At Salt’ n Sugar, a popcorn bar in the middle of nowhere, LILY a bored waitress, is goingto turn her life around when two fishy strangers show up in the bar.
A mix of onirism, violence and dark humor, Bitch, Popcorn & Blood is simply the weapon that everyone has dreamt of being one day.
A tortured, tattooed man returns to the town he ran away from as a child to exact his revenge on all those who wronged him. Not only to mend the shattered pieces of his own life, but for his mother’s suffering as well, and ultimately face the one man he fears the
most; his father.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Matt Barnes
Aesop: Manny Pacheco
Candice Cutliff: Esther Thibauilt
DW Cutliff: Steve Rizzo
Two sisters vacationing in Mexico become trapped in a shark cage on the ocean floor. As their oxygen starts to run out and with great white sharks circling them, the sisters must find a way to get to the surface alive.
Even at 89 minutes, you can feel the oxygen running out of this movie.
While the plot is a bit shaky in parts, the overall effect of creating needed tension and some outright, out-of-your-seat jumps of fright is quite effective.
Any incremental gains civilization may have made have been wiped out, obliterated without a trace by the fact of this film’s existence. It’s an affront. An atrocity.
The scenario is terrifying. Yet, this movie isn’t as scary as it probably should be. And it certainly isn’t as scary as it probably wanted to be given how many times we see shark teeth graze human skin.
The film contrives to fill its thin 85 minutes with dicey escape attempts and a fake-out that horror buffs will recall from a better film best left unnamed.
A man’s life spirals out of control when he becomes obsessed with meeting the woman behind the voice of his car navigation system.
Get to know the winning writer:
1. What is your screenplay about?
Things go terribly awry for a man who becomes obsessed with meeting the woman behind the voice of his car navigation system.
2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?
A dark comedy, Twilight Zone-like thriller
2. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
It is unique in that it is a SOLO actor performance. The outside world exists only as voices heard, but not seen. Being that, it can be made on an extremely low budget. It’s darkly funny, thrilling and entertaining for an audience for beginning to end. It is a challanging and fun role for an actor. It’s based on a situation where millineal technology backfires in way that could possibly happen to anyone.
3. How would you describe this script in two words?
Quirky. Thrilling.
4. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
The original Star Wars!
5. How long have you been working on this screenplay?
About a year and a half on and off.
6. How many stories have you written?
10 Features, 3 original TV pilots, 10 shorts.
7. What motivated you to write this screenplay?
A story I read that something similar happened. I thought it was a great premise for a story that was based on reality. I also tried to come up with something easily producable.
8. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
For contest purposes, trying to keep the whole story under 30 pages while keeping it entertaining, while at the same time developing the characters. Also trying to write it in such a way that only one physical actor was needed for the whole story, which was very challanging in itself.
9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
I love movies! But also am passionate about baseball, Texas Hold’em and getting involved with my daughter’s school activities.
10. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?
Keep learning about your craft and never stop. Try every means available to get your work out there, all the while just keep writing and writing. Write what you know best. Experiment with different genres, concepts, story lengths and formats. Never give up!
Alexander Nachaj: Dead North is a story about a group of survivors trying to, well, survive in a soon-to-be frigid zombie apocalypse in Northern Canada. Though I can’t help but think that the apocalyptic setting along with the monsters is largely a backdrop for where a story like this could take place, make sense and help build the tension and stakes. After all, the zombies aren’t the greatest threat in this world; it’s other people and the environment they navigate.
MT: Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
AN: Because I think people will love it. It’s filled with the kinds of things people want to see in movies, especially those big summer blockbusters. It’s got plenty of action and exciting visuals, lots of tension and conflict, and hopefully some characters the viewer can care about and root for. Even though it’s an original story, with a few twists and spins on existing ideas and conventions, it’s not so different that people won’t know how to relate to what’s taking place on the screen. Also, I suppose who doesn’t want their screenplay to become a movie? These kinds of things are meant to be seen, not just read.
MT: How would you describe this script in two words?
AN: Bloody fun.
MT: What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
AN: There’s a handful of movies that I seem to re-watch constantly, but the winner for most viewed would have to be the original Planet of the Apes with Charlton Heston. The number of times I’ve watched that movie as an adult has probably overtaken the number of times I watched Star Wars as a kid. I’m also only half-ashamed to say I’ve seen Apes’ wonderfully awful sequels (all four of them) almost as many times as the original movie.
MT: How long have you been working on this screenplay?
AN: I had the initial idea for the screenplay a few months before I sat down to write it, probably at the end of summer when that first autumn breeze rolled in through the windows. At the time it was just some ideas for scenes, visuals and possible character dynamics. When I finally sat down to write it, the whole story really just poured through like I had turned on a tap and it wouldn’t stop. I churned out the first draft during a somewhat sleep-deprived 72 hours in order to make the first deadline for this festival, actually.
MT: How many stories have you written?
AN: While I’ve written a few shorts, this was the first real feature-length screenplay I’ve completed. I’ve spent a lot of my creative time since then keeping track of ideas, scenes and characters that I’d like to incorporate in future, feature-length stories like this one. I’ve also been writing plenty of short horror stories. Since January, I’ve completed four stories and am in the process of adding two more to the list.
MT: What motivated you to write this screenplay?
AN: Definitely the thrill of putting together a complete, standalone story and potentially seeing it come to life. Though I’d be lying if I said having a festival deadline only a few days away didn’t help! Deadlines have a way of motivating me like few things do.
MT: What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
AN: Remarkably, not that many. When you have a story in mind, have the time and the motivation, I found that it was pretty easy to get it on paper and finish it. I suppose clearing up my weekends to write and then later edit was the largest challenge. Not everyone wants to keep seeing “busy, writing” every time they text and sometimes other projects have deadlines that can’t wait either. Fortunately, everything lined up perfectly for me.
MT: Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
AN: It might be an odd thing to hear coming from a guy who just wrote a screenplay that contains flesh-eating monsters, but I’m actually kind of passionate about my vegetarian lifestyle; that is to say, I’m thrilled that I live in a city where I can afford to be a vegetarian and know tons of other people who share my habits. It’s clearly not possible for everyone, so I definitely feel fortunate to live in a place like Montreal where it is.
MT: What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?
AN: I found out about the festival only a few days before the initial deadline (which turned out to be for the best), so I was really motivated to try and finish something and enter it in time. When I received the feedback on my first draft I was honestly blown away not only by how positive it was, but also how helpful it turned out to be with ironing out the kinks and polishing up my story. Even just the little details and observations the festival reviewers sent me made a huge difference in helping me produce the screenplay it is today.
MT: Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?
AN: Finish what you start, no matter how unpleasant it might feel at times. Just push through that wall. Also, deadlines really help. If there’s no room for procrastinating, you tend to do it less. Lastly, submit your work to festivals and competitions and have others read it. You’ll never realize how important feedback is until you receive it.
SILENTLY WITHIN YOUR SHADOW, 14min, UK, Horror/Thriller
Directed by Scott Lyus
As their relationship grows, Lucette’s obsession for ventriloquism and her dummy Hugo starts to strain her relationship with Jace. To Luctette Hugo is more than just a dummy, he’s her best friend and represents her ambition as an artist, to her, he’s very much real.
Silently Within Your Shadow – Director’s Statement
Silently Within Your Shadow is my attempt at creating a story driven horror film, with strong characters, that doesn’t rely on blood and gore.
I wanted to dig into the heart of an artist, in our case a ventriloquist performer, and see how deep her love for her art ran; and explore the effects on her relationship with her boyfriend and the horror that provides.
Walk with the Devil is a supernatural drama in which a young sex slave must choose between kidnapping a girl for her pimp or suffer his vicious abuse — all the while fully aware of the Devil’s eyes on her, waiting for her fall.
Also, Free logline submissions. The Writing Festival network averages over 95,000 unique visitors a day.
Great way to get your story out: http://www.wildsound.ca/logline.html
Watch the Audience Feedback Video of THE BLOOD OF LOVE:
THE BLOOD OF LOVE, 19min, USA, Horror/Thriller
Directed by Jeff Meyers
Unwilling to accept the death of her husband, a young widow, acquires a machine that can bring him back to her. But the machine exacts a terrible price: she must provide the blood it needs to revive her beloved. And it starts demanding more and more blood for less and less time.
Writers
Jeff Meyers
Producers
Jonathan West
Keith Jefferies
Arden Morris
Key Cast
Mali Elfman
Chris Stack
James St Vincent
Steve Xander Carson
Norman Roth