First Scene Screenplay Contest – Testimonial August 18 2018

Meg Bowen (LOVERS IN PARADISE)

Opening sequences have always been so important to my enjoyment of any movie or tv show. So I’ve always paid close attention to how my own stories open and draw readers in. I thought that this was a very interesting festival because it would, very immediately, tell me if I’d drawn people in.

Possibly hearing my own words table read was also very cool to me. I’ve sat through a lot of table reads at work and I remember sitting through one of the first ones thinking just how awesome and surreal it would be to hear my own words read by talented actors. It was definitely something that I put on my Writer’s Bucket List.

The feedback I received was wonderful. You spend so much time with your stories, it’s always so refreshing to have someone else hold up a mirror to them. The feedback I received definitely helped me through the re-reads that came after entering this festival, trying to bring the rest of the script up to a level that I really happy with and proud of.

Genre: Romance, Crime, Action

A bank robbery goes awry and our two criminals have to steal a getaway car. Except there’s a girl tied up in the trunk, who might just be their best chance at walk-away money.

CAST LIST:

Janine: Alicia Payne
Kip: Dorian Shine
Narrator: Val Cole
Brad: Jolly Amoako
Juliette: Amrit Kaur

Watch the July 2018 1st Scene Script Winners

 

ACTORWinning 1st Scene Script: UNTIL THE DAY by Craig Andrews

ACTORWinning THRILLER 1st Scene Script: MARCO POLO by Jeff Heckler

ACTORWinning FEMALE 1st Scene Script: AMERICAN PRINCESS by Jenny Kleiman

ACTORWinning SCI-FI 1st Scene Script: POLE by Robert Dodrill

ACTORWinning DRAMA 1st Scene Script: TAKE THE SHOT by Jim Norman

ACTORWinning HORROR 1st Scene Script: WHERE THE BAD KIDS GO by Sean Elwood

ACTORWinning 1st Scene Script: REMEMBERING LIZ by Joan Beilstein

ACTORWinning 1st Scene Script: EDEN by Jean Barker

ACTORWinning THRILLER 1st Scene Script: FIELDS OF BLOOD by Michael Meade

ACTORWinning FANTASY 1st Scene Script: FORGET ME NOTS by John Dummer

 

We also accept online submissions through Film Freeway. Click on the link BELOW to submit online through this middle-man resource website.

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Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Director: Kierston Drier
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: John Johnson

Camera Operator: Mary Cox

1st Scene Reading – LOVERS IN PARADISE, by Meg Bowen

Genre: Romance, Crime, Action

A bank robbery goes awry and our two criminals have to steal a getaway car. Except there’s a girl tied up in the trunk, who might just be their best chance at walk-away money.

CAST LIST:

Janine: Alicia Payne
Kip: Dorian Shine
Narrator: Val Cole
Brad: Jolly Amoako
Juliette: Amrit Kaur

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Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Director: Kierston Drier

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editor: Kimberly Villarruel

Camera Op: Mary Cox

1st Scene Reading – UNTIL THE DAY, by Craig Andrews

Genre: Drama

It is the spring of 1884 and Christine Lockhart, the daughter of a doctor, has just graduated with dreams of forging her own path in the world, taking charge of her decisions and loving a man of her choosing. Michael Karg, the son of a butcher, has simple ambitions and rose-colored optimism about courting Christine. The cloud on the horizon for both Christine and Michael is Christine’s money-hungry father.

CAST LIST:

Beverly: Zena Driver
Michael: Dorian Shine
Narrator: Val Cole
Christine: Amrit Kaur
Carolyn: Alicia Payne

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Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Director: Kierston Drier

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editor: Kimberly Villarruel

Camera Op: Mary Cox

1st Scene Reading – REMEMBERING LIZ, by Joan Beilstein

Genre: Drama

A runaway fifteen year-old girl is found dead from a heroin overdose. Forty years later, her best childhood friend, haunted from unresolved guilt and grief, uncovers a secret, which sheds light on her friend’s tragic short life.

CAST LIST:

Laura: Amrit Kaur
Narrator: Val Cole
Jane: Zena Driver
Della: Alicia Payne

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Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Director: Kierston Drier

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editor: Kimberly Villarruel

Camera Op: Mary Cox

1st Scene Reading – EDEN, by Jean Barker

Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Romance

A teenage girl who grew up in a cult based on the biblical myth of Eden falls in love with an intruder from the sinful world outside the garden walls.

CAST LIST:

Judith: Zena Driver
Narrator: Val Cole
Edie: Amrit Kaur
John: Jolly Amoako

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Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Director: Kierston Drier

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editor: Kimberly Villarruel

Camera Op: Mary Cox

THRILLER 1st Scene Script – FIELDS OF BLOOD, by Michael Meade

 

Genre: Thriller, Horror

Passing through a small Mid-West town and lending a helping hand to a stranger soon turns into a nightmare for Scott in this tense, paranoid horror thriller. A short screenplay by Mike Meade.

CAST LIST:

Earl: Scott McCulloch
Trucker: Danilo Reyes
Nicki: Tayna Bevan
Narrator: Kate Fenton
Bobby Jean: Julie C. Sheppard
Courtney: Samantha Carly
Scott: Michael Lake

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Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Director: Kierston Drier

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editor: Kimberly Villarruel

Camera Op: Mary Cox

Watch the June 2018 1st Scene Script Winners

ACTORHALFWAY TO MARS – 1st Scene LGBT Screenplay
June 2018 Reading
by Fabian Martin

ACTORPIANO LESSONS – 1st Scene LGBT Screenplay
June 2018 Reading
by Nevada McPherson

ACTORCROSSSING THE COWHOUSE – 1st Scene LGBT Screenplay
June 2018 Reading
by David Lykes Keenan

ACTORUNBALANCED LIFE – 1st Scene Screenplay
June 2018 Reading
by Kristy Leigh Lussier

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Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Director: Kierston Drier
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: John Johnson

Camera Operator: Mary Cox

1st Scene – AN UNBALANCED LIFE, by Kristy Leigh Lussier

Genre: Drama, Sports, Romance

A female football prodigy makes history when she saves a failing program and becomes the first woman named head coach of a college football team​.

CAST LIST:

Jim: Rob Notman
Parent 1: Meghan Allen
Parent 2: Kyra Weichert
Narrator: Matt Barnes
Sarah: Lauren Kristina Maykut
Bill: Allan Michael Brunet
Sam: Jarrod Terrell

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Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Director: Kierston Drier

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editor: Kimberly Villarruel

Camera Op: Mary Cox

June 26, 2018 – 1st Scene Screenplay Testimonial

I kept hearing about this festival and about Wild Sound. Many friends and contacts have participated and loved the experience. Honestly, this was our first submission ever of the script to any contest/festival.

We didn’t expect to get the amazing feedback that we did (only because we are hyper critical of ourselves).  The feedback was SO helpful and gave us a great insight into some things we had not really brushed on. With the feedback we got, we were able to make another good edit on the script and re-submit to a few other contests, which we ended up placing as Finalists in both.

Genre: Comedy, Romance

They’re paid to turn weddings into disasters, and now are hired to plan a fake one. But when thrown into a job out of their element, this unbreakable duo quickly discover the only disaster they’ve created is the one between themselves.

CAST LIST: 
Narrator: Carina Cojeen
Ellen: Carly Tisdall
Trevor: Christopher Huron
Groom: Peter Nelson
Pastor: David Occhipinti
Bride: Kiran Friesen

We also accept online submissions through Film Freeway. Click on the link BELOW to submit online through this middle-man resource website.