BEST SCENE SCREENPLAY READINGS

BEST SCENE SCREENPLAY READINGS

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

BEST SCENE SCREENPLAY READINGS
  • 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...

  • BEST Scene Reading: THE SUSURRUS, by Krista Amigone (interview)

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Steve Rizzo
    Lydia: Julie Sheppard
    Charmilla: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
    Jilly: Hannah Ehman

    Get 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 ...

  • BEST Scene Reading: MORE GOING DOWN, by Dennis J. Manning (interview)

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Julie Sheppard
    Jake: Geoff Mays
    Bartender: Shawn Devlin
    Robin: Steve Rizzo

    Get 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 Devlin

    Get 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...

  • 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....

  • 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...

  • STAGE PLAY Best Scene Reading: THE SPECIALS, by Kimberly Lawton (interview)

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Julie Sheppard
    Louis: Steve Rizzo
    Laura: Hannah Ehman

    Get 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...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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 Ehman

    Get 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

  • LIFESOURCE, by Aleks Lyons. Best Scene Reading. FEMALE Film Festival (interview)

    A young oceanographer discovers her gradfather's plane - part of the Lost Patrol - and is thrust into an emotional journey with a rebellious reporter as the government tries to cover up what really happened that night in 1945. The duo uncovers an extraordinary truth of how water, our most preciou...

  • ATHOR, by Brian Streaty. Best Scene Script Reading FEMALE Film Festival

    A brilliant and unstable Egyptologist becomes entangled in an international incident when she agrees to search for a tomb that holds a mummified ancient alien. Her problems deepen when she becomes possessed by the alien's power.

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Julie Sheppard
    Walter: Shawn Devlin
    Deborah...

  • FEMALE Festival Best Scene: All of Me, by S. Columbus

    A successful but lonely business owner wrestling with past trauma discovers that her journey to find love begins with understanding herself, helped along by her close-knit friend group and an unexpected bond with her friend’s son Evan who loves superhero movies. The story centers around Colissa w...

  • Screenplay Best Scene: AI UNPLUGGED: THE TRINITY, by Craig Trumbo

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Julie Sheppard
    O'Grady: Shawn Devlin
    McGrath/TD: Steve Rizzo
    Smyth/Chiffre: Sean Ballantyne

  • Screenplay Best Scene: Finding Elpis, by Banafsheh Esmailzadeh

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Julie Sheppard
    Erik Rhodes: Shawn Devlin
    Starman: Steve Rizzo
    Doomer: Sean Ballantyne
    Princess Almas: Hannah Ehman

  • Screenplay Best Scene: HOPPA, by Nigel Lee & Ashley Barrios

    CAST LIST:

    Narrator: Julie Sheppard
    Mark: Steve Rizzo
    Fawn: Hannah Ehman
    Rabbit: Shawn Devlin

    Get to know the writers:

    What is your screenplay about?

    Log Line: Struggling with insecurity and doubt about the longevity of their relationship, an American couple travels to Iceland for answe...