Contests
Writers Room Announces Screenwriting Competition Winners
By The Writers Room
Feb 3, 2004, 15:21

The Writers Room of Bucks County presented its 2003 Screenwriting Competition Awards on February 1st as part of a star-studded Algonquin Indiefest program which featured appearances by Oscar-winners Celeste Holme, Patricia Neal, and Ted Tally, Tony-winner Elizabeth Wilson, writer-producer Jonathan Estrin, and legendary playwright Christopher Durang.

Screenwriting competition first prize ($700) was awarded to Kenneth Staples of Wilmington for "Black Canyon", a prohibition-era drama set at the chaotic Hoover Dam construction site.

The second prize ($300) went to Bradford Richardson of Hatboro for "MI-5 Recruit", a WWII coming-of-age action adventure featuring a young James Bond.

Runners-up included B.J. Burton of Newtown Square for "Marjorie and Helen" --a mystery about an elderly woman whose family and friends are trying to convince her that she is losing her memory -- and Paul Moisiades of Paoli for "Bitter Bread, Sweet Grace" -- an ensemble drama about neighbors trapped between sides in the bitter partisan struggle for Athens in WWII.

"This is a tri-state competition in just its second year," said scriptwriting program director Cat Hebert, " but we received entries from a number of writers who have strong track records in national screenwriting contests -- including the famous Nicholl and Chesterfield competitions -- so we'll be looking for underwriters and sponsors to be able to 'sweeten the pot' a little for next year's competition."

Hebert added that the two finalist judges for the 2003 Competition were longtime Hollywood script doctor Ian Abrams, currently head of the Scriptwriting Program at Drexel University, and screenwriter Stephen Susco -- former Bucks County resident now on location in Tokyo with Sarah Michelle Gellar for the filming of his adaptation of Japanese horror classic "The Grudge".

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