BEST SCENE SCREENPLAY READINGS
The "best scene" take from features and TV pilots of winning screenplays.
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FEMALE Festival Best Scene Reading: THE UNRAVELLING, by Susan Kelejian
"The Unravelling" follows Beth Carter, a young American woman who inherits a lighthouse on the remote Irish island of Inishenbarr. As she settles into island life, Beth begins experiencing visions of the past, specifically of her ancestors Brigid and Llewellyn, star-crossed lovers whose story end...
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FEMALE Festival Best Scene: THE EIGHT DATES OF HANUKKAH, by Laurel Gans
A top efficiency expert is forced to prove her new dating program works by going on all eight dates herself.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
Natalie: Julie Sheppard
Wallace: Shawn Devlin
Sam: Steve Rizzo -
FANTASY/SCI-FI Best Scene:RACE WARS: A EUGENICS EXPERIMENT, by Eric Faulkner
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Val Cole
Caucasoid: Geoff Mays
Negroid: Shawn Devlin -
FANTASY/SCI-FI Festival Best Scene Reading: NEANDERLAND, by Muli Glasberg
In a venture into an uncharted human civilization on Earth that evolved without sunlight, a checkered doctor must bridge - with a resilient local leader - science and ancient tradition to find a cure to a deadly disease, navigating together hostile landscapes, corporate grid, personal demons.
CA...
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FANASY/SCI-FI Fest Best Scene: THE RED ZONE, by Terry Luke Podner (interview)
Summary: An American footballer has the greatest super human strength and is undefeated on the field. What make him stand out even more is that he had a terrible car accident which could have killed him but surprisingly he survived and is now a force putting his underdog team back on the map. How...
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FANTASY Festival Best Scene: Alaric The Rising Knight, by Sammy Vogel-Seidenberg
In a realm where the balance of power is governed by the elements—Earth, Fire, Water, and Desert—the theft of the Elementarium by the ruthless Kael threatens to plunge the world into chaos. The Council of Elders, desperate to restore order, turns to Alaric, a young but gifted Earth Knight, to uni...
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HORROR Best Scene Reading: Echoes From The Veil. by Nicole Sell (interview)
Newly widowed father, Daniel Lambert, grapples with his skepticism of the supernatural as he moves into a charming old house with his four children, seeking a fresh start after the untimely passing of his wife. The family struggles to adapt to their new life, each of them finding their own way to...
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BEST Scene Reading: THE SUSURRUS, by Krista Amigone (interview)
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Steve Rizzo
Lydia: Julie Sheppard
Charmilla: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
Jilly: Hannah EhmanGet to know the writer:
1. What is your screenplay about?
The Susurrus is about a dollmaker who starts to date a year after her husband abandoned her. The jump back into the dating ...
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BEST Scene Reading: MORE GOING DOWN, by Dennis J. Manning (interview)
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Julie Sheppard
Jake: Geoff Mays
Bartender: Shawn Devlin
Robin: Steve RizzoGet to know the writer:
1. What is your screenplay about?
More Going Down is a neo-noir crime thriller set in Miami's underworld, where power, seduction, and betrayal collide. It follows Jake, a m... -
Best Scene Reading: MARILOU & MARILYN, by Melanie Klug
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Shawn Devlin
Jane: Julie Sheppard
Policeman #1/Archie: Steve Rizzo
Marilou: Elizabeth Rose Morriss -
BEST Scene Reading: Dirty Kid, by Olga Klemesheva (interview)
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Steve Rizzo
Molly: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
Walter: Shawn DevlinGet to know the writer:
1. What is your screenplay about?
Selfish Walter is not ready for real family life and persuades a little person actor to play the role of an adopted child in order to discourage h...
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FEMALE Festival Best Scene: Hong Kong, by Tim Morell (interview)
Caught between a suffocating marriage and a passionate affair, Anne Delbridge fights to find her own freedom, independence, and voiceamidst the turmoil surrounding the pro-democracy student uprising in Tiananmen Square, China.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
Anne: Hannah Ehman
Ric... -
BEST Scene Reading: Past Transgressions, by Faith Wilson
Two African brothers with a strained relationship accidentally get sent back in time to the era of slavery. In their efforts to return to the present, they inadvertently alter history. Upon their return, they discover that African Americans are now the majority, and white people are the minority....
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HEIST COUNTER HEIST, by Helen Rana. Best Scene CRIME/MYSTERY Festival
London, 1979. Reeling from the fallout of her father’s suicide, observant teen Jenny devises a foolproof theft, based on insights gleaned from waitressing in a gangsters’ social club. Her plucky two best friends join in - but their plan to pull a counter heist goes badly awry.
CAST LIST:
Narra...
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STAGE PLAY Best Scene Reading: THE SPECIALS, by Kimberly Lawton (interview)
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Julie Sheppard
Louis: Steve Rizzo
Laura: Hannah EhmanGet to know the writer:
1. What is your screenplay about?
Ultimately it's about loneliness and how if can look different through grief or mental illness. Some people struggle with it and seem to function well (car...
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BALL IS LIFE, by Ben Burgess Jr.. Best Scene Reading GENRE Festival
After the sudden death of her father, Devine “Mack” Muhammad, an NBA legend, WNBA superstar Destiny “Beloved” Muhammad is faced with a choice: to play in Game 7 of the Finals and honor his legacy or be consumed by grief and doubt. Ball is Life explores themes of family, generational pressure, and...
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WHAT'S A ZAYDE?, by Andy Epstein. Best Scene Reading. WILDsound Festival
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Shawn Devlin
Becky: Julie Sheppard
Lucille: Hannah Ehman -
LOVE UNVEILED, by Josip Pozgaj. Best Scene. ENVIRONMENTAL Festival (interview)
Love Unveiled explores the collision of two different worlds. Sophie, a driven and self-centered woman, dreams of a political career in Washington, D.C., but her plans derail when her father’s gambling debts entrap her with Drago, a ruthless mafia boss in Split, Croatia. Forced into a marriage wi...
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Jerusalem Idol, by Lewis Nevin Papier. Best Scene. COMEDY Festival (interview)
In ancient Israel, an aspiring stand-up comedian and self-proclaimed prophet must navigate fame, rivalries, and a mad Procurator's wrath to save his runner-up competitor—and himself—after winning the wildly popular reality show, 'Jerusalem Idol.'
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
Be... -
TRANSITIONS, by Rachael CG Cudlitz. 1st Scene Script Reading. LGBTQ+ Festival
A Half Hour Comedy about a gender non-conforming young adult embarking on a journey of self discovery with help and — at times — hindrance from their family.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Steve Rizzo
Quinn: Hannah Ehman
Sarah: Elizabeth Rose Morriss -
The Ghosts of Rachel Young, by Shaun Mark Burrell. Action//Fantasy/Thriller Fest
Haunted by a fatal mistake, a shattered vice cop reunites with a bright but brooding detective and his mysterious family to tame her frightening new power and protect it from the evil eager to control it.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Julie Sheppard
Rachel: Hannah Ehman
Brandon: Steve Rizzo -
ON THE CORNER OF EDEN AND GRACE, by Marsha Rosenzweig Pincus. Best Scene Reading
Between the moon walk and Woodstock, a 17 year old aspiring photographer struggles to save her boyfriend from slipping into heroin addiction without destroying herself.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Julie Sheppard
Rosie: Hannah Ehman
Boone: Steve Rizzo -
WHITE CHOCOLATE, by Cecil Harris. Best Scene Reading Female Festival (interview)
The killing of a teenage basketball prodigy in New York presents a life-threatening challenge for a beautiful Latina detective and her partner.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Julie Sheppard
Erika: Elizabeth Rose Morris
Maria: Hannah EhmanGet to know the writer:
1. What is your screenplay about?
Whit... -
OVERLORDE, by Paul Rose & Brian Streaty. Best Scene Script Reading Female Fest
A brilliant but troubled Egyptologist sparks an international incident when she invades the tomb of a mummified celestial being, only to become possessed by the entity's mysterious powers.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Julie Sheppard
Deborah: Hannah Ehman
Ahmed: Steve Rizzo