Winner
X by Estevan
Estevan is a queer/Latinx writer, actor, and director. After receiving his BFA in Film & Television Studies from The University of Arizona, Estevan began his career as a Manager of Television Development & Programming at dick clark productions, penning red carpet specials for live entertainment programs including The Golden Globes, E! Live from the Red Carpet at the Oscars, The Grammys, Billboard Music Awards, American Music Awards, The Streamy Awards and more.
Recently he worked as the Writers’ PA on season 2 of the Bad Boys franchise spinoff series LA’s Finest for Jerry Bruckheimer Television and Sony/Spectrum/Fox. In 2020, Estevan served as the Writers’ Assistant on Long Slow Exhale from from EP/Showrunner Pam Veasey for Hello Sunshine/Made Up Stories and Paramount TV/Spectrum/BET.
A proud, gay, Mexican-American kid from Phoenix, AZ, Estevan grew up shaped by the quick wit of queer culture and the tough Spanglish love of his close-knit family. As a writer, he is eager to spotlight and expand the nuances of intersectional characters through bold, dynamic stories.
Follow Estevan: Twitter
Runner-up
American Gospel by Malinna Liang
Malinna Liang pursued screenwriting for the fame and money.
Hah. Okay—Malinna Liang got into screenwriting because someone, somewhere, once read something she wrote when she was 10 and said, kindly, to be nice, “hey this could be a good movie.” She wasn’t interested in expectation management when she was 10, and she’s certainly not interested in it now that she’s 25, so here we are.
In 2018, she graduated from the University of Auckland (in New Zealand, Australia’s Canada) with a degree in Screen Production and 60% of a degree in law. Between screenwriting, she dabbles in prose and would not shut up about that book she’s definitely going to finish within the next 6 to 72 months. She watches way too much news and not enough TV. She’s really into Macedonian army logistics and 15th century Italian unification politics, but only if it’s sexy.
Follow Malinna: Twitter
Finalists:
American Gospel by Malinna Liang
Confidence Woman by Amelie Yeager
Conscription by Caroline Glenn
Family Medicine by Missy Hernandez
Gil and Me by Kelsey Krasnigor
Killing It by Chance Muehleck
Squad by Tevin Knight
Thank God For Girls by Summer Plair
The Tinwife by Travis Neufeld
X by Estevan
Semifinalists:
American Gospel by Malinna Liang
Barbizon Girls by Deborah Swisher
Barry – “Good Talk” by Dan Benamor
Code Switchin’ by Kimaya Floyd
Confidence Woman by Amelie Yeager
Conscription by Caroline Glenn
Dark Irish by Erin Kathleen
Family Medicine by Missy Hernandez
Gil and Me by Kelsey Krasnigor
Insecure – “Lowkey Healing” by Nathalie Dortonne
Killing It by Chance Muehleck
Middlewives by Courtney Burness
Power Suit by Nick Roth
Squad by Tevin Knight
Swearing by Mary Bronaugh
Tenth by Kenyetta Raelyn
Thank God For Girls by Summer Plair
The Mender by RB Ripley
The Queen Annes by Elizabeth Musgrave
The Redeemer by Sean Fitz-Gerald
The St. Lawrence Chasm by Derek J Pastuszek
The Tinwife by Travis Neufeld
Violet Clair by Mike Langer & Trevor Worley
Wish List by Frank Paiva
X by Estevan
Quarterfinalists:
American Gospel by Malinna Liang
Architorture by Jordan Zignego
Barbizon Girls by Deborah Swisher
Barry – “Good Talk” by Dan Benamor
Bob’s Burgers – “Medium Rare Window” by Timothy Edwards
Bound by Roosevelt Brown
Bread (or Pane al Pane) by Gina De Angelis
Canusa Street Blues by Zack Morrison
Code Switchin’ by Kimaya Floyd
Confidence Woman by Amelie Yeager
Conscription by Caroline Glenn
Curators by Alison Garfinkel
Dad’s the Word by Peter Hayward
Dangerous Curves by Amber Eyerly
Dark Irish by Erin Kathleen
Fade to White by Drew Mackintosh
Family Medicine by Missy Hernandez
Gil and Me by Kelsey Krasnigor
Good Hair by Katie Nathan
Insecure – “Lowkey Healing” by Nathalie Dortonne
Killing It by Chance Muehleck
Leakers by Matthew Moskovciak
Matriarch by Luca Rojas
Middlewives by Courtney Burness
O, Pariah! by Remi K. Chevalier
Opal by Jennifer Muro
Pope Jane by David Bush
Power Suit by Nick Roth
Radio Quiet by Gabriel Feinberg
Road to Zion by Andrew Reid & Jeremy Palmer
Sears Has Everything by Bethany McHugh & Raphael Picciarelli
Squad by Tevin Knight
Sugar by Natalia Cuevas & Walker Hare
Swearing by Mary Bronaugh
Tenth by Kenyetta Raelyn
Thank God For Girls by Summer Plair
The Mender by RB Ripley
The Queen Annes by Elizabeth Musgrave
The Quickening by Brittany Worthington
The Redeemer by Sean Fitz-Gerald
The Shrink by Adi Blotman
The St. Lawrence Chasm by Derek J Pastuszek
The Tinwife by Travis Neufeld
This is Us – “What’s Meant to Be” by Naomi Lambert
Token Idiots by Matthew Lutz
Tokyo Cowboy by Melissa Rundle
Violet Clair by Mike Langer & Trevor Worley
Wish List by Frank Paiva
X by Estevan