RIIFF ANNOUNCES 2019 SCREENPLAY COMPETITION WINNERS

.... 543 submissions received from throughout the United States and across the globe

• Download the 2019 News Release

Rammy Park, winner of the RIIFF Grand Prize for Best Screenplay on stage at

The Vets for the 2019 Opening Night Gala where she received her award trophy

Photo by Mike Braca

(PROVIDENCE, RI – October 29, 2019) • Daniel Talbott, Los Angeles, CA the Best Screenplay Grand Prize Winner for this year's Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) Screenplay Competition. Daniel’s winning screenplay is entitled “Yosemite.”

George T. Marshall, RIIFF Executive Director/CEO, made the announcement of the 2019 awards that featured 543 entries in competition. From these, 42 scripts were selected as finalists and 16 scripts were selected Winners by an international team of adjudicators.

The “Yosemite” storyline: Three young siblings have been sent into the snow-silent woods in the Sierra Nevada foothills bury a family secret. They search for a way to escape or be rescued from their lives as snow continues to fall and the world sinks in around them.

"Daniel Talbott’s script is beautiful and tragic. Brimming with raw emotion, Daniel has created a work that is original, innovative, and hits us at our core" said Shawn Quirk, RIIFF Program Director.

“What an amazing year for storytelling and our screenplay competition. This year’s entries were inventive and re-defining. They were scored on criteria that included character, dialogue, setting, plot, structure and technique,” added Quirk. “We reviewed the largest entry base in competition’s history making for difficult decision-making on the part of our international group of judges.

"Our sincere congratulations to this year's winners," stated George T. Marshall. "This competition continues to introduce us to some of the world's brightest and most talented writers in the craft."

AND THE 2019 WINNERS ARE...

BEST SCREENPLAY

GRAND PRIZE:

"Yosemite," By Daniel Talbott, Los Angeles, CA USA

FIRST PLACE:

"Urraca," By Eva Everett Irving, Toronto, Canada

INTERNATIONAL SCREENPLAY

GRAND PRIZE:

"Blood and Ash" By Kenneth Sanabria, Alajuela, Costa Rica

FIRST PRIZE:

"Sleep No More" By Iman Davari, Iran

VORTEX HORROR/SCI-FI SCREENPLAY

GRAND PRIZE:

"They Sound Human," By Bryan Ott, San Mateo, California, USA

FIRST PRIZE:

"Star Quest," By Natasha Markou, London, United Kingdom

JAMES L. SEAVOR LGBTQ SCREENPLAY

GRAND PRIZE:

"Turquoise Boots," By Alexia Kosmider, Providence, RI, USA

FIRST PRIZE:

"The Girl in the Navy Blue Sweater," By Laura Carrione, Bloomfield, NJ, USA

RI SPOTLIGHT ON NEW ENGLAND

GRAND PRIZE:

"Flying Bird's Diary," By Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel, Mystic, CT, USA

FIRST PRIZE:

"The Gods of Newport," By James Walsh, Westerly, RI, USA

BEST TELEVISION PILOT SCRIPT

GRAND PRIZE:

"Heal" By Dave Tolchinsky, Evanston, IL, USA

FIRST PRIZE:

"The Paisley Witch Trial (Pilot)" By Julia Campanelli, USA

BEST SHORT SCRIPT

GRAND PRIZE:

"Cut," By Emily Hason, New York, NY, USA

FIRST PRIZE:

"Ache" By LeLe Park, Chicago, IL, USA

BEST ANIMATION SCRIPT

GRAND PRIZE:

"Las Nogas" By Catya Plate, Brooklyn, NY, USA

FIRST PRIZE:

"Inclusion" By Poe Luck, Poland

Prizes awarded to the winners of the screenplay competition (which vary with the specific screenplay category) include: 1 Script Listing and 1 Magazine Listing from InkTip; Final Draft software featuring Final Draft Screenwriting Suites; and Passes to the 2019 Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival and the ScriptBiz™ Screenwriter's Workshop.

The Best Screenplay Grand Prize winner will be brought to Providence to attend the 2020 ScriptBiz program, where their screenplay will be a central focus of the program, plus receive a private script consultation and an official award on RIIFF's Opening Night Celebration on the stage of the 1,900-seat The Vets, located at One Avenue of the Arts, Providence. Lodging and transportation will also be provided.

_____________________________________________________________________________

The 2019 Finalists:

"10 Minutes From Paradise" By Janyce Lapore, Ocean Grove, NJ, USA

"221B Pilot," By Stan Jones, Anchorage, AK, USA

"The Abraham Girls," By Sharon Cooper, USA

"ACHE," By LeLe Park, Chicago, IL, USA

"Bitter Earth," By Eric Pumphrey, Glasgow, United Kingdom

"Blood and Ash," By Kenneth Sanabria, Alajuela, Costa Rica

"Botox Fiction," By Yoann K. Hendrix, Rennes, France

"Camouflage," By Christopher Willis, Narragansett, RI USA

"Comic Book Kings," By Amanda Keener, USA

"Cut," By Emily Hason, New York, NY USA

"Don," By Alberto Battistutti, Fiume Veneto, Italy

"Fireflies," By Amanda Keener, USA

"First Person Shooter," By DC Sayre, USA

"Flying Birds Diary," By Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel, Mystic, CT USA

"The Girl in the Navy Blue Sweater," By Laura Carrione, Bloomfield, NJ, USA

"The Gods of Newport," By James Walsh, Westerly, RI, USA

"Heal," By Dave Tolchinsky, Evanston, IL USA

"Hip Cat," By Josh Kirk, Warwick, RI USA

"Inclusion," By Poe Luck, Poland

"In Your Name," By Ronika Merl, Dublin, Ireland

"Las Nogas," By Catya Plate, Brooklyn, NY

"The Lease of Nature," By Anderson Boyd, New York, NY, USA

"Let Me Do Right By You," By Sarah Joy Byington, Round Rock, TX USA

"Like A Secret," By Saeed Zamanian, Tehran, Iran

"Little Things Mean a Lot," By Michael Monteith, Pearland, TX, USA

"A Most Dangerous Child," By Julian Shaw, United Kingdom

"My Father's Murders," By Michael Salomon, Huntsville, AL, USA

"One More Zero," By Toni Nagy, Dublin, NH, USA

"The Paisley Witch Trial (Pilot)," By Julia Campanelli, USA

"Peace by Piece," By Monib Abhat, USA

"The Road of Rose," By Annette Rodig, Temecula, CA, USA

"Saints and Poets," By Richard LaPorta, Chicago, Illinois, USA

"The Shipyard," By Will Berry, Cumberland, ME USA

"Sleep No More," By Iman Davari, Iran

"Star Quest," By Natasha Markou, London, United Kingdom

"Steam," By Robert Languedoc, Connecticut, USA

"They Sound Human," By Bryan Ott, San Mateo, California, USA

"Turquoise Boots," By Alexia Kosmider, Providence, RI, USA

"Urraca," By Eva Everett Irving, Toronto, Canada

"Varna Heights," By Raj Krisha, Menlo Park, CA USA

"The Wonderful," By Demitra Papadinis, USA

"Yosemite," By Daniel Talbott, Los Angeles, CA USA

"The Zenith," By Nyle Cavazos Garcia, Los Angles, CA USA

ABOUT THE FLICKERS: RHODE ISLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

The Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF), has secured its place in the global community as the portal for the best in international independent cinema, earning the respect of domestic and foreign filmmakers, filmgoers and trend watchers. This confluence of art and commerce brought together world-class celebrities, award-winning filmmakers, new talent and audience members in record numbers last year. Ranked as one of the top 10 Festivals in the United States, RIIFF is a qualifying festival for the Live Action, Animation and Documentary Short Film Academy Awards through its affiliation with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and the Canadian Screen Awards. There are only 10 film festivals worldwide that share this distinction and RIIFF is the only festival in New England. The Festival takes place every August.

The next Festival will take place August 4-9, 2020. 

2019 Sponsors:

• InkTip Script Listing: A listing of your script on InkTip so that producers and reps can find you.

• InkTip Magazine: Publication of your logline in InkTip's magazine sent to nearly 15000 producers and reps.

• InkTip helps writers sell their scripts and get representation. Producers have made more than 200 films from scripts and writers they found through InkTip.