Winner
Detective Gizmo
Zeke Nelson & Mark Nelson
ZEKE
In a previous life, Zeke played college football at San Diego State University, but following enough blows to the head, chose to move into the creative arena. He started in advertising as a copywriter before earning an MFA in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute.
Zeke has since performed writing duties for branded content campaigns and video game projects, and has developed animated and live-action projects for various studios and production companies. He is a co-founder of Slapworks Animation.
MARK
Mark Nelson attended graduate school at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television for animation, where he wrote and directed the animated film, “The Jockstrap Raiders,” which won the Student Academy Award.
He has since worked professionally in VFX on TV and feature films, recently on such franchises as Marvel and Star Wars. Although his day job is in visual effects, Mark continues to write and develop original material, and is a co-founder of Slapworks Animation.
Runner-up
Inconceivable
Lesley Fera
Lesley Fera is an actor-writer, perhaps best known for her roles on Pretty Lilttle Liars, Southland, and 24. A native Californian, Lesley hails from Corona, a small town where nothing ever happens. At age seven, Santa Claus changed her life forever when he gifted her a vintage aqua-blue Smith-Corona Sterling after bribing him with animal crackers and Moutain Dew. Writing soon became her favorite pastime. Her other hobby was escaping into the magical world of television, which inspired Lesley to pursue a life in the arts.
Those untold hours spent writing and watching the boob tube would finally be put to good use when Lesley joined Bad Pitch Writers Lab in 2018. Since then, Lesley’s written two original TV pilots, four TV specs, a feature, two podcasts, and three short plays. Recent accolades: Runner-up/Script Pipeline TV Writing Contest; WB Writers’ Workshop Finalist.
Lesley has a B.A. from California State University, Fullerton, and an MFA from FSU/Asolo Conservatory. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband, two rescues, and her trusty MacBook Pro.
Finalists
Animal Spirits
Shyam Popat
Detective Gizmo
Zeke Nelson & Mark Nelson
Get Well Soon
Michael Deigh
Here for the Wrong Reasons
Sabrina Batchler
Inconceivable
Lesley Fera
Invisibles
Kevin Sweeney
John Proctor Must Die
Savannah Lobel
The Girl’s Guide to Growing Up
Robin Davies
The Monica Morgan Show
Jessi Campbell
Time Pod
Molly Vogel
Semifinalists
Absolutely!
David Rosenberg
All My Friends are Dead
Amy Huckabay
Back Fires
Alex Blumberg
Deep East Texas
Rachel Liebling
Deviate
Nicki Holcomb
F.E.A.R.S.
Audrey Cornett
Heroin Chic
Summer Benowitz
Matrioshka Murder
Brad Pike & Danny Galvin
Miss America
Adi Blotman
Talented Beautiful Disasters
Ben Kim
The Deli
Alex Raiman
Wise Guy
Nick Parker
Quarterfinalists
Ace Harlem
Samuel Miller
Blind Allegiance
Ebony Gilbert
Camp Psychopathways
Danny Galvin & Brad Pike
Cult Town
Katie Crone
Disaster
Alex Raiman
Divinity
Jamil Akim O’Quinn
Downtown
Brian Stone
Holy Spirits
Lewis H. Mackie
Kosmos
Alex Blumberg
Once We Were Kings
Chloe Borenstein-Lawee
Project Evergreen
Zoe Broad
Soñadora
Alonso Mayo
Starring Nancy
Amanda Scherker
Stuck In
Eli Elbogen
The Beautiful
Jared Chiang-Zeizel
The Quickening
Brittany Worthington
The Non-Prophet
Ari Donnelly
Trenchrob
Andrew Rose
Wash Your Birdie: 101 Things That Can Crawl up Your Vagina and Kill You
Stephanie Bast
XS
Danny Hogan