Out of a record number of submissions, Killing Time by Jose Prendes has been selected as the Grand Prize Winner of the 2017 ScreenCraft Horror Screenplay Contest. Fun, inventive, high-concept and scary, the script centers on a teen who teams with his friend to use time travel technology to stop the brutal murder of his sister and uncover the identity of her slasher.
The runner-up this year is The Au Pair by Peyton McDavitt. Atmospheric, cinematic, and classical, the screenplay takes place in 1920s Beverly Hills. Logline: After a young woman travels across the country for an au pair job with three little girls, she slowly learns of the dark secrets surrounding the family.
Both of these scripts uphold the best of the horror genre’s standards while featuring fresh elements and voice. We’re excited to highlight them.
The following screenplays were selected as the competition finalists:
Shipside by Stacey Parshall Jensen
The Talon and the Undersnake by Mike Carruthers
Runner's High by John Rex
The Disease by Khalil Sullins
The Hundredth Monkey by Justin Michael Terry
Silo by Chris Drzewiecki
The Repass by N Rae Shaw
The Guilty by L.M. Harter
In addition to the ScreenCraft team, this year’s judges included: Ryan Turek, VP of Development at Blumhouse Productions (Paranormal Activity, Insidious, Sinister, Oculus, The Purge, Whiplash, Unfriended) and founder of popular horror website ShockTillYouDrop.com; Kailey Marsh, producer / literary manager and creator of the popular annual survey of un-produced dark genre scripts BloodList and the website BloodList.com; Scott Henderson, agent at Paradigm Talent Agency, representing several top writers and directors including iconic horror filmmaker James Wan (Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring); and Sean McKittrick, producer of Donnie Darko, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Jordan Peele’s recent blockbuster Get Out.
The Grand Prize winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize and hand-picked industry consultations, the runner-up will receive $500 and a phone call with a literary manager, and the top three finalists will receive development notes and Final Draft 1o licenses.
Congratulations to these winning writers and finalists, and thank you to our judges and to everyone who submitted projects; we read a number of remarkable screenplays. View the quarter-finalists and semi-finalists here.
