In deep suburbia, an unhappily married couple regularly murders to feed their cannibal son, until a manipulative high school valedictorian’s sleuthing forces life-changing decisions.
CAST LIST:
Timmy: Peter Mark Raphael
Ms. Smiley: Norma Dunphy
Ronald: : Isaiah Kolundzic
Narrator: Esther Thibault
Tess: Victoria Urquart
Rick: Dan Cristofori
Rebecca: Monica Knox
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A famous horror writer finally decides to start dating again after grieving for years over the loss of his wife, only to discover that all the creatures he’s been writing about are real and he just started dating one.
CAST LIST:
Annie: Norma Dunphy
Narrator: Esther Thibault
Gould: Isaiah Kolundzic
Hershel: Dan Cristofori
Doc: Peter Mark Raphael
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A girl is betrayed by her parents and given to a demonic cult to be sacrificed, a detective must wrestle with his own past and demons to save the girl. This case could be his last chance at salvation.
CAST LIST:
Maurice – 1 – Alex Clay
Woman – 1 – Vanessa Burns
Narration – Pip Dwyer
Detective Johns – 13 – Russell Batcher
Officer Davis – 15 – Luke Robinson
Child – 1 – Sydney Addison-Rudat
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It is the year of our Lord 1900. In the storm of the century, a team of Lighthouse keepers are stranded on a barren island off the coast of Newfoundland. The storm brings carnage and destruction but it also harbors something far more sinister. As the days edge by, the team becomes aware of a centuries old evil that threatens, not just the island, but their very existence. The Vanished is ‘A Perfect Storm’ meets ‘The Wicker Man’ to the bleak backdrop of a North Atlantic isle.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Mandy May Cheetham
McDonald: Liam Kinahan
Annie: Anjelica Alejandro
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Logline: A group of bullied, emotionally abused high school students take over a Haunted Hayride on Halloween night and make its horrors real. “Hayride” will do for the increasingly popular Haunted Hayrides what “Jaws” did for swimming in oceans and “Psycho” did for showers.
CAST LIST:
NARRATION: Julie C. Sheppard
Lexi – Vanessa Quagliara
Rose – Katelyn Vanier
Tommy – Trevor Marlatt
Get to know the writer:
What is your screenplay about?
When a bullied gay student is driven to suicide, his ‘outcast’ friends decide it’s time to exact payback by volunteering to help run this year’s Haunted Halloween Hayride. This year’s Hayride is going to be unlike any other. That’s because this year’s Hayride is…real.
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Horror that taps into the growing bullying problem taking place in schools, and the country in general.
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
Hayride can be made cheaply, under $3-5 million and with the right marketing could at least double its budget its first weekend because Haunted Halloween Hayrides have become enormously popular the past decade. It would do for haunted hayrides (and if a sequel, Halloween Horror Houses!) what Jaws did for swimming in the ocean and what Psycho did for taking showers.
How would you describe this script in two words?
Timely, scary.
What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
Jaws
How long have you been working on this screenplay?
Off and on about 18 years in various forms and drafts. My first draft in 1999 was about to be sold and then Columbine happened and the deal fell through.
How many stories have you written?
Hayride was screenplay number 5. I have written three more since its completion. My first script, The Resistance, debuted at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.
What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)
Wow, that’s a tough one. Favorite? “Bat out of Hell” by Meat Loaf. Listened to the most? “Cadillac Ranch” by Bruce Springsteen
What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
Although I wasn’t happy with my first draft back in 1999 the producer loved it…until Columbine happened. Obstacle for me? Not compared to those who lost their lives or forever had their lives altered from the horrific tragedy. 16 years later, because of the ever growing popularity of Haunted Halloween Hayrides I decided to dust off the old script and majorly update it. This time, it flowed much better and I’m proud of it.
Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
I’m passionate about Animal Rights and giving voices to those that don’t have any. And, because of Drumpf, I’m passionate about exposing his lies and getting him impeached.
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!
Caitlyn’s therapist convinces her to try a new form of hypnosis that allows her to communicate with her anxiety but when her thoughts appear as a violent, ghostly woman Caitlyn discovers her therapist has held back crucial information about the procedure.
Matchstick is about Caitlyn and her struggle against a dark part of her mind which turns violent after a botched therapy session. It touches on trust of authority figures and how it can sometimes feel to live with anxiety.
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
I think it might spur important conversations or at the very least scare the pants off some people.
How would you describe this script in two words?
Pretty Spoopy.
What movie have you watched the most times in your life?
Jurassic Park. Followed pretty closely by Fast Five. (No judgment please.)
How many stories have you written?
I’ve been working on this for about a year and half with my friend and fellow filmmaker Ross Moore. We’re applying for funding this year to make it so fingers crossed!
What motivated you to write this screenplay?
A lot but this is my first pure horror script. I’m mostly a comedy writer and when I was younger I focused on fantasy writing. I’m pretty sure there’s still an X-page out there somewhere of the fan-fiction Redwall spin-off novel I wrote when I was 13. I get nauseous just thinking about it..
I suffer from ‘The Old Hag’ or Sleep Paralysis and a few of the scenes are based on real hallucinations I’ve had while in this state.
What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
It’s always length for me. There are so many things I want to say and show but even getting it to 13 pages was a big struggle. I’m always so happy when I can cut something and tighten the script up but unless someone is forcing me to make it shorter I have a difficult time finding those scenes that can go.
Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
I love the outdoors. Camping, kayaking, hiking but even though I think about it all the time I rarely make time for it any more, especially since moving to Toronto.
What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?
I’m still quite an amateur writer so I love any opportunities for feedback and I was not disappointed. The feedback I got from this festival actually helped me shave off a couple of pages and gave me some tips I’ll be able to carry into all my future scripts.
Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?
Get strangers to read your scripts! Sometimes you can find a brutally honest friend who will give the hard feedback you need but you’ll learn things about your scripts you never dreamed were there when you listen to a room full of strangers analyse them. Find a writer’s circle in your town or start one yourself!
Watch the July 2016 Winning Feature Screenplay Reading.
FIEND, by Jeff York
SYNOPSIS:
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Crime, Mystery, History
When famed Jekyll & Hyde author Robert Louis Stevenson turns out himself to be a dangerous split personality, the only one who can save him and London from his fiendish alter ego is a maverick American psychiatrist with daring, unconventional methods.
It’s historical fiction, based upon two men who were contemporaries of each other in 19th century Europe. Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scotsman living in England who wrote the famous story about split personalities called “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.” And Dr. Morton Prince was an American psychologist working in Salpetriere Hospital in Paris treating split personalities and other psychosis. The two never met, but with so much in common, I deemed that they should.
2. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
“Fiend” would make for a elevated thriller that the Cineplex could use more of these days. It’s kind of a cross between “Sherlock Holmes” and “The King’s Speech” and it has a lot of smarts and a lot of heart.
3. How would you describe this script in two words?
Historical faction.
4. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
“Jaws” is one that I watch all the time, even when I come across it on TV, and see something new and amazing in it every time. It in itself is an elevated horror movie that has so many layers and nuance, in addition to being very primal.
5. How long have you been working on this screenplay?
All told it took me about a year to get “Fiend” into tip-top shape to start entering it into contests, where it has done very well, but I still tinker with it here and there. One never really stops rewriting until it’s filmed and in the can. And even after that, there may still be reshoots and additional rewriting!
6. How many stories have you written?
I’ve written 8 feature scripts, 3 television pilots, 1 short film script and a play.
7. What motivated you to write this screenplay?
I am a history buff and was drawn to Stevenson’s history as a man who was sick most of his life and longed for a life where he wasn’t hampered by his frailties. Hence, he wrote things like “Jekyll and Hyde”, as well as “Treasure Island.” His writing about mental illness and dissociative personality disorder (split personalities) in “Jekyll & Hyde” was incredibly insightful, such that there were those who wondered how he could grasp it all so well. Then, when I found out about Prince’s work in the same area and how Salpetriere wanted the rest of Europe to follow suit in bettering their treatment of the mentally ill, it struck me that there could be a entertaining juxtaposition in those two stories.
8. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
The balance of fact and fiction. Most movie bio’s take a ton of liberties with the real story, and because this one was clearly made up, I didn’t have to be quite so faithful. Still, I wanted to be true to the actual history known of the two men, and striking the right balance between reality and fantasy is what presented the biggest challenge.
9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
I love movies, theater, art, reading…most anything from the arts world. I have an orange tabby so I’m partial to cats. And I find current events and politics to be endlessly fascinating and spend a lot of time watching MSNBC. (I’m quite the liberal at heart.)
10. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?
I love those that embrace horror, and it seemed like a wonderful opportunity to connect with similar fans of the genre. The notes I received were superb, and I incorporated all the terrific suggestions into the rewrite of the script that was recorded. So thanks for making it better!
11. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?
Breaking into Hollywood is very difficult, and you’ll run into a lot of pretenders and wannabe’s. Gravitate towards those who remain positive in their response to your work, or at least encouraging, and realize that not everyone is going to do cartwheels over what you’ve written. Still, if you really enjoy writing and want to be a cinematic storyteller, keep at it and you will find advocates. You just need to find that one who also has money to make your script into a movie. That is THE struggle, but if you’re good, write a lot, and remain persistent in learning, rewriting, writing more and more scripts, and keeping the faith, you’ll find yourself getting closer and closer. And hopefully that day when you get the dream call, you’re ready for it all.
****
Director/Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: John Johnson
1st SCENE Screenplay: CRIME CYCLE
SHORT Story – GOBLIN
LONG SHORT Screenplay – THE SON, THE FATHER
LONG SHORT Screenplay – CUCKOLD PICASSO
LONG SHORT Screenplay – TOGETHER
SHORT Screenplay – IF I DIE
1st SCENE Screenplay: OLD BONES
SHORT Screenplay – MATCHSTICK
BEST SCENE Screenplay – ELAN VITAL
SHORT Screenplay – MATERNAL FEAR
1st SCENE Screenplay – NINE SCARS
FEATURE Screenplay – FIEND
Short Screenplay – DEATH’S LADY LOVE
FEATURE Screenplay – INKED IN BLOOD
1st Scene Screenplay – EXISTENTIAL QUANDARY
Best Scene Screenplay – LONG IN THE TOOTH
Best Scene Screenplay – IX
Feature Screenplay – THE BOO
Best Scene Screenplay – MATSQUI MASSACRE
Short Screenplay Screenplay – WALL IN THE GARDEN
Feature Screenplay – DEAD NORTH
1st Scene Screenplay – THE SHOT
1st Scene Screenplay – ROAD TO TEXAS
Short Screenplay – THE NEW NEIGHBORS
Feature Screenplay – MOTHS TO FLAME
SUBMIT your Short Screenplay or TV SPEC Script
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FIRST SCENE (first 10pgs) SCREENPLAY CONTEST