Tony Cox Screenplay Finalists Announced!

Congratulations to all of our Tony Cox Screenplay Finalists! Stay tuned for the announcement of our winners during #NFF2021!

FEATURE SCREENPLAY:
THE 84 by Sonja Perryman
CALIFORNY by Danielle Krudy
GHOSTIES by Julie Sharbutt

EPISODIC SCREENPLAY (60 MINUTES):
MIGRANT MOTHERS by Ashley Rebecca Farley
RUBBERNECKER by Tom Hancock & Varun Raman
SECOND CROSSING by James Howells

SHORT SCREENPLAY:
BELATED by Leah Chen Baker
THE LITTLE MONSTER OF RAVENSWOOD MANOR by Katherine Sainte Marie
RECOVERY CHAIN by Quamé Hamlin

EPISODIC SCREENPLAY (30 MINUTES):
HEAD FIRST by Jade Edwards
SIDE QUEST by Louie Aronowitz & Michael Tannenbaum
VILLAGE W!TCH by Emma Gutt

#NFF2021 Tony Cox Episodic Screenplay (60 Minute) SEMI-FINALISTS Announced!

Congratulations to our 60 minute Episodic Screenplay Semi-Finalists!

THE MAN PROJECT
by Steven Briggs

Dr. Karah runs the male reproduction section of the government while trying to become pregnant herself. The sperm samples saved and used for reproduction are largely white-male-sperm and she wants to preserve the dying black race. Meanwhile the black president wants results but harbors a secret love for neos. The head of fertility has her own neo child and two natural children and does not want to want to mandate a forced neo-fetus abortion ruling. Political complexity with gender rights.

MIGRANT MOTHERS
by Ashley Rebecca Farley

Jumping back and forward in time, we understand the hardships of the beginning and middle of the Dust Bowl period in Oklahoma. Annabelle's family are tenant farmers for Ginny's husband, Floyd. With the dust storms ravaging the land and the health of farmers, it's only a matter of time before they must leave.  Annabelle's African American family feels the weight of the racism of their elected officials during a roundup of Black Americans celebrating Juneteenth at a park. Ginny's husband, Floyd, watches as his land is threatened by bankers. When both Annabelle and Ginny's husbands are dead, under circumstances only yet foreshadowed, the women join their families together to move to California. This teleplay is about motherhood, Black history, and overcoming hardship-all set during this historical period.

DYING TO
by Joseph Gilberto

Arlene attends Debra's funeral during her stay at a retirement center. Young at heart, the daily activities of the center bore her. Her daughter Victoria resides out-of-state and can't visit frequently. And Arlene still thinks about her ex-husband, Bart, despite the fact, he has already moved on with a new lover. Arlene gains the attention of Mark, the right leader of a group of rowdy folks at the center. Mark and his friends encourage Arlene to take another chance at life. Eventually, they talk her into attending a nightclub when they participate in hard drugs. Arlene in the midst of a panic attack catches a cab but changes her mind and heads back to the club. Finally, they end their night after running into the police and head back to the facility. Arlene embraces her new friends, unaware of the consequences of last night's actions.

RUBBERNECKER
by Tom Hancock & Varun Raman

ADAM meets CHLOE in an unconventional way - after she's been hit by a car while biking. Obsession at first sight, he steals her camera and thus begins a year-long stalking of her. Time passes, Chloe recovers from her injuries, and Adam knows the ins and outs of her daily life in London. Meanwhile, he is passed over for a promotion at his office job while making friends with a guy named CAL. He also tries to please his annoying mother, PEG. Adam manages to get a copy of Chloe's house key while she's jogging. He also manages to sneak into her house and install a secret camera into her bedroom fire alarm, but nearly gets caught by Chloe and her sexual conquest, SPENCER, while doing so. All is well - he gets to watch Chloe while she sleeps. But while searching for clues about the disappearance of a girl named HOLLY PRESTON, things get dark. Adam encounters Chloe trying to save the life of a bleeding teenager. He is forced to help her save the kid's life, but he dies. Adam tries to get close to Chloe while doing so, but it creeps her out. Disheartened, Adam confides in Cal about Chloe (Cal thinks Adam is actually DATING Chloe), and he tells him to "not take 'no' for an answer". Determined, Adam shows up on Chloe's doorstep to profess his love, but notices she doesn't answer. He gets in with his copied key, and unfortunately, it seems like Chloe's committed suicide in the bathtub. However, Adam notices his camera in the fire alarm is gone. Was this planned? Adam takes her cat, HARRY, with him back home - his new objective to find out who killed Chloe.

SECOND CROSSING
by James Howells

A small snowy town has a new sheriff. There is a bizarre case of a man who plummeted from the sky and died on impact. Him and his assistant begin investigating, and struggle to understand what happened to this man. They discover (with help from scientists, and forensics) that this man seem to have dental work typical of the 1930's which is strange because he is in his 20's. They find out that this man was dropped from a parallel universe, and that the town's mayor is much more involved than they originally thought.

PARADISE VALLEY
by Danielle Autumn Stratton

Karolyn and Bobby Shaw were once Sarah and Michael Kaplan. As part of the witness protection program, they and their children Levi/Liam and Abigail/Ava have moved from New York City to Arizona. Each member of the family struggles greatly with adjusting to their new, mundane lives. Suspicion also grows around the family, as a nosey neighbor and New York mobster both search for the truth about them.

Meet our Tony Cox Screenplay Competition Juries

Thank you to our #NFF2021 Tony Cox Screenplay Competition Jury members!

Tony Cox Film Screenplay Jury

Elizabeth Chatelain has directed several acclaimed documentary and narrative shorts which have screened at festivals including Interfilm Berlin and SXSW. Her work primarily profiles working class women struggling against everyday adversity. Elizabeth is currently working on her first feature project, SUNDOGS, which participated in the Berlinale Script Station and was an Academy Nicholl Fellowship Semi-Finalist, Tony Cox Screenplay Competition winner, and Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition Winner. She is currently a Blacklist/Women in Film Feature Fellow.

Sam Cox is a Marketing Strategy Associate at Disney Streaming, working with connected device partners including Amazon and Roku. Prior to that he was Manager of Distribution at Showtime Networks. He graduated from Bucknell University as a Global Management major in 2018, and is currently pursuing an MBA at NYU Stern with a specialty in Media and Entertainment. He is the son of Winston “Tony" Cox, for whom the Screenplay Competitions are named.

Rachel Winter is an Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker and producer who has made her feature directorial debut this spring with THE SPACE BETWEEN for Paramount Pictures. She also serves as producer through her Tangerine Pictures. Previously, Winter received an Oscar nomination for producing DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, which also received accolades from the Producers Guild of America, the Golden Globe Awards, and the Critics Choice Awards. She has several projects in development including an untitled LeBron James biopic for Universal, which she will produce with LeBron James and Maverick Carter, and a feature based on the life of daredevil motorcycle icon Evel Knievel at Paramount. Winter's previous film credits include KRYSTAL, STEALING CARS, BROOKLYN RULES, WAYWARD SON, BURY ME IN KERN COUNTY, and THE LATHER EFFECT.

Tony Cox Episodic Pilot Jury

Andi Delott writes grounded dramas with female leads. Her writing accomplishments include: Winner, Tony Cox Screenplay Competition 2020 for her pilot BEING SEEN; 2019-2020 NBC Writers on the Verge; 2018 PAGE Awards Fellowship to the Stowe Story Labs for her feature FAITH; 2017 New York Women in Film and Television Writers Lab for her feature THE DEAL. Andi is also part of the Impact Creative Network. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she works in entertainment marketing.

Kate Levitt is a script editor and screenwriter with a focus on untraditional coming-of-age narratives. Besides the Tony Cox Screenplay Competition, her scripts have placed in the Austin Film Festival, the Atlanta Film Festival, and the Page International Screenwriting Awards where her drama pilot, TROUBLE, made the finals last year. She's been a reader for Killer Films, New York Women In Film And Television’s Writers Lab, and teaches at Stony Brook University. Kate is also a drummer and has toured both nationally and internationally, playing at fests such as Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and Primavera Sounds in Barcelona.

Huong Nguyen is a television writer in Los Angeles, where she recently wrapped two seasons of Disney Channel's BUNK'D and is pretty sure she will never work again. She was the winner of the 2018 Tony Cox Screenplay Competition with her TV pilot ALL WE DO IS NGUYEN.

#NFF2021 Tony Cox Episodic Screenplay (30 Minute) SEMI-FINALISTS Announced!

Congratulations to our six Episodic Screenplay (30 Minute) Semi-Finalists! Read more about their scripts below, and stay tuned for our Finalist announcement!

SIDE QUEST
by Louie Aronowitz &
Michael Tannenbaum

When his best friend is kidnapped in Murder Forest, Joma, a clumsy shopkeeper, must survive through a world of magic to save him.

FLAWLESS: A FEMINIST FAIRYTALE
by Catherine Eaton &
Deborah Rayne

When “Ever After, Inc.” hires a Latinx Millennial to become the new Fairy Godmother for NYC, she discovers that the shiny corporate behemoth is nothing more than a shill for The Patriarchy. Disillusioned, she goes rogue; and with the help of the City’s very modern Princesses, she sets out to dismantle the System and allow women to define "Happily Ever After” for themselves.

HEAD FIRST
by Jade Edwards

A workaholic's life gets upended when a forced maternity leave spirals into an unplanned reality of raising a baby conceived to save her marriage, alone.

VILLAGE W!TCH
by Emma Gutt

Two misfit peasant girls coming of age in the Middle Ages want to assume power over their lives by becoming witches.

30 MILES
by Alicia Kempin

Sisterhood, adventure and scandal abound, as the women of whaling-era Nantucket Island experience unobstructed freedom, while the men are away at sea.

CHOSEN PEOPLE
by David Rosenberg

CHOSEN PEOPLE is a comedy following four Rabbinical students trying to balance their spiritual growth with their normal, messy, indulgent lives as twentysomething New Yorkers.

#NFF2019 Showtime's Tony Cox Feature Screenplay & Episodic Screenplay (60 Min) FINALISTS Announced!

Read more below about the finalists’ scripts and the prizes up for grabs!

Feature Screenplay Finalists:

10 by Charles Forbes  
The life story of famed, gay author, Tennessee Williams.

GREENWOOD by Nathan Patton
Buck Franklin is an African American lawyer in 1920s Oklahoma, struggling to find work and provide for his family. When he hears of an all black community in Greenwood, he decides to visit the town and explore his opportunities. Shortly after his arrival, an incident involving a young black man and white woman sparks a race riot and the destruction of the black community, and Buck sets out to bring justice to the people of Greenwood.

SUNDOGS by Elizabeth Chatelain 
When Alex's father dies and their family farm slips into debilitating debt, she takes her 12-year-old daughter Jenny West with her to work on the North Dakota oilfields. But after the oil industry's decline begins and Alex loses her job, she must decide which is more important: the farm, or her fragile relationship with her daughter.

Finalists Receive:

• VIP week-­long Pass to Nantucket Film Festival;

• Attend Showtime ­sponsored reception during the Film Festival;

• Participation in Mentors Brunch with prominent screenwriter during the Film Festival;

• Name inclusion on Festival catalogue and website as Competition winner;

• Print and media coverage.

And One Winner, to be announced during the Festival, will receive:

• $5,000 cash prize from the Nantucket Film Festival;

• All expenses paid, month­-long stay at exclusive Screenwriters Colony on Nantucket in October;

• VIP week-­long Pass to Nantucket Film Festival;

• Round­ trip from New York to Nantucket to attend Film Festival;

• Accommodations in Nantucket during the Film Festival;

• A Showtime­ sponsored reception during the Film Festival in the winner’s honor;

• Participation in Mentors Brunch with prominent screenwriter during the Film Festival;

• Name inclusion on Festival catalogue and website as Competition winner;

• Print and media coverage.

Episodic 60 Minute Pilot Screenplay Finalists:

BACK-ALLEY by Young Eun (Grace) Kim 
Ada, a disgraced former surgeon, decides to team up with a motley medical devices engineer and become the Robin Hood of medical procedures.

COMPTON, NH by Hyun Chessman
A small, rural town is turned upside down by the sudden appearance of the City of Compton in its backyard.

LIVING by Kate Levitt
Ezra, a seventeen-year-old Jewish James Dean, leads a double life--at home, Orthodox and pious, and at school, drugging and partying.  As he juggles the two worlds, his “pious" family faces their own challenges.  

One Winner Receives:

• $1,000 cash prize from the Nantucket Film Festival;

• Private one-on-one consultation with Showtime executive;

• VIP week-­long Pass to Nantucket Film Festival;

• Attend Showtime ­sponsored reception during the Film Festival;

• Participation in Mentors Brunch with prominent screenwriter during the Film Festival;

• Name inclusion on Festival catalogue and website as Competition winner;

• Print and media coverage.

#NFF19 Showtime's Tony Cox Episodic Screenplay (30 Min) FINALISTS Announced!

Read more below about our finalists, their scripts, and the prizes up for grabs!

Episodic Screenplay (30 Min) Finalists:

FLORIDA WOMAN SAVES THE DAY by Leanna Adams
The lives of three strong women with nothing in common become intertwined in the linty underbelly of the Sunshine State.

Leanna Adams has written, directed, produced, edited and starred in dozens of award-winning shorts that have screened in festivals around North America, some of which have aired on TBS and Fox's LaughsTV and been featured by Huffington Post and Funny or Die. Her short films and scripts have also received numerous awards. Leanna’s TV pilot, FLORIDA WOMAN SAVES THE DAY, was a finalist in the 2019 Atlanta Film Festival, a finalist in the 2018 WIF/The Black List Episodic Lab, a finalist in the 2018 Shore Scripts TV Pilot competition, a quarter-finalist in the ScreenCraft Pilot Launch competition and has received numerous positive evaluations on The Black List including a rare 8/10.

FUNDERLAND by Sasha Perl-Raver
During the golden age of Public Access Television—1985 New York City—an aspiring puppeteer could be the next big thing, if only his Tourette’s syndrome weren’t so severe.

Sasha Perl-Raver has written, produced, and appeared on television and digital platforms including FX, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, LOGO, Style Network, TV Guide Channel, Facebook, and many others. She is a USC grad, a former Food Network chef, and was once proclaimed “Funniest in LA” by the NY Daily News. Most recently, Sasha was one of just six women awarded a spot in the prestigious Black List/Women in Film Episodic Lab.

WATCH OUT GALS! by Madalyn Baldanzi
When a perfectionist producer becomes the first woman to produce her own game show in 1982, she faces the challenging reality behind her dream job.

Madalyn Baldanzi is a comedy writer, director, and teacher in New York City. She recently wrote for Go90's Mr. Student Body President. At the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theatre, Madalyn wrote for several house teams and shows including running shows Bullshit Women, A Date With Every Boy, and currently, Sketch Cram. She is the co-writer of Above Average series Katie: A Lady and was a long-time contributor to Funny Or Die.  She was a 2017 Made In New York Writers Room Fellow.  Madalyn is extremely fond of teaching sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Training Center. She also enjoys directing live theatre, as well as directing and producing videos through her production company, Fancy Family. 

Finalists Receive:

• VIP week-­long Pass to Nantucket Film Festival;

• Showtime ­sponsored reception during the Film Festival;

• Participation in Mentors Brunch with prominent screenwriter during the Film Festival;

• Name inclusion in Festival catalogue and on website

And One Winner, to be announced during the Festival, will receive:

• $1,000 cash prize from the Nantucket Film Festival;

• All-inclusive two-weeks-long episodic comedy writer's retreat on Nantucket in June with Screenwriters Colony and NFF;

• One-on-one consultation with Showtime executive;

• VIP week-­long Pass to Nantucket Film Festival;

• Showtime ­sponsored reception during the Film Festival;

• Participation in Mentors Brunch with prominent screenwriter during the Film Festival;

• Name inclusion on Festival catalogue and website as Competition winner

#NFF18 Showtime's Tony Cox Feature Screenplay, Episodic Screenplay (60 Min), and Shorts Writer FINALISTS Announced!

Read more below about our finalists, their scripts, and the prizes up for grabs!

Feature Screenplay Finalists:

CAMBRIDGE by Henry Hayes and Zolan Kanno-Youngs
The life of Boston Bomber, ‎Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, as seen by friends who knew him before the event, and who struggle to rationalize their friend with the killer he became.

THE NOVICE by Lauren Hadaway
An overachieving novice rower becomes obsessed with making the Varsity team, to the point that she starts to lose touch with reality.

QUEENS by Max Sokoloff
Sperm donor, Ben, meets his crossing-dressing middleschooler son for the first time and has to decide if he wants to be a dad. 

Finalists Receive:

• VIP week-­long Pass to Nantucket Film Festival;

• Attend Showtime ­sponsored reception during the Film Festival;

• Participation in Mentors Brunch with prominent screenwriter during the Film Festival;

• Name inclusion on Festival catalogue and website as Competition winner;

• Print and media coverage.

And One Winner, to be announced during the Festival, will receive:

• $5,000 cash prize from the Nantucket Film Festival;

• All expenses paid, month­-long stay at exclusive Screenwriters Colony on Nantucket in October;

• VIP week-­long Pass to Nantucket Film Festival;

• Round­ trip from New York to Nantucket to attend Film Festival;

• Accommodations in Nantucket during the Film Festival;

• A Showtime­ sponsored reception during the Film Festival in the winner’s honor;

• Participation in Mentors Brunch with prominent screenwriter during the Film Festival;

• Name inclusion on Festival catalogue and website as Competition winner;

• Print and media coverage.

Episodic 60 Min Pilot Screenplay Finalists:

BETWEEN THE EYES by G.J. Lee
America's first female detective is hired by Abraham Lincoln to ensure his safety in traveling to Washington, DC for his inauguration.  

DETESTABLE by Brandon Morrissey
The closeted son of a pastor arrives to a Christian university where his understanding of the world is challenged by his peers.

LEGACY by Kellen Hertz
An elite Connecticut University finds a doll reenactment of a heinous crime (which was committed 20 years ago) at the original site, The Founders Tomb, and it seems an important legacy student is  somehow connected with the current crime.

One Winner Receives:

• $1,000 cash prize from the Nantucket Film Festival;

• Private one-on-one consultation with Showtime executive;

• VIP week-­long Pass to Nantucket Film Festival;

• Attend Showtime ­sponsored reception during the Film Festival;

• Participation in Mentors Brunch with prominent screenwriter during the Film Festival;

• Name inclusion on Festival catalogue and website as Competition winner;

• Print and media coverage.

Short Screenplay Finalists:

ASSISTS, GOALS, SAVES by Kelly Pike
Rising field hockey star Emmie starts to change after a visit to the team doctor.

CINDERELLA WAR by Margaret Kane-Rowe
A quaint family in Ireland receives a hostile visit from the Irish Republican Army. 

THE INVISIBLE MONSTER by Gordon LePage
A boy at the beach, playing pretend from his favorite TV show, finds a monster.
 

One Winner Receives:

• $500 cash prize from the Nantucket Film Festival;

• VIP week-­long Pass to Nantucket Film Festival;

• Attend Showtime ­sponsored reception during the Film Festival;

• Participation in Mentors Brunch with prominent screenwriter during the Film Festival;

• Name inclusion on Festival catalogue and website as Competition winner;

• Print and media coverage.

Finalists Announced for Showtime's Tony Cox Episodic Screenplay (30 Min) Competition

Congratulations to our three finalists in Showtime's Tony Cox Episodic Screenplay (30 Minute) Competition:

ALL WE DO IS NGUYEN BY HUONG NGUYEN
An ambitious woman’s fast ride to the perfect life is interrupted when she moves back to her hometown and attempts to fix her hillbilly immigrant family.

FINALE BY GREG FUSCO
When the creator of the world’s most popular show tragically dies its clueless producers must juggle a disorderly cast, a rabid fan base, and an impending deadline to write the perfect three hour finale to a series they know nothing about.

GOING VIRAL BY JORDAN PICK
A half-hour, episodic comedy series about two knuckleheads failing to make their videos go viral.

The winner receives:

• A $1,000 cash prize from the Nantucket Film Festival
• An all-inclusive two-weeks-long writer's retreat on Nantucket in June with the Screenwriter's Colony and NFF
• One-on-one consultation with a Showtime executive
• A VIP week-long Festival Pass to all events
• Participation in our Mentor Brunch during the Festival
• A Showtime-sponsored reception during the Festival in the winners’ honor
• A Custom leather bound copy of the script, courtesy of Showtime
• Print and media coverage
• Name inclusion on Festival program materials as a competition finalist and winner

Stay tuned for the announcement of our winner!

Semi-Finalists for Showtime's Tony Cox Episodic Screenplay (30 Min) Competition Announced

It's that time again - congratulations to our ten Semi-Finalists of Showtime's Tony Cox Episodic Screenplay (30 Min) Competition! Stay tuned for the Finalists, to be announced soon!

ALL WE DO IS NGUYEN BY HUONG NGUYEN

COUPLED BY JANET SILVERMAN

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK BY STEPHEN BROWN

FINALE BY GREG FUSCO 

THE FREEDOM NEWS NETWORK
BY ERIC CYPHERS

GOING VIRAL BY JORDAN PICK

HYPE
BY ADRIAN BRINKLEY

THE LAB BY ALICIA LOMAS-GROSS

PRODUCERS BY LES ZIG

THE YEARBOOK OF REVELATION
BY PETER SHERER

Finalists Announced for Showtime's Tony Cox Episodic Screenplay (30 Min) Competition

Congratulations to our three finalists in Showtime's Tony Cox Episodic Screenplay (30 Minute) Competition:

CASEY CAN'T by KAITLIN FONTANA
A dark comedy about a flawed writer who is blackmailed into managing a hipster music blog by its manchild owner, heir to a porn fortune. It's about being too old for this shit before you’re 40.

SUBSCRIBE NOW by CARRIE MCCROSSEN
Wharton grad Christine finds herself the newbie at a YouTube-like company, tasked with finding and developing new content makers.

WAKE by GREGORY BONSIGNORE
81-year-old Maggie moves from Arizona back to NYC to pick up the life she had left as a young woman. 

The winner receives:

• A $1,000 cash prize from the Nantucket Film Festival
• An all-inclusive two-weeks-long writer's retreat on Nantucket in June with the Screenwriter's Colony and NFF
• One-on-one consultation with a Showtime executive
• A VIP week-long Festival Pass to all events
• Participation in our Mentor Brunch during the Festival
• A Showtime-sponsored reception during the Festival in the winners’ honor
• A Custom leather bound copy of the script, courtesy of Showtime
• Print and media coverage
• Name inclusion on Festival program materials as a competition finalist and winner

Stay tuned for the winner, to be announced soon!