2024 Writers Search Finalists
SCREENPLAY RUNNER-UP
ROBBIE ROBERTSON Arrangements in Grey and Black
As three art historians renovate the home studio of London artist James McNeill Whistler in the early 1970s, they discover the artist’s most famous work has a dark history of supernatural possession and a connection to the Baba Yags -- an ancient Russian witch. This screenplay is a feature version of Robertson’s award-winning short film, Whistler's Mother.
Robbie Robertson is a playwright, screenwriter, and graduate of UCLA's professional screenwriting program. His feature comedy, JUST IN TIME, is in development with DEAL Productions and his romantic comedy, ONE NIGHT STAN, has been optioned by SilverScreen Pictures. Robertson’s latest short film as writer/director, COMMON AS RED HAIR (about the body autonomy rights of children who are born intersex) has won international acclaim at over 30 film festivals around the globe and has been screened at several international embassies.
Visit Robbie's website HERE, or connect Instagram.
PLAY FINALISTS
F. LYNNE BACHLEDA Stolen
F. Lynne Bachleda attended LaMama Umbria International Playwrights Retreat, and LaMama New York subsequently staged a 2017 reading of full-length Stolen. Smith & Krauss published “A Tale of Two in One,” in The Best Short Plays of 2017. In 2019 Stolen was produced in London UK. In 2021, the Beverly Hills Theater Guild’s national Julie Harris Playwriting Competition awarded Stolen 2nd place. A 2021The Atlantic Center for the Arts residency helped develop Do I Have To?. Connect with Lynne through her website HERE.
CONNER DOUTHIT Bridge
Set in the 1950's, the story follows bumbling housewife Susan Ryfynnger and her seemingly idyllic life. However, many things are not as they appear and soon it becomes apparent something is lurking behind the innocent sitcom façade. With a mysterious voice in the radio, and her friends almost acting like they are cued, Susan becomes paranoid, doubting if this is a sitcom or torture. Bridge is a story that will keep you guessing what is going to happen next till the very end, with a shocking ending that will surely leave you shocked.
Conner McLean is an emerging, 26-year-old, newly-graduated playwright that focuses in LGBTQ+, Southern-Gothic works, and really anything in between. If it’s a good concept for a story then he will adapt to whatever style is best suited. he is located currently in Winder, GA but has future plans to move to pursue writing.
Connect with Conner on New Play Exchange or Instagram.
TAYLOR FLANAGAN Anne Elliot's Queer Little Heart
In this queer love letter to Jane Austen’s works, Anne Elliot must choose between moving back in with her vapid, uncaring family or watching her first love court the closest thing she has to a best friend.
Taylor Flanagan (she/any) is an award-winning performer and multidisciplinary theatre-maker based in Austin, Texas. Anne Elliot’s Queer Little Heart is their first original full-length script and most ambitious project yet. She is immensely grateful to everyone in her community who has supported her in this endeavor…especially Jane Austen.
SOFIA PALMERO Harina Pan
When Mariana gets caught sneaking out of her house to meet up with her alluring non-binary classmate, Ryan, she is forced to face her mother’s fury and her own identity all in one night. Can Mariana entrust her mom with the truth? And more importantly, will the truth bring them closer together, or farther apart? Harina Pan is a coming-of-age story about queerness, Latinidad through generations, and the power of truth and love.
Sofía Palmero is a fat, queer latine writer, actor, dramaturg, producer (you know how it is nowadays) with a background in sociology and psychology. Sofia uses dark and disarming comedy to explore existential themes in small stories of friendship, love, and resilience. Their scripts have placed in various competitions and have received development through Working Title Playwrights, Stowe Story Labs, SheATL, Actor's Express, and more.
SCREENPLAY FINALISTS
JEF BLOCKER Eternal Monday
Shaken by his childhood friend's death, Nick, a 35-year-old husband/father, begins to question his life choices and sexuality when he befriends Jay, a mysterious man who dies at sunset and resurrects at dawn each day. As they become emotionally and physically intimate, Nick experiences the freedom that new choices bring and tries to help Jay escape his fate. In doing so, he attracts the attention of Wolf, a sinister character who may be the Devil himself, putting his family, his love for Jay, and his life at risk.
Jef Blocker is a native Texan living in Atlanta, Georgia. He writes fiction, nonfiction, humor, plays, poetry, and scripts. Two of his screenplays were selected as semifinalists at the 2004 and 2006 Atlanta Film Fest's Perfect Pitch contest. Jef's a 2012 Lambda LIterary Foundation Fellow who has studied fiction with Orson Scott Card, Joshilyn Jackson, Alex Sanchez, and David Fulmer. His flash fiction, "A Mother's Touch," was published in the Blue Mountain Review.
JUSTIN HOWERTON Clearing The Trace
On his annual trip along the Natchez Trace Parkway, a grieving thief of roadside memorials strikes up a tentative travel arrangement with a resolute pastor's wife seeking a medical abortion.
Justin Howerton is a screenwriter and poet from Memphis, TN. He's currently a second-year MFA candidate in the creative writing program at Louisiana State University. Justin's work has appeared or is forthcoming in Foglifter, Bicoastal Review, The West Trade Review and other places.
DREW ROBINSON Under Faded Stars
In a future America where abortion is outlawed, the governor's mistress terminates an unwanted pregnancy, triggering a desperate escape with a group of female fugitives as she's pursued by a sociopathic tracker.
Drew Robinson is a queer writer who somehow ended up in the middle of Oklahoma, where her lesbian identity and the Midwest’s conservative vibes awkwardly collide. Her writing explores everything from trauma and healing to power dynamics and oppression. She aims to create metaphors that make you feel more badass about surviving this weird world. When not writing, Drew works in public education, supporting teacher training initiatives. Also, she’s food motivated.
SHORT/WEB SERIES FINALISTS
SOFIA PALMERO Rom Com Interrupted
An irreverent dark comedy about a quirky, avoidant woman who must (reluctantly) discover what it actually means to heal after a promising date triggers a PTSD spiral.
Sofía Palmero is a fat, queer latine writer, actor, dramaturg, producer (you know how it is nowadays) with a background in sociology and psychology. Sofia uses dark and disarming comedy to explore existential themes in small stories of friendship, love, and resilience. Their scripts have placed in various competitions and have received development through Working Title Playwrights, Stowe Story Labs, SheATL, Actor's Express, and more.
KASS PARISH (A)romantic Production
A young astrophile navigates the intricate nature of love and relationships (and lack thereof).
Kass is a filmmaker from Knoxville, TN. They dabble in all aspects of film, but they especially enjoy editing and directing. Their love of sitcoms inspires a lot of their own silly videos. When they're not making movies with their friends, they're being woken up by their cat at 5am or watching The Nanny for the 7th time through. Their ultimate dream is to make queer little movies and get paid for it too.
VICTORIA SOSA It's Okay To Hate
Eve, a young woman struggling under the strict control of her religious mother in their secluded rural town, transforms her life when she meets Lily, an unruly college freshman home for Christmas break. She defies her mother to hang out with Lily in the woods behind the town church. Their secret friendship sparks a forbidden love, leading Eve to confront the unbearable nature of her situation. Lily’s departure and the death of her dog, Fritter, unleashes the anger in Eve that she had always been afraid of.
Victoria Sosa is a screenwriter, author, and performing poet from Lake Charles, Louisiana. She is based in New Orleans, where she earned her B.A. in Creative Writing from Loyola University New Orleans. Her work, which explores themes of loss, transformation, and healing from a queer feminist perspective, has garnered recognition for its character studies. She was a finalist in the 2024 Kinsman Quarterly Iridescence Award and won 'Best Script' in the 2022 Dawson Gaillard Award.