Winner
Killing Che by Alexander Vargas
Alexander was born and raised in Miami, Florida—a mutt of Cuban and Swedish upbringing (his parents met on a dare, which may or may not be his next feature). Less than a month after graduating from the University of Miami almost 10 years ago, he took the plunge across the country to Los Angeles to pursue screenwriting.
Not knowing where to start, he landed an internship at several production companies while tutoring kids on the weekends. Eventually, the stars aligned for an assistant position at a talent management company where he cut his teeth covering scripts for clients. He went on to other production companies and continued to plow through the weekend read, covering as many scripts as possible. He credits doing coverage as the single most helpful tool in learning how to write screenplays. He stayed inspired and motivated thanks to his supportive writer’s group.
He then became a writer’s assistant on the reboot of The Twilight Zone, which is his favorite show of all-time. Some of his earliest writing as a kid were Twilight Zone-inspired short stories.
Alexander has 13 thirteen features and two pilots. He has a problem with history, and you can most likely find him cooking up a storm in the kitchen.
Follow Alexander: Twitter
Runner-up
Violet, Violet by Rachel Leyco
Rachel is a Filipina-American award-winning filmmaker/writer/actor, who is passionate about telling stories that matter. She is additionally an enthusiastic, queer, outspoken advocate for mental health education and destigmatization.
Notably, she won a student Emmy at the 2013 College Television Awards, for her web series, The Sub Club. Her short films, Maple’s Tree and Bicultural, were official selections in quite a few film festivals around the world, including Outfest, BFI Flare: London LGBTQ+, and others. She served as co-creator/showrunner and lead actress in the web series, Crazy, which premiered in the 2020 InsideOut Toronto LGBT Film Festival. Her TV scripts have advanced as finalists in the 2018 NBC Writers on the Verge program, the second round of the 2019 Sundance Episodic Lab, and a finalist in the 2020 Sundance Makers Lab. Apart from winning the Script Pipeline Runner-Up award, her feature film script Violet, Violet is also part of Network ISA’s Development Slate.
As an actress, Rachel’s TV credits include a guest star on NBC’s Chicago Fire, most recently recurring in BET’s Games People Play as ‘Susie Q’, and a great role on Netflix’s Atypical, Season 3.
Contact: jennifer@atnentertainment.com
Follow Rachel: Twitter | Instagram | Site
Finalists
Agriturismo by Nick Rufca
Black Friday by Jonathan Dillon & Stephen Colletti
Bring Me Back by Crosby Selander
Jumpman: The Legend of Shigeru Miyamoto by Nick Hurwitch
Killing Che by Alexander Vargas
Light Up the Stage by Keaton Wooden & Grayson Coleman-Selby
The Second Best Astronaut in the Universe by Woody Bess
The Wedding by Mashael Alqahtani
They Live on Skid Row by RJ Daniel Hanna
Violet, Violet by Rachel Leyco
Semifinalists
Agriturismo by Nick Rufca
Black Friday by Jonathan Dillon & Stephen Colletti
Bring Me Back by Crosby Selander
Destiny’s Child by Taylor Chukwu
Fox Hollow by Ariel Sobel
Gift the Host by Morris Long
Jumpman: The Legend of Shigeru Miyamoto by Nick Hurwitch
Killing Che by Alexander Vargas
Light Up the Stage by Keaton Wooden & Grayson Coleman-Selby
Lost Mountain by Nathan Wilcoxen
Maiden Warrior by Aarthi Ramanathan
Murder Ballad by Adam Spellicy
One Nighter by Vandon Gibbs
Queen of the Mist by David Case
Scandalous! by Matthew Fantaci
Scout’s Honor by Raven Patton
The Desert by Ben Bigelow
The Pearson Five by Claire Higgins
The Second Best Astronaut in the Universe by Woody Bess
They Live on Skid Row by RJ Daniel Hanna
Tunnel Vision by Evan Rindler & Jon Rizik
Violet, Violet by Rachel Leyco
Quarterfinalists
A Bull in the Forest by Geoffrey Prather
Agriturismo by Nick Rufca
Ambrosia by Alexander Vargas
American Vice by Benjamin Feuer
Beacon by Nate Ruegger
Black Friday by Jonathan Dillon & Stephen Colletti
Braddock by Gregory Caruso
Bring Me Back by Crosby Selander
Call Out by Nir Shelter
Containment by Mitali Jahagirdar
Destiny’s Child by Taylor Chukwu
Fox Hollow by Ariel Sobel
Gift the Host by Morris Long
Girlband by Gemma Crofts
Good Hands by Daniel Cameron
I’m So Happy for You by Cala Adair
Immortal by Natalie Metzger
Intergalactic by David Williams
Jumpman: The Legend of Shigeru Miyamoto by Nick Hurwitch
Killing Che by Alexander Vargas
Landmark by Nicholas Adams
Light Up the Stage by Keaton Wooden & Grayson Coleman-Selby
Losing My Religion by Kate D’hotman
Lost Mountain by Nathan Wilcoxen
Mad Rush by Manfred Lopez Grem
Maiden Warrior by Aarthi Ramanathan
Max Gets Played by Matthew O’Connell
Murder Ballad by Adam Spellicy
Muscle & Bark by Gina De Angelis
One Nighter by Vandon Gibbs
Prodigal by Justin Reilly
Queen of the Mist by David Case
Scandalous! by Matthew Fantaci
Scout’s Honor by Raven Patton
Space for Raven by Shawna Baca
Stone Cold Crazy Mother Tucker by Katterina Powers
The Club by David Scullion
The Desert by Ben Bigelow
The Father of PlayStation by Matthew MacDonald
The Fourth of July by J. Ian Sample
The Jesuit by Jordan Guingao
The Limo Driver by Tejal Desai
The Pearson Five by Claire Higgins
The Second Best Astronaut in the Universe by Woody Bess
The Traveler by Jameel Saleem
They Live on Skid Row by RJ Daniel Hanna
Trading by Anna Weinstein
Tunnel Vision by Evan Rindler
Two Cops! by Brian Corcoran
Unorthodox by Judah Ray
Unsportsmanlike Conduct by Amanda Samaroo
Violet, Violet by Rachel Leyco
Walk Up by Felicia Ho