GRAND PRIZE
THE VAMPIRE'S BABYSITTER
Heather Hale
A 134-year-old vampire, with the body of an 11-year-old girl forms an unlikely friendship with the awkward teenager she hires to be her babysitter.
Heather Hale was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, so she has the work ethic of a steel mill worker, and her body is composed of 79% pierogi. In her adult life, she has miraculously kept herself alive in New York City and Los Angeles by working as a content writer at Nickelodeon, IFC, FX, and most recently, NBC. Working closely with shows like Baskets, The Good Place, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, she has created award-winning content in everything from on-air promos to San Diego Comic-con activations. Most nights you can find her in her West Hollywood apartment, whiskey in hand, watching TV with her terrible cat.
1ST PRIZE
CHARM CITY
Josh Eiserike
A serial killer stalks the streets of modern-day Baltimore -- but what the police don't know is all of the victims are witches, part of an underground secret society living among us for centuries.
Josh is a writer/cartoonist living in Los Angeles who most recently staffed on LEGACIES (CW) and previously sold a television pilot to Pop TV. Additional writing credits include WARIGAMI (CW Seed), G.I. JOE: RENEGADES (The HUB) and MAD Magazine. Coming from the indie comics world, Josh’s first comic book CLASS OF ‘99 won an Ignatz award (the Independent Spirit Award of comics) and his subsequent graphic novel ANYONE BUT VIRGINIA was distributed by Alterna Comics. Originally from Maryland, Josh previously worked as a newspaper reporter in the Washington, D.C. area, where he covered everything from Congress to the Warped Tour. Always writing, Josh is also currently working on his new graphic novel.
2ND PRIZE
THE WEST MOON CHRONICLE
Frank Kim
Shortly after moving to a small town in the pine forests of east Texas, a Korean immigrant and his grandson suffer a terrible family tragedy and must grapple with the aftermath – all while dealing with a supernatural threat that emerges from the haunted woods near their home.
I was born in Los Angeles, CA in 1978 – the same day that a computer programmer named Fred Newman set the world record for most consecutive basketball free throws made while blindfolded (88 free throws to be exact). My parents, immigrants from Korea, moved to Houston, TX when I was but a year old. These days I call Austin my home. My experiences as a Korean-American boy raised in mostly white communities deeply influence me as a writer and a filmmaker. I'm perhaps a bit too obsessed with stories of people who live in strange places during unsettled times, people who have to overcome physical and mental hardship, and stories about what it means to live a life where inspiration and fulfillment are hard-won prizes in places that actively test one's capacity to achieve them. I also think martial arts action is pretty freakin' dope.
3RD PRIZE (TIE)
HEX
Joey Capuana
While investigating his ex-lover’s disappearance amidst a string of murders in Savannah's gay community, a broken-hearted drag queen taps into the magic of his coven of queer witches only to uncover a powerful evil lurking closer than he ever imagined.
Joey Capuana is an award-winning screenwriter and a WGAE “MADE IN NY” TV Writing Fellow. After studying film at Northwestern University, Joey served as Writers’ PA on Netflix’s NARCOS and F IS FOR FAMILY and has since developed pilots and features under the mentorship of showrunner Soo Hugh (PACHINKO). Joey specializes in dark comedies and genre mysteries that mix raunch and shock with sincerity and heart, while exploring queer and provocative takes on identity and desire.
3RD PRIZE (TIE)
VECTORS
Grant Fraggalosch & Timothy Bacon
A NASA capsule unexpectedly crashes back to Earth after having been presumed lost in space over 40 years ago. But its sudden return raises more questions than answers when it’s revealed that its crew of three is not only still alive, but haven’t aged since their launch.
An avid content creator who has produced work in virtually every medium, Grant began his career as an ad agency writer/creative director before creating a docudrama series produced by CTV and MTV Canada. He went on to develop a number of factual/reality series, and has served as showrunner on series that have aired on Canada’s three major networks, numerous specialty channels and Netflix. He has written scripts that have been finalists in major screenwriting competitions, and recently story edited two pilot scripts for showrunners that subsequently received series orders.
3RD PRIZE (TIE)
VECTORS
Grant Fraggalosch & Timothy Bacon
A NASA capsule unexpectedly crashes back to Earth after having been presumed lost in space over 40 years ago. But its sudden return raises more questions than answers when it’s revealed that its crew of three is not only still alive, but haven’t aged since their launch.
Tim has worked in broadcast media, interactive media, advertising and branded entertainment as a writer and creative director. He has had screenplays and pilot scripts optioned and has been hired by numerous production companies for rewrite, development and commissioned work. For years, Tim served as lead writer at Fuel Industries, an advanced interactive agency and one of the largest “advergame” developers in North America. His clients included HBO, Discovery Channel, Starz, Nickelodeon, SyFy Channel, Fox Entertainment, Warner Brothers, Alliance Atlantis, Lions Gate Films, Microsoft, PlayStation, Marvel, and many more major brands. An avid comic reader, Tim recently achieved a lifelong dream of having his work featured in the legendary Heavy Metal magazine.
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
SANTA CLAUS, INCORPORATED
Arun Narayanan
Idealistic office assistant elf Lucy Goodshoe tries to bring the Christmas spirit back to the now jaded and corporate world of the North Pole.
Arun Narayanan is the creator and star of the award-winning digital series ARUN CONSIDERS, the writer of the 2018 TV movie TIME CAPSULE, and a producer and video editor who has worked on independent feature films, music videos, corporate videos, short films and branded content for companies like Disney and Sephora. But he’s probably best known, at least to his friends from high school in Connecticut, for that one time he was on NEW GIRL. Arun began pursuing a career in screenwriting after receiving an MFA in Film & TV Production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 2014. He was selected for the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP)'s Emerging Storytellers program in 2015, and in the years since his spec feature and half-hour comedy pilot scripts have won awards or placed in the top 10 of many competitions. He currently works in Metadata Research & Development for Netflix in Los Angeles and is represented by Joel Millner at the Larchmont Literary Agency.