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.

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