1st Place:

Robert Frisbee for Cityfall

>>Update Rob was snapped up by Benderspink management and several agents are interested in signing him.

Cash and Prizes: $15,000 total cash plus finalist prizes (listed below). Also, airfare to Los Angeles and 3-night hotel stay (unless winner resides in or around Los Angeles).

Robert Frisbee of Los Angeles, California, is the first-place winner. He renders a bleak and distant feudal future in Cityfall, in which the world’s last city is dying, choked off within a mysterious energy barrier that cuts it off from the outside world. Humanity’s only hope to regain what lies “beyond the breach” is carried in the heart of a rebellion rising up against the fist and steel of a brutal ruler.

“Anyone who writes knows that it's a process filled with both proud moments and struggles. It's often a solitary endeavor as you take an idea from inception to maturity, more often than not with no expectation of compensation or recognition. Like a proud parent, all you really want to do is show off your baby. And in an industry where by its nature doors are difficult to open, having Final Draft and Liz Alani step in is so helpful.

A writer anywhere in the world can submit his or her script and know that it will be seen by people will not only read it, but who care greatly about cultivating undiscovered talent. In the weeks since winning the contest, doors are indeed opening. The best thing about Liz is that her involvement does not end the night of the awards ceremony. Thanks in large part to her continuing diligence, I've obtained a well-respected manager, am taking agency meetings, and best of all my script is being read by people who could actually turn it into a film. Whether or not that ever occurs, the experience has been reward enough.

I wish the best of luck to the other finalists as well--I know doors are opening for them too. The Big Break contest has afforded me new friends, new contacts, and re-invigorated my hope that as a new writer there is a mechanism out there through which your material can reach the industry. I'm grateful for everything.”  

2nd Place:

Geraint Horwood for Knight Knight

	>>Update Geraint’s script was featured in “Scene Fix” in the March/April 2008 issue of Script magazine. Read Article

Cash and Prizes: $4,000 total cash plus finalist prizes (listed below). Also, airfare to Los Angeles and 3-night hotel stay (unless second place winner resides in or around Los Angeles).

Second place goes to Geraint Horwood of Buckinghamshire, UK. His screenplay, Knight Knight, is about two saddle-sore knights who go on a quest for love, adventure and comfortable underwear. Their quest to save a damsel in distress finds them working for the very king who kidnapped her. The damsel bullies them into rescuing her and soon it is they who are in distress.

"Getting into the Big Break final was a huge thrill for me. As a writer you spend a lot of time working on your own so it was wonderful to feel like I was suddenly part of a community. I got to meet a lot of people who shared my love of film and writing and felt really honoured to have contest director Liz Alani and others championing my work. I made a few contacts and some really good friends. I can't recommend the Big Break contest highly enough. ”

3rd Place:

Tony Urgo for The Wizard Joe

Cash and Prizes: $2,000 total cash plus finalist prizes (listed below). Also, airfare to Los Angeles and 3-night hotel stay (unless third place winner resides in or around Los Angeles).

The third place winner is Tony Urgo of San Jose, California. His screenplay, The Wizard Joe, tells the story of a King of a resplendent fairytale country, Leonard Ludwig. Leonard wakes up to discover he's been in a coma, all his life memories the result of an experimental therapy that kept his mind alive while his body healed. As rival factions threaten to take control of his beloved world, Leonard fights to save the only reality he now knows.

"In my acceptance speech I said sometimes the destination was as exciting as the journey. The awards evening was a great experience and a realization of hopes and ambitions for my work and for myself. Thanks to Liz Alani for a unique and festive occasion, and for doing all the work setting up our meetings the next day and taking us around.

Though the destination was short and sweet, it came at the end of a long journey for "The Wizard Joe". It was a story I liked so much I kept telling it even when I was the only one listening. And in those tellings it kept developing and surprising me; when I thought I'd done all I could with it and put it away, it returned by another avenue to let me know I wasn't finished, and that it was worth another go. It had a cat's nine lives and a dog's eternal optimism. It led me down new paths as much as I pulled it along, never letting it go, it never letting go of me. Of all my screenplays this has the most of me in it, so I'm particularly happy this one made it all the way. Winning in the Final Draft contest is a high point and milestone on this story's winding road, and I'm very proud of my little script that could.

Thanks, Final Draft, for the award and the opportunities it may bring."

2007 FINALIST PRIZES

Top 10 Finalists receive:
Final Draft software
$500 Cash
Script read by top industry companies
iScript™ mp3 Players loaded with the finalist’s scripts
Gotham Writers’ Workshop 10-week class
$150 gift certificate from The Writers Store
Free admission to any one 2008 Take A Meeting
One-year Script magazine subscription

2007 FINALISTS

Matthew Allen, Tokyo, Japan  HOW STANLEY KUBRICK LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE HOAX  
Greg Amici, Los Angeles, CA  RHYTHM OF LIFE   
Carol Chiodini, Orlando, FL  NOT FOR NOTHING   
Robert Frisbee, Santa Monica, CA  CITYFALL   
Geraint Horwood, Buckinghamshire, UK  KNIGHT KNIGHT   
Barry Lindemann and Clem Connolly, Las Vegas, NV  SUPERGRASS 
Mark Litton, Los Angeles, CA  THE ENABLER   
Neil McGowan, Los Angeles, CA  NUMBERED   
Chris Rowland and Martyn Norman, Northampton, UK  VLAD THE IMPALER   
Tony Urgo, San Jose, CA  THE WIZARD JOE