1ST SCENE SCREENPLAY READINGS

1ST SCENE SCREENPLAY READINGS

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

1ST SCENE SCREENPLAY READINGS
  • FANTASY/SCI-FI Festival 1st Scene: DELTA STATION, by Ronald McQueen

    A rescue mission to a remote space station finds only one evasive crewman, an obstinate AI and the station cat still alive. With no explanation for the missing personnel and with members of the rescue crew beginning to die, suspicion grows that one of these three is responsible.

    CAST LIST:

    Nar...

  • ROMANCE Festival 1st Scene: All The Movies I Saw With Allyson, by Andy Maycock

    On the eve of his ex-girlfriend’s return from a year abroad, a heartbroken high school senior goes on a nightlong mission to find and revisit the five movies they watched together.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
    Adam: Sean Ballantyne
    Girl: Julie Sheppard

  • BEST Scene Readiing PIPPIN & LULU: Dog-Eared Dreams by Linda Federico-O'Murchu

    A young dog runs away from an abusive master and sets his sights on adventure throughout Europe, ultimately finding love and family on the magical streets of Paris.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Steve Rizzo
    Raffle Lady: Julie Sheppard
    Pretty Young Woman: Hannah Ehman
    Crobbaduan: Sean Ballantyne

  • 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 (interview)

    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+ Fest 1st Scene: My Name is Jonas, by Cory David Bortnicker (interview)

    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

    Get to know the writer:

    1. What is your screen...

  • 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
    ...