1st Place:

Tom Cosgrove for The Sea Devils

>>Update January 2007
Tom quickly acquired a manager and was placed with United Talent Agency. His script is currently being considered by top Hollywood production companies.

Cash and Prizes: $15,000 cash plus a Microsoft Tablet PC, Final Draft software, and Microsoft software package. Also, airfare to Los Angeles and 3 night hotel stay.

The first-place winner is Tom Cosgrove of Dublin, Ireland. His winning screenplay, The Sea Devils, tells of a world-weary crew of an Atlantic trawler that becomes embroiled in a war of survival after winching a monster into their hold from the ocean's dark zone.

“Like thousands of other aspiring screenwriters, I began my journey with the search for a story and the hope for inspiration. I had the idea for an alien-at-sea picture for a long time, and the subsequent discovery that an oceanic organism ‘Phronima’ had inspired the original film monster left me with little doubt about the cinematic potential.

After more than a year writing several drafts I eventually came to the door of Final Draft’s Big Break screenwriting competition. Seeing the opportunity to get the film read by such great people was a unique and rare opportunity that I immediately entered every script I had.

Getting the call to “Pack your bags and come to Hollywood” was truly a mythical moment. In Liz Alani, the world of screenwriting has found a true champion for the cause. From total obscurity Final Draft flew me 6,000 miles across ocean and continent, not only to receive the prestigious accolade of first place, but also to find a brilliant manager in the course of three days of meetings, and an acclaimed agent—UTA.

Even as a writer I can think of few superlatives that describe the tenacity of Liz Alani’s endeavours. Long may they continue.”

2nd Place:

Yehudi Mercado for Buffalo Speedway

Cash and Prizes: $4,000 cash plus a Microsoft Tablet PC, Final Draft software, and Microsoft software package. Also, airfare to Los Angeles and 3 night hotel stay.

Yehudi Mercado hails from Austin, Texas and came in a close second. His screenplay hilariously chronicles the summer of 1994 when one pizza outpost delivered the most pizzas ever while the world watched OJ's slow-speed chase. Buffalo Speedway follows five drivers who chase destiny as they compete in Turbo Pizza's Top Driver Race.

“When I submitted my screenplay to the Final Draft Big Break contest, I had little expectation that I would ever hear anything back. I never thought that a quirky comedy about pizza delivery drivers, on the busiest pizza day ever, was the stuff award ceremonies were made of. People seem to respond to it. The fact that mine was the only comedy to make it to the Top 10 is extremely gratifying. My friend, director Scott Rice, and I have been developing this project for him to direct for almost two years. I’ve been brewing this idea in my head ever since the summer of ‘94 when I was delivering pizzas for Pizza Hut in Houston, TX. I would drive around with my mini-cassette recorder documenting my adventures basting in the 100 degree balmy Houston heat, in an air condition-less Jeep CJ-7, no less. Some years later I saved up for a computer and one of my first purchases was Final Draft. Little did I know that one day I would be standing next to Syd Field and meeting Simon Kinberg and having real industry folks reading my script!

When Liz Alani, Big Break Contest Director (someone who reads hundreds upon hundreds of scripts), told me that she laughed out loud when reading it, I knew I was on to something. I knew that this script, which could be done for a very modest budget, had a very real chance of getting made. The Austin Film Festival took place a week before the Final Draft awards event and I got a random call from Christopher Lockhart (one of the Big Break judges). It turned out he was in town for the festival and wanted to meet. We hung out all weekend and he told me that he had been getting tremendous responses from people he’d been showing the script to. Fast-forward to the night of the ceremony and I meet Julie Richardson (producer of Collateral). It turns out that she was one of the people Chris passed the script along to and she loved it. I am pleased to say that we are now moving forward on an option and I am doing some polishes/re-writes under her supervision.

Not being one to just sit around, I used the prize money to produce and direct a short film that I had written. It’s called Monster Job Hunter (http://www.monsterjobhunter.com/) and I am currently in the post-production phase with a goal of finishing by the end of March '07. (The film has several special effects shots.) I could not have done this without Final Draft, not only the monetary help, but the confidence that came from the validation of real industry people. Thanks Liz, Scott, Julie, Chris, Allison, Eileen and the countless Pizza Hut customers that became my inspiration.”

3rd Place:

Stinson Carter for Ananias

Cash and Prizes: $2,000 cash plus a Microsoft Tablet PC, Final Draft software, and Microsoft software package.

Stinson Carter of Los Angeles, California, won third place. His screenplay, Ananias, is about a 14 year-old boy, who—thrown into crippling self-doubt after discovering his father's homosexuality—would go to any extreme to prove himself a man. Spurred on by his friends, he embarks with them on a seedy overnight pursuit of proof of his manhood, only to find that letting go of fear is the only proof worth pursuing.

“A sense of confidence and faith in your writing is often the only thing that gets you in front of your computer every day to write. And I don’t believe there is a single writer out there who doesn’t sometimes struggle to maintain that confidence. Being a winner in the Big Break contest has given me one of those few-and-far-between moments of confidence which writers must savor if they are to sustain themselves on an often difficult path. I would urge any burgeoning writers to submit their best screenplay to this contest in the coming year, because even just the process of putting your work out in the world will give you some measure of satisfaction. If you love the process of writing, then that process will always be your most lingering reward. Let this contest be a goal to keep in mind, another reason to write. And if it helps to keep you in front of your computer, then in a certain sense you have already won something from it. And the prospect of actually placing in the contest can simply be icing on the already exquisite cake that is your impulse to write.”

2006 FINALISTS

Stinson Carter, Los Angeles, CA — ANANIAS
Tom Cosgrove, Dublin, Ireland — THE SEA DEVILS
James Duff, New York, NY — MOROCCO
Rick Fonte, Austin, TX — HER FORTUNE
Ken Klein, Portland, OR — IMPACTS AND REMAINS
Yehudi Mercado, Austin, TX — BUFFALO SPEEDWAY
Bret Ootes, Toronto, ON, Canada — ATOMIC EYE
Jill Parker, London, UK — LOVE IN THE TIME OF BOLERO
Jon Preece, Newport, UK — ELVIS WALKS HOME
Greg Shea, North Andover, MA — HEARTBREAK HILL