Editor

The winner of the 10th Annual Slamdance Screenplay Competition was announced at a special awards presentation and reception last night at the Writers Guild of America, west. The winner was unveiled at the event along side writers of the remaining top ten finalists. Invitees included Slamdance alumni screenwriters, filmmakers, readers, competition semifinalists past and present, and members of the WGAw Independent Writers Caucus.

"The competition received over 2,000 submissions this year—as the interest from the public increases so does the quality of the work rising to the top. It’s a testament to our talented staff of readers and the burgeoning talent of undiscovered writers around the world,” says Competition Director John Stoddard.

The Top Ten Screenplays (in order):
1st Preeti Girl, by Todd Holmes
2nd Stray, by Amanda Weier
3rd Green Shag Carpet Girls, by Tamara Farsadi
4th Emily’s Window, by Dayle Ann Hunt
5th It’s Raining Men, by Paul Sbrizzi
6th Overture, by Steven Frech
7th Kamehameha the Great, by Steven Drypolcher & Trudy Drypolcher
8th Love & Letters, by William Mac Marshall
9th Theo Cole, by Kevin Cutts
10th Deathday, by Amir Ohebsion & Omid Arabian

Best Short Screenplay:
The Saint of the Zuiderzee, by Brian Higdon, Virginia Friedman & Steve Hess

Slamdance readers, including alumni screenwriters, filmmakers and professionals in the industry, chose the winning screenplays from over 2,000 submissions. A $5,000 cash prize was awarded to Todd Holmes for the 1st place screenplay, Preeti Girl and a $500 prize was awarded to the Best Short Screenplay, The Saint of the Zuiderzee by Brian Higdon, Virginia Friedman & Steve Hess. All twelve writers of the top ten screenplays received Final Draft Pro screenwriting software, a year subscription to Scr(i)pt Magazine and will be read as part of the Slamdance reading series, Slamdance On Stage, in March/April 2006. They will also receive festival passes for the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah January 19-27, 2006. In addition, the writers are eligible to join the Writers Guild’s Independent Writers Caucus.

Slamdance has successfully established year-round ventures including the Screenplay Competition, Best Of Screenings in the U.S., Festival events in China and Poland, the Anarchy Online Film competition, the Dirty Dozen DVD Series (currently in its 7th volume), and short film productions dubbed $99 Specials. In 2004, Slamdance launched a teleplay competition in conjunction with fox21, a Games Competition, and the Slamdance Media Group; a company comprised of distribution and talent-management units

Started in 1995 by a group of upstart filmmakers, Slamdance Film Festival is a year-round organization dedicated to emerging artists and their vision. Slamdance has established a unique reputation for premiering independent films by first-time directors working with limited budgets. Slamdance films have been picked up for distribution, invited to festivals around the world, won Independent Spirit Awards, the Palme d'Or and an Academy Award, among other accolades. Slamdance Film Festival alumni include Batman Begins & Memento writer/director Christopher Nolan (festival award winner Following), the Emmy Award winning Russo Brothers (Pieces), Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess (Peluca) and Finding Neverland & Monster's Ball director Marc Forster (festival audience award winner Loungers). Paramount Classics acquired the 2005 Slamdance opening night film Mad Hot Ballroom. Slamdance winning screenplays picked up for distribution include Nicole Kassell and Stephen Fetcher’s The Woodsman, Joshua Marston’s Maria Full of Grace and Tim Boughn’s Neo Ned.