1ST SCENE SCREENPLAY READINGS

1ST SCENE SCREENPLAY READINGS

Winning screenplays. First scenes readings from features, and television specs.

1ST SCENE SCREENPLAY READINGS
  • STUDENT Festival 1st Scene: The Artist’s Son, by Jack Amsler

    Logline: A struggling actor is supported by a father who was forced to give up his dreams when he had his son.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Hannah Ehman
    Young Joseph: Sean Ballantyne
    Young Jessica: Val Cole

  • ROMANCE Festival 1st Scene: REKINDLING, by Suzanna Scorcia

    A Six Episode Web Series: When high school sweethearts Gwen and James cross paths 4 years following the mutual termination of their relationship, both individuals happily take a chance on revitalizing their young love, with the inevitable obstacles of statistics, past traumas, and fresh wounds wo...

  • LGBTQ+ Festival 1st Scene: My Name is Jonas, by Cory David Bortnicker

    A young gay songwriter in the grip of meth addiction must face his past when he learns he is actually a prophet who must save New York City from Judgement Day.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Val Cole
    Mayor Bloomberg: Steve Rizzo
    Officer: Sean Ballantyne

  • ENVIRONMENTAL Festival Best Scene: BEAUTIFUL SPECIMEN, by Mitch Finn

    An estranged couple spends their lives searching for reconciliation and freedom as captives inside a gorilla exhibit as subjects of a reality TV show.

    http://www.mitchfinnwriter.com/

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Steve Rizzo
    Daryl: Sean Ballantyne
    Uta: Geoff Mays

  • Environmental Festival 1st Scene: DENDAN, by Ryan Patrick Doyle

    A headstrong marine cryptozoologist puts her career and life on the line to find a legendary sea monster that will completely rewrite the rules of marine biology. Ghostbusters meets Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Hannah Ehman
    Rafiki: Sean Ballantyne
    Ahmed: ...

  • ACTION/ADVENTURE Festival 1st Scene: CARAMURU, by Tabata Godfrey

    Summary: In 2121, a disease spread across the globe and turned everyone over 18 blind. Emmett and their parents lead Caramuru

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Steve Rizzo
    Nazar: Sean Ballantyne
    Eagle #1/Oriana: Val Col
    Seider/Ulric: Geoff Mays

  • Winning Sci-Fi/Fantasy Festival Script Read: LUCID DREAMS, by Benjamin Neuberger

    In a post-apocalyptic future where citizens are addicted to a technology that allows them to live in their dreams, a grieving detective must stop the company's CEO from annihilating a portion of the population.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Steve Rizzo
    Po Dillon/Otto McCabe: Sean Ballantyne
    Carmen...

  • CRIME/MYSTERY Festival 1st Scene Reading: REV, by Dante Savion (interview)

    When a petty car thief gets into a Monte Carlo he finds abandoned and running, he doesn't realize he's also getting into a $500,000 drug deal gone wrong. Will he be the hero of someone else's story, or will everyone be brought down by his hidden past?

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Val Cole
    Business Ma...

  • COMEDY 1st Scene Reading: PIECE OF CAKE, by Kevin Peter Irigoyen Penatello

    You may think that breaking up a wedding is a piece of cake, but sometimes you get a slice that's fully loaded.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Val Cole
    News Caster: Andy Camp
    Gina: Hannah Ehman
    Mike: Sean Ballantyne

    Get to know the writer:

    1. What is your screenplay about?

    Piece of Cake follows Gi...

  • CHANCE MEETINGS, by John Woodard script reading - LA LGBTQ+ Festival

    Two gay men seek to find each other again after a lost encounter on a busy street. While one turns the city upside down, the other places a "Chance Meetings" add in the LA Weekly newspaper.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Val Cole
    Chance: Geoff Mays
    Duey: Sean Ballantyne

  • DARK ARRIVAL, by John Berry, Ken Jones reading - Action/Adventure (interview)

    A worldwide disaster is created when a cloud of dark matter, a mysterious and powerful relic from the Big Bang, collides with modern day planet Earth.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Sean Ballantyne
    Woman/Karla: Julie Sheppard
    Richard: Geoff Mays

    Writer Statement
    With Dark Arrival we hope to delive...

  • YOU ARE WHAT YOU LOVE 1st scene script read - Female Festival Winner (interview)

    Set against the backdrop of the OxyContin crisis, ‘Leah’s Choice’ unravels the true tale of Leah, a young woman entangled in a poignant queer love triangle. Caught between her soulmate and her best friend amidst her struggle with addiction, Leah’s journey is a harrowing blend of deep love and int...

  • 1st Scene Reading: Barstow, by Brittany Scott Smith, Arjay Smith

    Logline: It might seem like a quiet town, but don't get it twisted...Barstow's the new Vegas, and everyone wants a piece of the pie.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Hannah Ehman
    Don: Geoff Mays
    Marc: Steve Rizzo
    Big Bud/Ratz: Sean Ballantyne

  • Female Festival 1st Scene: LOWLIFE, by Alexandra Watson (interview)

    Summary: AMELIA, a lawyer, returns home to visit her estranged father LIAM, whose health is rapidly declining. As she returns to their Texas land, she learns that the town has been ruined by fracking companies, which is starting to cause earthquakes, along with draining resources and money from t...

  • THRILLER/SUSPENSE Festival 1st Scene: RESERVOIR, by E.K. Gaylord

    The family of the Antichrist unravels alongside the Biblical Apocalypse.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Hannah Ehman
    Alonso: Geoff Mays
    Griffith: Sean Ballantyne

  • HORROR Festival 1st Scene: When the Moon is Right, by Jacob Schmidt (interview)

    Sam and his mother move to a small town in Ohio. As he tries to navigate high school and adjust to his new home, he learns the town is plagued by unexplained murders that happen every full moon. After coming face to face with the beast responsible, it's up to Sam and an unlikely group of new frie...

  • CRIME/MYSTERY Festival 1st Scene: VIEWING, by John C. Fitch III (interview)

    After a supernatural experience, a street artist at the end of his rope goes to work for a billionaire as a psychic viewer but must fight his way out when he discovers that his shadowy employer is embroiled in a deadly conspiracy. Inspired by true events.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Hannah Ehman
    Scot...

  • SCENE: Game of Thrones "The Rains of Castamere", by Anthony Hyatt (interview)

    The iconic GAME OF THRONES ‘Red Wedding’ episode in the style of PARKS AND RECREATION:
While a recently divorced wedding planner attempts to engineer the perfect day, a self-conscious groom tries desperately to discover who he is marrying, all while the realm’s most famous conflict mediator striv...

  • LGBTQ+ Festival 1st Scene: Sav's Boy, by Connor Brandt

    After receiving a letter from his estranged sister, a gay trans man goes home to Boston in hopes of reconnection, teams up with his best friend to solve an old family mystery across from Massachusetts to Italy, and discovers what family and love truly mean along the way.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: ...

  • LGBTQ+ Festival: This is Jan, by Robert Larriviere, Hunter Burke, Nick Lavin

    Some time in the 1950s, Jan checks into

    The Pontchartrain Hotel. Alone in the executive suite, Jan has the solitude and freedom to shed the identity imposed on them by the tight constraints of the era's societal norms. Relieved of that burden, Jan relishes the opportunity to transform into the p...

  • THRILLER/SUSPENSE Festival 1st Scene: Cuckoo Cuckoo, by Terry Lynam (interview)

    [A contained sexy and scary psychological thriller set in 2 locations with 4 characters] In a desperate game between a wealthy older man and his attractive, but unfaithful, younger wife, a mutual friend sees a chance to play both sides.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Julie Sheppard
    Grimsby: Geoff Mays
    ...

  • HORROR Fest 1st Scene: NO 3 Hollythorne Cottage, by Denis Crampton (interview)

    When a remote cottage is invaded by three young women and their psychopathic hostage takers, it's malevolent spirit is unwittingly awakened with tragic consequences.

    http://www.threeinonepictures.com/

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Julie Sheppard
    John: Steve Rizzo
    Sally: Val Cole

    Reading of the firs...

  • DRAMA: Beyond The Rivers of Babylon, Laura Elliott & Joseph Samuels (interview)

    A journey through time when the Jews were threatened by the Muslims and how one young man’s life changed when he escaped and helped others smuggle into Israel from Baghdad- based on a true story.

    https://www.laurasmagicday.com/

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Geoff Mays
    Joseph/Elderly Man: Steve Rizzo...

  • DRAMA Festival 1st Scene: Dancing in Place, by Jeanne Dukes

    When escalating interest between a middle-aged professor and his attractive new neighbor suddenly gets complicated after he remembers their painful young summer romance, he struggles over how to tell her until he comes up with a perfect plan.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
    Cassie...