NashFilm is thrilled to announce the Screenwriting Competition Semifinalists for the 56th Nashville Film Festival!
These semifinalists represent the spark that keeps cinema alive — bold ideas, fresh voices, and stories that stick with you long after the page is turned. We’re grateful to every writer who took a chance and sent their work out into the world.
Congratulations to all who advanced from the quarterfinals! Keep an eye out as we get closer to announcing this year’s winners.
Comedy Feature Semifinalists
10 Reasons Why I’m a Bad Idea by Sam Speron
3 Months of Killing by Jon Ryan Sugimoto
All Inclusive by Allyson Morgan
Don’t Eat Paper! by Julius Galacki
Gander by Ryan Gaumont
I Got You Babe by T. Camponeschi
Just Past The Dick by Casimir Nozkowski
Old Patrol by Kevin Jordan
Que Linda by Pam Garcia & Amy Wendel
Shabadoodah by Larry E. Coleman
Snake Oil by Corbin Eaton & Michael Bentley
Stephanie Dellacosta by Al Naffah
Under The Influence by Aadrise Johnson
Yard Duties by Anna Daniels & David A. Daniels
Drama Feature Semifinalists
A Leg Up by Anthony Colannino
Devil in the Details by Victor Dean
Halsted: Between Pleasure & Pain by Jacobo Fe Gismera
Her Word by Kezmit White
Jobber by Michael Ronca
Lark by Matilda Corley Schulman
Mall Worker by Anthony Musante
Marko: Dog of War by Richard Norris
My List of Nevers by Dustin Richardson
Oni by Robert Mitas
Pearl Shine by Suz Curtis
Poster Girls by Christina Capra
Rose, Lily by Joy (Ji) Young (Yang)
Run Renegade by Mary Ann Rotondi
Secondhand by Adam Wagner
Spiral by Hannah Garfield
The Faithful Ones by Kathleen J. Waites
The Fault Line by Larry Collins
The Girl who Cried Wolf by Alicia Herder
The Son by Jay Paul Smith
Transcendent by Keegan Kerns
Yard Duties by Anna Daniels & David A. Daniels
Genre Feature Semifinalists
Augs by Derrick Benton & Torrin M. Kearns
Bigfoot’s Got a Gun by Troy DeWinne & Hector Farias
Escape from Taylor Creek by Marie Etzler
Eyes That Lie by Daria Price
Mesa by Pam Covington
Naman by Lambert Bouley
Oar River by Jody McNicholas
Palo Alto Bang & Burn by Craig Bettendorf
Sixgun Saint by Warren Lane
The Bone House by Jason Kesse
The Creighton Chronicles: Master of Death by Ben Parsons
The Linguist by Maggie Tsavaris
The Love of Nick Chopper by Kavis Peak
The Man Called Dingo by Alexander Whitrow
The Red, White, and Boom by Hymnson Chan
Where the Conch Is Alvie Hoggins? by Farah Ysvette Mourad Vera
Horror Feature Semifinalists
A Halloween Happening by Kyle Knopf
Be Mine by Elan Toby
Beast Mode by Jason Kaleko
Beast of Virginia by Matthew Corley
Blood Hallows by Kristian Hager
Deadbeat by Lauren Brown
Disco’s Not Dead by Toby Marks
Feral Mountains by Terry Podnar
Hop, Skip, Jump by Jonathan Fox
I Don’t Dream In Spanish Anymore by Missy Hernandez
Illicium by Matthew Riffle & Zackary Hill
Join Us by Jon Bershad
That Which Binds Us by Daryl Denner
The Dark Gift by Sergio Pintore & Daryl D. Well
The Experience by Anna Kathryn Long & Olivia Haller
The Plague Doctor by Ninon Schubert & Michael O’Connor
Half Hour Pilot Semifinalists
Access Village by Brian Koukol
Ain’t Dead Yet by Kari Barlas
GENEVIEVE: AI by Debbie Trecek Volkens
Grounded by Sarah Bishop
R.I.P. INC. by Harim Sanchez
Scammers by Kendall Pendlebury
Southern Bites by Nigel Tyrone Simms
The Mannings by Jennie Jarvis
The Mississippi by Phillip Charles
Hour Pilot Semifinalists
All Storms Brewing by Christopher J O’Bryant
Ankharis by Lambert Bouley
Backwoods Chief by Heidi-Marie Ferren
Blood In Black Holes by Mikael Holcombe-Scali
Dysphoria by Scott Simonsen
Ellis by Natalie Schwan
I Am by Phillip Charles
Lady M. by Sara Hallowell
Mantis Green by Farah Ysvette Mourad Vera
Midnight City by Jay Adams
Mother of Vice by Emily Lerer
No Saints in Reno by Terry Rietta
Ovid Marshall: Dinomancer by Eric Rosin
Tales of the Southern Gothic by Patrick Groff
Teacher of the Year by Michael Mau
The Good Counselor by Kathryn Grant & Sue Robin Pollock
The Isles by Peter Petralia
The Keepers by Taylor Coriell
The Pearson Five by Clare Higgins
The TPG vs. the Legions of Hell by Jaise Gilbert
What’s Buried Beneath the Pines by Kris Shuman
Worlds Apart by Thomas Gaunt
Short Competition Semifinalists
Fetch by Patrick Curran
Four Stories by Jeremy Pope
Going Back to You by Rebecca Semik
Hook ’em Horns by Tyler Totten
I Am Still Here by Destiny Faith Nelson
Linus by Corey Farrell
My Best Friend, Shane by Christian Meier
Nancy by V.P. Evans
Night Owl by Michelle Farley
Ode by Robin Farmer
Queens Get the Money by Alexyss Robinson
Scientits by Cat Dale
The Scream of the Butterfly by Anjini Taneja Azhar & Ariya Akhavan
Tics And Stones by Angelo Rocha
Triple Screw Knot by Kymberly Harris
Wicked Hearts by Derrick Benton
Tennessee Writer Semifinalists
Autonomy by Alexia Greene
Backwoods Chief by Heidi-Marie Ferren
Curse of the Frontier by Sam Jones
Flicker by Adam Bryant
Girl Silenced by Darla Pelton-Perez
Gray Hare by Mike Bentley & Corbin Eaton
Hissy Fit by Lisa Kröger & Larissa Zageris
JJ Summer by Nichole Lim
Love, Afterlife by Taylor Dupuis
Meglacanda by Jett Sheridan & Melissa Sheridan
One And Done by Elvis Wilson
Origin Story by Ama Adair
Pact by MK Kopp
Park Rangers by Owen Philip Murphy
Sanctuary by Sarah Marie Smith
Saving A Christmas Carol by Shirley Filardi Amitrano
Snake Oil by Corbin Eaton & Mike Bentley
The First Lady of Tennessee by Allen Sircy
The Mississippi by Phillip Charles
Tinfoil Hearts by Mike Bentley
To The Family of Verlean Banks by Briana Cox
Torment by Joseph Oliver Hooten
Two Kids in a Trench Coat by Noah Glenn
Unrest by Whitni Resides
For more information on the 56th Nashville Film Festival, please visit the official festival webpage here:
