Thriller screenplay about a man who sees numbers on those around him takes top honors in Slamdance screenplay competition

Published by Professor Les October 25th, 2008 in Film, Salt Lake City, Current Events, Tourism, Business News, Pop Culture. Tags: 2009 slamdance in park city, joy saez, nancy kissam, nancy kissam and drool, neil mcgowan and numbered, park city, Salt Lake City, slamdance, slamdance 2009, slamdance screenplay competition, slamdance writing competition.

Numbered, a thriller screenplay by Neil McGowan about a man who starts seeing numbers on those around him, took top honors in the 13th annual Slamdance screenplay competition. McGowan, a first-time screenwriter who works as an administrative assistant for a nonprofit research and analysis company, received a $7,000 cash prize for best feature-length screenplay during an awards presentation hosted by the Writers Guild of America, West.

“This year our finalists are a diverse group of writers telling original stories with an independent spirit,” says Joy Saez, newly appointed director of Slamdance’s writing competitions. “Numbered is a perfect example of an unknown, naturally talented voice that is just waiting to be discovered.”

Slamdance received more than 2,000 submissions for the competition. Previous competition-winning screenplays that were acquired for production include Nicole Kassell and Stephen Fetcher’s The Woodsman, Joshua Marston’s Maria Full of Grace and Tim Boughn’s Neo Ned.

This year’s competition introduced Upload Films as an award sponsor for the Independent Feature Screenplay Award, which went to Numbered. In 2006, Todd Williams, John Portnoy and Nick Thurlow founded Upload Films in order to provide a new home for filmmaker-based projects that expand the vocabulary of independent film. Combining production, finishing funds, and post-production services under one roof, the company develops its own projects and teams up with other producers to bring engaging films with strong visions to the screen.

Shotgun Stories, the first film completed by Upload Films, had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2007. Upload also is in post-production on the 2006 Slamdance Screenplay Grand Prize winning film — Drool, written and directed by Nancy Kissam. Drool will premiere as a special screening at the 2009 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Jan. 15-23.

2008 Slamdance Screenplay Friends of the Competition also include Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment; Enigma Entertainment and Media Talent Group. The Slamdance Screenplay Awards are additionally sponsored by: Final Draft, InkTip, Killer Screenwriting, Script Magazine, Storylink, Writers Bootcamp, and the Writers Store.

Slamdance sponsors five writing competitions throughout the year.

Other winners (ranked from second through tenth) include: Goodman’s Garden by Douglas Miller; Want and Curiosity by Eric Weller; Human Resources by Marissa Jo Cerar; Lucas Donovan by Keisha Poiro; Moonbeam Fisherman by John Dummer; Mendelssohn by Joseph Yuan and Jeanette Manning; Hair Today by Dennis Douda; Czechoslovakia by Alvin Easter; and Truckers VS. Bikers by Aaron Grunland and Sean Huet.

Honorable mentions went to Fausta by Dalisia Mendoza; Fireseason by Tim D. Stickler; Repeat After Me by Scott Honea; Sapna’s Gift by Anthony Dodd and Somewhere Better Than Here by Vince Orlando. The winner in the Best Short Screenplay category was Crybaby by Mark Seidel.

For more information, go here.

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