BEST SCENE SCREENPLAY READINGS

BEST SCENE SCREENPLAY READINGS

The "best scene" take from features and TV pilots of winning screenplays.

BEST SCENE SCREENPLAY READINGS
  • BEST Scene Script Reading: OUT OF ADVERSITY..., by Elliot Stanton

    The strained relationship between two British First World War soldiers changes from antagonism and distrust to one of kinship and respect. A brave decision to make the ultimate sacrifice then solidifies their union.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Val Cole
    Private Cavendish: Allan Michael Brunet
    Private ...

  • FEMALE Festival BEST Scene: EXPIRED, by Wendy Braff

    www.wendybraff.com

    Five female friends over 50 have had enough of being dismissed and ignored by a society that thinks of them as "expired." When they decide they're no longer going to give a fuck, their lives truly begin.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Sean Ballantyne
    Deborah: Elizabeth Rose Morriss ...

  • DRAMA Festival BEST Scene: DEATH CLOAK, by Markus Meedt, Catherine O'Shea

    Khalida, an asylum seeker in Liverpool, comes into possession of a cloak that resets time by 1 hour, every time she dies.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Allan Michael Brunet
    Nadine: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
    Khalinda: Kyana Teresa
    Curious Guest/Event Host/KItchen Hand: Steve Rizzo

  • BEST Scene Screenplay: My Name is Blue, by Simone Brazzini (interview)

    After an obsessive teenager sneaks into the trailer of their lifelong idol, a recently canceled actor, the two embark on a cross country journey of forced dreams and the impossibility of escaping the past.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Allan Michael Brunet
    Blue - SImone Brazzini
    Jack: Geoff Mays
    Sky...

  • BEST Scene Screenplay: MONDAY'S HERO, by Larry Downes (interview)

    In a college football-crazed town, after the big game, three of the players are accused of a hate crime of beating a gay man to death. The task of defending them falls to the school’s former All-American football star turned lawyer. CHRIS CAMPBELL, the lauded letterman now with a briefcase, is ai...

  • FANTASY/SCI-FI Festival Best Scene: THE DEVIL PULLS THE STRINGS, by J. W. Zarek

    THE DEVIL PULLS THE STRINGS, described as The Librarians meet The Magicians is a 76,000-word urban fantasy with series potential, set in modern-day Wentzville, MO, New York City, and 1813 Genoa, Italy, where time travel, twisted history, secret societies, Slavic mythology, Paganini's music, and o...

  • FANTASY/SCI-FI Festival Best Scene: MOKSHA, by Saurin D. Lakhia

    In the late 22nd century, a queer Indian-American man uses psychedelic science to lead humanity to its new interstellar home, but must first confront his past after finding out a secret from Earth involving his estranged mother and her mass ritual suicide cult.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Shawn Devli...

  • COMEDY Festival Best Scene: REVOLVING DOORS, by Jim Falletta (interview)

    Two down-on-their luck wannabe musicians moonlighting as karaoke "stars" at a bar that caters to senior citizens must overcome a host of obstacles on their road to music stardom, including their overbearing landlord, a divorced parent who moves in unexpectedly, and most importantly, their own pro...

  • COMEDY Festival Best Scene: SERIOUS LAUGHS, by Aaron James Sutch (writer int.)

    A struggling stand up comedian must literally and figuratively kill when a zealous heckler takes a comedy club hostage; threatening the lives of fans, comedians, and comedy itself.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
    Sylvester: Sean Ballatyne
    Pascal/Gun Rang Boss:
    Sanders: Geoff Mays
    ...

  • TV Festival Best Scene: SUBDIVISION, by Casey Leary (writer interview)

    A tyrannical HOA wreaks havoc on a community until some "others" try to exist and then to rebel.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Geoff Mays
    Steve: Sean Ballatyne
    Gladys: Hannah Ehman
    Betty : Elizabeth Rose Morriss

    Get to know the screenwriter:

    1. What is your screenplay about?

    A couple newcomers fin...

  • DIVERSITY Fest Best Scene: D.D.S- Drama of Dental Surgeon's, by Steph Gallagher

    An intelligent young woman regrets her hookup with an ex. Her co-workers suggest she get back in the dating game, but her studies stand in the way. Work place drama distracts her and a budding relationship with a new man threatens a situation where personal and private life overlaps and is sure ...

  • LGBTQ+ Scene: HOW NOT TO WRITE A ROMANCE NOVEL, Suzy Stein, Fernando Perez (int)

    The world's greatest romance novelist has given up on love due to long-standing grief, but will his blossoming relationship with a younger man lead to a new chapter or the same tragic ending.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
    Bibi: Hannah Ehman
    Ezra: Sean Ballantyne

    Get to know the...

  • LGBTQ+ Festival TV Best Scene: GOOFY FOOT, by Richard Redlo (writer interview)

    Eliot Glassman, 15, openly gay and precocious, becomes emancipated from his suburban parents and friends, following incidents of physical abuse. Freed from his troubled suburban origins, he navigates (often on a skateboard) the dangers and delights of his new urban surroundings. Through it all, E...

  • HORROR Festival Best Scene: THE UNINVITED, by Matthew Domingos (writer int.)

    When two American soldiers go on a mission to an abandoned house in the Iraqi desert, what they find there makes them question reality itself.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
    Sonny: Sean Ballatyne
    The Chief: Geoff Mays

    Get to know the screenwriter:

    1. What is your screenplay abo...

  • COMEDY Festival 1st Scene Reading: WHEN I SAY BLUE, by Kelly Perine

    Set in a small Central Pennsylvania town, “When I Say Blue” is a short script that follows 2 aging former High-School football team-mates that haven’t seen each other in years. Will, Caucasian, was the quarterback of the team, while ‘A-Train’, African-American, was the running back and heart of t...

  • ANIMATION Festival BEST Scene: ANIMARIA, by Michael Van Patten

    Miss Mona takes her students on a great adventure to Animaria so they can learn the value of teamwork, but she learns as much about herself along the way

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
    Federico (M): Geoff Mays

  • FEMALE Festival BEST Scene Reading TV: EXPIRED, by Wendy Braff

    Five female friends over 50 have had enough of being dismissed and ignored by a society that thinks of them as "expired." When they decide they're no longer going to give a fuck, their lives truly begin.

    www.wendybraff.com

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Sean Ballatyne
    Courtney (F): Elizabeth Rose Morr...

  • FEMALE Festival BEST SCENE: GOLD MOUNTAIN EXPRESS, by Gene Lassers

    The Nazis conquer Warsaw at the beginning of World War II and take-over the infamous Jewish Ghetto. The last shipment of valuables leaves Berlin for

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Sean Ballatyne
    Lisal: Elizabeth Rose Morriss -
    Hans: Geoff Mays

  • THRILLER Festival BEST Scene: THE COVENTRY DECEPTION, by Michael Thomas Holliday

    Following the President's suicide, a reluctant Vice President discovers a covert operation that compromises national security.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
    Jordan: Sean Ballatyne
    Gorley: Geoff Mays
    Sarah/Secret Service Agent: Hannah Ehman

  • FEMALE Festival Best Scene: MOTHER SUPERIOR, by James W Gould (interview)

    In 1350s Florence, an insecure nun unwillingly becomes the Mother Superior after the Plague kills the leaders of her nearly bankrupt convent. To save her convent, she must find the strength to confront the male dominated Church, Guilds and civil authorities, and her own demons.

    CAST LIST:

    Narra...

  • DIVERSITY Festival Best Scene: NO ADDRESS, by Julia Verdin, James Papa

    A group of homeless people bond together as a family, struggling to survive the streets while fending off a harassing gang, an unforgiving community and the local authorities in hopes of finding their humanity again.

    CAST LIST:
    Narrator: Hannah Ehman
    Jimmy: Steve Rizzo
    Liz: Kyana Teresa

    ...

  • COMEDY Festival BEST Scene Script: FEELING JUNG, by Lauren Kettler (interview)

    Tara and Glen can't afford a divorce so they take week's vacation, with 10-year-old son Ned in tow, to find new, better-heeled spouses.

    http://laurenkettler.com/

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Hannah Ehman
    Tatiana: Kyana Teresa
    Glen: Steve Rizzo

    Get to know the screenwriter:

    1. What is your screen...

  • COMEDY Festival Best Scene Reading: DRAG ME TO CHRISTMAS, by Tennessee Martin

    When Scrooge-like tech-whiz, Chip Webber, finds out that her mother has passed away a few days before Christmas, she begrudgingly returns to her small hometown after a decade away to pay her respects. Upon learning she has inherited her mother’s pride and joy, a dilapidated community recreation c...

  • LGBTQ+ Festival BEST Scene: ALL THE COOL KIDS, by Jennifer C Clark (interview)

    A closeted teen football star, Harley Harris, discovers his friends and fellow townsfolk are being replaced by demonic shapeshifters, and he is next! Together with, out and proud friend, Tessa, Harley must break the demon's curse before his identity and life are lost forever.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrat...