AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF
2014 SCREENPLAY & TELEPLAY COMPETITION, FILM COMPETITION, AND AUDIENCE AWARDS
AUSTIN, Texas— Nov. 4, 2014— Austin Film Festival (AFF) is pleased to announce its 2014 Screenplay & Teleplay Competition winners, Jury and Audience Award Winners in Film. Awards recipients received an array of cash prizes, travel expenses, industry recognition and access. For the Screenplay & Teleplay Competition winners, a record number of 6,764 scripts were received this year and the Finalists were reviewed by an industry jury, including:
Vera Blasi (writer Woman On Top; co-writer Tortilla Soup), Wendy Calhoun (writer/producer Justified, Revenge, Nashville), Sabrina Dhawan (writerMonsoon Wedding), Stephen Falk (creator/executive producer/showrunner You’re the Worst; co-executive producer Orange is the New Black, Weeds),Mark Goffman (executive producer Sleepy Hollow, White Collar; co-executive producer Elementary), James V. Hart (writer Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Hook), Jenny Lumet (writer Rachel Getting Married), Oren Uziel (writer 22 Jump Street, The Kitchen Sink), and Herschel Weingrod (producer Falling Down; writerTrading Places) in addition to this year’s sponsored award judges AMC, The Black List, Darkwoods Productions, and Enderby Entertainment.
The following winners were selected by category:
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Drama Screenplay Award presented by the Writers Guild of America, East: Dead River Girl by Morris Long
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Comedy Screenplay Award: Three Months by Jared Frieder
- Enderby Entertainment Award: Suicide Boy by Laura Hainke
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Fade to Black Award: I Fucked James Bond by Josh Hallman
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Darkwoods Productions Horror Award: The 700 Year Itch by Molly Stein & Moon Unit Zappa
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Darkwoods Productions Sci-Fi Award: The Incomparable Donald Strange by James Fant & Zach Cannon
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AMC One-Hour Teleplay Pilot: Ascension by Wes Brown
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Sitcom Teleplay Pilot: Great Points Park by Danny Sullivan
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One-Hour Teleplay Spec: The Americans: Barium Meals by Adam Turner
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Sitcom Teleplay Spec: Bob’s Burgers: Mr. Whiskers by Damir Konjicija & Dario Konjicija
In its 21-year history, the AFF Screenplay and Teleplay Competition has served to launch many writing careers. Most recently, Troy Miller, the 2013 winner of the Horror Screenplay Award had his script optioned by Frank Darabont’s Darkwoods Productions. At this year’s Festival, AFF presented the world premiere of Dawn Patrol, a film produced from a 2008 Finalist script written by Rachel Long and Brian Pittman that was acquired by Enderby Entertainment, and directed by Daniel, Petrie, Jr.
The 2014 Jury award-winning films featured a series of original, charming, and memorable stories created by up-and-coming filmmakers. This year, AFF’s inaugural Comedy Vanguard Jury Award, joined the ranks of the Festival’s other award categories. Serving on AFF’s competition juries this year was a list of talented filmmakers and notable industry insiders including Dan Guando (Executive Vice President of Acquisitions at The Weinstein Company), Simon Kilmurry (Executive Producer of P.O.V.), and Tom Skerritt (actor and founder of The Film School), along with many others. Animated, Documentary, and Narrative Short Jury Winners are eligible for Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences nomination.
The following Jury Award winners were selected by category:
- Narrative Feature: The Kings Surrender written by Philipp Leinemann
- Documentary Feature Jury Award: Once Upon a Crime: The Borrelli-Davis Conspiracy directed by Sheldon Wilson
- Dark Matters Feature: One Eyed Girl co-written by Nick Matthews and Craig Behenna,
- Comedy Vanguard Feature: Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero co-written by Maz Jobrani and Amir Ohebsion
- Narrative Short: Skunk written by Annie Silverstein
- Documentary Short: The Next Part directed by Erin Sanger
- Animated Short: Between Times co-written by Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter
- Narrative Student Short: Luke written by Conor Hamill
- Young Filmmakers Program Competition Grand Prize: Special Is Just a Word written by Abby Thompson
After Festival Screenings, audiences voted for the Audience Award scoring the film or films screened. These ballots have been counted and tabulated to determine the 2014 Austin Film Festival’s Audience Award winners.
The following Audience Award winners were selected by category:
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Narrative Feature: Terrible Love co-written by Luke Helmer and Christopher Thomas,
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Documentary Feature: The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young, co-directed by Annika Iltis and Timothy Kane
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Dark Matters Feature: The Suicide Theory written by Michael J Kospiah
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Comedy Vanguard Feature: Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero co-written by Maz Jobrani and Amir Ohebsion
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Narrative Short: Mimi & Me written by Marly Reed
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Documentary Short: Albert directed by Daniel Jaffe
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Animated Short: TIE The Dam Keeper written by Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi | The Last Resort written by Gillian Park
- Student Short: Luke written by Conor Hamill
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Heart of Film: Popovich and the Voice of the Fabled American West co-written by Mike Thompson, Jerry Thompson, and Gregory
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Stories From Abroad: Taking it Back written by Andreas Schmied
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Texas Independents: Flutter written by Eric Hueber
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Marquee Feature: Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me directed by James Keach
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