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Short Script Finalist Winners

 Leah Pileggi

Pregnant Pa(s), Equal Pay(n)

Logline:  

As men begin to experience the same labor and delivery pain as their baby mamas, pain meds rushed into production work perfectly, until they don't, orchestrated by women scientists at pharmaceutical giant Pharm-u-Good.

Synopsis:

A series of women go into labor. The men who impregnated them begin to feel the same labor pain. Many women are angry that their baby daddies are mocking them, while only one couple is brought closer. A sperm donor loses his mind. Pharmaceutical companies pull out all the stops to make sure men don’t feel labor pain. When those meds no longer work, we find out that a women-run company called Pharm-u-Good is behind the whole plot. A white politician who impregnated a young black woman dies when she dies.  

Bio: 

Leah Pileggi writes screenplays, creative nonfiction, history, children’s books, and poetry. She’s also good at titles. Her work has appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Chautauquan Daily, Mental Floss, The New York Times Magazine, and Hopscotch Magazine. Her first book, Prisoner 88, is an award-winning middle-grade historical novel. Leah lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

 Character Breakdown:

Politician: white, 60, male

Wife: white, 50, female

Mr. Johnson: black, 40s, male

Judge: any race, any age, any sex

Doctor 1: any race, any age, female

Nurse: any race, any age, any sex

Marta: black, 30s, female

Michael: white, 20s, male

Confused Man: any race, any age, male

Unsympathetic Nurse: any race, any age, any sex

Doctor: any race, any age, any sex

Jeremy: white, 20s, male

Alma: white, 40s, female

Alison: black, 20s, female

Pregnant wife: any race, 30s, female

Hipster Guy: any race, 30s, male

Older Male Doctor: white, 70s, male

News Anchor: any race, any age, female

Angry Man: any race, any age, male

Seanan Palmero Waugh

Ho-Ho-Kus Pocus

Seanan Palmero Waugh’s play Go the Vole was a finalist for the Women Playwrights Series at Centenary Stage Company and was part of Berkeley Rep’s Summer Playwriting Workshop. Crock Of was a finalist for the Heideman Award at the Actors Theatre of Louisville National Ten-Minute Play Contest, and is included in the playwriting curriculum at Dartmouth. Firewater was a finalist for the Tennessee Williams One-Act Play Contest. Her screenplay Slow Moving Creatures was a semi-finalist for the New Hampshire Film Festival.  She received her MFA in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon University and is originally from San Francisco. 

Character Breakdown:

MAX SANCHEZ: 12 or there abouts, male, Latino/Hispanic

DAISY SANCHEZ: 47 or there abouts, female, Latina/Hispanic

ABIGAIL HECTOR: 52 or there abouts, female, African American

RANDY SONG: 47 ish, male, Asian American

RUSSEL SONG: 49 ish, male, Asian American

TEDDY: 67ish, male, ethnicity unspecified. Teddy is an elder, a mystery, and a wildcard. 

*Action/Across the page: a female voice is imagined for this

Logline: 

Harry Potter meets Community in this coming of age comedic webisode pilot about a secret society of magicians in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey. 

Synopsis: 

Max loves science but when the Molting Rabbit identifies him as the last hope of the true magicians he has to study remedial magic. When he stops struggling between science and magic and accepts himself exactly as he is, he learns he already is exactly who he wants to be.

Feature Screenplay Finalist Winners

Choke Cherry Jelly

Writer Bio

The characters of “Choke Cherry Jelly” may be fictional but they are no strangers to screenwriter Kayt C. Peck. They are her friends and neighbors in the old Spanish land-grant community where she lives, and where she has been a long-time volunteer firefighter. She celebrates the rich lives of the people she knows through writing skills developed over 30 years as a journalist, public affairs officer in the US Naval Reserve, grant writer, novelist, and playwright. Her plays have won numerous awards including a special award for Excellence in Play Writing at the Region VI (five state) AACTFest. She was recognized for her play, “Sheltered Women,” loosely based on the true stories of Iraqi women sheltered by the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq with which she worked as a grant expert. She currently has six novels in print with Sapphire Books, two of which have won awards in the New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards. A seventh, Broken, is scheduled for release in September 2020.

Character Breakdown

Eddie O’Hare - 19-year-old son of Mitch O’Hare.  He is young, strong, and athletic with a sensitive soul and a deep sense of ethics that he did not inherit from his father.

Mitch O’Hare - Eddie’s father.  He is first and foremost a businessman who has been highly successful as a Texas oil man.

Joseph Montoya - A native of the area and descendent of one of the primary organizers of the Mora Land Grant.  Although he loves the history of his people and the land that is their home, he helps preserve that history not as a farmer and rancher but as a professor and administrator at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico, 30-miles from his ancestral home.

Deputy Ramón Duran - Another member of the old Mora families who entered law enforcement as a means of staying in Mora and still make a decent living.

Sara Ann McCarty - Great-great-granddaughter of one of the settlers of the Republic of Texas.   She is the fifth generation to live on the headquarters of the family ranch.  Her husband is dead, and her children have moved away.  She is alone, trying to preserve a great history.

Margarita Montoya - Joseph’s 80 year old mother lives in the house that has been the Montoya ancestral home for nearly 200 years.  Although she was not born a Montoya, she comes from a land grant family, the Esquivels.  Her family settled in Cerritos and she and her husband, Joseph Montoya, Sr. met at a dance in Las Vegas when she was 17 and he was 20.  She grew to love the Montoya family and Mora, and her life mission is to preserve the family home, land and family traditions. 

Rosa Montoya - The 18 year old granddaughter of Margarita and niece to Joseph, Jr.  Unlike her cousins, she maintains close ties with the family traditions.  Her parents moved to Santa Fe after her grandfather died, and her father got a job as a supervisor with state road maintenance.  She has spent each summer with her grandmother since she was seven years old.

Joseph Montoya, Sr. -  The ghost of Margarita’s husband who died ten years earlier.  

Jenny Joe Bass - A neighbor who moved to the area several years earlier.  She is part of a lesbian couple – both real “characters” -- who fit amazingly well in the Mora social structure.  Among other things, she and her partner are members of the volunteer fire department.  Jenny Joe is a tough Texan who don’t take crap from nobody.

Mary Scott - Jenny Joe’s partner … a kinder, gentler (but secretly stronger) version of her life-mate.  

Stranger - A bounty hunter hired by Mitch O’Hare to bring his son home.

Community Members - To be added as needed to develop plot.

Jenny Popovich

 Bio:

Jenny Popovich received her BFA in Acting (2017)  from Ball State University and an MA in Arts and Cultural Management (2019) from Michigan State University. She currently works full-time at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Interlochen, Michigan where she is the Artist Relations Coordinator and Performance Video Editor.

Jenny has appeared in a variety of professional Theatre productions, including those at The Berkshire Theatre Group in Massachusetts and The Jewish Ensemble Theatre in Michigan. 

In 2019 Jenny was the author, editor, cinematographer, and composer for her first film,

the horror short, Skinhead, official selection, nominee, and winner at several horror film festivals. In 2019 she was the lead actress in The Frightened President, another horror short. The Frightened President premiered at Guarufantástico, Brazil, in August, 2020.

Background Being a science fiction and horror movie geek was not always cool, especially if you were female. Today we take for granted female participation in Comic-Con and other events and, to some extent, the participation of female directors in the science fiction and horror genres. Universal released its Shock Theater  package, a portfolio  of 52 pre-1948 classic horror films from Universal Studios for television syndication in October, 1957. This marked the first massive public incarnation of what could be viewed as film “geekdom ” in pop movie culture. In 1958, Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine was published by James Warren and Forrest J. Ackerman. This led to a pop-culture “monster craze” that reached its peak from approximately 1957-1963. The main participants of the craze were pre-teen and teen boys. Indeed, many famous male directors such as Spielberg, Landis, Carpenter, Abrams, Whedon, and del Toro have credited their careers to the monster craze of the sixties.

Monster Girl picks up on the monster craze cycle with a twist. Monster Girl’s protagonist is a creative, smart, imaginative girl who channels her energies into the inspiring world of classic horror films, and in turn, collides with gender expectations and institutional mores of the early 1960s.

Synopsis:

It is 1962 in Youngstown, Ohio. Twelve-year-old JACKIE loves old monster movies and Halloween. Jackie and her friends, JIM, STEVE, and RANDY are THE MONSTER KIDS. The Monster Kids prepare a performance for Show and Tell at school. The performance involves vampires and a lot of fake blood. The blood is custom-made by Jim, one of The Monster Kids. 

When Jackie gets home, her mother, BARBARA, has found out Jackie plans on wearing a Wolf Man costume for Halloween. Barbara, is toxically religious, with personality problems. Barbara erupts in anger and throws The Wolf Man costume in the trash. After Barbara has gone to bed, Jackie’s dad, JOHN, helps Jackie get her costume back.  Jackie sneaks off to join The Monster Kids in Randy’s garage.

The next day at school, The Monster Kids’ performance goes on as planned. Fake blood splatters everywhere, especially on the booze-guzzling teacher, MRS. PIGGS. The Monster Kids get sent to the principal's office. The school principal, PRINCIPAL HAWK, is not happy. Jackie ends up at the school counselor’s office and the boys get paddled by Principal Hawks. The counselor, MR. COLLINS, tries to find out why Jackie is so obsessed with monster movies. She says that she can relate to the monsters: nobody understands them because they're different. Also, monster movies are a special love Jackie shared with her brother, CHARLIE, who died. 

Barbara believes Jackie is possessed by a demon and performs an exorcism on Jackie, based on advice from Barbara’s extremist church. John enters and stops Barbara. He cannot handle Barbara anymore: he wants a divorce.  John tries to take Jackie with him, but Jackie becomes upset when John tells her he is leaving Barbara, which Jackie interprets as a betrayal. Jackie runs away from John and hides in the house. In order to avoid a physical confrontation with  Barbara, John  leaves.  Jackie feels alone.  Her world ends when her dad, the only one she could trust, leaves. 

After John leaves, Jackie has loses her spark and doesn't resist Barbara anymore. Jackie agrees to obey her mother and wear the fairy princess costume.

It's Halloween day and Jackie is dressed up in the princess costume and has a big bruise on her head from Barbara’s physical abuse. After eating too much candy and throwing up on her  costume, Jackie is sent home from school. Barbara forbids Jackie to Trick or Treat. The Monster Kids convince Jackie to disobey Barbara and go Trick or Treating. Jackie sneaks out her bedroom window and joins The Monster Kids.

Barbara discovers Jackie is missing and that The Wolfman is playing at the local drive-in theatre. She storms off to find Jackie. Jackie and friends are watching The Wolfman on the lawn at the drive-in when Barbara finds them. With the finale of The Wolfman as a backdrop playing on the huge movie screen, Barbara loses control and starts to choke Jackie.

Jackie’s friends try and stop Barbara, but, much like the werewolf on the screen behind her, she is wild and strong. Barbara throws Jackie to the ground and rips Jackie’s Wolf Man mask apart. A crowd begins to form. Police arrive on the scene and

pull Barbara away from Jackie. Barbara is cuffed, arrested, and taken away.

The next day, The Monster Kids are visiting Jackie in her hospital room. John is also there. Mr. Collins enters and explains that the police and court have granted temporary emergency custody of Jackie to John, since Barbara is under arrest for child abuse and assault and battery. Mr. Collins believes that John will eventually get full custody of Jackie based on Barbara’s history.

Several months later. Christmas morning. The living room of Jackie’s home. Barbara’s crosses and religious items have been taken down. There are presents scattered through-out the room: monster models, a chemistry set, and a War of the Worlds picture book. John and RICK, Randy's father, are sitting on the couch drinking coffee. Randy, Jackie, and Sue are opening presents. Randy scurries behind the tree and hands Jackie a present. She rips the present open. It's a new Wolf Man mask. 

Jackie jumps up and puts the mask on. She “transforms” into The Wolf Man. She playfully attacks Randy and Sue. 

John and Rick  laugh. 

Through the frosty windows, snow can be seen gently falling.

Character Breakdown

[JACKIE]  Female, 12.  Monster Kid. Overweight and tall, Jackie is hopelessly geeked and in love with old monster movies, especially the Universal Films of the 30s and 40s. Jackie is impulsive, rebellious, and charming. She has formed The Monster Kids with a group of her friends. Lead.

[RANDY]  Male, 12. Monster Kid. Jackie’s best friend and confidant. Randy supports and champions Jackie’s monster movie obsession. There is a romantic spark between Randy and Jackie, but they both don’t quite realize it yet. Lead.

[BARBARA] Female. 40s-50s. Jackie’s highly disturbed mother. A product of warped religious upbringing. Views monster movies and anything creative as products of the devil. Physically abusive to Jackie. Lead.

[JOHN] Male. 40s-50s. Jackie’s father. Kind to and supportive of Jackie, he’s trapped and confused by his wife’s behavior. People with kids just didn’t routinely get divorced in the early 60s, no matter how bad things were at home. Lead.

[JIM]  Male, 12. Monster Kid. Overweight. Playful and smart. He is the master makeup artist for the Monster Kids’ shenanigans. Constantly mixing fake blood, he will probably win an academy award someday. Major supporting.

[STEVE]  Male, 12. Monster Kid. Not as fearless and rebellious as his Monster Kid peers. He feels bad he doesn’t quite have the courage of the other Monster Kids. Major supporting.

[SUE]  Female, 11. Shaped by American mainstream societal norms of what a girl should be in the early 60s. Sister of Randy. Freaked out by The Monster Kids at first, Sue eventually wants to join them. Major supporting. 

[PEGGY]  Female. Shaped by American mainstream societal norms of what a girl should be in the early 60s. Sister of Steve. Inadvertently rats her brother out for planning a horror skit for Show and Tell. Kind to Jackie. Major supporting.

[XAVIER] Male, 40s-50s. The late night TV  host of Youngstown, Ohio’s Shock Theatre. Histrionic, goofy, and probably sells used cars as a day job. Major supporting.

[MR. COLLINS] Male, 40s-50s.The guidance counselor of Jackie’s school. Mr. Collins is forced to present a face of adult guidance to kids, but secretly he loves old monster movies. Major supporting.

[PRINCIPAL HAWK] Male, 40s-60s. Authortarian principal of Jackie’s school. Kids are an annoyance to him. Minor supporting.

[MRS. PIGGS] Female 50s-60s. Jackie’s 6th grade teacher. A booze-guzzling hag who hates kids. Minor supporting.

[BILLY] Male, 12. Muscular and big for his age, crude face. Billy is a throwback to the “hoods” of the 50s. Wears a leather jacket. Greased hair. A bully of extreme verbal cruelty.  Minor supporting.

[DANNY] Male, 12. Billy’s accomplice. A skinny ginger who looks like the devil. Minor supporting.

[RICK]  Male, 40s-early 50s. Randy’s dad. Supportive of The  Monster Kids. Allows them to use his garage for meetings. Minor supporting.

[RADIO HOST] Male, 40s. Old-school announcer. Minor supporting.

[CHARLIE]  Male, 16-18. Jackie’s deceased brother. Suspicious and distrustful of Barbara. Minor supporting.

Characters With 1-4 lines:

[MAN]  Male, 40s. Accidentally hits Charlie with his car. Minor supporting.

[POLICE OFFICER #2] Helps Jackie when her mother attacks her. Minor supporting.

[TICKET ATTENDANT] Male, 40s. Spend his time sleeping on the job. Minor supporting.

[THE TEENAGE GIRL] Female, 15-18, Witness to Barbara’s attack on Jackie. Minor supporting.

[TEENAGE BOY] Male, 15-18. , Witness to Barbara’s attack on Jackie. Minor supporting.

[TEEN #1] Male, 15-18. Neighborhood Trick or Treater. Minor supporting.

[TEEN #2] Male, 15-18. Neighborhood Trick or Treater. Minor supporting.

[OLD WOMAN] Female, 70s-80s. Offer The Monster Kids Halloween candy.

[BOB THE NEIGHBOR] Male, 50s-70s. Friendly fellow who steps outside after Danny and Billy harass Jackie and Randy.

[NURSE] Female, 20s-50s. On the ward for Jackie’s hospital stay.