Screenplay Competition Finalists

Finalists announced in BBFF2019 Screenplay ContestThe finalists in the 2019 Byron Bay Film Festival Screenplay Contest have been announced and the winners will be presented at the red carpet Closing Night Gala on Saturday, October 26.The winner will receive $1500 cash prize, plus the latest screenwriting software from Final Draft. The second and third place-getters will also receive screenwriting software from Final Draft.Screenplay contest director Pim Hendrix said this year was the most hotly-contested since the competition began in 2017.“This has been a very intense year for the judging panel because there have been so many great scripts submitted,” Pim said. “Culling it down to the top 15 has been quite an effort and the panel needs to be highly commended.“It’s fantastic that Final Draft have once again come to the party to ensure the winners are rewarded for their efforts. We really appreciate their continued support of this prestigious contest.” This year’s finalists are: Tim Schildberger: Alone Together – US. Two damaged people spend a night locked in a movie theatre... their lives will never be the same.RC Arthur: Sailor – US. A romance about the desert that each of us must encounter to fulfil our destiny.Anderson Boyd: The Lease of Nature – US. A woman in search of vengeance infiltrates a dark crime syndicate that traffics in organs and dangerous technology.DJ McPherson: His Name is Jeremiah – Australia. A damaged teenager from a remote Australian town struggles to adjust when her violent mother is released from jail.Gabrielle Gozo: Thunder Roars, Get Indoors – US. When a terminally ill man is ostracized by his coworkers and controlling mother, he decides to seek out and reconnect with his estranged sister and live out his remaining days on his own terms.John Pisano-Thomsen: The Politics of Love and Dance – Canada. Dietrich Danzig, 95, the last known survivor of the Nazi Pink Triangles arrested for homosexuality takes us back to 1935 and his life as a ballet dancer.David Hearne: The Case of the Notorious Roboticist – Australia. An old-fashioned gumshoe fights for equality in a futuristic woman’s world where AI systems are all-powerful.Joanne Bellew: Mojo – Australia. New Orleans voodoo practitioner teaches her granddaughter to use her spirituality to defeat bullies.Philip Sedgwick: Rejected by Rumor – US. A PR consultant takes on a gossip columnist, a film studio and the rumours in her mind.James Mayon: Fear Sum – Australia. A quiz show writer in a midlife crisis has his world upended when his old punk bandmates turn up to help him win back the love of his life.Joanne Bellew: Rudy’s Christmas Revenge – Australia. With his hopes of becoming a musician destroyed, a hard-core Christian’s reaction lands him in a moral quagmire.Taylor Bennett: Carry On – Australia. 20-year-old wannabe rocker Kat has her dreams set to soar, but family responsibilities complicate matters.Joe D’Arcy: 1966 – Australia. A spiritual leader and her PTSD affected husband in remote Australia are ruled unfit parents.Neil Mansfield: The Wood for the Trees – Australia. In a poor timber town, threatened by bushfires, Nate, a fatherless teenager tells a colourful tale about cranky former champion axeman.Lachlan Marks: The Dead Ends – Australia. A prank in a small town goes horribly wrong and a group of inner-city musicians are trapped in a truck driven by a reluctant drug mule, in a bushfire.