The Tracking Board is thrilled to announce the winners of our 2016 Launch Pad Feature Competition, featuring the Overall Winners, Winners of our Vertigo Entertainment and Twin Padres prizes, Winners of our ESA and Bellevue Guaranteed Signing prizes, as well as all three of our Mentorship Program Winners!
With one of our finalists having already sold to Sony in a bidding war for Margot Robbie to star (Congratulations again Pete Barry on Marian), and several of our writers having already begun the meeting and signing process, we’re incredibly proud to present the features our judges deemed the very best of the best. Featuring an incredibly diverse spectrum of genres, stories, and locations, this year’s pool of entries not only set a new record for number of entries, but also came to us from every continent on the globe. And, once again, the range of characters, concepts, voices, and originality on display was a reminder as to just how wonderful the art of storytelling truly can be.
This year’s Overall Winners run the gamut of genres, from grounded sci-fi that’ll keep you guessing, to a pulse-pounding thriller that never lets up, to a road trip comedy that delivers the laughs from beginning to end, these stories all feature unforgettable characters, smart and elevated storylines, and most importantly, the distinct talents each of these writers are ready to bring to the world!
Our exclusive partners Vertigo Entertainment and Twin Padres have made their selections, and once again have gone above and beyond, selecting exciting sci-fi, comedies and supernatural projects to dive into. Our distinguished Mentors Marianne & Cormac Wibberley, Andrew Baldwin, and Gary Graham, have equally gone beyond our expectations, each diving into intimidating stacks of reads, and truly making personalized picks of the writers they’re excited to take under their wings to help guide their careers (and once again, making picks even beyond our finalists). And last, but certainly not least, ESA and Bellevue have combed through their reads to make their signing picks… and for the first time, having both selected the same writer!
And, as one more competition comes to a close, we’re reminded of how passionate this industry is, how excited we are to introduce these new writers to Hollywood, and how wonderful each and everyone of our partners, judges, and writers have truly been since we began this journey.
So, without further ado, please enjoy your first look at the Winners of our Launch Pad Feature Competition!
Overall Winner
SHELL, THE
Charlie Neubauer
MINORITY REPORT meets TRANSCENDENCE
In a future where death has been eradicated thanks to a revolutionary technology that allows people to be resurrected, a petty criminal is tasked with solving the seemingly impossible murder of its inventor – his mother.
Sci-Fi Thriller Overall Winner Bellevue Entertainment Selection ESA Entertainment Selection
Top Drama
SUBMERGED
Dan Hall
THE SHALLOWS meets OPEN WATER
Trapped in a shrinking air pocket deep beneath the ocean’s surface, the survivors of a plane crash battle to stay alive long enough for the rescue teams to locate them.
Thriller Top Drama
Top Comedy
DERBY CITY
Alexis Perkins
SAVED meets LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
A bartender (and small-time con artist) fleeing a criminal gambling charge convinces a naive Mormon missionary to drive across country with her, but when their truck and money are stolen, they have to resort to hustling pool in order to make it to Utah.
Comedy Top Comedy
Twin Padres / Vertigo Entertainment Prize
VIOLET
Scott Thomas
INSIDIOUS meets ORPHAN
Fleeing from her abusive husband in the dark of night with her young daughter in tow, a woman moves back into her childhood home. But it’s there she realizes the horror isn’t over, and that the sadistic imaginary friend she had as a child is very real, and plans to trap her in the house where they can play forever
Horror Supernatural Thriller Top 25 Vertigo Entertainment Selection
JESSE’S GIRL
John Wikstrom
THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN meets SHE’S THE MAN
In a bid to make his ex jealous and win her back, a high school senior invents a girlfriend on social media, but runs into trouble when he falls for the real-life girl he based her on.
Comedy Teen Twin Padres Selection Top 25
Bellevue and ESA Prize
SHELL, THE
Charlie Neubauer
MINORITY REPORT meets TRANSCENDENCE
In a future where death has been eradicated thanks to a revolutionary technology that allows people to be resurrected, a petty criminal is tasked with solving the seemingly impossible murder of its inventor – his mother.
Sci-Fi Thriller Overall Winner Bellevue Entertainment Selection ESA Entertainment Selection
Mentorship Winners
BLOOD INK
Gia Gordon
AMADEUS meets ANNA KARENINA
Franz Schubert’s struggles to be recognized as a composer as dissension rises against the oppressive government of the 19th Century Hapsburg Empire.
Biopic Drama Period Mentorship Selection | Cormac Wibberley & Marianne Wibberley
EDGE OF ETERNITY
Steve Isles
PASSENGERS meets EX MACHINA
A solitary prisoner sentenced to work in isolation mining precious metals on a remote asteroid creates a synthetic female companion for himself, and life gains meaning for him when the two fall in love. But when an emergency brings another astronaut to rescue them, he instead lays claim to everything the prisoner has.
Romance Sci-Fi Thriller Top 10 Mentorship Selection | Gary Graham
DOUBLE INDIANA
David Keith Miller
THE NICE GUYS meets RAISING ARIZONA
Two mobsters running a delivery from Los Angeles to Las Vegas discover that the money in their briefcase, which may or may not have been there in the first place, is missing, and consequently kidnap a woman, who may or may not have stolen it, to try to track it down before their boss has them killed.
Action Comedy Drama Mentorship Selection | Andrew Baldwin Top 75
The Top 5% Of All Entries
105 ROYAL AVENUE
Victoria Armstrong
PRIDE meets GOOD VIBRATIONS
In the dangerous conflict zone of 1979 Belfast, a strong willed punk strives against persecution to create her own nightclub. A safe haven for her misfit friends who, united by their love of music and fashion, are desperate to escape the violence and despair of their war torn city and find their own place to belong.
Comedy Drama Period Top 50
420 MINUTES
Jody Gehrman
PINEAPPLE EXPRESS meets JUNO
When a college student and aspiring detective meets a guy who claims he has only 420 minutes to live, she infiltrates a series of increasingly dangerous underworlds to help him save his sister from a biker gang.
Action Comedy Honorable Mention
A CHRISMISCUE
Gregory Harty
SCROOGED meets THE GOOD PLACE
In this reversal of the classic “A Christmas Carol” story, the nicest guy in town gets accidentally “Scrooged” and is forced to see how poorly everyone else treated him in Christmases past, present, and future, all the bureaucratic system of heaven attempts to right the mistake before any damage is done.
Comedy Fantasy Top 75
A MISSISSIPPI MURDER
Mark G. Anderson
MISSISSIPPI BURNING meets TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
The true story of two African American reporters who travel to Mississippi in 1955 to cover the trial of Emmett Till, the young black man whose brutal murder ignited the Civil Rights Movement. After discovering the existence of several key black witnesses, they work with the prosecuting attorney to bring the witnesses to testify amongst threats and racial prejudice.
Drama Period Top 25
A NECESSARY ACT OF VIOLENCE
John Torma
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE meets TAKEN
When an army vet is framed for his wife’s murder, he must to go on the run with his stepdaughter to protect her. But when he discovers that both the police and a local fracking tycoon are responsible, he must turn back and avenge his wife’s death.
Action Thriller Top 50
ACTUAL VAMPIRE KEANU REEVES
Ashley Moon
THIS IS THE END meets BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
When her coworker disappears, a pop culture nerd discovers that Keanu Reeves is a murderous vampire who may have something to do with her mother’s death, and that she is his next target.
Comedy Horror Top 75
ADAM & EVE
David Kushner
PINEAPPLE EXPRESS meets CHILDREN OF MEN
In a future where all men and women are unable to reproduce, a stoner accidentally grows a strand of weed that allows him to fertilize the first human embryo in years, and must team up with a straight-laced procreation scientist to combat the android forces determined to annihilate the human race.
Action Comedy Sci-Fi Top 75
AMARA, 15
Hannah Leshaw
SHORT TERM 12 meets PRECIOUS
A 15-year-old Bronx teenager struggles to escape her father’s sexual abuse without leaving her two little sisters behind.
Drama Top 10
ANGELS OF THE DEEP
James L. Head
TOP GUN meets CRIMSON TIDE
In the near future, a submarine war games exercise turns into an all-out battle for the fate of the world when one side unexpectedly starts fighting for keeps, and an elite squadron of North American sub-fighter pilots are the last line of defense.
Action Sci-Fi War Top 25
APPLE TREE, THE
Matthew Arnold-Ladensack
ST. VINCENT meets THE NOTEBOOK
A closeted high school football player is forced to volunteer at a retirement community after getting in trouble with the law, where he forms an unlikely friendship with an elderly veteran mourning the loss of his long time male partner.
Coming-of-Age Drama Romance Top 50
BABY ROULETTE
Lindzi Scharf
TRAINWRECK meets BRIDGET JONES’S BABY
A 32-year-old divorce attorney desperate to have a baby starts bedding random men in order to get pregnant, but her plan backfires when she meets the man of her dreams, and her actions could come back to haunt her.
Romantic Comedy Top 75
BAD REVIEW
Patrick Connelly
HORRIBLE BOSSES meets ENVY
After he posts a negative review of a laxative online, causing the company that produced it to go bankrupt, a young go-getter is hunted down by the product’s creator, who wants to ruin his life.
Comedy Honorable Mention
BAIT NIGHT
Timothy Grant
TO CATCH A PREDATOR meets SAW
The producers of a show that baits sexual predators and exposes them on television are violently targeted by a group of pedophiles they previously caught, and one of their young “decoys” must survive a deadly game of cat-and-mouse after she reels in a psychopath that may be her sister’s kidnapper.
Drama Horror Thriller Top 50
BLOOD INK
Gia Gordon
AMADEUS meets ANNA KARENINA
Franz Schubert’s struggles to be recognized as a composer as dissension rises against the oppressive government of the 19th Century Hapsburg Empire.
Biopic Drama Period Mentorship Selection (Cormac Wibberley & Marianne Wibberley)
BORDERLINE
Clyde Tom Bennett
FARGO meets LOCAL HERO
A small South Carolina town loses its only employer when a mill closes, causing the town council to try to find a way to move the state line in order to take advantage of tax breaks in Georgia that would bring them a new car plant and save their livelihoods.
Comedy Drama Top 75
CATHARSIS AND THE CATFISH
Dillon Michael White
GONE GIRL meets CATFISH
A young widower who runs a business catfishing people on behalf of disgruntled exes, luring unsuspecting strangers into online romantic relationships, and hits it off with a woman who finds his job fascinating, but their romance is derailed when he’s hired to catfish someone who appears to be his dead wife.
Drama Romance Thriller Top 50
CHAPERONE, THE
Robert Remy
TROOP BEVERLY HILLS meets DADDY’S HOME
Determined to spend more time with his daughter, a bumbling divorcee volunteers to chaperone a camping trip for her Girl Scouts troop, but is quickly in over his head when they get stranded in the wilderness and run afoul of dangerous felons.
Comedy Family Top 50
CHARLIE REDSTAR
George Gier
MIDNIGHT SPECIAL meets CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
When a disgraced ex-cop witnesses the alien abduction of his son, the government frames him for murder in order to cover it up. Now, pursued by a relentless agent from a shadowy organization, he must work with his estranged wife to break into a top secret warehouse filled with recovered alien technology in order to expose the truth and get his son back.
Action Sci-Fi Thriller Top 50
CLASH
Andrea Jaag
ARGO meets NO ESCAPE
After their teenage son accidentally kills a woman with his car, an estranged American family living in Saudi Arabia must cover up the crime and attempt to get out of the country before the local authorities and the victim’s sister catch up to them.
Drama Thriller Top 25
COLOUR ME JANE
Elisa McRae
SHORT TERM 12 meets SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
A high school counselor with a large facial birthmark attempts to help a student who was disfigured in a fire while simultaneously dealing with her own reluctance to accept love after meeting the man of her dreams.
Comedy Drama RomanticComedy Top 25
CONSTANTINOPLE
Rachel J. Beard
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN meets 300
A Byzantine captain escapes his long enslavement at the hands of the Ottoman Empire just as the city of Constantinople prepares to defend itself against an Ottoman siege, leaving him to prove his loyalty to those that had given him up for dead.
Action Period War Top 25
DAN & FRANKIE SAVE THE WORLD
Alan Wood
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS meets HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE
A couple of young, down-and-out stoners living in Las Vegas join forces with a covert alien slayer and her team to save the President of the United States from being possessed by an alien slug.
Action Comedy Sci-Fi Top 50
DANCE OF THE VANDALS
C. Marie Robinson
EMPIRE OF THE SUN meets UNBROKEN
When a Dutch mother and her three daughters are sent to a Japanese work camp after the invasion of Indonesia in World War II, she finds innovative ways to keep her children and fellow prisoners alive as they battle starvation and the sadistic guards.
Drama Period War Top 50
DEMON’S TRAIL
C. Marie Robinson
THE EXORCIST meets DRAG ME TO HELL
A disgraced former priest turned private investigator must team up with a psychic to solve a series of mysterious deaths across Los Angeles, which might be related to an exorcism he performed on the psychic’s brother decades earlier.
Horror Supernatural Thriller Top 10
DERBY CITY
Alexis Perkins
SAVED meets LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
A bartender (and small-time con artist) fleeing a criminal gambling charge convinces a naive Mormon missionary to drive across country with her, but when their truck and money are stolen, they have to resort to hustling pool in order to make it to Utah.
Comedy Top Comedy
DEVIL IN THE DARK
Ben Kermode
PRIMAL FEAR meets PRISONERS
With her father’s execution only three days away, a cop agrees to be hypnotized in order to find out the truth about the crime he’s charged with – her mother’s murder from 20 years earlier.
Drama Thriller Honorable Mention
DISGRASIAN
Ted Youngmin Sim
MASTER OF NONE meets 500 DAYS OF SUMMER
A young Korean-American who fears that his white girlfriend is only interested in him because she has an Asian fetish must reconcile his own ethnic prejudices when he finds out the truth of his father’s long-lost love.
Romantic Comedy Top 50
DO KNOW HARM
Jim Goode & Scott Hawthorne
JACK REACHER meets SAFE HOUSE
A CIA psychologist working in Syria is suspected of harboring treasonous information from a session and must go on the run with the help of one of her most dangerous patients in order to find out exactly what the government thinks she already knows, and why it is worth her life.
Action Thriller Top 25
DOUBLE INDIANA
David Keith Miller
THE NICE GUYS meets RAISING ARIZONA
Two mobsters running a delivery from Los Angeles to Las Vegas discover that the money in their briefcase, which may or may not have been there in the first place, is missing, and consequently kidnap a woman, who may or may not have stolen it, to try to track it down before their boss has them killed.
Action Comedy Drama Top 75
EDGE OF ETERNITY
Steve Isles
PASSENGERS meets EX MACHINA
A solitary prisoner sentenced to work in isolation mining precious metals on a remote asteroid creates a synthetic female companion for himself, and life gains meaning for him when the two fall in love. But when an emergency brings another astronaut to rescue them, he instead lays claim to everything the prisoner has.
Romance Sci-Fi Thriller Top 10
ENDRA
Oskar Tellhed
STRANGER THAN FICTION meets THANK YOU FOR SMOKING
A frustrated painter is thrust into the spotlight overnight after he inadvertently invents a brand new color, but he soon finds this newfound fame and fortune isn’t everything he had hoped for.
Comedy Drama Top 50
ESTEVAN THE BLACK
Karl Bauer & Michael Choi
THE REVENANT meets 12 YEARS A SLAVE
An African slave with a gift for languages travels with Spanish Conquistadors to Florida on a doomed quest to find and conquer the legendary city of gold. In this remarkable true story, he emerges as the unlikely hero on a journey that begins with 600 men, and ends with only left four alive.
Adventure Period Top 25
EULOLOGY
Martin Williams
TRAINWRECK meets THE WEDDING RINGER
A reserved single father who works as a professional eulogist risks embracing a new love with the help of a terminally ill client.
Romantic Comedy Honorable Mention
FELLOWSHIP, THE
Brendon Udy & Victoria Rau
FANBOYS meets THE HANGOVER
Just days before his wedding, a man’s friends surprise him with a trip to New Zealand for the world’s biggest Lord of the Rings role playing battle. But the adventure goes awry when one of their tour guides drugs everyone so he can swipe the valuable ring the groom bought for his fianc_e, leading to an epic journey to get it back before the big day.
Adventure Comedy Top 25
GAME-CHANGER, THE
Patrick Sherman
RUDY meets MILK
A gay linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys deals with his life on the down low while struggling to make his mark in the most macho of professional sports, and the consequences of becoming the first active NFL player in history to come out of the closet.
Drama Sports Top 25
GARGOYLE
Brendon Udy & Victoria Rau
PAN’S LABYRINTH meets BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
When Nazis raid a children’s home, two young sisters flee into the forest where they discover an ancient creature under an evil spell. As their partisan parents fight to find them, the girls agree to help the creature break the curse in return for his own protection.
Adventure Fantasy Period Top 50
GFE
Rizwanul Haq
PRETTY WOMAN meets DEMOLITION
Five years after the death of his wife, a man refuses to get back into the dating world, too afraid of becoming emotionally attached. But when he takes the first step in overcoming his fear by exploring the no-strings-attached option of hiring a professional escort, he finds himself unexpectedly falling for one of the women he hires.
Drama Romance Honorable Mention
GLITCHES
Kelly Byrnes
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER meets WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE
An 18-year-old girl struggles with her place in life when she and her father are forced to leave California for Iowa to live with her fundamentalist aunt in Iowa, and she soon finds herself attracted to her autistic cousin.
Drama Honorable Mention
GROW HOUSE, THE
Miley Tunnecliffe
WEEDS meets ERIN BROCKOVICH
When a woman unable to get a job with a felony conviction hanging over her head gets hired to live in a suburban marijuana grow house, she struggles to build a normal life for her and her daughter while falling for the house drug dealer, and keeping her new best friend, his wife, from finding out.
Action Comedy Drama Top 75
HITCHCOCK MURDERS, THE
Andy Maycock
SUNSET BOULEVARD meets HITCHCOCK
After the apparent suicide of a movie producer, a private eye follows a trail of clues, and bodies, that lead to the great Alfred Hitchcock himself. But much like in one of the director’s films, there are no easy answers, and no one can be trusted.
Mystery Period Thriller Top 50
HONEY TRAP
Juhana Lumme
HITCH meets THE WEDDING RINGER
A woman who runs a fidelity investigation business – testing men’s loyalties to their girlfriends and collecting the reward when they cheat – finds herself falling in love with her latest target, an aspiring politician who’s blind to her charms.
Romantic Comedy Top 50
HUNGER PAINS
Farrin Rosenthal
SANTA CLARITA DIET meets BRIDEZILLA
After suffering a savage bite from an escaped genetics experiment, a sweet, innocent, vegan planning her dream wedding must hide a sudden craving for living flesh or risk losing her one true love.
Comedy Horror Romance Honorable Mention
HYBRID, THE
Richard Turgeon
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND meets MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
Six years after their first son went missing, a troubled private investigator and his estranged wife come to realize their long-missing son may have been abducted by aliens… and that their youngest son is next.
Sci-Fi Thriller Top 75
INDI THE UNICORN
Darren Moroney & David Smith
PETE’S DRAGON meets MY LITTLE PONY
When a shy and isolated girl struggling to accept her parents’ recent divorce finds a lost unicorn, she discovers her inner courage by helping him evade capture and return to his family in the clouds.
Animation Family Fantasy Honorable Mention
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS
Patrick Wiegers & Scott Marshall Taylor
FIELD OF DREAMS meets THE BUCKET LIST
A dying man takes a road trip with his best friends and former high school teammates to see all 30 Major League ballparks before he dies.
Drama Sports Top 75
JACARANDA
Ryan W. Smith
TSOTSI meets WINTER’S BONE
In apartheid South Africa, a young black freedom fighter sets out to rescue her father, who has been wrongfully arrested for a bombing she caused. Through her pursuit, she comes face-to-face with the grotesque underbelly of the apartheid regime, and forms an unlikely friendship with the son of her enemy.
Drama Period Thriller Top 50
JESSE’S GIRL
John Wikstrom
THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN meets SHE’S THE MAN
In a bid to make his ex jealous and win her back, a high school senior invents a girlfriend on social media, but runs into trouble when he falls for the real-life girl he based her on.
Comedy Teen Twin Padres Selection Top 25
LAST BADASS, THE
Adam Draves & Paul Colahan
EQUILIBRIUM meets LETHAL WEAPON
In a future utopia where citizens must take a daily pill that makes them euphoric, one resident skews the balance by accidentally going off his meds, committing the community’s first murder, inspiring a sexual reawakening or two, and leading a revolt against the “perfect” society.
Action Comedy Top 75
LAST YEAR’S MAN
Tim Glister
THE AMERICAN meets BOURNE
On the rugged, remote Faroe Islands, a disgraced former CIA agent connects with his long lost son, a burnt-out reporter who could set the story straight, while luring in those who betrayed him for one last game of revenge.
Action Mystery Thriller Top 75
LEGENDARY
Dana Brawer & Sean Lee
SUPERBAD meets BROAD CITY
Two senior girls want to score a ton of weed for their last high school party to cement their legacy, but their plans take a crazy and hilarious detour after they wind up scoring more than they can handle.
Comedy Teen Honorable Mention
LOVE ME TOMORROW
Kent Moran
JUST LIKE HEAVEN meets IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
After dying of a broken heart, a widowed man gets a second chance to be with the love of his last life when they are both reincarnated.
Drama Romance Honorable Mention
MAJOR TAYLOR
PW Valentine
RACE meets CHASING LEGENDS
Based on the true story of cyclist Major Taylor who, in the 1890s, battled racism and the world’s top riders to become the first ever African American to be recognized on an international level for his athletic achievements
Biopic Period Sports Top 50
MANZANAR
Ian Hayden
EMPIRE OF THE SUN meets UNBROKEN
A Japanese-American family struggles to maintain their identity and stay together after they are relocated to the Manzanar internment camp during World War II.
Drama Period War Top 25
MARIAN
Pete Barry
ROBIN HOOD meets SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN
When Robin Hood is killed, Maid Marian must take on his mantle in order to seek revenge on his murderer and save England from a secret French invasion.
Action Adventure Period Top 25
MARKING TIME
Darrin Reed & Tom Crehan
OCEAN’S ELEVEN meets INSIDE MAN
A billionaire and master thief takes on his biggest job yet, stealing the famous clock from New York’s Grand Central Terminal. But it’s a race against time when his greatest enemy enters the picture.
Action Comedy Thriller Honorable Mention
ME & KIP
Carlotta Harlan
DEATH AT A FUNERAL meets RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Two years after disowning her family, and shortly after the death of her addict brother, a young woman is forced to reunite with the very people she despises for the celebration of her other brother’s wedding.
Comedy Drama Honorable Mention
MISS LIBERTY
Craig Paulsen
MISS CONGENIALITY meets THE SANDLOT
In order to get money to take care of his grandmother, a boy and his friend kidnap a beauty queen and hold her for ransom, but the crime quickly escalates to capture the attention of their entire small town.
Comedy Drama Period Top 75
MISSING TIME
Philip James Booth
THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU meets 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE
A blue collar worker in Northern Florida wakes up with no memory of the past two years to find the world has moved on without him. When his loved ones refuse to believe his problems are anything other than self-inflicted, he tries to unravel what happened to him with the help of a woman who has experienced the same phenomenon.
Mystery Sci-Fi Thriller Top 50
MR. MOON
Mike Langer
STRANGER THINGS meets E.T.
A wisecracking kid and his friends investigate strange happenings in their town, which he thinks might be tied to the disappearance of his father years earlier. With the help of a salesman who claims to own the moon, they must outsmart a rogue government agent and rescue an alien rover stranded on earth.
Adventure Family Sci-Fi Top 75
MURPHY’S CREEK
Carol Mulholland
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN meets THE BOURNE IDENTITY
The sheriff of a remote town falls for the prime suspect in a murder case – a woman who wandered in from the desert with no idea who she is or where she came from – only to discover that she is involved in a dangerous conflict between the FBI and a group of violent drug dealers.
Action Thriller Western Honorable Mention
NOSTALGIA
Michael Aloyan
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND meets ENEMY OF THE STATE
A man who works for a black market company that erases people’s memories without their knowledge finds himself embroiled in a political conspiracy thanks to his latest job, which also brings to light a dark secret from his own past.
Action Sci-Fi Thriller Top 75
OFF THE HOOK
John Arvai
TOY STORY meets NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM
In a world where a Christmas tree’s star is actually a secret transmitter used by Santa Claus to identify all of the active Christmas homes throughout the world, a toy soldier must lead a group of ornaments in a desperate race against time to find their missing star so Santa doesn’t skip their house.
Animation Comedy Family Top 75
ON THE SIDELINES
Sam Greisman
ALMOST FAMOUS meets G.B.F.
The teenage son of a famous actress steps into the spotlight and catches the eye of his movie star crush after giving a speech at a gay rights event, soon finding himself torn between his new boyfriend and his overbearing mother
Drama RomanticComedy Teen Top 75
ONE WHITE CROW
Pippa Hinchley
THE X-FILES meets JANE EYRE
An arch skeptic and brilliant academic, famous for debunking fraudulent mediums, and an unassuming Bostonian housewife with an extraordinary ability scientifically prove there is life after death. This is a true story.
Period Romance Supernatural Thriller Top 50
PAST TIME
RC Miles
ABOUT TIME meets ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
A man wins the chance to visit three important moments from his past, giving him the potential to alter the direction of his life as he knows it and make a better future for himself.
Drama Sci-Fi Honorable Mention
PENNY
Arthur Panoyan
THE WAY, WAY BACK meets GARDEN STATE
A socially awkward coin collector plans a trip upstate to acquire a rare penny that has eluded him for years, but finds his dream hindered when a loud-mouthed girl forces herself into his plans and tags along.
Comedy Top 50
PINOCCHIO WARS
Damian Knoll, Jay Murphree, & Ryan Oyler
I, ROBOT meets WESTWORLD
Seeking to uncover the truth behind her mother’s suspicious death, a tech-savvy journalist discovers a secret island of abandoned, malfunctioning robots that possess sentience, and must navigate their uprising while surviving the brutal retaliation of an AI corporation attempting to silence her.
Action Sci-Fi Honorable Mention
PLAN C
David Ngo
ROUNDERS meets HOT FUZZ
After the Chinese Mafia threaten to harm his family if he doesn’t make good on his gambling debts, a detective does the only logical thing he can think of – he hires two petty criminals to help him rob an illegal poker tournament. The plan is foolproof, until people start dying. When plans A and B fail, it’s time for Plan C.
Action Comedy Honorable Mention
POACHER, THE
Travis Opgenorth
BEASTS OF NO NATION meets ROAD TO PERDITION
A Serengeti native and haunted former guerilla soldier, forced into poaching ivory to feed his starving family, finds himself gaining unwanted notoriety after shooting his estranged brother – a ruthless warlord who comes looking for revenge.
Action Drama Top 10
POST SCRIPT
Ariadne Shaffer
GRACE AND FRANKIE meets SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE
When they win a free rent contest together, an elderly woman is compelled to share an apartment with a man she has harbored a 50-year grudge against. When they become more than just roommates, they must find a way to work around disapproving family, ancient insults, and damaging secrets.
Comedy Drama Romance Honorable Mention
PURGATORY HIGH
Edward Somers
HEAVEN CAN WAIT meets SIXTEEN CANDLES
After dying, an immature, life-long partier is sent to a unique kind of purgatory where he has to relive his senior year of high school to atone for his teenage sins. If he passes all his classes, he’ll move on, but if he fails, he’ll be stuck in the 1980s attending high school over and over again.
Comedy Period Honorable Mention
RED THREAD
Leif Johnson
THELMA AND LOUISE meets THE HANDMAIDEN
An anxious American in Tokyo befriends a mysterious woman who became famous for committing murder as a girl, and find they complete each other in the worst way. When their relationship blossoms into murder, they go on the run, embarking on a bloody journey of self-discovery across Japan.
Drama Romance Thriller Top 75
RED WINTER
Evan McNamara
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD meets THE MARTIAN
When her parents are killed, a young woman living in an isolated colony on Mars must trek across the planet to find other colonists, avoiding the dangerous feral humans roaming the red sands
Action Sci-Fi Top 25
SAND CREEK
Jane Paulson & Marcy Kelly
DANCES WITH WOLVES meets LINCOLN
The tragic true story of an idealistic Union officer stationed in the remote Colorado territory during the Civil War who struggles against cultural misunderstandings, politics, and greed to navigate contentious peace talks with the local Native Americans, and to protect the tribe from the extermination orders handed down from his superiors.
Period Western Top 50
SANGUINE
Emma Fissenden
PENNY DREADFUL meets PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
A 17-year-old amateur detective, who must tread carefully between the upper echelons of Victorian England society and her work assisting the police in secret, attempts to uncover the truth behind a rash of mysterious deaths in London, in which the bodies have all been drained of blood.
Horror Period Romance Supernatural Honorable Mention
SAVAGE, THE
Christopher Yeazel
THE NEW WORLD meets LAST OF THE MOHICANS
After being kidnapped from his lands as a child, the Patuxet Indian Squanto spends his life fighting impossible odds to return home, setting in motion a series of events that changes the course of history. The epic true story behind one of America’s most endearing myths.
Adventure Biopic Period Top 10
SECRET WEAPON
Peter Limm
LEGALLY BLONDE meets 21 JUMP STREET
A dim-witted, failing actress is recruited by the FBI to help bring down a powerful crime syndicate by going undercover as the daughter of a major crime lord, who just happens to be her doppelganger.
Action Comedy Top 75
SENIOR CAMP
Kenny Wright
NEIGHBORS meets GRUMPY OLD MEN
After being put in a senior resort, an elderly grouch rallies his fellow seniors to fight back against the rival youth party resort next door that’s opened next door.
Comedy Top 10
SHADOWS OF OZ
Nathan Wilcoxen
ALICE IN WONDERLAND meets THE WIZARD OF OZ
When a wicked witch of Wonderland invades Oz in search of a legendary all-powerful scepter, the Mad Hatter recruits Alice’s granddaughter, a teenage convict, to stop her.
Adventure Fantasy Top 25
SHELL, THE
Charlie Neubauer
MINORITY REPORT meets TRANSCENDENCE
In a future where death has been eradicated thanks to a revolutionary technology that allows people to be resurrected, a petty criminal is tasked with solving the seemingly impossible murder of its inventor – his mother.
Sci-Fi Thriller Overall Winner Bellevue Entertainment Selections ESA Entertainment Selections
SHORE BREAK
Anthony Guidubaldi & Keith Strausbaugh
OUT COLD meets DODGEBALL
After inheriting a bankrupt watersports company, two slackers and a group of castoffs challenge the encroaching developer hell-bent on privatizing the beach to the ultimate showdown: a jet ski competition that will determine fate of their beachfront community.
Comedy Teen Top 75
SIDEWAYS DOWN THE SKY
Barry Brennessel
ATONEMENT meets THE NOTEBOOK
An elderly Japanese man brings two young gay men together to tell them the story of his childhood romance with another boy during World War II, attempting to provide them the chance at true love he never had.
Drama Period Romance Top 75
SLAMMIN’
Brandon Martin
BRIDESMAIDS meets A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Inspired by true events, two struggling actresses join the first all-female pro wrestling league at the height of the wrestling hysteria of the 1980s.
Comedy Period Sports Top 50
SOFT MACHINE, THE
David Lawrance
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST meets CHANGELING
In order to unravel the truth about her lover’s supposed suicide, a young nurse goes undercover at the psychiatric hospital that treated him, discovering that the doctor in charge is performing dangerous experiments that may be killing patients.
Drama Period Thriller Honorable Mention
STEP MOMSTER
Chase Caldwell
STEPMOM meets LOOK WHO’S COMING TO DINNER
When her recently widowed, soon to be 70-year-old father starts dating her former high school classmate, a woman decides she has to break up the relationship before it’s too late.
Comedy Top 50
SUBMERGED
Dan Hall
THE SHALLOWS meets OPEN WATER
Trapped in a shrinking air pocket deep beneath the ocean’s surface, the survivors of a plane crash battle to stay alive long enough for the rescue teams to locate them.
Thriller Top Drama
TECH & STRYKER
Odin Ozdil
THE NICE GUYS meets CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
After getting into a fight at work, a CIA tech guy drunkenly orders a hit on his Cold War throwback colleague, but in the attempt to shut it down, the two men get caught up in a dangerous international conspiracy.
Action Comedy Top 75
THEMBI
Tom Glasson
THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS meets AMERICAN SNIPER
Haunted by her experiences in Afghanistan, a young American soldier finds hope and salvation when she joins a small band of veterans fighting the war against illegal ivory poaching in South Africa.
Action Drama Top 50
THESE WOODS ARE LOVELY
Tyler Theofilos
SIDE EFFECTS meets V/H/S
After agreeing to take part in a psychology study for the extra cash, a Yale freshman begins to experience strange blackouts, making him realize he’s either losing his mind, or his entire identity.
Horror Thriller Honorable Mention
THREE HUNDRED YEARS IN PARADISE
Stephen Graf
HUNGER meets CASABLANCA
A widowed American diplomat is plunged into IRA intrigue when he travels to Belfast to help negotiate a treaty to end The Troubles, only to find himself falling in love with the lonely wife of an informer at the heart of the conflict.
Drama Period Romance Honorable Mention
TRICKSTER AND THE DEMON, THE
A.M. Sanchez
THE EXORCIST meets DRAG ME TO HELL
A brother-sister con artist team pretending to be witch doctors find themselves in need of real help when one of them gets possessed by a very real, very dangerous demon.
Horror Thriller Honorable Mention
TWILIGHT TOURIST, THE
Charles Hopkins
SPRING BREAKERS meets REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
When a reserved college freshman orders party drugs over the deep web from a dealer who resorts to extreme measures when his customers do not pay, he triggers a chain reaction that embroils his impressionable girlfriend, his closeted buddy, and a local detective with criminal fetishes.
Drama Thriller Honorable Mention
UN-CROWD, THE
Scott Thomas
WARM BODIES meets DAWN OF THE DEAD
After an explosion at a nearby military base turns a teenage boy and his neighbors into zombies with no cannibalistic tendencies, he and the others are reluctantly reintroduced to society. But when one of his undead friends goes “full zombie” and eats a girl, their uneasy truce is put in jeopardy, and he fears he may be destined to be a monster after all.
Comedy Horror Teen Top 75
VILNA
Matt Huston
THE PIANIST meets DEFIANCE
After the Nazis invade Lithuania, a band of rebels comes together in the capitol of Vilna to resist the massacre of their country’s people. Inspired by the true story of the man who formed the resistance, and his descent from a man of peace to a man of vengeance.
Drama Period Top 75
VIOLET
Scott Thomas
INSIDIOUS meets ORPHAN
Fleeing from her abusive husband in the dark of night with her young daughter in tow, a woman moves back into her childhood home. But it’s there she realizes the horror isn’t over, and that the sadistic imaginary friend she had as a child is very real, and plans to trap her in the house where they can play forever
Horror Supernatural Thriller Top 25 Guaranteed Purchase Winner | Twin Padres Entertainment
WHERE DEVILS ROAM
Nathan Wilcoxen
SILENCE OF THE LAMBS meets ZODIAC
A scarred Pittsburgh cop turned private detective is brought back to his West Virginia hometown to investigate the disappearance of a reclusive heiress’s granddaughter 30 years earlier after, when the girl’s body is finally discovered.
Drama Thriller Top 50
WHISPERS FROM THE WATCHTOWER
Jai Brandon
GONE BABY GONE meets PRISONERS
When his daughter goes missing, a popular radio talk show host and professional skeptic must work with a psychic in a last ditch attempt to get his child back.
Drama Thriller Top 10
WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Kenlon Clark & William Rubio
HIDDEN FIGURES meets THE UNTOUCHABLES
The incredible true story of one of the nation’s first African-American female lawyers who overcame racism and gender bias, risking both her job and her life, to bring down the most infamous gangster in New York City’s history.
Drama Period Thriller Top 50
WOE TO THE WICKED
Chris Dennis
THE LAST STAND meets HIGH NOON
When the arrival of a mysterious stranger leads to the death of a drug lord’s brother, the residents of a small town must band together to survive by standing up to the drug cartel that has been abusing and killing them for years.
Action Thriller Top 75
WORLD LIFEGUARD CHAMPIONSHIPS!, THE
J.J. Wheeler
BAYWATCH meets DODGEBALL
A washed up competitive diver whose greatest failure made him a Youtube sensation attempts to rehabilitate his image by entering a lifeguarding competition with a team of misfits.
Comedy Honorable Mention
WOULD YOU LIKE AN EXTRA SHOT?
Johnny Griffith
BURN AFTER READING meets GO
After an unsuccessful robbery, a thief accidentally kidnaps a woman with Alzheimer’s, leading the woman’s daughter on a wild chase to save her.
Action Comedy Top 75
Announcing The Top 10
The Launch Pad Feature Competition, alongside our exclusive competition partners Vertigo Entertainment, Twin Padres Productions, ESA, and Bellevue, are incredibly thrilled to announce the 2016 Launch Pad Feature Competition’s Top 10.
This year’s Top 10 features a wide array of genres including everything from tense thrillers, elevated sci-fi, and historical epics, to heart-wrenching dramas alongside side-splitting comedies. These stories transport us everywhere from a modern day wildlife refuge in Africa, to 17th century colonial America, to an asteroid prison with a solitary inmate, to a future where everyone can live forever. This year’s fourth round of finalists represents a vast range of storytelling, and a group of talented writers who bring these stories and characters to life while inviting us along for the ride.
Without further ado, we are incredibly excited to announce our Top 10 scripts for our 2016 Feature Competition.
(As a reminder: If you selected the ESA/Bellevue Signing Prize, Vertigo/Twin Padres Option Prize, or Mentor add-ons at time of entry, but did not advance to the Top 10, you are still in contention to win those prizes. In fact, every competition since we began featuring add-on partner packages has featured winners who did not make the initial finalist round.)
AMARA, 15
Hannah Leshaw
SHORT TERM 12 meets PRECIOUS
A 15-year-old Bronx teenager struggles to escape her father’s sexual abuse without leaving her two little sisters behind.
Drama
DEMON’S TRAIL
C. Marie Robinson
THE EXORCIST meets DRAG ME TO HELL
A disgraced former priest turned private investigator must team up with a psychic to solve a series of mysterious deaths across Los Angeles, which might be related to an exorcism he performed on the psychic’s brother decades earlier.
Horror Supernatural Thriller
DERBY CITY
Alexis Perkins
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE meets SAVED
A bartender (and small-time con artist) fleeing a criminal gambling charge convinces a naive Mormon missionary to drive across country with her, but when their truck and money are stolen, they have to resort to hustling pool in order to make it to Utah.
Comedy
EDGE OF ETERNITY
Steve Isles
EX MACHINA meets PASSENGERS
A solitary prisoner sentenced to work in isolation mining precious metals on a remote asteroid creates a synthetic female companion for himself, and life gains meaning for him when the two fall in love. But when an emergency brings another astronaut to rescue them, he instead lays claim to everything the prisoner has.
Romance Sci-Fi Thriller
POACHER, THE
Travis Opgenorth
BEASTS OF NO NATION meets ROAD TO PERDITION
A Serengeti native and haunted former guerilla soldier, forced into poaching ivory to feed his starving family, finds himself gaining unwanted notoriety after shooting his estranged brother – a ruthless warlord who comes looking for revenge.
Action Drama
SAVAGE, THE
Christopher Yeazel
THE NEW WORLD meets LAST OF THE MOHICANS
After being kidnapped from his lands as a child, the Patuxet Indian Squanto spends his life fighting impossible odds to return home, setting in motion a series of events that changes the course of history. The epic true story behind one of America’s most endearing myths.
Adventure Biopic Period
SENIOR CAMP
Kenny Wright
NEIGHBORS meets GRUMPY OLD MEN
After being put in a senior resort, an elderly grouch rallies his fellow seniors to fight back against the rival youth party resort that’s opened next door.
Comedy
SHELL, THE
Charlie Neubauer
MINORITY REPORT meets TRANSCENDENCE
In a future where death has been eradicated thanks to a revolutionary technology that allows people to be resurrected, a petty criminal is tasked with solving the seemingly impossible murder of its inventor – his mother.
Sci-Fi Thriller
SUBMERGED
Dan Hall
THE SHALLOWS meets OPEN WATER
Trapped in a shrinking air pocket deep beneath the ocean’s surface, the survivors of a plane crash battle to stay alive long enough for the rescue teams to locate them.
Thriller
WHISPERS FROM THE WATCHTOWER
Jai Brandon
GONE BABY GONE meets PRISONERS
When his daughter goes missing, a popular radio talk show host and professional skeptic must work with a psychic in a last ditch attempt to get his child back.
Drama Thriller
Announcing The Top 25
The Launch Pad Feature Competition, alongside our exclusive competition partners Vertigo Entertainment, Twin Padres Productions, ESA, and Bellevue, are incredibly thrilled to announce the 2016 Launch Pad Feature Competition’s TOP 25.
This year’s Top 25 features a wide array of genres including everything from high stakes action, near future sci-fi, and war epics, to romantic dramedys and even period piece adventure biopics. These stories take us from 1950s Mississippi during the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, to an isolated colony on Mars, to the Manzanar internment camp during World War II, to the football fields of the NFL, to the middle ages of England, to the timeless halls of high school. This year’s third round of finalists represents a vast range of storytelling, and a group of talented writers who bring these stories and characters to life while inviting us along for the ride.
Without further ado, we are incredibly excited to announce our Top 25 scripts for our 2016 Feature Competition.
(As a reminder: If you selected the ESA/Bellevue Signing Prize, Vertigo/Twin Padres Option Prize, or Mentor add-ons at time of entry, but did not advance to the Top 25, you are still in contention to win those prizes. In fact, every competition since we began featuring add-on partner packages has featured winners who did not make the initial finalist round.)
A MISSISSIPPI MURDER
Mark G. Anderson
MISSISSIPPI BURNING meets TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
The true story of two African American reporters who travel to Mississippi in 1955 to cover the trial of Emmett Till, the young black man whose brutal murder ignited the Civil Rights Movement. After discovering the existence of several key black witnesses, they work with the prosecuting attorney to bring the witnesses to testify amongst threats and racial prejudice.
Drama Period
AMARA, 15
Hannah Leshaw
SHORT TERM 12 meets PRECIOUS
A 15-year-old Bronx teenager struggles to escape her father’s sexual abuse without leaving her two little sisters behind.
Drama
ANGELS OF THE DEEP
James L. Head
TOP GUN meets CRIMSON TIDE
In the near future, a submarine war games exercise turns into an all-out battle for the fate of the world when one side unexpectedly starts fighting for keeps, and an elite squadron of North American sub-fighter pilots are the last line of defense.
Action Sci-Fi War
CLASH
Andrea Jaag
ARGO meets NO ESCAPE
After their teenage son accidentally kills a woman with his car, an estranged American family living in Saudi Arabia must cover up the crime and attempt to get out of the country before the local authorities and the victim’s sister catch up to them.
Drama Thriller
COLOUR ME JANE
Elisa McRae
SHORT TERM 12 meets SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
A high school counselor with a large facial birthmark attempts to help a student who was disfigured in a fire while simultaneously dealing with her own reluctance to accept love after meeting the man of her dreams.
Comedy Drama Romantic Comedy
CONSTANTINOPLE
Rachel J. Beard
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN meets 300
A Byzantine captain escapes his long enslavement at the hands of the Ottoman Empire just as the city of Constantinople prepares to defend itself against an Ottoman siege, leaving him to prove his loyalty to those that had given him up for dead.
Action Period War
DEMON’S TRAIL
C. Marie Robinson
THE EXORCIST meets DRAG ME TO HELL
A disgraced former priest turned private investigator must team up with a psychic to solve a series of mysterious deaths across Los Angeles, which might be related to an exorcism he performed on the psychic’s brother decades earlier.
Horror Supernatural Thriller
DERBY CITY
Alexis Perkins
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE meets SAVED
A bartender (and small-time con artist) fleeing a criminal gambling charge convinces a naive Mormon missionary to drive across country with her, but when their truck and money are stolen, they have to resort to hustling pool in order to make it to Utah.
Comedy
DO KNOW HARM
Jim Goode & Scott Hawthorne
SAFE HOUSE meets HOMELAND
A CIA psychologist working in Syria is suspected of harboring treasonous information from a session and must go on the run with the help of one of her most dangerous patients in order to find out exactly what the government thinks she already knows, and why it is worth her life.
Action Thriller
EDGE OF ETERNITY
Steve Isles
EX MACHINA meets PASSENGERS
A solitary prisoner sentenced to work in isolation mining precious metals on a remote asteroid creates a synthetic female companion for himself, and life gains meaning for him when the two fall in love. But when an emergency brings another astronaut to rescue them, he instead lays claim to everything the prisoner has.
Romance Sci-Fi Thriller
ESTEVAN THE BLACK
Karl Bauer & Michael Choi
THE REVENANT meets 12 YEARS A SLAVE
An African slave with a gift for languages travels with Spanish Conquistadors to Florida on a doomed quest to find and conquer the legendary city of gold. In this remarkable true story, he emerges as the unlikely hero on a journey that begins with 600 men, and ends with only four left alive.
Adventure Period
FELLOWSHIP, THE
Brendon Udy & Victoria Rau
THE HANGOVER meets FANBOYS
Just days before his wedding, a man’s friends surprise him with a trip to New Zealand for the world’s biggest Lord of the Rings role playing battle. But the adventure goes awry when one of their tour guides drugs everyone so he can swipe the valuable ring the groom bought for his fiance, leading to an epic journey to get it back before the big day.
Adventure Comedy
GAME-CHANGER, THE
Patrick Sherman
RUDY meets MILK
A closeted gay rookie for the Dallas Cowboys struggles to make his mark in the most macho of professional sports, and the consequences of becoming the first active NFL player in history to come out of the closet.
Drama Sports
JESSE’S GIRL
John Wikstrom
THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN meets SHE’S THE MAN
In a bid to make his ex jealous and win her back, a high school senior invents a girlfriend on social media, but runs into trouble when he falls for the real-life girl he based her on.
Comedy Teen
MANZANAR
Ian Hayden
EMPIRE OF THE SUN meets UNBROKEN
A Japanese-American family struggles to maintain their identity and stay together after they are relocated to the Manzanar internment camp during World War II.
Drama Period War
MARIAN
Pete Barry
ROBIN HOOD meets BRAVEHEART
When a conspiracy to conquer England leads to the assassination of Robin Hood right before her eyes, Marian must rise to power and lead her people into a war that will not only decide the fate of the kingdom, but that will see her don the mantle of the man she loved, and reimagine the story of a legend we thought we knew.
Action Adventure Period
POACHER, THE
Travis Opgenorth
BEASTS OF NO NATION meets ROAD TO PERDITION
A haunted former African guerilla soldier forced into poaching ivory to feed his starving family finds himself gaining unwanted notoriety after shooting a ruthless warlord who comes looking for revenge.
Action Drama
RED WINTER
Evan McNamara
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD meets THE MARTIAN
When her parents are killed, a young woman living in an isolated colony on Mars must trek across the planet to find other colonists, avoiding the dangerous feral humans roaming the red sands.
Action Sci-Fi
SAVAGE, THE
Christopher Yeazel
THE NEW WORLD meets LAST OF THE MOHICANS
After being kidnapped from his lands as a child, the Patuxet Indian Squanto spends his life fighting impossible odds to return home, setting in motion a series of events that changes the course of history. The epic true story behind one of America’s most endearing myths.
Adventure Biopic Period
SENIOR CAMP
Kenny Wright
NEIGHBORS meets GRUMPY OLD MEN
After being put in a senior resort, an elderly grouch rallies his fellow seniors to fight back against the rival youth party resort that’s opened next door.
Comedy
SHADOWS OF OZ
Nathan Wilcoxen
ALICE IN WONDERLAND meets THE WIZARD OF OZ
When a wicked witch of Wonderland invades Oz in search of a legendary all-powerful scepter, the Mad Hatter recruits Alice’s granddaughter, a teenage convict, to stop her.
Adventure Fantasy
SHELL, THE
Charlie Neubauer
MINORITY REPORT meets TRANSCENDENCE
In a future where death has been eradicated thanks to a revolutionary technology that allows people to be resurrected, a petty criminal is tasked with solving the seemingly impossible murder of its inventor – his mother.
Sci-Fi Thriller
SUBMERGED
Dan Hall
THE SHALLOWS meets OPEN WATER
Trapped in a shrinking air pocket deep beneath the ocean’s surface, the survivors of a plane crash battle to stay alive long enough for the rescue teams to locate them.
Thriller
VIOLET
Scott Thomas
INSIDIOUS meets ORPHAN
Fleeing from her abusive husband in the dark of night with her young daughter in tow, a woman moves back into her childhood home. But it’s there she realizes the horror isn’t over, and that the sadistic imaginary friend she had as a child is very real, and plans to trap her in the house where they can play forever.
Horror Supernatural Thriller
WHISPERS FROM THE WATCHTOWER
Jai Brandon
GONE BABY GONE meets PRISONERS
When his daughter goes missing, a popular radio talk show host and professional skeptic must work with a psychic in a last ditch attempt to get his child back.
Drama Thriller
Announcing The Top 50
The Launch Pad, in partnership with Vertigo Entertainment, Twin Padres Productions, ESA and Bellevue are thrilled to announce the Top 50 Features of 2016
Following several months of reading, re-reading, debating, and tallying scores from our fourth year of the Launch Pad Feature Competition, we, alongside our exclusive competition partners Vertigo Entertainment, Twin Padres Productions, ESA and Bellevue, are incredibly thrilled to announce the 2016 Launch Pad Feature Competition’s TOP 50.
In the four years since we started the Launch Pad Competitions, we’ve seen more than 180 writers signed, 65 projects set up, and 30 writers staffed, and the numbers just keep growing. For this competition, we’ve enlisted powerhouse producing partners Vertigo Entertainment and Twin Padres Productions, as well as all-star representation partners ESA and Bellevue. We’ve never been so excited about the potential opportunities for all our Launch Pad writers — past, present, and future.
For this year, we’ve seen not only the largest volume of submissions, but also some of the best scripts we’ve ever read, making this an incredibly tough decision all around. This year’s second round of finalists represent a vast range of storytelling, from journeys of self-discovery and misfits just trying to find their place, to heartbreaking accounts of real world injustice being righted, from epic period pieces to timely teen comedies, and spanning everywhere from fantasy lands to outer space. There are endless new worlds contained in these 50 scripts, and these finalists have invited us along for the ride.
Without further ado, we are incredibly excited to announce the second round of finalists for our fourth Launch Pad Feature Competition!
(As a reminder: If you selected the ESA/Bellevue Signing Prize, Vertigo/Twin Padres Option Prize, or Mentor add-ons at time of entry, but did not advance to the Top 50, you are still in contention to win those prizes. In fact, every competition since we began featuring add-on partner packages has featured winners who did not make the initial finalist round.)
Project | Written By |
---|---|
105 Royal Avenue | Victoria Armstrong |
A Mississippi Murder | Mark G. Anderson |
A Necessary Act of Violence | John Torma |
Amara, 15 | Hannah Leshaw |
Angels of the Deep | James L. Head |
Apple Tree, The | Matthew Arnold-Ladensack |
Bait Night | Timothy Grant |
Catharsis and the Catfish | Dillon Michael White |
Chaperone, The | Robert Remy |
Charlie Redstar | George Gier |
Clash | Andrea Jaag |
Colour Me Jane | Elisa McRae |
Constantinople | Rachel J. Beard |
Dan & Frankie Save the World | Alan Wood |
Dance of the Vandals | C. Marie Robinson |
Demon’s Trail | C. Marie Robinson |
Derby City | Alexis Perkins |
Disgrasian | Ted Youngmin Sim |
Do Know Harm | Jim Goode & Scott Hawthorne |
Edge of Eternity | Steve Isles |
Endra | Oskar Tellhed |
Estevan the Black | Karl Bauer & Michael Choi |
Fellowship, The | Brendon Udy & Victoria Rau |
Game-Changer, The | Patrick Sherman |
Gargoyle | Brendon Udy & Victoria Rau |
Hitchcock Murders, The | Andy Maycock |
Honey Trap | Juhana Lumme |
Jacaranda | Ryan W. Smith |
Jesse’s Girl | John Wikstrom |
Major Taylor | PW Valentine |
Manzanar | Ian Hayden |
Marian | Pete Barry |
Missing Time | Philip James Booth |
One White Crow | Pippa Hinchley |
Penny | Arthur Panoyan |
Poacher, The | Travis Opgenorth |
Red Winter | Evan McNamara |
Sand Creek | Jane Paulson & Marcy Kelly |
Savage, The | Christopher Yeazel |
Senior Camp | Kenny Wright |
Shadows of Oz | Nathan Wilcoxen |
Shell, The | Charlie Neubauer |
Slammin’ | Brandon Martin |
Step Momster | Chase Caldwell |
Submerged | Dan Hall |
Thembi | Tom Glasson |
Violet | Scott Thomas |
Where Devils Roam | Nathan Wilcoxen |
Whispers From the Watchtower | Jai Brandon |
Without Prejudice | Kenlon Clark & William Rubio |
Announcing The Top 75
The Launch Pad, in partnership with Vertigo Entertainment, Twin Padres Productions, ESA and Bellevue are thrilled to announce the Top 75 Features of 2016
After several months of reading, debating and tallying, we, alongside our exclusive competition partners Vertigo Entertainment, Twin Padres Productions, ESA and Bellevue, are incredibly thrilled to announce the 2016 Launch Pad Feature Competition’s TOP 75.
With this year’s competition we not only saw the largest number of entries ever, or read some of the best scripts we’ve ever read, but we also celebrated the Launch Pad Competitions ushering into it’s fourth year in existence. To think, all those years ago this was simply something we’d put together because we felt there was a void in the competition space that was really helping writers break out, and now, with more than 180 writers signed, 65 projects set up and 30 writers staffed, we’re going into year four with a list of powerful producing partners in Scott Free, Vertigo Entertainment, Twin Padres and Endgame Entertainment, representation partners in Energy Entertainment, ESA, Bellevue, Lee Stobby Entertainment and Fourth Wall Management, and publishing partners in Inkshares, we’ve never been more excited about the opportunities, the expansion, and the potential on display for all of our Launch Pad writers.
And this year’s Top 75 once again showcased the diverse spectrum of storytelling that led us here; from sci-fi coming of age tales to revisionist history think pieces, dramatically focused biopics to holiday family laughers, epic period pieces to intense character studies, mile-a-minute action comedies to personal tales of discovery, R-rated high school adventures to supernatural thrillers, timely political conspiracies to stoner alien abductions, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. This year’s finalists not only presented us with an endless sea of worlds to play in, but they each invited us in to get lost in the beauty of their journey with them.
Now, the real fun begins. As our 2016 LPFC producing partners Vertigo Entertainment and Twin Padres Productions begin to search for their next breakout hit, and our 2016 LPFC representation partners ESA and Bellevue begin the hunt for their next star client, we dive headfirst into getting your work into the hands of our judges at WME, UTA, Anonymous Content, Good Fear, CAA, Circle of Confusion, Madhouse Entertainment, ICM, Romark Entertainment, Magnet Management, Epicenter, Zero Gravity, Paradigm, Gersh, DMG, Writ Large, Markerstone, Prime Universe, APA and Grandview amongst others. To say the next few weeks are going to be exciting would be the understatement of a lifetime.
So, before we begin our journey towards introducing these writers to the world, let us first introduce you to the 2016 Launch Pad Feature Competition TOP 75!
(As a reminder: If you selected the ESA/Bellevue Signing Prize, Vertigo / Twin Padres Option Prize, or Mentor add-ons at time of entry, but did not advance to the Top 75, you are still in contention to win those prizes. In fact, every competition since we began featuring add-on partner packages has featured winners who did not make the initial finalist round.)
Project | Written By |
---|---|
105 Royal Avenue | Victoria Armstrong |
A Chrismiscue | Gregory Harty |
A Mississippi Murder | Mark G. Anderson |
A Necessary Act of Violence | John Torma |
Actual Vampire Keanu Reeves | Ashley Moon |
Adam & Eve | David Kushner |
Amara, 15 | Hannah Leshaw |
Angels of the Deep | James L. Head |
Apple Tree, The | Matthew Arnold-Ladensack |
Baby Roulette | Lindzi Scharf |
Bait Night | Timothy Grant |
Borderline | Clyde Tom Bennett |
Catharsis and the Catfish | Dillon Michael White |
Chaperone, The | Robert Remy |
Charlie Redstar | George Gier |
Clash | Andrea Jaag |
Colour Me Jane | Elisa McRae |
Constantinople | Rachel J. Beard |
Dan & Frankie Save the World | Alan Wood |
Dance of the Vandals | C. Marie Robinson |
Demon’s Trail | C. Marie Robinson |
Derby City | Alexis Perkins |
Disgrasian | Ted Youngmin Sim |
Do Know Harm | Jim Goode & Scott Hawthorne |
Double Indiana | David Miller |
Edge of Eternity | Steve Isles |
Endra | Oskar Tellhed |
Estevan the Black | Karl Bauer & Michael Choi |
Fellowship, The | Brendon Udy & Victoria Rau |
Game-Changer, The | Patrick Sherman |
Gargoyle | Brendon Udy & Victoria Rau |
Grow House, The | Miley Tunnecliffe |
Hitchcock Murders, The | Andy Maycock |
Honey Trap | Juhana Lumme |
Hybrid, The | Richard Turgeon |
It All Comes Down to This | Patrick Wiegers & Scott Marshall Taylor |
Jacaranda | Ryan W. Smith |
Jesse’s Girl | John Wikstrom |
Last Badass, The | Adam Draves & Paul Colahan |
Last Year’s Man | Tim Glister |
Major Taylor | PW Valentine |
Manzanar | Ian Hayden |
Marian | Pete Barry |
Miss Liberty | Craig Paulsen |
Missing Time | Philip James Booth |
Mr. Moon | Mike Langer |
Nostalgia | Michael Aloyan |
Off the Hook | John Arvai |
On the Sidelines | Sam Greisman |
One White Crow | Pippa Hinchley |
Penny | Arthur Panoyan |
Poacher, The | Travis Opgenorth |
Red Thread | Leif Johnson |
Red Winter | Evan McNamara |
Sand Creek | Jane Paulson & Marcy Kelly |
Savage, The | Christopher Yeazel |
Secret Weapon | Peter Limm |
Senior Camp | Kenny Wright |
Shadows of Oz | Nathan Wilcoxen |
Shell, The | Charlie Neubauer |
Shore Break | Anthony Guidubaldi & Keith Strausbaugh |
Sideways Down the Sky | Barry Brennessel |
Slammin’ | Brandon Martin |
Step Momster | Chase Caldwell |
Submerged | Dan Hall |
Tech & Stryker | Odin Ozdil |
Thembi | Tom Glasson |
Un-Crowd, The | Scott Thomas |
Vilna | Matt Huston |
Violet | Scott Thomas |
Where Devils Roam | Nathan Wilcoxen |
Whispers From the Watchtower | Jai Brandon |
Without Prejudice | Kenlon Clark & William Rubio |
Woe to the Wicked | Chris Dennis |
Would You Like an Extra Shot? | Johnny Griffith |
When we started our first competition just three years ago, we did so with a clear set of goals: find great new voices, discover stories, and help the writers behind these two things launch their careers. For us, being the best screenwriting competition out there means absolutely nothing if the writers involved are not getting their shot at their dreams. And in just our first few years we’ve seen wild success even beyond our own ambitious aspirations. With over 150 writers signed, 51 projects set up, more than 21 writers staffed on hit shows, and 3 studio bidding wars, we’re thrilled with the connections we’ve made, and the careers our writers have spun, but we’re far from willing to let this kick into auto pilot. Instead, we’ve expanded once again and added new partners, new programs, and even more opportunities for your career to originate directly from within this competition. And it’s with that in mind, that we’re proud to introduce to you the…
This year’s Launch Pad Feature Competition is not only the latest competition to launch, but it is the largest competition we’ve ever done. With our inaugural manuscript competition already featuring exclusive partnerships with Ridley Scott, Energy Entertainment and Inkshares, we knew we wanted to be sure we were providing that same level of exclusive opportunity those entrusting their work with the Launch Pad brand have come to expect with this competition. And, we’re happy to say we believe we’ve done just that by finalizing an exclusive partnership with Roy Lee’s Vertigo Entertainment, Jeremy Garelick’s Twin Padres Entertainment, Bellevue Productions and ESA Agency. With this new round of partners we’ve not only provided guaranteed buying outlets from some of the biggest producers in town, but we’ve also secured guaranteed signings from one of the fastest growing representation homes in Hollywood.
With the producing/creative teams behind projects such as The Lego Movie, The Hangover, The Departed, The Wedding Ringer, The Grudge, and the upcoming Baywatch film onboard to pick up a minimum of one project, we’ve immediately added two career jumpstarting opportunities. But, by adding the agents who represent the writers behind projects such as Game of Thrones, House of Cards, and Black Sails, we’ve added two more exclusive opportunities to not only kickoff your career, but to find a team that is there to help you guide it into the future.
But, we didn’t stop there. This year we’re also offering every single entrant a free two-week long seminar with the Roadmap Writers Program. Teaming up with the Launch Pad team, former development exec for Bold Films (Nightcrawler, Drive) Joey Tuccio has curated an exclusive experience for writers of all experience levels to interact with producers, executives, agents, and managers to help you build a better pitch, learn how to be good in a room, and how to be sure you’re putting your best work into the world.
As we’ve said since the beginning, we’re not interested in simply being a screenwriting competition; we’re interested in being the first step in starting your writing career.
INTRODUCING THE ALL ACCESS PASS
Three Competitions | One Low Price | Enter Any Time
Our Exclusive Partnership With
Vertigo & Twin Padres
A Minimum of Two Guaranteed Options
Between producer Roy Lee and his Vertigo Entertainment and writer/director/producer Jeremy Garelick and his Twin Padres Entertainment, chances are there is not a single one of you entering this year’s competition that has not seen at least one of their films. Between Lee’s The Lego Movie, How to Train Your Dragon, The Grudge, The Ring, The Departed, The Woman in Black, Poltergeist, Oldboy, and the upcoming Stephen King adaptations of It, and The Stand, and Garelick’s The Hangover, The Wedding Ringer, The Break-Up, The Grinder, Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life, The Rebels, and the upcoming Baywatch film, these two have not only created some of Hollywood’s biggest films and television series of the past two decades, but they’ve both joined our competition in search of their next breakout hit!
Both companies have not only signed on to judge this year, but are hungry to option projects from this year’s competition! That’s right, by entering this competition you have not one, but two shots at working with these two companies right out of the gate. Not too bad of a start for day one.
OUR EXCLUSIVE PARTNERSHIP WITH
ESA & BELLEVUE PRODUCTIONS
A Minimum of Two Guaranteed Signings
As two of the fastest growing representation companies in the business, ESA and Bellevue Productions have not only become a hub for breakout new talent, but they’ve become the home to some of Hollywood’s biggest new voices. With a collective roster of talent behind projects such as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Game of Thrones, Empire, Mr. Robot, House of Cards, Black Sails, The 100, these companies have forged one of the most prolific rosters in town. In the feature space they’ve sold projects to major studios including Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox, New Line Cinema, Broad Green Pictures, Amazon Studios and more. With multiple Launch Pad Alum signings in previous competitions, and a consistent appearance on the annual best of lists such as The Black List, The Hit List, The Blood List, and The Young & Hungry List, these companies are not only on the rise, but they have come to be some of the smartest and most effective representatives in the entertainment industry..
Once again, both companies have not only signed on to judge this year, but they’ve each signed on to guarantee to sign a minimum of one writer each from this year’s competition! With a strong script in hand, and a passion to make your dreams a reality, these companies are here to help you get there.
OUR EXCLUSIVE PARTNERSHIP WITHROADMAP WRITERS
A Free Exclusive Two-Week Writing Program
Since our very first competition, we’ve been incredibly thankful to every single writer who not only gave us a shot, but who let us help them reach for their dreams. And while we’re incredibly proud of all of the writers who’ve joined our Alum ranks over the years and gone off into the world to conquer Hollywood, we’ve always felt disappointed we couldn’t give something back to every writer submitting. Sure, we’d offer discounts on other options and entries, but that never felt like it was enough of a way to say thank you for choosing us. So this year, we’re changing that.
In an exclusive partnership with Roadmap Writers, we’ve teamed up with former Bold Films (Nightcrawler, Drive) development executive Joey Tuccio to curate a two-week intensive writing program for every single writer who enters. No added fees, no catches, just two weeks of online (so everyone in the world can take advantage of it) workshops with producers, executives, and reps to help you hone your skills as you learn about pitching, being good in a room, navigating the water bottle tours of Hollywood, understanding what execs want, and tackling a number of writing challenges focused on helping you present the best version of you on the page. By entering any competition, you’ve already made the first step toward chasing your dreams. Now let us make the next step even easier.
A GREAT IDEA IS ONLY THE BEGINNING. WE’RE HERE TO HELP YOU WRITE THE NEXT CHAPTER.
ANNOUNCING OUR 2016MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
This year we are thrilled to announce our 2016 Feature Competition Mentors who collectively have written for nearly every major studio including Warner Bros., Disney, Sony, Fox, Lionsgate, and more.
If you’ve ever seen a movie in theaters or turned on a TV, we’re fairly confident you’ve seen our first mentors of this year’s work. Marianne & Cormac Wibberley are longtime fixtures in the film world, and their impressive list of credits include the blockbuster National Treasure franchise as well as I Spy, Bad Boys II, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, The Shaggy Dog, and G-Force. In addition they penned adaptations of the hit Playstation game franchise Uncharted and the Fantastic Voyage remake. Also joining our program this year is Hit List, Black List, and Young & Hungry List alum Andrew Baldwin who was named by IndieWire as one of the Top 5 Screenwriters to watch. In addition to selling numerous original specs, Baldwin has been handpicked to right the Bourne Legacy sequel for Jeremy Renner as well as the Logan’s Run remake for Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling. Finally, mentor Gary Graham, whose spec Garden At The End Of The World set Hollywood ablaze before being set up with Warner Bros. to become the next installment in the I Am Legend franchise. Following that, Graham was immediately tapped by Warner Bros. again to adapt Railhead for director Doug Liman. We’re fortunate to have such an accomplished group of mentors this year who will undoubtedly deliver a once in a life time opportunity for writers looking to take their career to the next level.
Our mentor program will focus on getting your script ready, tips and strategies on pitching and choosing your next project, and insight on how to navigate your newly minted Hollywood career.
FEEDBACK NOTES
When it comes to writing, ignorance is in fact not bliss. By pouring your heart, passion and time into something, and never knowing how it was received, competitions often, and quite strangely never, offer writers a chance to know why their script did, or did not, advance. And that’s not something we could get behind. So this year we’re once again offering every writer an opportunity to add Feedback Notes to their entries. With an emphasis on initial thoughts, opinions, and analysis, you’ll get an inside look at what is usually a behind the curtain process, and get our professional readers’ perspectives on the story, characters, structure, marketability, and ideas for where the story could go. Was it a page-turner? Did we want to see more of a character? Was the dialogue believable? With Feedback Notes we not only want to let you know what worked or didn’t work, we want to provide professional thoughts as to why things may have stalled out, or why we were excited for it, and offer you ideas on where to take things, or how to handle a rewrite, or even what to do next with the script.
Adam Perry
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”APA” collapse_text=”APA” ]- Represents Wes Ball, writer/director of The Maze Runner series.
- The top agent on the 2015 Hit List, with 6 writers represented.
- His other clients include: Alexis C. Jolly (A Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood), Amy Fox (Equity), Ben Katai (The Forrest), Chris Borrelli (100 Bullets), Christopher Browne (The Walk) David Chirchirillo (Eli), Julia Cox (Do No Harm, The Takeaway) and more.
- Had multiple clients on the Hit List, Young & Hungry List and Black List for 2014 and 2015.
Adrian Askarieh
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Prime Universe” collapse_text=”Prime Universe” ]- Served as a producer on the Hitman films (2007, 2015)
- Prime Universe also produced 2016’s Pandemic and has Jonny Quest in development at Warner Bros. with Lin Pictures producing and Robert Rodriguez attached to direct.
- Askarieh is also producing the upcoming project based on the popular video game franchise, Just Cause
Allison Gillogly
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Scott Free” collapse_text=”Scott Free” ]- Ridley Scott’s production company, Scott Free has produced a number of award-winning films including The Martian, Blade Runner, Black Hawk Down, The Grey, Prometheus, and Concussion.
- Scott Free is producing the upcoming Alien and Blade Runner sequels.
- Gillogly will serve as producer on the upcoming film Vicious.
Brooklyn Weaver
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Energy Entertainment” collapse_text=”Energy Entertainment” ]- His clients include Rob Liefeld, (Deadpool), Brad Ingelsby (Run All Night, Out of the Furnace), Gary Graham (I Am Legend reboot) and Mark Mallouk (Black Mass).
- He is the only manager to have had writers appear on every Hit List, Black List, and Young & Hungry List since 2010.
- Energy Entertainment has produced Run All Night and Out of the Furnace.
- Top manager in specs set up in both 2013 and 2014.
Charlie Ferraro
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”UTA” collapse_text=”UTA” ]- His clients include such successful writers as Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War), Diana Ossana and Larry McMurty (Brokeback Mountain), Gary Whitta (Rogue One), and Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, Sherlock).
- Consistently one of the top agents with clients on year-end lists, having 5 writers on the Hit List, 3 on the Young & Hungry List, and 4 on the Black List for 2015.
- UTA had the highest number of specs out and set up in 2015.
Charlie Scully
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Anonymous Content” collapse_text=”Anonymous Content” ]- Had clients appear on the Hit List, Young & Hungry List and Black List for 2015.
- Represents Emma Needell, whose spec “The Water Man” is set up at Disney with Oprah Winfrey and David Oyelowo producing.
- Anonymous Content has produced such Oscar-nominated films such as The Revenant, Winter’s Bone, Babel and 2015 Best Picture winner Spotlight.
Chris Fenton
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”DMG Entertainment” collapse_text=”DMG Entertainment” ]- His clients include Gary Dauberman (Annabelle) and Josh A. Cagan (The DUFF).
- DMG Entertainment has produced such films as Looper, Point Break, and Iron Man 3.
- His writers have appeared on the Hit List, Young & Hungry List and Black List.
CJ Fight
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”WME” collapse_text=”WME” ]- Has had clients appear on the 2015 Young & Hungry List.
- Represents Carver Gray, whose spec Unlawful is set up with Romark Entertainment and Energy Entertainment, and who is adapting the novel Brothers and Bones for Romark.
- WME was the top agency with clients on the 2015 Black List.
Daniel Seco
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Writ Large” collapse_text=”Writ Large” ]- Writ Large represents such writers as Max Landis (Chronicle, American Ultra), Ben Ketai (The Forest), Chris Parker (Heaven is For Real), David A. Newman and Keith Merryman (Think Like a Man).
- Writ Large clients have staffed on such shows as Once Upon a Time, Person of Interest, Scream, Nurse Jackie, NCIS: Los Angeles, Legends of Tomorrow and Bob’s Burgers.
- Writ Large represented writers on the 2015 Hit List, Young & Hungry List, and Black List.
David Boxerbaum
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Paradigm” collapse_text=”Paradigm” ]- The top agent with clients on the 2015 Hit List.
- Had multiple writers appear on the Young & Hungry List and Black List for 2015 and 2014.
- Represents such writers as Anthony Jaswinski (The Shallows), Carrie Evans and Emi Mochizuki (Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse), Chris Roach (Non-Stop) and David Guggenheim (Safe House).
- Represents Launch Pad Alumni Eric Koening who’s 2015 Launch Pad feature script sold to Paramount in a bidding war.
Gabriel Chu
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Vertigo Entertainment” collapse_text=”Vertigo Entertainment” ]- Vertigo Entertainment has produced such films as The Boy, Run All Night, The Departed, The Woman In Black, The Grudge, How To Train Your Dragon, and many more.
- Vertigo also produced The Lego Movie, and are now working on the sequel as well as The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie.
- Vertigo Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television have signed a two-year exclusive overall deal for comedy and drama series.
Greg Pedicin
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Gersh” collapse_text=”Gersh” ]- Gersh represents writers such as Taylor Sheridan (Sicario), Brian Duffield (Insurgent), Creighton Rothenberger & Katrin Benedikt (Olympus Has Fallen), Gary Spinelli (Mena) and many more.
- Had clients appear on the Hit List, Young & Hungry List and Black List.
- Gersh had one of the highest spec sale percentages of agencies in 2015, with 15 projects set up.
Jake Wagner
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Benderspink/Good Fear” collapse_text=”Benderspink/Good Fear” ]- Represents Evan Daugherty (Snow White and the Huntsman, Divergent, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the upcoming Myst pilot for Hulu).
- Represents Launch Pad writer Eric Koenig, whose spec Matriarch is in development with Red Wagon and Romark Entertainment at Paramount Pictures.
- Had writers appear on the Hit List, Young & Hungry List and Black List for 2014 and 2015.
Jarrod Murray
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Epicenter” collapse_text=”Epicenter” ]- His clients have been staffed on shows such as Gravity Falls, One Tree Hill, Criminal Minds, Raising Hope and Scrubs.
- Epicenter is producing the upcoming film Letters from Rosemary with Emma Stone attached to star.
- His clients appeared on the Hit List, Young & Hungry List and Black List for 2015.
- Has signed multiple Launch Pad Alumni.
Jeff Belkin
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Zero Gravity” collapse_text=”Zero Gravity” ]- Zero Gravity is producing the upcoming film The Accountant, starring Ben Affleck.
- Has had clients appear on the Hit List, Young & Hungry List and Black List.
- Zero Gravity represents such writers as Bill Dubuque (The Judge), Michael Robert Johnson (Pompeii, Sherlock Holmes) and Adam Robitel (Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension).
Jon Cassir
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”CAA” collapse_text=”CAA” ]- His clients include Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O’Brien (Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, Neighbors), Charlie Brooker (creator of Black Mirror) and Chris Chibnall (creator of Broadchurch).
- One of the most successful agents with clients represented on the Black List (6 in 2015, 10 in 2015).
- His clients have made multiple appearances on the Hit List and Young & Hungry List each of the last two years.
Jon Kanak
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Magnet Management” collapse_text=”Magnet Management” ]- Had multiple writers on the Blood List and the Young & Hungry List.
- Magnet clients have written for shows such as: Wayward Pines, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D ,Criminal Minds:Beyond Borders, Community, The Mindy Projet, American Dad, The Killing, Teen Wolf, Eye Candy, State of Affairs, Intelligence, Chuck.
- Has signed multiple Launch Pad Alumni.
- Magnet clients include Chirs McKenna (Jumanji remake), Craig Titley (Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Cheaper by the Dozen).
Kendrick Tan
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Madhouse Entertainment” collapse_text=”Madhouse Entertainment” ]- Had writers appear on the Hit List, Young & Hungry List and Black List for 2014 and 2015.
- His clients have been staffed on such shows as About a Boy and Gravity Falls.
- Madhouse represents writers Aaron Guzikowski (Prisoners), Carter Blanchard (Independence Day 2), David Guggenheim (Uncharted), Daniel Kunka (Yellowstone Falls) and many more.
Ken Freimann
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Circle of Confusion” collapse_text=”Circle of Confusion” ]- His clients have appeared on both the Hit List and the Young & Hungry List.
- Represents such writers as Adam F. Goldberg (creator of The Goldbergs) and Carey and Chad Hayes (The Conjuring).
- Circle of Confusion clients have written or are currently writing such films as: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Star Trek Beyond, Doctor Strange, The Mummy (remake), Prometheus, Pacific Rim sequel, The Matrix Trilogy, V for Vendetta, Cloud Atlas, The Book of Eli and more.
Lauren Patterson
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Romark Entertainment” collapse_text=”Romark Entertainment” ]- Romark Entertainment is currently producing films with Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros. and Universal.
- Romark is currently developing the adaptations of the best-selling novel Brothers & Bones and the comic book series Herald.
- Romark is producing previous Launch Pad scripts Matriarch for Paramount, and Tranquility Base for Fox.
Mark Lawyer
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Markerstone” collapse_text=”Markerstone” ]- Had clients appear on the Hit List and Young & Hungry List for 2015.
- Has signed multiple Launch Pad Alumni.
- Represents Carver Gray, whose spec Unlawful is set up with Romark Entertainment and Energy Entertainment, and who is adapting the novel Brothers and Bones for Romark.
Niki Montazaran
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”ICM” collapse_text=”ICM” ]- Represents legendary writer David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross, Homicide, Wag the Dog).
- Her clients have been staffed on such shows as Undateable, Awkward, and Code Black.
- ICM had the highest spec sale percentage of all major agencies in 2015.
Tom Carter
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Artillery Creative” collapse_text=”Artillery Creative” ]- Represents 2015 Launch Pad Pilot Competition winner David Hoffman who has since joined the writers room for the NBC show Timeless.
- Had multiple clients appear on the Young & Hungry List each of the last two years.
- His clients Justin Herber and Adam Hoff wrote “Omerta” based on the book by Mario Puzo, with Antoine Fuqua attached to direct and Sylvester Stallone attached to star for The Weinstein Company.
Varun Monga
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”ESA” collapse_text=”ESA” ]- One of the top agents on the 2015 Hit List, his writers also appeared on the Black List and Young & Hungry List in 2015.
- Has signed multiple Launch Pad Alumni.
- ESA had five writers on the 2015 Hit List.
Zac Frognowski
[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=”Grandview” collapse_text=”Grandview” ]- Grandview’s clients include Matt Charman (Bridge of Spies, Patriots Day), Andrew Dodge (Bad Words, Space Jam 2), Michael Mitnick (The Giver, The Current War), Steven Rogers (Love the Coopers, P.S. I Love You) and more.
- Represented multiple writers on both the Hit List and Black List in 2015.
- Has previously signed Launch Pad Alumni.
- Grandview had the highest spec sale percentage of any management company in 2015, with 7 out of their 9 specs set up.
- Represents 2016 Sundance Special Jury Prize winner, Miles Joris-Peyrafitte who wrote and directed As You Are.