NashFilm is pleased to announce the Screenplay Competition Quarterfinalists for the 56th Nashville Film Festival. The winners will be announced at the 56th Nashville Film Festival taking place September 18-24, 2025.
Screenplays are the blueprints for cinematic magic, crafted by the creative minds who dare to dream big. They bring characters to life, spin tales that captivate, and ignite emotions that linger long after the credits roll. Every year, we have the pleasure of reading countless different screenplays, with this year being no exception. Today, we announce which of these screenplays are quarterfinalists.
Congratulations to those who have made it this far and thank you to everyone who submitted this year. Your passion and dedication are the driving force behind the magic of cinema, and we are honored to have been a part of your creative journey. Stay tuned for announcements regarding the semifinalists and finalists for the 2025 Nashville Film Festival Screenplay Competition.
Comedy Feature Quarterfinalists
10 Reasons Why I’m a Bad Idea by Sam Speron
3 Months of Killing by Jon Ryan Sugimoto
All Inclusive by Allyson Morgan
Charles Somebody by Scott Corbett & Mark Cohen
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
NewfoundDad by Andrew MacQuarrie
Old Patrol by Kevin Jordan
Oranges by Dillon Goyette
QUE LINDA by Pam Garcia & Amy Wendel
Reginald & Vivianne by David Smallwood
Shabadoodah by Larry E. Coleman
Snake Oil by Corbin Eaton & Michael Bentley
Snark the Herald by Jeff Elder
Squid Ink by Alex Reinhard, Nick Maurer, Blake Antrim & Chris Hassay
Stealing Mike by Shannon Farr
Stephanie Dellacosta by Al Naffah
The Bachelor President by Kavis Peak
The Full Vampire by Hunt Holman & Charlie Matthes
The Offsprings by Shington Lamy
The Toledo War by Scott Saffran & Stephen Kipp
This End Up by Mike Ackerman
Three’s A Crowd by Matthew Hoch
Two Kids in a Trench Coat by Noah Glenn
Under The Influence by Aadrise Johnson
Yard Duties by Anna Daniels & David A. Daniels
Drama Feature Quarterfinalists
A Leg Up by Anthony Colannino
All You Need Is Love by Gary Edward Irwin
Animals by Andrei Chahine
Cross Bell by Adeline Jackson
Daisy by Tamra Davis
Darlington by Tony Bustamante
Devil in the Details by Victor Dean
Dissonance by Em Johnson
F.A.M.E. by Evan Johnston
Fire in Little Beirut by Kevin Farris & Michael Hayes
Halsted: Between Pleasure & Pain by Jacobo Fe Gismera
Her Word by Kezmit White
Hiding Places by Samuel Wilson
Hogtied by Sam Parker & Parker Couch
Jobber by Michael Ronca
Kate’s Light by David Schroeder
Kirby in Limbo by Jamie Campbell
Lark Matilda by Corley Schulman
Lifeboat by Mason Mendoza & Bill Baber
Lizard by Ashlynn Judy
Mall Worker by Anthony Musante
Marko: Dog of War by Richard Norris
My List of Nevers by Dustin Richardson
Obeying Orders by Steve Walker
Oni by Robert Mitas
Pearl Shine by Suz Curtis
Poster Girls by Christina Capra
RageQuit by Sam Norman
Rose, Lily by Joy (Ji) Young (Yang)
Run Renegade by Mary Ann Rotondi
School of Thought by T.D. Critton
Secondhand by Adam Wagner
Shadows In The Gaslight by Tony Zavaleta & Marc Hunter
South Wind Come by Ernestina Juarez
Spiral by Hannah Garfield
Stanley’s by Wendy Swiney
The Cuckoo Bird by Matthew Boggess
The Death of Me! by Debra Jarvis
The Faithful Ones by Kathleen J. Waites
The Fault Line by Larry Collins
The Girl Who Cried Wolf by Alicia Herder
The Gorgon: Her Story Retold by Darrian Gray
The Last Elephant by Hunter Daniel Fludgate
The Last Noel by John Moccia
The Last Trial Part One by Rebekah Scheffelmaier
The Marketplace by Ryan Gentle & Austin Quarles
The Son by Jay Paul Smith
The Trouble Spot by Aimee Henkel
This Will Not End Well by Katy Flynn
Transcendent by Keegan Kerns
Werner’s Turn by Jim Amatulli & Brien Master
Woman’s Work by Erin Beute
Yard Duties by Anna Daniels & David A. Daniels
Genre Feature Quarterfinalists
Alice and The Land of Wonder by Danielle R Erlich
Aster’s Game by Elvis Wilson
Augs by Derrick Benton & Torrin M. Kearns
Bigfoot’s Got a Gun by Troy DeWinne & Hector Farias
Defroster by Nathan Patton
Escape from Taylor Creek by Marie Etzler
Eyes That Lie by Daria Price
Honor The Commandment by Kavis Peak
Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off! by Ryan Jahn
Mesa by Pam Covington
Naman by Lambert Bouley
Oar River by Jody McNicholas
Palo Alto Bang & Burn by Craig Bettendorf
Potter’s Field by Lincoln Reed
Providers by Aurelie Bertout
Saving A Christmas Carol by Shirley Filardi Amitrano
Sixgun Saint by Warren Lane
The Big Rock Candy Mountain by John Moccia
The Bone House by Jason Kesse
The Creighton Chronicles: Master of Death by Ben Parsons
The Go-Go District by Travis Houze
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
The Theory Of Invisibility by Aimee Pitta
The War On by Jeff Bassetti
This Business Which Is Grim by Jody Matzer
Where the Conch Is Alvie Hoggins? by Farah Ysvette Mourad Vera
Horror Feature Quarterfinalists
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
Brains by Zach Rubin
Buddy by Drew Landry
Deadbeat by Lauren Brown
Disco’s Not Dead by Toby Marks
Feral Mountains by Terry Podnar
Hop, Skip, Jump by Jonathan Fox
House of Refuge by Tara Hotchkis
I Don’t Dream In Spanish Anymore by Missy Hernandez
Illicium by Matthew Riffle & Zackary Hill
Join Us by Jon Bershad
Kiss Me, Kill Her by Sam Rose
Lechuzas by Tania Luna
Rare by Callie Currence
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 Killdren by Dana Berry
The Plague Doctor by Ninon Schubert & Michael O’Connor
The Scout by Jacob Smith
Too Many Wades by Stirling McLaughlin & Wilder Konschak
Half Hour Pilot Quarterfinalists
Access Village by Brian Koukol
Ain’t Dead Yet by Kari Barlas
Catalina Manor by Emma Francis
Democracy, North Carolina by Michael Ronca
Frankenberg by Alene Latimer
GENEVIEVE: AI by Debbie Trecek Volkens
Gentle Parenting by Charlie T Savage
Grounded by Sarah Bishop
Lunch Ladies by Liv Jonsé
Nic of Time by Willem Lee & Mayuran Tiruchelvam
People On Ice by Stephen Brower
R.I.P. INC. by Harim Sanchez
Scammers by Kendall Pendlebury
Southern Bites by Nigel Tyrone Simms
The Immaculate Contraception by Caroline Reilly & Rebecca Starr
The Mannings by Jennie Jarvis
The Mississippi by Phillip Charles
Hour Pilot Quarterfinalists
All Storms Brewing by Christopher J O’Bryant
Ankharis by Lambert Bouley
ARC by J M Kellerman
Backwoods Chief by Heidi-Marie Ferren
Bad Will by Iain Mclellan
Blood In Black Holes by Mikael Holcombe-Scali
Blue Harbor by James McCarthy
Booty Calls by Maddie Chavez
Dahlia by Clare Higgins
Drawbacks by Olivia Pecini
Duper by Jay Rath
Dysphoria by Scott Simonsen
Efficiency by Matthew Riffle & Zackary Hill
Ellis by Natalie Schwan
Goods by Lauren Ferebee
Howl by Zoe Kerr
I Am by Phillip Charles
Lady M. by Sara Hallowell
Loveland by Michael B. Snow
Maccabeus by Austin Kase
Mantis Green by Farah Ysvette Mourad Vera
Marcus Cartwright Just Wants to Die by Sam Lupson
Midnight City by Jay Adams
Mother Church by Hugh Moffatt
Mother of Vice by Emily Lerer
Next Great American Novelist by Steffanie Bradley
No Saints in Reno by Terry Rietta
Ovid Marshall: Dinomancer by Eric Rosin
Punk Rock Girl by Devi Snively & Circus Szalewski
R.A.T. by Christopher Goodenough
Requiem for a King by Hugh Blewett
Rhenium by Kathy Patterson
Safe Adam by Henry Garcia
Shadowfall by JoAnn Hess
Stone by Kris J. L. Wilson
Tales of the Southern Gothic by Patrick Groff
Teacher of the Year by Michael Mau
The Fiddler’s Gun by John Snowden
The Good Counselor by Kathryn Grant & Sue Robin Pollock
The Hollow Crown by Daniel Pappas
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
Wickie by Tom Kelsey
Worlds Apart by Thomas Gaunt
Short Competition Quarterfinalists
13 Steps by Loren Davis
American Values by Ryan Mekenian
American Wedding by Das Bleu
Augusta by Nathan Blankenship
Dancing Queens by Diana Foronda
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
Jenny’s Dumping Brian and Everybody Knows It by Vanessa Esteves
Linus by Corey Farrell
My Best Friend, Shane by Christian Meier
Nadia by Kinan Kotrash
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
Scout by Michael Morra
The Final Meal by Gregory Henn
The Impersonator by Lauren Zoë Bell
The Morehouse Stand by Christopher Johnson
The Ohh-La-La by Mitch Olson
The Resistance by Natalie Schwan
The Scream of the Butterfly by Anjini Taneja Azhar & Ariya Akhavan
The Wooden Porch by Grace YJ Kim
Tics And Stones by Angelo Rocha
Triple Screw Knot by Kymberly Harris
Wicked Hearts by Derrick Benton
Tennessee Writer Quarterfinalists
Autonomy by Alexia Greene
Avery by Casey Warfield
Backwoods Chief by Heidi-Marie Ferren
Ballad of a Poor Man by DeAngelo McBride
candygirl by Sandra Webb Smith
Christmas Break(up) by Corbin Eaton & Andrew Cochrane
Curse of the Frontier by Sam Jones
Exit at Two Oaks by Cynthia Neilson & Phil C. Neilson
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
Last Leg by Kyle Thomas
Level Up by Tara Cocco Guptill & Sam Brooks
Liz by Lauren Loud
Love, Afterlife by Taylor Dupuis
Meglacanda by Jett Sheridan & Melissa Sheridan
Neighborly (Pilot) by Melissa Sheridan & Amy Trauig
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
Soiled by Matthew Budds
The Beautiful Ones by Justin Coupe & Jessica Auville
The First Lady of Tennessee by Allen Sircy
The Halloween Short Film Festival by Jason Allen
The Lair of the Thunderbird by Jan Morrison
The Lost Book of Enoch, Judgement of The Watchers by Melissa Sheridan
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:
