Meet the 7th International Screenplay Contest WINNERS

	Evangelina, by Tammy Gross Grand Prize Winner Assaulted by a classmate, troubled teen Autumn visits a kindly psychiatrist named Don. There she encounters a ghostly apparition — a girl named Elina. Medication keeps the "visions" in check...until Autumn discovers that Elina was once Don's patient, and the victim of an unsolved murder. Desperate to ease the suffering of Elina's soul (and her own), Autumn's world slowly unravels...and with her mother falling for Don, the question becomes: is he a decent, caring potential stepfather...or a homicidal genius who got away with murder once, and is about to try again?
After learning psychics and mediums had been trying to solve the mysterious murder of a teen since 1993, Tammy Gross became intrigued with the idea and worked up an outline. But there the story stayed, refusing to budge, until an April 2013 visit to a writing retreat in the Rockies. By the end of the weekend, she had a screenplay. And after a little input from the members of Orlando Screenwriters (founded by Tammy in 2009) the script was finished...just in time to submit to StoryPros. With a dream to be a writer and a talent to sing, Tammy always planned to �sing while young and write when old.� Writing came into focus for her in 2008 when she began researching 18th-century piracy, taking her to archives all over the world where she encountered some real-life modern pirates. That adventure led to an award-winning script about her favorite pirate, as well as the bones of a novel series. A talented singer, Tammy currently arranges music, writes part-time, and works full time proofreading screenplays. In the pipeline, her latest script -- Tammy's shooting for a 2015 release, just in time for the 300-year anniversary of the historic event the script depicts.
	The First Casualty, by Wayne Mathias 3rd Place Winner Covering the Spanish Civil War for the Manchester Guardian, Paul Archer finds the scoop of his career when whistleblower Gustavo Ruiz shows him proof of the Republic's covert gold transfer to the Soviet Union. When Paul's attempt to smuggle Ruiz out of Madrid goes awry, he becomes a target of the Soviet secret police. Joining forces with alluring black-marketeer Elena Morell, the trio embark on a dangerous journey through a land where no one can be trusted...
In this script, Wayne Mathias blends the spy thriller and film noir genres to illuminate one of the most controversial conflicts of modern times. "Taking it as axiomatic that war is a racket, any honest war film has to be noirish in tone. In developing The First Casualty, Paul Archer has become my key protagonist for exploring the untold and mistold stories of the 20th Century." Wayne studied art at Sonoma State University, then worked as an actor (SAG/AFTRA) in San Francisco and travelled extensively in Europe. He found writing to be the more fulfilling path, winning several awards for his screenplays and short stories over the last decade.
	The Other Star Wars, by Paul Jarnagin 4th Place Winner President Reagan announces his Strategic Defense Initiative, threatening to escalate the arms race into space -- and so begins a chain of increasingly outrageous misunderstandings between the KGB, CIA...and George Lucas. Only a fanboy-slacker can help avert nuclear disaster.
A former script reader for the Sundance Institute's Feature Film Program, Paul Jarnagin has in recent years been coming into his own as a screenwriter. His own scripts have placed ever higher in a number of prestigious screenplay competitions, cementing his writing chops, and setting him up to begin directing. Paul recently adapted and directed a short 4K film based on one of his own short stories, on location in Colorado. If past successes are any indication, our bet is we'll be hearing more of Paul in years to come!
	Legendary, by Mark Stasenko 5th Place Winner Fated to stealing a single sock from people's dryers for all existence, the Sock Gnome aspires to be promoted within Legendary Inc. to a more respected position like Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. But the plan goes awry when an accidental theft from an angry, neurotic drug dealer launches him into a world of violence, drugs, and... undergarments.
A "math and science guy" all his life, Mark Stasenko originally planned to be an Engineer. It took a stint at Northwestern and a few years studying thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and many other intricate and exacting fields to make a discovery: "Engineering was what came easy to me, but it wasn't what I was passionate about." While procrastinating in the library, Mark stumbled across a printed copy of Shane Black's "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" script. Turned out the intricacies of the screenplay form appealed. "I knew what I wanted to design at that moment: stories!" After some less than promising first attempts, Mark worked hard to find his own voice. His Engineering degree came in handy when it came time to make some money — but eventually he cut ties with that world and took the plunge: quit his job and moved to L.A. Two years later, he's got a handful of feature scripts finished, a short directed, and is eyeing a web series. "I like to tell stories about us (humans) that take place in the abstract. It reminds me that maybe "normal" is actually something completely crazy."