2004 Screenplay

►2004 screenplay competition

THE FORMAT

► Anyone may compete from anywhere in the world

► There are 2 rounds

► 1st Round: Screenwriters are placed randomly in heats. Each heat is assigned a genre and a subject.

► Screenwriters have 1 week to write an original short screenplay (maximum 20 pages) and submit to NYC for judging.

► Winners are chosen from each heat and advance to the final round to compete for the grand prize.

► Final Round: The winning screenwriters all receive the same genre and subject at midnight (NYC time). They have 24 hours to write an original short screenplay and e-mail to NYC for judging.

► A panel of judges review the final round screenplays and a grand prize winner is chosen. The winner will receive the grand prize, as well as a trip for 2 to NYC for the final round weekend of NYC Midnight Movie Making Madness!

2004 SCREENPLAY COMPETITION

The inaugural screenplay competition attracted 110 writers from 6 countries around the world. The writers had 1 week to write an original short screenplay based on a genre and subject provided (for a complete list of 1st Round genres and subjects, click here). Some amazing scripts were submitted and narrowing down the field from 110 to 10 finalists was incredibly tough for the judges.

10 finalists were selected to participate in the final round and compete for the grand prize of $1,500 by creating an original short screenplay from scratch in just 24 hours, from midnight to midnight. At midnight on September 17th, the finalists received the following info:

genre: comedy subject: a person strives to be the best at a meaningless job.

All 10 finalists submitted their short comedies by the midnight deadline (some with a few hours to spare and some with only 2 minutes remaining). The judges reviewed the scripts, and made their final decisions. The results are below:

Grand Prize Winner: James Felder (New York, NY)
"Marking Time" - A man who feels his job is without purpose, meets
someone who does something even worse and far more foul for the government. Together they will bring meaning to their meaningless lives.

1st Runner-Up: Joseph Kelly (Merrick, NY)
"Saint Dennis" - An underachieving Patron Saint must save his job, and his soul, by taking care of the world's most ambitious Fortune Cookie Author.

2nd Runner-Up: Scott Dacko (New York, NY)
"Bellwether" - Dylan Oakes has the least meaningful job in Hollywood- he’s a successful screenwriter.

3rd Runner-Up: Brandon Hopkins (Chicago, IL)
"The Eccentrics" - The MacGruder-Grundy’s may be out of cash—but they’re never short on potential.

4th Runner-Up: Ryan Ocello (Cliffside Park, NJ)
"That's A Wrap" - In one hand he holds his career. In the other, his self respect... and a piece of bubble wrap.

Congratulations to the 2004 grand prize winner, James Felder, for writing 2 great short scripts and rising to the top of an incredibly tough field of writers from around the world!

James Felder (right) after receiving the grand prize at NYC Midnight Movie Making Madness 2004. Shown with founder Craig Flamm (left). Click image to enlarge.

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