Script List 2008
The Writing Division is proud to be graduating a stellar class of talented B.F.A. and M.F.A. writing students. The 2008 Script List contains loglines of our student’s collective works. In the following list is each student’s thesis project, and in many cases, a spec feature, an episodic television show and a TV pilot. You will also notice that several of our students have received merit awards for their writing. Our students have been through a rigorous course of training; they are skilled at telling fine stories and creating compelling characters. They have been trained by professionals to be professionals. And once you have read their screenplays I think you will agree that the USC Writing program has the strongest and brightest young writers of any program in the United States.
The 2008 Script List gives you an opportunity to meet these fine young writers and become acquainted with their work. If there is a project you are interested in, please contact the student. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me directly or to speak with a member of our Writing Division staff at 213.740.3303. I wish you good reading.
Best regards,
Jack Epps, Jr., Chair
Writers:
JONAH D. ANSELL
MICHAEL BELOW
JESSICA BROWNELL
WILL CAMPOS
ERIKA CERVANTES
VLADIMIR CVETKO
MICHAEL J. DANIELS
BRIAN SAMUEL DAVIS
JASON DELMARTY
LISA DI TROLIO
AMANDA DUNHAM ELY
BEN FAST
BRIAN FIRENZI
MICHAEL SHAW FISHER
JACKIE FISKE
OMAIRA GALARZA
ADAM GILBERTSON
BETH GRADDY
JEREMY HENTHORN
BENJAMIN R. HURWITZ
TRICIA INGRAHAM
KATIE JOHNSON
WHITNEY D. JOHNSON
COLLIN KELLY
JONATHAN M. LEVINE
GABRIEL LLANAS
MICHELLE LOPEZ
RUPA MAGGE
JONNY MAIS
KATHRYN MCNULTY
RAAMLA MOHAMED
GINA LUCITA MONREAL
MATTHEW MONTOYA
JAMIE NELSON
HEATHER REGNIER
TODD ROBBINS
SHARIFA ROHLEHR
MICHAEL ROUSSELET
AMY RUBIN
JAYDI SAMUELS
MATT SARACUSA
ELLE SCHNEIDER
SABRINA SIEBERT
CHANDRA SMITH
SARAH THOMPSON
MARIO VILLALOBOS
JON WORLEY
JONAH D. ANSELL
MFA
Blacker Scholarship
USC Associates Scholarship
jonah.ansell@gmail.com
c/o
Jenny Bent (Books Only)
Trident Media Group
PIZZA HEIST
CHILDREN’S ACTION/ADVENTURE COMEDY/HEIST FEATURE
Think Ocean’s 11 set inside a Chuck E. Cheese’s, but instead of George Clooney and Brad Pitt, the culprits are six dorky 5th graders trying to steal The Winja—a “magical shoe” on the top of the prize shelf they believe will catapult them to kickball victory.
DAD GONE WILD
ACTION/ADVENTURE COMEDY FEATURE
When Terry Smallwood’s wife leaves him for another woman, he and his college-aged son descend onto spring break in Mexico to reclaim his masculinity. But as Terry chauvinistically postures to win back his son’s respect, he becomes the target of radical feminists who intend to do much more than just “Take Back The Night.”
“UNITED WE STAND”
ENTOURAGE SPEC
Vince falls for a sexy Iraq-war protester, but when scandalous PerezHilton.com photos link Vince to a flag burning, his career as a mainstream actor is in jeopardy. Ari learns of Lloyd’s romantic ties to Perez Hilton and exploits this inside connection to do whatever it takes to save Vince, even if it means sacrificing Drama.
CAPONE’S TREASURE
ACTION/ADVENTURE FEATURE
JaMarcus, a down-on-his-luck pizza-delivery guy from the West Side of Chicago, discovers a treasure map inside a 1920s bottle of bootleg whiskey that allegedly leads to Al Capone’s $100 million fortune. Desperate to send his only son Miles out of the ’hood and into the best private kindergarten in the city, he sets off on an epic adventure throughout Chicagoland, where he and his womanizing older-brother Avery battle racist
4 cops, old-school mobsters and suburban moms.
MICHAEL BELOW
BFA
mikebelow@cox.net
THE LAST DALTON
WESTERN FEATURE
A true story about the Dalton brothers, a group of lawmen turned diabolical outlaws, robbing and killing in the pursuit of immortality. The Dalton Gang’s thirst for fame leads to a historic double bank robbery in their hometown of Coffeyville, which forces their estranged brother, Coffeyville’s sheriff, to stand against his notorious brothers for the sake of his city, his marriage and himself.
JESSICA BROWNELL
BFA
jess.brownell@gmail.com
ASH JULY
COMEDY/DRAMA FEATURE
When neurotic Rickie Harpmin (21) discovers her deceased father’s old travel diary, she skips her upcoming college graduation and embarks on an obsessive, eye-opening quest through Mexico to find the perfect place to rest her father’s ashes.
TREADING WATER
COMEDY/DRAMA FEATURE
Nevan (16) is at that age when everything sucks—especially his parents. To add to his troubles, his mother ships him out of the big city to summer with his loony father in Nowhere-ville, USA. But when a summer job at the local pool and a much older girl nab his attention, Nevan will get the chance to actually do something that matters. Will he sink under expectations?
EAST/WEST
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
For young backpackers looking for adventure abroad, staying in a hostel is a rite of passage. But what’s life like on the other side of the counter? Meet the eclectic, live-in staff of EAST/WEST Hostel, tasked with providing life-changing experiences to daily-changing guests while lost on how to change their own lives.
WILL CAMPOS
MFA
willcampos42@yahoo.com
VIKING FUNERAL
COMEDY FEATURE
Forced by his mom to quit playing, Shaun, an obsessive Internet videogamer, fakes his death online and then must put on his own funeral when his e-buddies show up to mourn him in person.
ERIKA CERVANTES
MFA
erikamcervantes@gmail.com
LOVEBUSTERS
COMEDY FEATURE
Are you stuck in a bad relationship? Ladies, did a great date turn into a poor mate? Fellas, is your gal throwin' a fit 'cause you just won’t commit? Call LOVEBUSTERS, the break-up professionals! Our lovebusting experts will have you uncoupled in no time, guaranteed or your money back. No job too small, we'll bust it all, just give us a call and we'll make 'em your ex before you can say 1-800-BREAK-UP.
CIUDAD DE LA MUERTE
DRAMA FEATURE
In a Mexican city where violent deaths occur daily, Lupe (17) has had to grow up fast—but tragedy hits home when her little sister disappears. With the help of a cop, a witch and a parakeet, Lupe searches the Chihuahuan desert on a journey that ends at Copper Canyon—where she discovers her ancestry and a magic she can believe in again.
VLADIMIR CVETKO
MFA
cvetko.vladimir@gmail.com
Jay Roach Screenwriting Award
THE NATIVE GERMAN
DRAMA FEATURE
Anna Neumann, a bank teller in 1939 Warsaw, uses her German heritage to infiltrate the local Nazi offices and aid the Resistance. But she soon finds herself falling in love with a compassionate S.S. cavalry officer. As forces from all sides close in she must decide what is more important—true love or the idea of a greater good.
ASYLUM
DARK COMEDY FEATURE
A Serbian pre-med student finds himself ineligible for a visa to leave Kosovo. With rising ethnic tension and his father’s fading health, he undertakes an absurd and reckless journey, intentionally putting himself in harm’s way to acquire political asylum.
A FIRE THAT FEEDS ITSELF
DRAMA FEATURE
Dunja Filipovic, a refugee living in Los Angeles, has had her son diagnosed with autism. When her husband blames her for the condition, she sets off on a journey to find a cure, but instead discovers the horrors of the Bosnian civil war have reached far beyond the battlefield.
MICHAEL J. DANIELS
MFA
danielsmike@yahoo.com
Jack Nicholson Award for Merit in Writing
CODE OF CONDUCT
WAR DRAMA FEATURE
Her first day in Iraq, a naïve lieutenant's mistake causes the capture of one of her soldiers. Now she must battle her Army unit and the insurgents to redeem herself and rescue him.
LIONS OF BABYLON
WAR DRAMA FEATURE
An American soldier has been taken hostage by an Iraqi boy who plans to give him to insurgents in exchange for his kidnapped father. In order to survive, their humanity must overcome their hatred for each other.
BRIAN SAMUEL DAVIS
MFA
briansamueldavis@gmail.com
NBC/Universal Pilot Program Competition Winner 2007
Nicholl Fellowship Semi-Finalist 2007
Josh Schwartz Scholarship Award Finalist 2008
SEX ED
COMEDY FEATURE
Alex never had trouble getting laid, but after a close call with an STD, he gives up sex entirely. Torn between his wild past and his celibate present, two girls wait for him at the end of these diverging paths. Sex is a scary thing, but true intimacy can be even more terrifying.
WATERLOO
DRAMA FEATURE
After 45 years in prison, Chuck “Daddy” Dobbins is released. With the haunting memories of his crimes still fresh in his mind, he chooses to atone for his sins by helping Lacy, an AIDS-infected heroin addict. The journey to redemption isn’t always a righteous path.
GENERATION Z
HORROR FEATURE
Three armed teenagers enter Millennium High prepared to kill but are beaten to the punch by an army of bloodthirsty zombies. The would-be shooters and surviving students must team up and battle the walking dead in order to make it out of high school alive.
THE MONSTER
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
In a modern re-imagination of the classic Frankenstein story, M, the intelligent monster, journeys to find the doctor who created and then tried to destroy him. Unbeknownst to M, Pretorious, the company that funded the doctor’s research, sets a bounty hunter on his trail to recoup the secret contained within his body.
JASON DELMARTY
MFA
jasondelmarty@gmail.com
Nicholl Fellowship Semi-Finalist 2006
Academy Awards, Best Short Live-Action Drama – Top 15 Selection 2008
Student Emmy Awards, Student Short Film, Drama – Winner 2007
SXSW International Film Festival – Short Film, Special Jury Prize Winner 2007
ARPA International Film Festival – Best Short Film Winner 2007
Aspen International Short Film Festival – Best Student Short Winner 2007
BURNING POINT
WAR DRAMA FEATURE
On October 30, 2003, a widowed Army soldier, a contrite insurgent and an aging Iraqi councilman collided in unexpected ways during a convoy heist of over $100 million worth of new Iraqi dinar headed for the Green Zone. Inspired by true events.
BETWEEN DAYS
WAR DRAMA FEATURE
Emotionally shattered after a tragic shooting in a rural Iraqi neighborhood, Army Captain Bud Whistler discovers unexpected forgiveness through his spirited female Iraqi translator, Marwa Al-Diwanyia. But things turn for the worst when she is kidnapped hours before he is to fly home on leave, forcing him to break ranks and make his way into Baghdad in an attempt to save her life and maybe his own. Inspired by true events.
“ABSOLUTION”
DEXTER SPEC
Dexter's world is thrust into turmoil when an arsonist from his past blackmails him into destroying evidence from the bathhouse fire investigation or face exposure. Meanwhile, Astor springs the big question: Will you be my godfather? LaGuerta stirs up controversy resurrecting a Doakes Memorial, while Masuka struggles to get over his fear of Asian women.
LISA DI TROLIO
MFA
lisa.ditrolio@gmail.com
Austin Film Festival Teleplay Competition Semi-Finalist
THE TEA KING
ACTION/ADVENTURE FEATURE
Two brothers who have never met are forced together when their father disappears in a plane crash. A series of clues leads them across the globe, but where they hope to find Dad, they discover the Tea King instead.
CONGRESSIONAL ABE
COMEDY/DRAMA FEATURE
Abe and Rebecca leave small-town Kentucky to live out their dreams on Capitol Hill. While Abe struggles to keep up with his girlfriend in the politics game, he finds that a pretty tour guide may be the key to understating the city and himself.
SPORT OF KINGS
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
A teenage girl moves into a California racetrack and gambles to survive so she can pursue her dream of being a jockey.
AMANDA DUNHAM ELY
MFA
amanda.ely@gmail.com
First Pitch Co-Lead 2008
THE AEGEAN
THRILLER FEATURE
A talented, young sculptress enrolls in a prestigious artists-in-residence program on the idyllic island of Paros, Greece and becomes infatuated with her married professor. After he gives in to her advances, she will stop at nothing to keep him.
METRO NORTH
COMEDY/DRAMA FEATURE
When Alia Briggs, the poorest girl in her Connecticut town, desperately needs money, she turns to the father she hasn’t seen in eight years. They spend 24 hours in New York City trying to come up with the cash, but in the end all Alia wants to know is: Will dad finally trade in Absolut for Alia?
MAYOR OF SHELTER ISLAND
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
To protect her hometown, Abbey Gale runs for mayor and battles to save the island from a conniving hotelier, the wealth and power of the new summer people, and worst of all, a bridge to the Hamptons.
BEN FAST
MFA
bfast@alumni.princeton.edu
546 Script Competition Winner
“Conversations With...” Coordinator and Moderator of Industry Interview Program
FUNNIEST MAN ON CAMPUS
ROMANTIC COMEDY FEATURE
When Chris, self-appointed "funniest guy" at Princeton, falls for the new girl in his improv group, it looks like a match made in heaven—until Chris finds out she's an Evangelical waiting for marriage. Guess the joke's on him.
THE STRANGER & THE CONFIDANTE
SCI-FI FEATURE
A failed neuroscience experiment: a touch from one brother and you’re his best friend; a touch from the other and you’ve never seen him before. Will their powers unite or corrupt them?
THE GOSPEL OF GWEN
ORIGINAL COMEDY PILOT
A minister guides a congregation of secular humanists, raises her horny 14-year-old son, and copes with her right-wing geriatric boss, all while trying to answer the age-old question: What the heck do Unitarians believe in anyway?
BRIAN FIRENZI
BFA
bfirenzi@earthlink.net
Ed Wood 2008 – Best Writing
Ed Wood 2007 – Audience Choice, Best Picture
BIEDERDICH
COMEDY FEATURE
A 14-year-old science genius tries to find love at college with the help of a sociopathic frat boy. Insults will fly, dolphins will burn.
FREE DOC COLLINS
COMEDY FEATURE
A once-popular loser drops out of film school and hits the road to find himself. Instead, he gets a harsh lesson in dumb ideas and an orphaned coyote pup he must teach to hunt.
ROAD DOGS
COMEDY/DRAMA FEATURE
After five years apart, three men attempt to reunite their high school rock band for one last show in tribute to their deceased friend. Past emotions return as they practice, threatening to tear them apart for good.
MICHAEL SHAW FISHER
MFA with Distinction
wildsongproductions@yahoo.com
USC Associates Scholarship
THE BEATS
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
Sex, drugs, jazz and murder: the wild life of Jack Kerouac and the group of friends who would inspire a generation.
BLACKWELL
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
Wealthy hunchback Horace Blackwell relocates his sons from their secluded Victorian lifestyle back to the modern life of the 21st Century. Neither the family nor the town will ever be the same.
THE WOODBUTCHER
MYSTERY/THRILLER FEATURE
The body of a local Chippewa girl is discovered on the shores of lake Michigan, causing the town’s suspect, Edgar Wolsenbane to relive the sins of his past.
JACKIE FISKE
BFA
jfiske4@gmail.com
SUE HAPPY AMERICA
COMEDY/DRAMA FEATURE
An inside look at the world of frivolous lawsuits through the eyes of one very warped family.
“WEED WATCHERS”
WEEDS SPEC
Nancy goes back to baking—pot-pastries for her customers and diet food for Celia's Weight Watchers group. When the batches get swapped, Nancy scrambles to resolve the mix-up before the stoners get skinny and the heavies get high.
OMAIRA GALARZA
MFA
omairang@yahoo.com
First Pitch Co-Lead 2008
MY HEART IS BLACK AND BROKEN
TEEN COMEDY FEATURE
To save their failing marriage, Krista’s parents relocate the family from the heaven of Orange County to the hell of rural Texas. She must trade her pom-poms for Converse or remain an outcast in her new artsy high school.
SOL
CHILDREN’S FANTASY FEATURE
In a magical world with a dying sun queen, a rebellious girl tackles trolls, twigs and topiaries while she fights her fate as next in line.
“UN MEMENTO”
DEXTER SPEC
Dexter loses his memory when a kill goes wrong. He must rely on the one person who knows more than him: a little girl.
ADAM GILBERTSON
BFA
DrBluesFly@gmail.com
THE BLACK HEART
ACTION/ADVENTURE FEATURE
An international thief manipulates his brother, a timid English teacher, into traveling to the jungles of Borneo to steal an ancient artifact from a deadly tribe of natives. But when they learn the artifact is the very heart of the earth and could destroy everything living, their only choice is to return it before it’s too late.
BETH GRADDY
MFA
bethgraddy@gmail.com
Josh Schwartz Scholarship Award Finalist 2008
MY 16-YEAR-OLD SELF
COMEDY FEATURE
A disillusioned 39-year-old gets her wish—to travel back in time to 1985 and warn her 16-year-old self about key mistakes she’s about to make. Convinced she can re-write her past and change her future, she finds instead the rebellious—and amazing—teenager she never knew she was.
M.I.A.
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
A procedural series in which a team of military investigators find and bring home the remains of soldiers still "missing in action" from any war since World War I. In the pilot, the team gets a new captain and searches for the last three men left behind during the Vietnam War.
M.I.A.
"DEAD RECKONING"
The seventh episode in M.I.A., an original series, "Dead Reckoning" takes the military investigators from Capitol Hill, where a powerful senator wants to manipulate their efforts, to the watery grave of a dozen sailors whose submarine disappeared in World War II.
"EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LIFE I LEARNED FROM WATCHING THE BRADY BUNCH"
DEXTER SPEC
Dexter is struggling to stay a step ahead of an F.B.I. profiler while sparring with a competing serial killer who wants credit for Dexter's work.
JEREMY HENTHORN
MFA
Jeremy.Henthorn@gmail.com
Edward Small Screenwriting Scholarship
LEARN TO FIGHT!
COMEDY FEATURE
Ernie Littick, a 120-pound freshman at Winslow High, stands up to a bully and finds himself one of the most popular kids in school. Now, as new bullies converge to challenge his status, Ernie must choose—run and hide, or take down the baddest (and most popular kid) in the school.
THE SILENTS
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
Set in the Silent Film Era, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford struggle for creative freedom and legitimacy while attempting to keep their affair secret, their business afloat and an industry from drowning in the sex, murder and corruption of 1920's Hollywood.
CLOUDED SEVENTH SUN
DRAMA FEATURE
A gang leader mysteriously begins to go blind after the accidental shooting of a 10-year-old girl. He struggles to conceal his disability from his family, friends and his enemies as his guilt and affliction worsen.
BENJAMIN R. HURWITZ
MFA
benjaminrhurwitz@hotmail.com
USC Annenberg Fellow
546 Script Competition Winner
MY BOSS’ WIFE
ROMANTIC COMEDY FEATURE
How does a mailroom boy make agent in a cutthroat sports agency? Tim Fisher shacks up with his boss's wife.
SEPTEMBER
DRAMA FEATURE
All Pete Hopper wants is to fly East to his brother, get his inheritance and vanish to Mexico. But when the world stands still on September 11th, Pete joins three strangers driving East and discovers that disappearing is harder than he thought.
WOLCOTT
ORIGINAL COMEDY/DRAMA PILOT
Paul Derringer is a gambling man. With no job prospects, his wife about to divorce him, and the mob on his tail, Paul goes all in, transplanting his family from seedy Las Vegas to his brother's elite and corrupt prep school Wolcott Academy.
TRICIA INGRAHAM
MFA
trish.ingraham@gmail.com
Gene Autry Writing Scholarship
The Jack Oakie Memorial Award for Excellence in Comedy Screenwriting
IN CASE OF EMERY
COMEDY FEATURE
A persuasive scam email dupes two bickering brothers—a snooty film critic and a goofball actor—to the back roads of Brazil to rescue their absent father from ransom-demanding kidnappers. Little do they know dear old dad is the cheeky crook behind the keyboard with no intention of an awkward family reunion…
PENN STATE OF MIND
COMEDY FEATURE
An insecure, small-town butcher's biggest fear comes true when his only son decides to forgo college for his vegan, townie girlfriend. Will the merriment of a V.I.P. football tailgate space convince his son to have the Penn State experience he never had… or will it backfire when his manipulatively charming tailgate neighbor turns out to be his high school arch-nemesis with a suspicious amount in common with his hipster son?
LEMONS
ORIGINAL COMEDY/DRAMA PILOT
A motley group of hypochondriac high school freshmen clash with the worst male nurse tax dollars can buy at an under-funded, Silicon Valley public school.
"THE GANG GETS A MASCOT"
IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA SPEC
The gang exploits dog-fighting and the exotic animal trade when Charlie insists on keeping a scrappy, stray pit bull as the bar mascot.
KATIE JOHNSON
BFA
riversofwings@gmail.com
JERICHO
HISTORICAL EPIC FEATURE
1548 BCE. As the mantle of Israelite leadership is passed from legendary Moshe to his protégé Joshua, plans are set in motion for conquering the 40-year-awaited "Promised Land" of Canaan. Now, not only must Joshua fight for respect among the tribes, but a larger enemy looms at Canaan's gates: Jericho—a city famous for it’s unshakable walls. Summoning his physical and spiritual strength, Joshua is forced to be the leader Moshe trained him as, and the man God called him to be.
DREAMLESS
FANTASY FEATURE
Four star-crossed Orange County teens head to Vegas for the weekend with marriage on their minds. But, when their paths inadvertently weave into vindictive underworld agendas, the lovers are slipped a mind-altering aphrodisiac which causes the induced to fall in love with the first thing they see upon awakening. Their perfectly structured worlds are spun off balance as their preconceived notions of love and lust are put to the test. Inspired by William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
"NECRO-RACER"
PUSHING DAISIES SPEC
A runner's heart stops mid-race just as his now dead body collides with Ned—a man who can touch dead things and bring them back to life. Seamlessly, the runner's body pops back to life and continues on with the race. Now Ned and the gang must chase down the un-dead body before they run out of time, or run into whoever killed the runner in the first place.
WHITNEY D. JOHNSON
BFA
monkeyseemonkeydo_mj@yahoo.com
USC Trustee Scholar 2004-2008
SWING LOW
HISTORICAL EPIC FEATURE
After beating the odds and escaping to freedom alone, a young fugitive slave has second thoughts about leaving her family behind. Armed with the conviction that freedom is worthless without the ones she loves, she risks her life and her newly acquired freedom to return to the land she'd just fled—this time, determined to bring her unwilling family back with her. We remember her as Harriet Tubman.
COLLIN KELLY
BFA
collinpkelly@gmail.com
John Kearney Sandifer Memorial Scholarship
Harold Lloyd Memorial Scholarship
THE DISASTER KID
COMEDY/ROAD FEATURE
A young, naive cartoonist hits the road when his Army reserve unit is called for active duty.
SUNDOWN
ACTION/ADVENTURE FEATURE
Japan's greatest samurai fights to defend a mysterious border town from an onslaught of vampires.
TIMESCAPE
TIME TRAVEL FEATURE
When a physics drop-out becomes the target of a time-traveling vigilante, his escape becomes a race through time to not only save himself, but the future of the human race itself.
10150
DRAMA PILOT
Superpowers are illegal. When police on the street encounter a super-powered crime, they call in a special code: 10-150. This is the story of the detectives who take those calls.
JONATHAN M. LEVINE
BFA
jmlevinefilm@gmail.com
Worldfest International Film Festival Platinum Remi Award
Panavision New Filmmaker Grant
MARTINGALE
THRILLER FEATURE
Fresh out of college and desperate for work, Jay Lockhart has finally landed a high-paying job with an exclusive company... But something is not right. Everywhere he goes he's being watched and his co-worker's death wasn't a suicide—it was a warning. Realizing his dream job is really a nightmare, Jay and his young wife Angie have to escape before they are the next victims of a very dangerous game.
THEME PARK
ACTION/ADVENTURE COMEDY FEATURE
Famed superhero Captain Commander's plan to save the world has only one problem: he's actually just a delusional actor working at a struggling theme park. Growing old in a dated costume, the Commander sets out to prove his superhero worth and pacify a group of idiotic park employees who think they've triggered the apocalypse!
FOURTH
DRAMA FEATURE
Socially inept and shy college freshman Gregory Fevergeon must face his haunting past when a metaphysics experiment on his campus goes horribly wrong, ripping open a hole to another dimension. Constantly escaping potential oblivion, Gregory transverses the country to discover his true destiny and show the world that hope is much more powerful than fear.
GABRIEL LLANAS
MFA
gllanas@gmail.com
Nicholl Fellowship Quarter-Finalist 2007
FADWA, MY SISTER
DRAMA FEATURE
In the Bedouin desert of Transjordan, when a young girl is raped, it is her brother's duty to preserve the honor of the family by taking her life. Can he find forgiveness for this sin before another innocent life is lost?
I, AZTEC
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
In the year 1040 AD, Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent, white god of the Aztecs, was driven from power by his brother god, the Lord of the Smoking Mirror. Before leaving Earth, he swore he would return to rule over mankind again. He has returned... and he's 15… and he’s in high school.
DOLLARS
DRAMA FEATURE
Two 12-year-olds from inner-city Minneapolis receive a $100 bill from a stranger on New Year's Eve, sending them on an all-night, cross-town journey to split the money. But one of them has no intention of sharing it with the other.
MICHELLE LOPEZ
BFA
lopezmic@usc.edu
FASTER THAN A SILVER ARROW
DRAMA FEATURE
Set in 1930s Europe, Rene, an amateur racecar driver, is offered the spot of a lifetime: to race for the national German team and drive their prized car, the Silver Arrow. The only setback is that he's a Jew. Without sponsorship, Rene calls on the help of a mechanic friend, constructs his own racecar and becomes an unstoppable force that takes the racing world by storm. It becomes a matter of time, however, before Rene comes dangerously close to the Germans' unbeatable record and feels the backlash of German might.
RUPA MAGGE
MFA
rupamagge@yahoo.com
CBS Diversity Writers Mentoring Program
Disney/ABC TV Writing Fellowship Finalist
NAACP/CBS Writing Fellowship
Gene Autry Scholarship
COLLEGE CONFIDENTIAL
FAMILY/COMEDY FEATURE
Getting your kid into the Ivy League is the real Mission Impossible, which is why private school parents pay top class dollar to keep the Gordon Gecko of college consultants on speed dial. But when the super-agent fails to seal the deal for an eclectic group of privileged students, he's forced to take them on a whirlwind community-service trip to impoverished Africa in a last "ditch" effort to beef-up their college applications and to salvage his super-star status.
XPATS
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
An African-American soccer prodigy is catapulted from the destitute streets of inner-city LA into the posh, sophisticated Knightsbridge neighborhood of London to achieve his professional soccer dreams. He becomes fast, if unlikely, friends with three other lost American high school boys who help him navigate the lies behind the London expatriate community, the rigidity of British class lines, and the difficulty of protecting your own in this darker world of etiquette and privilege.
THE REWILDING
FAMILY/ANIMATION FEATURE
Born and raised in captivity, a spoon-fed female Bengal tiger cub is released deep into the wild of the Himalayan Foothills as part of a re-wilding project. After being nearly killed by a poacher due to her naïveté and ostracized by the untamed, threatened tigers, she sets off on an adventurous journey to be reconnected with the only life she's ever known.
JONNY MAIS
MFA
Jonathanmais@yahoo.com
c/o
Creative Artists Agency
John Campisi
Recipient of the 2007 Humanitas Award for the David and Lynn Angell Fellowship in Comedy Writing
DRAINED
DRAMA FEATURE
Cameron, a burnt-out teen, reluctantly joins his pill-popping mother in Palm Springs to retrieve his sister from rehab. Disguised as an ordinary vacation, the trip forces Cameron to confront a childhood trauma that threatens to drown him in the same pool of apathy and addiction in which his family swims.
FIFTEEN
COMEDY FEATURE
Your favorite tween-icon Sophie Connors is out of rehab and back in high school! Watch her new reality show as she trades cocaine binges on Mulholland Drive for the public school hallways of Podunk, Indiana, where she is forced to compete with an entire school desperate for the glare of her spotlight.
KATHRYN MCNULTY
BFA
Kamcnulty@gmail.com
c/o
Caliber Media Company
Dallas Sonnier – manager
Dallas@Calibermediaco.com
SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN
COMEDY/DRAMA FEATURE
Rachel is a self-centered talent manager on her way to becoming a key Hollywood player. After her grieving sister moves in, Rachel struggles to take care of her sister while maintaining her glamorous life.
THE ROW
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
Layne joins the most elite sorority at SCU only to be unwillingly inducted into a secret society within the sorority where things aren't quite what she expected. The bitches are witches. College just got a little more complicated.
“IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR”
WEEDS SPEC
When Nancy's mother-in-law pays a surprise visit and discovers Nancy is a suburban pot dealer, she wants in—her retirement community is a goldmine. Meanwhile, Conrad engineers a new pot plant with unrivaled potency levels and Andy's sperm donation during college comes back to haunt him.
RAAMLA MOHAMED
MFA
raamlam@gmail.com
USC Annenberg Fellow
546 Script Competition Winner
Frank Daniel Writing Excellence Scholarship
405 NORTH
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
After witnessing her father's suicide attempt in Baltimore, a precocious African-American teenager must battle her estranged mother and hostile carpoolers at a prestigious LA independent school. Can Regina survive a place where fitting in depends on where you're coming from?
HOLDING BACK THE YEARS
FAMILY FEATURE
Eager to reign as a sixth-grader in a land of elementary schoolers, an 11-year-old boy finds his dreams shattered when skipped to seventh grade. Can he handle tall bullies and even taller girls in addition to his recently divorced parents or will he do whatever it takes to hold back the years?
THE JEANIE JOSLIN SHOW
COMEDY FEATURE
Will her desperation to trade public access life in small-town Virginia for a bite of the Big Apple propel an uber-ambitious talk show host to betray her dwarf husband and ex-con mother in hopes of becoming the next Oprah? How about Tyra? Geraldo?
GINA LUCITA MONREAL
MFA
ginalucita@gmail.com
Cinema-Television Diversity Scholarship
Cinema Circulus Scholarship
CBS Diversity Writers Mentoring Program
PAINT-BY-NUMBERS
ROMANTIC COMEDY FEATURE
Joy Elliott longs to float straight down the aisle in an authentic Colonial Williamsburg wedding. But when her boyfriend declares that there'll be no rings or butter churns until his gallery takes off, Joy must find a way to market her beloved's art—too bad the guy's idea of a masterpiece is a paint-by-number.
SHOE TREE
COMEDY/DRAMA FEATURE
As a tribute to his late father, Chuck Ramirez swipes a bookmobile and sets off on a Midwestern road trip to find a legendary tree with hundreds of shoes dangling from its branches. Along the way, Chuck encounters three eccentric women who throw him off course and help him realize that what he's looking for is more than just a tree.
HEAR THE SPARKLING STONES
DRAMA FEATURE
The only time Buckle Severn isn't at home caring for his mute and paralyzed mother is when he's filling his 25¢ vending machines with cheap plastic toys. A mysterious message in one of the toys instructs Buckle to send mom to a nursing home—but is this a miracle from mom or the work of Buckle's con-artist father?
4TH WALL
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
Karen Castillo is living it up as a big-time director at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre. But after her brother has an unfortunate meeting with a tornado, Karen must return to her zany hometown in Wisconsin to step in as caretaker to her grandmother and director of the Orchard Community Theater.
MATTHEW MONTOYA
MFA
matthewrites@yahoo.com
THE WORST MAN
COMEDY FEATURE
Cornered into being Best Man for his annoying roommate from college, Cristian schemes to find a way out. From buying blue tuxedos to a runaway bachelor party, Cristian is determined to be the Worst Man.
BORDERS
DARK COMEDY FEATURE
Crossing the border illegally from Tijuana to the U.S. has never been easy. Nick, a Latino freshman at San Diego State, helps four of his frat brothers do just that, as they compete for their fraternity's presidency. But in this contest, not everyone will make it home.
NO TEACHER LEFT BEHIND
ORIGINAL COMEDY PILOT
A behind-the-scenes look at four warriors, trapped in a foxhole day in and day out, who battle great odds to secure our future. It’s just another year teaching public high school. If they don’t keep fighting, the teenagers win.
JAMIE NELSON
BFA
juhme@yahoo.com
BOY BAND
COMEDY/DRAMA FEATURE
Rhythm Method, the worst boy band of the '90s, has been thrown back together for a reality show. They hate their lives. They hate each other. But if they can’t get it together, they'll die... well, they'll head straight back to obscurity. And that's kind of like being dead.
UNTITLED GAY SPACE ELF PILOT
ORIGINAL COMEDY/DRAMA PILOT
A drug-addicted, horny elf. A neurotic mer-man who can’t swim. Together, these two losers run from the law, take down the government and try not to strangle each other in a land that's like a grimy, modern take on Narnia—with spaceships.
HEATHER REGNIER
BFA
hregnier@gmail.com
IndieGathering Script Writing Contest, Best Original Drama 2007
Writemovies.com Screenwriting Competition Finalist for Dramatic Feature
Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition 2nd Round Finalist for Dramatic Feature
UNDERDOGS
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
A group of mischievous, teenage, amateur gang-bangers in Los Angeles get their chance to prove themselves when a drug lab explodes and bestows them with super-human powers. Will the underdogs try to rid the streets of crime once and for all, or will they become the most dangerous gang that Los Angeles has ever seen?
SOBER LIVING
COMEDY FEATURE
When Holly Kare (27), an uptight nuclear weapons engineer, is framed for drug use, she is forced to return home and play patient at her feel-good parents' delightfully unethical sober living facility. Will Holly reconnect with her dysfunctional family, or will she commit to a life in the CIA, where her only chance at a human relationship is through nuclear fission?
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HUCKLEBERRY FINN?
DRAMA FEATURE
In today's society, would Huckleberry Finn be celebrated or medicated? Sid Trask (15) finds out when, in the midst of a family crisis, he is taken under the wing of a rough-and-tumble rabble-rouser named Huck—a boy that could mend Sid's family or destroy them.
TODD ROBBINS
MFA
robbins.todd@gmail.com
DESTINY’S CHILDREN
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
Destiny’s children can create fire and move things with their minds, fighting against an ageless evil. Brianna has the power and the opportunity to join them, but will she give up her life and family to do so?
"SECOND CHANCES"
HOUSE SPEC
House takes the case of a patient with wheezing fits, and the case quickly turns life-or-death. Meanwhile, Cameron is offered a new job and must re-evaluate whether she wants to stay working under House.
"APOLOGY"
RESCUE ME SPEC
Tommy fails to rescue a 9/11 conspiracy theorist from a fire, and he threatens to sue unless Tommy makes a public apology.
SHARIFA ROHLEHR
BFA
srohlehr@yahoo.com
FALSE PROPHET: THE STORY OF JIM JONES & THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE
BIOPIC DRAMA FEATURE
The story of infamous San Francisco cult leader Jim Jones and the large, all-inclusive (and unconventional) People's Temple church he created in hopes of satisfying his thirst for adoration and influence.
MIXED SIGNALS
COMEDY/DRAMA FEATURE
What if you could taste the word sunshine? Or hear the smell of grass? Mixed Signals is the ensemble story of five distinct artists who experience this real-life phenomenon called synaesthesia and how it affects their personal and private lives during their rise to success.
FRACTURED PSYCHE
DRAMA FEATURE
After Dr. Alexander Franklin's teenage patient commits suicide, he relocates to Seattle to escape the memory and begin his career fresh. But when a manipulative murderer/rapist unleashes a whole new set of problems, Dr. Franklin soon learns those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.
"DEE GETS AN EATING DISORDER"
IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA SPEC
Dee begins a diet so she can lose weight for an acting role. This becomes difficult when the gang begins selling cheesesteak in the bar.
MICHAEL ROUSSELET
BFA
mrMoogShoes@hotmail.com
Ed Wood Best Editing
OBJECT, MOON
COMEDY FEATURE
At the dawn of civilization, young Baker is the worst at his trade; he is nearly blind and can't even distinguish flour from sand. Yet when the sun refuses to rise and he accidentally invents glasses, Baker is the only one who can see the truth behind insane village chief Exquito's war to destroy the moon in an attempt to bring back the day.
AMY RUBIN
MFA
amyjoyrubin@gmail.com
SCHLIEMANN OF TROY
DRAMA FEATURE
A man devotes his life to discovering the ancient city of Troy, willing to sacrifice everything including the love of his life, who might be the only person that can save him.
THE DOG TALKER
ROMANTIC COMEDY FEATURE
While attempting to win back his estranged wife, expert dog trainer Carlos, who can't seem to relate to people, falls for Agnes, the relationship guru who can't keep her own love life in order.
OPPOSITE OF LOVE
ORIGINAL COMEDY PILOT
A modern day Odd Couple. She's Type A, he's definitely not, but when these two 20-somethings are forced to share a Manhattan apartment, they learn that the Opposite of Love isn't hate.
JAYDI SAMUELS
BFA
jaydi.samuels@gmail.com
SO I MARRIED MY MOTHER
FAMILY COMEDY/DRAMA FEATURE
To save her parents' crumbling marriage, a high school freshman coaches her father in the art of seduction; however, when it comes to solving her own relationship issues, she is at a loss.
RAYUELA (HOPSCOTCH)
HISTORICAL DRAMA FEATURE
During Argentina's brutal dictatorship in the 1970's, Felicia uses her imagination to escape the harsh realities of war. One generation later, her spirit lives on within her American cousin, who also paints her world with magical realism whenever times get dark.
SUGAR DADDIES
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
Two sisters are thrown into an unfamiliar world of sophisticated women and their "sugar daddies" after an anonymous benefactor provides them with a luxury condo in South Beach. Their excitement quickly turns to concern when they begin to suspect their "sugar daddy" is not who he says he is.
MATT SARACUSA
MFA
matt.saracusa@gmail.com
Peter Stark Special Production Winner
THE HONEYMOON
ROMANTIC COMEDY FEATURE
A feeble copy machine tycoon copes with his fiancée's bizarre death by taking the honeymoon cruise they never could. When he discovers she's alive and onboard, will he get revenge or get conned once again?
SUPER BUTLER
ORIGINAL COMEDY PILOT
Being a butler to a superhero means washing capes, arranging grappling hooks and dusting codpieces. But when that superhero is an idiot, it also means saving the day.
THE KARDIAC KID
DRAMA FEATURE
On the verge of landing his dream job, Cleveland's best sportswriter suffers a massive heart attack and is forced into the care of the one guy who can cut him down to size: his estranged father.
ELLE SCHNEIDER
BFA
elle.schneider@gmail.com
Duke City Shootout Competition Winner 2006
Marguerite Roberts Merit Award 2006
Marguerite Roberts Merit Award 2007
Avid Academic Scholarship
WHILE THE MUSIC LASTS
DRAMA FEATURE
After an embarrassing onstage collapse, grounded rock idol Gareth Jones struggles to put his life back together while reluctantly befriending the shy boy living next door.
NO EXIT
ACTION FEATURE
A cult deprogrammer teams up with the son of a cult leader to rescue his daughter who has unknowingly been kidnapped by the dangerous group.
THE STRETCH
HEIST FEATURE
In the summer of 1978, a group of down-and-out friends from the Bronx plan a heist on Yankee Stadium.
SABRINA SIEBERT
BFA
sabrina.siebert@yahoo.com
LILLIAN’S BURNING
DRAMA FEATURE
I came to Venice Beach to escape a small town and the mistakes I made there. I discovered too late you can never hide from your past, but in the back alleys of Venice, you can find everything you need to forget it. This is my story about drugs and bad friends, and a man 40 years my senior, who turned out to be the love of my life.
CHANDRA SMITH
MFA
chandran.smith@gmail.com
Mary Pickford Foundation Scholarship
THE SEX LIFE OF GIRLS
DARK COMEDY FEATURE
A tough-titties vegetarian sex blogger gets a message from the Virgin Mary and rebels against her licentious public persona by taking a vow of celibacy. Terrified, her activist mother enlists the city's hottest bodies to tempt her daughter, but neither has planned for the hot Mexican butcher or the ultimate horror: true love.
AFTERGLOW
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
Allison Wonderland is stuck between a mildly boozebug-bitten mother, an uptight neighborhood and her new position in school as the Outcast Cheerleader. Blessed (or cursed?) with a special vision that arrives at the most unusual of times, Allison must learn to balance her judgment with her ability to effect change... kindness ain't for sissies.
"GOD AND FOOTBALL"
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS SPEC
It's recruitment season and the Dillon Panthers are being tempted from every direction. Saracen is caught with a stripper, Lyla thinks she's pregnant and the unlikeliest person helps her through it.
SARAH THOMPSON
MFA
sarahlindseyt@gmail.com
SURE SHOT
ACTION/COMEDY FEATURE
Annie Appleby, a high school archer who rarely misses the bull's eye, is more than ready to win an archery scholarship to Stanford and get out of her dad's house. So what's stopping her? Just a couple rogue government agents.
SUSANNA IN SIDNEY
COMEDY FEATURE
An aspiring New York designer on the verge of making or breaking her career mistakenly winds up in small town Montana. Amid the colorful locals, she is forced to find inspiration for her designs or upset her all-powerful boss. Is NYC ready for back-country couture?
WELCOME HOME, HADLEY MARTIN
ORIGINAL DRAMA PILOT
What's the best news a 16-year-old college dropout who just suffered a nervous breakdown could hear? Her "perfect" parents are divorcing… and dad's moving next door.
MARIO VILLALOBOS
BFA
mariovillalobosjr@gmail.com
AMORE Y MUERTE
DRAMA FEATURE
An amateur boxer tries to keep his family together after his mother's attempted suicide, but the return of his father after 20 years causes his life to spiral more out of control.
JON WORLEY
BFA
jaawworley@gmail.com
Stephen C. Gentry Scholarship
THE TIME TRAVELER’S HANGOVER
COMEDY FEATURE
In the aftermath of back-to-back romantic and financial disasters, a young, heavy-drinking Slacker of Merit struggles to patch his life back together. Oh, and I forgot to mention—whenever he gets drunk, he travels through time.
EL PULPO
COMEDY/DRAMA FEATURE
In 1954, Miles Medina, a narcissistic satirical radio personality, is recruited by the CIA and shipped to Guatemala. His mission? Drink bootleg whiskey, hit on the locals, and—when he gets the chance—create a comedy propaganda show to aid in overthrowing the country's progressive president. But when he discovers the cold truth behind the CIA's operation, he must decide between taking a paycheck and taking a stand. Based on true events.
IMPOSSIBLE CRIMINALS WITH GOLDEN HEADS
MYSTERY/THRILLER FEATURE
A brutal riot in a secret prison sets into motion a Caribbean cat-and-mouse game between two childhood friends who, as adults, have found themselves on opposite sides of the War on Terror.
"ONOMATOPOEIA"
RESCUE ME SPEC
This Rescue Me spec juggles foul manbantering sex comedy, heartfelt emotion, class conflict, an idiot savant who has memorized the complete "Goosebumps," and much, much more. It's a party on the page and everyone's invited.
