith
Mother Nature—E. Napoletano
No Reservation—Ross Fischer
Rhiannon—Amanda Eberhardt
Rust—Justin Moran
Softer—Lovell Holder, Roger Q. Mason
Space Captain Smith—John Palfery-Smith, Bruce Hanson
The Life and Times of Francie Page—Victoria Lucia
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
White Trash Heroes—Peter Stallo
חי (living)—K. Alixandra Levitt
Short Screenplay Semifinalists
A Well Decorated Corner—Sam Kench
Amendement—Belinda Gosbee
Backbone—Alex Breaux
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
I Know Your Number By Heart—Alexis Barzin
iDL—Jayson Morgan, Mari Walker
It Takes Two—A. Gay Magnus
Jump—Michael Davison
Just Me—Darcy Lueking Bahensky
Landromat Tango—Charles LaTourette
Stay with me, Adelaida.—Nathalie Álvarez Mesén
The Chocolate Kandinsky—Suzanne Griffin
The Deliverer—Gil Saint
Tuesday—Jess Ansik
Wed—Kristen McGary
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.
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
ATLFF Alum Tim Hall is Back With His Third Feature LANDLOCKED
ATLFF Alum and 2017 Georgia Film Award winner (BORN RIVER BYE) Tim Hall is back with another southern homegrown feature. Hall currently is raising funds for his third feature, LANDLOCKED which he is shooting locally in Smyrna and St. Simons.
ATLFF Alum and 2017 Georgia Film Award winner (BORN RIVER BYE) Tim Hall is back with another southern homegrown feature. Hall currently is raising funds for his third feature, LANDLOCKED which he is shooting locally in Smyrna and St. Simons.
Synopsis
Landlocked tells the story of Nick, who reunites with his estranged, transgender father to scatter his mother's ashes off the coast of Georgia. Set against the backdrop of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, LANDLOCKED subtly and thoughtfully examines the Evangelical church's tenuous relationship with marginalized communities as dramatized through the fraught family dynamics of Nick and Briana.
Told on a scale that's both intimate and personal, the film charts a course across the American Southeast, where its two main characters must come to terms with the rocky emotional terrain of their pasts. As they approach their coastal destination, and their complicated family history comes into full view, Nick and Briana are faced with the difficult task of determining a new path forward.
ATLFF '19 Needs Some Artwork and We Are Taking Proposals!
Are you a Metro Atlanta-based artist or designer who is interested in designing the ATLFF ‘19 Creative Campaign? We’d love to hear from you.
Are you a Metro Atlanta-based artist or designer who is interested in designing the ATLFF ‘19 Creative Campaign? We’d love to hear from you.
Please see the attached document below and submit your proposal by October 12, 2018!
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS - DESIGNER, ATLFF ‘19 CREATIVE CAMPAIGN
Atlanta Film Society is seeking the services of a skilled artist or graphic designer to develop key art and assets for the 43rd Annual Atlanta Film Festival creative campaign. The selected candidate will be responsible for the design, execution and delivery of specific elements to be used in the months leading up to and throughout the 2019 ATLFF. Proposals must be received no later than October 12, 2018. Responses should be clearly marked “RFP - ATLFF19 Creative Campaign” and mailed or delivered to the contact person listed on the document. Read More >>
Congratulations Are in Order for ATLFF Screenplay Competition Alumni Pearse Lehane!
Two-time alumni ATLFF, Pearse Lehane, recently optioned his 2017 ATLFF Feature Screenplay Winner The Lean to a producer he met through the new screenwriting website Coverfly.
Two-time alumni ATLFF, Pearse Lehane, recently optioned his 2017 ATLFF Feature Screenplay Winner The Lean to a producer he met through the new screenwriting website Coverfly.
A London based writer, Lehane is a two-time winner, one-time finalist at ATLFF. He won for his feature screenplays Killbook in 2015 and The Lean in 2017, while placing as a pilot finalist in 2016 for Janus.
Lehane has found success at multiple screenwriting competitions including those run by Screencraft and WeScreenplay. This is the first screenplay he’s optioned through Coverfly. A screenplay hosting and competition platform, Coverfly serves as a place for screenplays to connect with producers (think black list but free) and a submission platform for many industry competitions. Screenplays hosted on the site can opt-in to a ranking system dependent on their performance in competitions and reviews from sites such as the Blacklist.
Thanks to wins at competitions like ours, The Lean is currently ranked second on Coverfly’s Red List. Producers on Coverfly can see the red list, download screenplays, and contact writers they’re interested in.
We look forward to receiving more works from Lehane in the future, and we wish him the best on his career venture! This is only the beginning.
ATLFF '18 Official Selections Heading to Plaza Theatre
ATLFF '18 was one for the books and some our favorites from the festival will be getting a theatrical run at the Plaza Theatre!
ATLFF '18 was one for the books and some our favorites from the festival will be getting a theatrical run at the Plaza Theatre! If you missed out at festival, here's your second chance to catch A Prayer Before Dawn, Along Came the Devil, and Hearts Beat Loud.
A Prayer Before Dawn
directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
France/Thailand/UK, 2017, English/Thai, 116 minutes
Begins 8/10
A Prayer Before Dawn is the remarkable true story of Billy Moore, a young English boxer incarcerated in two of Thailand’s most notorious prisons. He is quickly thrown into a terrifying world of drugs and gang violence, but when the prison authorities allow him to take part in the Muay Thai boxing tournaments, he realizes this might be his chance to get out. Billy embarks on a relentless, action-packed journey from one savage fight to the next, stopping at nothing to do whatever he must to preserve his life and regain his freedom. Shot in a an actual Thai prison with a cast of primarily real inmates, A Prayer Before Dawn is a visceral, thrilling journey through an unforgettable hell on earth.
Along Came the Devil
directed by Jason DeVan
USA, 2018, English, 89 minutes
Begins 8/10
Abused by her father and abandoned by her mother as a young child, Ashley is sent to live with her estranged Aunt Tanya. During her stay, she becomes obsessed with investigating the disappearance of her mother and she calls upon the spirit world to answer her questions. In her quest, she is ensnared by a powerful demon who refuses to leave its host.
Hearts Beat Loud
directed by Brett Haley
USA, 2018, English, 97 minutes
Begins 8/17
Frank (Nick Offerman) and his daughter Sam (Kiersey Clemons) form a songwriting duo shortly before she leaves for college. As they grow closer through their music, Frank must come to terms with letting go of his daughter.
ATLFF Alum Molly Coffee's KAYLEE AGE 8 is Coming!
Filmmaker-In-Residence/2018 Screenplay Competition Semifinalist, Molly Coffee has come back to bring the world yet another impactful story coupled with amazing production design.
Filmmaker-In-Residence and 2018 Screenplay Competition Semifinalist, Molly Coffee has come back to bring the world yet another impactful story coupled with amazing production design. Coffee needs you to help KAYLEE AGE 8 get the final push over the mountain of funding.
Synopsis
In her short time on Earth, quiet autistic eight year old Kaylee’s entire world is just her and her mother. They play, they eat, they bathe, they love their own special way. Kaylee sees her mother as a beautiful mermaid, unlike any of the other human beings she encounters. One day, out of the blue, the real world comes crashing down when Kaylee’s mother dies. With no one left interested in taking care of her and not quite understanding what happened to change her life so drastically, she takes her life into her own hands and embarks on an odyssey with her mother’s ashes to release her into the river so she can become a true mermaid. Along the way, she meets a colorful cast of characters who help her truly understand how to cope with her mother’s death in her own unique way.
2018 ATLFF Pilot Screenplay Winner Jonathan Mason's Film ENTROPIA Needs You!
Entropia is a short musically-themed thriller set in the Polish neighborhood of Philadelphia - Port Richmond - where an immigrant master piano restorer gets embroiled in an insurance scam that tests his sense of Old World integrity.
Entropia is a short musically-themed thriller set in the Polish neighborhood of Philadelphia - Port Richmond - where an immigrant master piano restorer gets embroiled in an insurance scam that tests his sense of Old World integrity.
Entropia is Polish for “Entropy,” meaning a lack of order or predictability or a gradual decline into disorder. In piano tuning it is a term that refers to the increasing state of “disharmony” or “discord” an instrument will find itself in, the second after it has been tuned.
Based in New York & Philadelphia, Jonathan Mason earned his M.F.A from Columbia University, and served as Creative Director for New York’s Belladonna Productions (Cold in July, Dhuktar) and Bullet Pictures (4:44 Last Day on Earth). His latest film, L’échappée, co-directed with Hamid Saïdji, has played at forty festivals in seventeen countries and is a recipient of the Canal+ Short Film Prize. The screenplay for the feature version of the film was selected for the Sundance Institute's Screenwriting Intensive in Philadelphia. In addition to winning the ATLFF Pilot Screenplay Competition in 2018 for the pilot The Order.
Apply to Become an ATLFF '19 Screenplay Reader
With nearly 1,000 submissions already received for consideration into ATLFF '19, we are excepting applications to join our Screening Committee and to become a Screenplay Reader.
More than 7,000 works were submitted for consideration into the 2018 Atlanta Film Festival—another huge increase from the year before. From these hopeful filmmakers, we have only the capacity to program around 200 features, short films, pilot episodes and music videos combined. How do we decide which films to play? How do we go through those thousands of entries to sort the ones that will please our local audience the best?
We get help. A lot of help.
Most of that help comes from our volunteer Screening Committee and Screenplay Readers. Members of this team watch, or read dozens (sometimes hundreds) of short or feature films, or screenplays each, evaluating them along the way. This helps the programming team sort out the worthy from the not-so-worthy so they can make the final decisions.
With nearly 1,000 submissions already received for consideration into ATLFF '19, we are excepting applications to become a Screenplay Reader. Volunteer readers can earn a variety of perks (free tickets and passes to the festival) based on how many screenplays they read.
Space is limited, so not all applicants will be chosen. If you have an interest in reading submitted screenplays for the ATLFF '19 Screenplay Competition, apply to be a reader! Please apply by July 2, 2018. Applications may be re-opened at a later date.
Questions? Email screening@atlantafilmfestival.com.
Atlanta Film Festival Alums Selected for Sundance Directors and Screenwriters Lab
The Atlanta Film Festival is pleased to congratulate writer/director Eimi Imanishi, with her feature film Doha – The Rising Sun, and Suzanne Andrews Correa, who wrote The Huntress, as they have been selected for Sundance Directors and Screenwriters Labs, Class of 2018.
The Atlanta Film Festival is pleased to congratulate writer/director Eimi Imanishi, with her feature film Doha – The Rising Sun, and Suzanne Andrews Correa, who wrote The Huntress, as they have been selected for Sundance Directors and Screenwriters Labs, Class of 2018. We love to see the progression of our Festival Alum's careers!
Eimi Imanishi is a U.S. born Japanese citizen who was raised in France. Her short films, Battalion to My Beat (2016) is set in the Western Saharan refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, and One Up (2017), a Columbia University thesis short film written and produced by Julia Thompson were official selections of the Atlanta Film Festival. Doha - The Rising Sun—Disheartened by her deportation from Europe, Mariam is forced to return home to Western Sahara. Adrift in the very place that once was her home, she searches for the means to assert agency over her own life.
Suzanne Andrews Correa is as a Mexican-American screenwriter and director and a recent MFA graduate of the Film Program at Columbia University. She made her rounds in the 2017 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition with the screenplay, The Huntress. The Huntress — In Juarez, Mexico, where violence against women goes unnoticed and unpunished, an unlikely heroine emerges to seek justice.