The TOP 25 and ISA Development Slate were designed to promote and congratulate ISAConnect members who have proven themselves to be noticeably hardworking and dedicated to carving a career with a strong foundation. These chosen writers have gone above and beyond to grow, improve, and get noticed, smashing their goals and achieving incredible success in the past year. Highlights include having a short fiIm selected and presented at the Cannes International FiIm FestivaI, receiving an Oscar nomination, placing as a Grand Prize winner in a contest, and chosen as a Fellowship writer. Many have also landed multiple paid writing assignments or procured representation at major agencies and management companies.
The Top 25 have shown what can be achieved with dedication to their craft and career, and this, alongside their recent success stories, is why they were chosen. These writers continue to take the initiative to attend meetings around town, submit to and win contests, set up projects with producers and production companies, and produce their own content, supported by the ISA Development Team.
Only ISAConnect Members are included here. If you're an industry pro and interested in viewing the work
of these emerging screenwriters, please request Industry Pro status.
Mark Grisar's film noir script CLEANING HOUSE, is the Grand Prize Winner of TABLE READ MY SCREENPLAY - LONDON 2016, and will see Mark travel from NYC to London for a professional reading, and a showcase event for producers at Soho House. Mark’s trip will take place during the prestigious 60th London Film Festival.
Previously it was a Semi Finalist in the Nicholl Fellowship (top 30) and Semi-Finalist at the Austin Film Festival (top 10)
Script CLEANING HOUSE is under option and in pre production with Goldcrest Pictures. Nick Quested attached to direct and Omari Hardwick (POWER) attached as lead.
Grand Prize Winner - TABLE READ MY SCREENPLAY CONTEST, LONDON
Semi-Finalist - Nicholl Fellowship - Top 30 out of 5,489 scripts
Finalist - Cinestory Screenwriting Awards
Semi- Finalist - Austin Film Festival
Grand Prize Winner - American Accolades Screenwriting Competition
Kent Williams' period World War II drama, "Again, Spring" made the 2015 Nicholl quarterfinals, one of 375 out of 7,400. Equally exciting is that Andrew Hilton a.k.a the Screenplay Mechanic included it in his "Lugnut List" of the ten best screenplays he covered in 2014 (Drew is a politely brutal, highly-regarded script consultant).
This month, Jeff York's script "Incurable" won the Festival For Horror screenplay contest online. It received a table read by professional actors as part of the prize and that videotaped recording can be found on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb_mQez_MZc.
"Incurable" has won a number of screenwriting contests before, with its first draft winning acclaim in 2009 as the only spec script recommended by Script magazine and Final Draft's Script Xpert service. (Out of over a thousand spec entries they evaluated that calendar year.)
Jeff's horror tale is a character-driven story concerning a young man who develops ALS and then turns to a female vampire to bite him to beat the disease.
UK-based ISA member Mark Robertson is celebrating yet another significant step forward for his newest screenplay – a four-quadrant, Pixar-tinged superhero comedy. Having recently secured significant script development funding from UK arts organisation Creative Scotland, the project has now also attracted the attention of a top-level, Oscar-winning writer/director, who has come on board as story-consultant. “To be able to work with people at this kind of level is just incredible,” Mark said in response. “I’m blown away.”
UK-based ISA member Mark Robertson is celebrating again, having just secured script development funding from UK arts organisation Creative Scotland. The funding is for Mark’s newest screenplay - a four-quadrant, Pixar-tinged superhero comedy. “It’s just amazing to have such strong, high-level support for this project,” Mark commented in response to the news. “I can’t wait to see where it leads.”
Mark Robertson's new teen SF screenplay E-DEN has just chalked up its third recent competition placing. Currently, the script has reached the semi-finals of Table Read My Sceenplay - London, while the script's previous competition placings include Top 75 in the Launch Pad Features Script Compeition, and an "Honourable Mention" runner-up place in the Screenplay Festival Screenwriting Contest.
Mark Robertson's new teen SF screenplay E-DEN has just secured a win in the Screenplay Festival screenwriting competition, taking an "honourable mention" place in the comp's "Family Movie" category. It's the script's second competition placing now, having recently earned a top 75 place in the Tracking Board's Launch Pad Features competition. The UK writer is delighted with the script's success so far.
Travis Opgenorth's historical drama pilot, Kingdom of God, finished its competition tour with a 1st Place finish in the Creative Worlds Awards - Dramatic Pilot category giving the acclaimed pilot eight top finishes.
Meanwhile, Travis' recently finished short script, Aurora, has garnered two wins in its first two contests with a 1st Place finish in the Hollywood Hills Screenplay Contest's - Family Short category, and an overall GRAND PRIZE WIN in the Poe Films: Burning Love Screenplay Contest.
Derek Asaff's one hour sci-fi/drama pilot AFTER THE MERGE wins the pilot category at the 2014 Table Read My Screenplay Screenplay Contest - London
Derek's comedy feature THE WHEELMAN also won the comedy category and took Grand Prize
Chelsea Watkins' feature screenplay, Powderpuff, wins 2016 Spotlight Screenplay Competition. Powderpuff, a teen comedy, focuses on a brainy, intellectual high-schooler who must compete in the annual girls' powderpuff football game against the ruthless seniors in order to get into her dream school of Stanford. Prior to winning the Spotlight Screenplay Competition, the script earned 5th place in the 2015 Emerging Screenwriters Contest, placed as a Quarterfinalist in the ScreenCraft Comedy Contest and received a Double Recommend from the Writers' Store ScriptXpert.