Contents
FEATURE SCREENPLAY
HYSTERIA: On a trans-Pacific flight, the disappearance of a psychotic passenger sends the plane into chaos as the flight crew and several passengers race to solve the twisting mystery and survive the flight.
04/2022 – Quarter-Finalist: The Screencraft Screenwriting Fellowship is an elite program to help budding screenwriters develop their work as well as gain mentors and meetings with people in the film industry. Making it to the quarterfinals with my first feature script was a real confidence boost!
SHORT SCREENPLAYS
BETWEEN DARKNESS AND LIGHT: Set in the future, when virtual reality affords every person the chance to experience a life of dreams, the story explores the separation between what’s real and what’s fantasy and what happens when love makes those worlds indistinguishable.
01/2020 – Semi-Finalist: Get It Made (GIM) Log Line Contest – is a short film program fostering community support among screenwriters, directors and producers. Besides having film contests, they also held a log line contest, and this one placed: In a future ubiquitous with virtual reality, a young man falls in love with a mysterious woman online, only to begin confusing his real world with this fantasy one.
08/2019 – Official Selection: Besides hosting a great event for film lovers, the Lebanese Independent Film Festival held in Beirut, Lebanon also partnered up with other organizations to help educate people about mental health issues. Submitting four of my scripts (along with over 900 other submissions from 87 countries), Between Darkness & Light was chosen as an “Official Selection” for the festival.
03/2019 – Official Selection: It was exciting that the Beyond Earth Film Festival, which is designed to appreciate and promote creativity internationally for writers and filmmakers, awarded Between Darkness and Light as an official selection for their festival season.
06/2018 – Finalist: Austin Revolution Film Festival – In its fifth year, this film competition tries to capture some of “the coolest indies from the world.” Focusing on story first, this competition aims to attract unique and independent voices to the Texan capital. 
With a great reputation from filmmakers and fans alike, this film festival is definitely not one to miss.
09/2016 – Official Selection: Cannes Latitude Film Festival – Since 2002, this film competition has supported the growth of film and TV companies around the world, adhering to their motto of “making things happen” for creative people. This year, the festival will take place in Nova Scotia, offering great prizes with the chance to get your work optioned by active producers looking for their next project.
10/2015 – Official Selection: Artists Alliance Short Screenplay Competition – A competition that focuses exclusively on shorts, this contest is meant to recognize and reward screenwriters who create an artistic and innovative short screenplay that skillfully exhibits artistry, style, and expression.
06/2015 – Official Selection: Scriptmation – This short screenplay contest has a team of screenwriters, story editors, and other production staff from Paramount Pictures, Sony, and other companies, judging entries for their short screenplay competition.
03/2015 – Official Selection: Universe Multicultural Film Festival – This competition seeks “the best classic and contemporary film making from around the world,” focusing on films that showcase the advancement of innovative and artistic cinematic works.
02/2015 – 4th place: Vail Film Festival – This competition has drawn Hollywood stars like Harold Ramis and Kevin Smith, as well as premiered films like “Locke” starring Tom Hardy and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” starring Jason Segel.
01/2015 – 7th Place: American Gem Literary Festival – Based in Hollywood, CA, this festival has been holding an annual screenplay competition in conjunction with Write Brothers, Inc., the makers of Academy-Award winning software for writers, for the past 10 years.
07/2014 – Semi-Finalist: Shriekfest – Heralded by the Huffington Post as “America’s Preeminent Celebration of Horror, Shriekfest is the annual, Los Angeles based screenplay competition for horror and sci-fi scripts with over 3,000 submissions and 50 judges.
BOUNDARIES: A couple rents a cabin in the woods in an attempt to enjoy a weekend getaway, but their jovial evening is in interrupted by unexpected unworldly knocks on the door and soon they find themselves running for their lives from something not quite human.
03/2021 – Semi-Finalist: Omaha Film Festival Since it was established in 2005, the festival has steadily grown every year. What a boon to have been chosen as a semi-finalist after all the festival shut downs due to covid!
08/2020 – Official Selection: HorrorHaus is a 3-day Los Angeles area film festival dedicated to the creative works of independent filmmakers with a penchant for horror – and how cool to make the cut especially with the virus-caused havoc for the film industry!
11/2019 – 2nd Place: The Visionfest Screenwriting Competition has been running for 19 years and offers writers a chance at exposure and even cash prizes and Boundaries received 2nd Place! It is a definite honor to be included in such a well-established and prestigious contest!
09/2019 – Official Selection: Boundaries was included in 10th Edition of Oaxaca FilmFest!
08/2019 – Semi-Finalist: Shriekfest has grown into one of the most respected horror film festivals over the last fifteen years and to have my screenplay make it to the semi-finalist round of such a quality film fest was very satisfying!
08/2019 – “Best Short Script”: Besides hosting a great event for film lovers, the Lebanese Independent Film Festival held in Beirut, Lebanon also partnered up with other organizations to help educate people about mental health issues. Submitting four of my scripts (along with over 900 other submissions from 87 countries), Boundaries had the honor to receive “Best Short Script!”
04/2019 – Finalist: Boundaries was awarded as a finalist at the Crimson Screen Horror Screenwriting and Film Competition, which is South Carolina’s only horror film festival. They showcase and honor the best independent horror films from all over the world, that includes every type of horror genre imaginable!
03/2019 -“Best Tiny Thriller”: What an honor to be chosen as the Best Tiny Thriller at the Beyond Earth Film Festival, in an international competition designed to appreciate and promote creativity for writers and filmmakers.
01/2019 – Finalist: Frights! Camera! Action! Screenplay and Film Contest is a recurring horror screenplay and film competition that accepts submissions from all over the world. With categories like “Best Twist” and “Best Villain,” my film was selected as a finalist in the overall “Best Short Screenplay” competition.
OUT OF SIGHT (film): When Marshall’s call to his wife goes straight to voicemail, the panic he was 
feeling turns frantic. Trying to escape an eerie religious organization, Marshall executes plans from inside his apartment, making calls and sending texts to put everything in order. But, as it becomes increasingly apparent that those he’s running from are onto him, his and his loved one’s chances at freedom slip into greater and greater peril.
04/2020 – Best Thriller – Out of Sight received accolades of accepted, selected, “Winner of the Season”and also”Best Thriller” 
award from the international ShortCine Fest and is in the running for Best Film of the Year (which comes with a cash prize!).
03/2020 – Official Selection – Sacramento International Film Festival, celebrating a 25th anniversary year, chose our film Out of Sight as an Official Selection! What an honor to be included in a festival, which has showcased award winning films (Slumdog Millionaire) and visionary directors, writers and producers. This was a huge feather in our cap!!!
02/2020 – Official Selection: It was pretty exciting to see my screenplay-turned-into-film go from an 
Official Selection to Best Thriller in The Film Contest, which is an international contest held quarterly.
OUT OF SIGHT (screenplay) 
09/2019 – Official Selection – The Pacific Screen Awards is part of the International Screen Awards group and it was encouraging to learn that my second horror screenplay received an “Award of Recognition” at the festival!
SMALL TALK: Dinner with strangers isn’t always comfortable—especially when that stranger is a blind date you didn’t know you were being set up for. And although Harold and Madison begin their conversation in discomfort, by the end, they’re having a conversation neither expected to have.
8/2022 SOLD to Milepost 42 Films
08/2019 – Finalist: Creative World Awards is a competition held out of Marina del Rey, California and winning screenplays are shown to a variety of industry professionals, which is quite a bonus if a writer doesn’t happen to live in Hollywood! Needless to say, having Small Talk make it to the finalist round was very exciting!
03/2019 – Official Selection: Beyond Earth Film Festival, designed to appreciate and promote creativity internationally for writers and filmmakers, recognized Small Talk as an official selection for their festival season.
05/2017 – Beautiful Bird Productions in collaboration with Michael Gonza, considered this a finalist for their search for a production piece.
08/2019 – Official Selection: Besides hosting a great event for film lovers, the Lebanese Independent Film Festival held in Beirut, Lebanon also partnered up with other organizations to help educate people about mental health issues. Submitting four of my scripts (along with over 900 other submissions from 87 countries), End of the Rope was chosen as an “Official Selection” for the festival.
10/2017 – Finalist: South Carolina Underground Film Festival. Dubbed “Slamdance of the South,” this film festival consists of three packed days showcasing the best in truly independent cinema. In partnership with the North Charleston Cultural Arts Department, this international festival takes submissions from all over the world and provides a forum for films that wouldn’t make it in otherwise “mainstream festivals.”
SUNNY AND THE SEAL: This is the story of two elderly men, one shirtless and in beachwear, the other in a full body seal costume, as they peruse a grocery store at two in the morning, discussing deaf dogs, immortality, and where one can find some darn sunscreen.
09/2019 – Semi-Finalist: Sunny and the Seal continued to make it through each round to be included as an official selection and then continued to become a “Semi-Finalist” in the screenwriting competition at the Oaxaca Film Festival.
09/2019 – Semi-Finalist: Established in 1998, the Manhattan Short is an international film and screenwriting contest –in fact the world’s first global film festival! They have venues all around the country and world for viewings and festival celebrations. How exciting to have Sunny and the Seal selected as a semi-finalist in such a prestigious competition!
08/2019 – Official Selection: Besides hosting a great event for film lovers, the Lebanese Independent Film Festival held in Beirut, Lebanon also partnered up with other organizations to help educate people about mental health issues. Submitting four of my scripts (along with over 900 other submissions from 87 countries), Sunny and the Seal was chosen as an “Official Selection” for the festival.
11/2018 – Finalist: DaVinci International Film Festival Sunny and the Seal was chosen as a story line finalist and is the running for the Second Quarter Vitruvian Award. The announcement can be found here: https://davincifilmfestival.com/q2-2019.
10/2017 – Official Selection: Oaxaca Film Festival – This 8-day film festival is an international competition held annually every autumn. On multiple occasions, MovieMaker Magazine has hailed it as one of the top festivals in the world, which has included the works of many high profile artists such as Guillermo Del Toro, Clint Eastwood, Spike Lee, and Martin Scorsese. For their 2017 competition, out of the 1000s of submissions, only 3% made the cut, my screenplay being one of them. (Unfortunately, though, due to the earthquake in Mexico this year, they had to cancel the official ceremony.)
07/2017 – 1st Place: For the last 22 years, the Indie Gathering International Film Festival has advocated for and showcased independent filmmakers and screenwriters, with a full weekend devoted to screenings, awards, lectures, seminars, and more.
05/2017 – Official Selection: Drunken Film Festival – As a relatively new festival, DFF is dedicated to films that explore great conversations, prompting people not to get drunk on booze but “drunk on film.” The festival will be he held across a variety pubs throughout Bradford, West Yorkshire.
02/2017 – Semi-Finalist: The Omaha Film Festival is one of the most popular and accomplished teaching festivals in the Central USA. It began in 2005 giving the the Omaha community and independent film makers and screen writers a chance to showcase new films and screenwriters.
04/2016 – 3rd Place: The Las Vegas Screenplay Contest – Judged by experts in the fields of screenwriting and production, The Las Vegas Screenplay Contest attracts the brightest writers from around the globe. Running for over 30 years, this contest continues to provide a visible avenue for the recognition of aspiring screenwriters.
03/2016 – Official Selection: Sacramento International Film Festival — Supported by the California Film Foundation (a professional organization, since 1993, that has developed Northern CA’s film movement), the SFF is an annual festival which attracts the best filmmakers, distinguished industry guests, and thousands of film enthusiasts from around the world.
02/2016 – Official Selection: NewLife Film Festival and Screenplay Contest – Based out of Los Angeles, this screenplay competition welcomed entries from all over the world and doled out cash prizes to its top recipients.
04/2015 – Official Selection: The Hill Country Film Festival, located in Fredericksburg, Texas, showcasing independent films and writers not only from Texas but from all over the world, included Sunny and the Seal as one of the scripts selected for the festival.
12/2015 – Top Finalist: Hollywood Hills Screenplay Competition – Located in California, the international competition looks for feature and short screenplays marketable to the directors and producers in the area.
10/2015 – Official Selection: Artists Alliance Short Screenplay Competition – A competition that focuses exclusively on shorts, this contest is meant to recognize and reward screenwriters who create an artistic and innovative short screenplay that skillfully exhibits artistry, style, and expression.
07/2015 – Official Selection: The Columbia Gorge International Film Festival – An annual festival in its seventh year, this organization seeks to engage the powerful language of film in a dialogue on social issues, cultural exchanges, and current affairs.
TOWARD THE BACK: As an orc, war and bloodshed isn’t always life. And for Glob and Teacup, they would much prefer discussing the colors of their enemies’ uniforms rather than trying to stab them. So what happens between two cowardly orcs at the back of the regiment? Probably more squabbling than you imagined.
03/2019 – 1st Runner-Up: The cowardly orcs took 1st runner-up at the Midwest Weirdfest Film Festival, where horror, sci-fi, underground and documentaries thrill the crowds when they enter the “weird zone.” Known as one of the top ten festivals in South Carolina, it was awesome to have the Weirdfest award my script!!
03/2019 – Official Selection: Designed to appreciate and promote creativity internationally for writers and filmmakers, Beyond Earth Film Festival selected Toward the Back as an official selection for their festival season.
10/2017 – Finalist: South Carolina Underground Film Festival. Dubbed “Slamdance of the South,” this film festival consists of three packed days showcasing the best in truly independent cinema. In partnership with the North Charleston Cultural Arts Department, this international festival takes submissions from all over the world and provides a forum for films that wouldn’t make it in otherwise “mainstream festivals.”
09/2017 – Official Selection: Oaxaca Film Festival gave Sunny and the Seal official selection status and was included in the festival, located in Mexico! If only I could have attended!
09/2016 – Official Selection: Cannes Latitude Film Festival – Since 2002, this film competition has supported the growth of film and TV companies around the world, adhering to their motto of “making things happen” for creative people. This year, the festival will take place in Nova Scotia, offering great prizes with the chance to get your work optioned by active producers looking for their next project.
WRONG NUMBER: A very short screenplay about a young woman who receives a misdialed call from an inmate in prison.
11/2019 – Semi-Finalist: With a tagline of “write, submit, produce, repeat,” one of my super-shorts, Wrong Number was selected in the top 30 scripts and received a glowing review from the Get It Made competition, which is one of the only production-based competitions available. How thrilling it would be to have this script produced…fingers crossed!
08/2019 – Official Selection: White Unicorn International Film Festival – With a motto of “Save Birds. Save Nature.” (who doesn’t support that?!) the festival kicked off once again to celebrate screenplays and films from all over the world. It was exciting to have “Wrong Number” become an official selection and be connected with a few interested producers.
STAGE PLAYS
SONNET 44: Set in World War II, the story places two lovers, Doris back home in the States and Robert off at war, side-by-side on stage as the letters they write to one another connect the truths of their worlds.
02/2017: Short List: Tomo Suru Players – This is a festival for short plays that takes place in Vancouver, BC, receiving over 250 submissions from authors across nine countries. (This shares a selection with another short play of mine, Small Talk—now in the works of becoming a short film!).
12/2016: The Lama Theater Company is all about asking the question why?–their goal to give artists a platform to create risk taking and thought provoking theater that “inspires the audience to question the world around them.” For their winter theme of “hope,” they selected my one-act 
play, Sonnet 44, for a stage reading in December.
05/2014: Inspired by Shakespeare’s sonnet of the same name, “Sonnet 44” received my first award as a playwright, placing in the top five finalists of the 15th Annual 10 Minute Play Contest held by Theatre Oxford. Enjoy a stage reading of Sonnet 44 from the festival.
WAITING FOR GEOFFREY: a one-act, thirty minute light comedy about three brothers stuck in a tiny French train station on the final night of their vacation. As they wait for their ride back to the airport, they soon discover that their tickets are lost, that a silent custodian provides little advice, and that patience is an acquired virtue. This comedy explores the struggles of family, the relationship of brothers, and what can happen when an unexpected adventure arises from peculiar and impossible circumstances.
01/2016: Annually, the Drama Committee of the Arts Club of Washington D.C. hosts an international one act play competition, where writers from all over the world are invited to submit their short stage plays. For this year’s competition, they selected my play, “Waiting for Geoffrey“ as one of the five finalists. The short comedy follows three brothers who, lost in a foreign train station on the final night of their vacation, discover new things about each other as well as an adventure they had never asked to know.
06/2012: Every year, Santa Clara University puts on The New Playwright’s Festival, where my 30-minute, one act play was directed, choreographed, and stage read by a group of talented actors. “Waiting for Geoffrey” tells of the final night of three brothers’ vacation as they wait in a tiny French train station–only to discover they have lost their tickets. This comedy explores the struggles of family, the closeness of brothers, and what can happen when you discover a most peculiar adventure in most impossible circumstances.
OTHER WORKS
05/2015: In honor of the ten years that Santa Clara University has been doing The New Playwright’s Festival, the man in charge of the event, Brian Thorstenson, invited myself and a handful of other, past playwrights to submit a 1-minute play. As one of the entries selected, my short, short play, “The Space Between Breaths” is a tale of divorce and how its effects are not too different than the planetary orbits above.
05/2008: In my first debut as a playwright, Central Catholic high school’s, One Act Play Festival, held my 20-minute play, “Dying to Know,” on two separate nights. With a full cast in costume and props to boot, this short comedy follows the inept Detective Jack Daniels as he tries to solve a dinner party murder with a host of guests each more eccentric than the last.
