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Article: 2021 First 10 Pages Script Competition (renamed First 10 Pages Showcase)

2021 First 10 Page Showcase - Image of retro typewriter

2021 First 10 Pages Script Competition (renamed First 10 Pages Showcase)

The First 10 Pages Showcase recognizes scripts, books, short stories & stage plays in any genre that set up an exciting and compelling story capable of "hooking" a reader within the first 10 pages.


2021 WINNERS


PAUL'S PANTRY

by Connor Swatling

Genre: Comedy | Dramedy

Logline: An aspiring celebrity chef resorts to crime to fuel his passion for cooking.

Bio: Connor is a Denver-based tech enthusiast who specializes in video editing and production. He has recently begun creating character-rich screenplays with a focus on trades.


SKINNED

by Carlos Perez

Genre: Horror

Logline: The lines between filmmaking and murder are blurred when a shifty director uses his unknowing cast for a horror flick as bait to catch the serial killers who took his father's life.

Bio: Carlos Perez has a M.A. in English from the University of Missouri, Kansas City (a professional writing degree in playwriting and screenwriting) and a B.F.A. in Speech and Theatre from Avila University. He was a tenured college Professor for thirteen years, teaching English composition, creative writing, playwriting, screenwriting, public speaking, and various literature and theatre courses.

His published stage plays include The Terry Stinger Show, published by Next Stage Press, In Hyding, published by Off The Wall Plays, Caught Between Two Worlds, published by Dramatic Publishing, Folktales for Fun, and Native American Folktales for Fun, both published by Pioneer Drama Service, Inc., The Adventures of Christina and Viperina, Misadventures of a Frog Girl, and How the Beetle Got Her Colors, all three licensed by Drama Notebook.

His one act stage play Two Good Reasons placed second the 2016 William Faulkner Literary Awards, giving him two years in a row of success for that competition, with his original play Cleansing Acts placing in the 2015 William Faulkner Literary Competition. A full production of Cleansing Acts premiered at the 2013 LaBute New Theatre Festival in St. Louis, Missouri by the St. Louis Actors’ Studio, and was named winner of the Riverfront Times newspaper’s Best of 2013 Stage Plays.

Carlos’ fiction and poetry has been published in The Bookends Review, Truth Serum Press, Potpourri, Midwest Medical Ethics, Prism, Dark Chapter Press, Imagine This!, Penny Zine Magazine, Number One, Pure Slush Books, and The Ecphorizer. Ten of his writer-for-hire screenplays have been produced, along with one of his own original screenplays, and one more is in pre-production.

He has three published collections of short stories: Tales from a Disturbed Mind, School Days, and 24 Tales to Pass the Time. His produced screenwriting and playwriting work includes: Trick-Or-Treat, The Game, Red Moon Lake, Escape from Area 51, Monster: The Prehistoric Project, Agent Beetle, The Occultist aka 666 The Ritual, Vamps in the City, Metal Man, The Other Side, Star Quest: The Odyssey, and Don’t Look in the Cellar.


THE KISS-OFF

by Gio Forlenza

Genre: Action | Romance | Comedy

Logline: A disenchanted bagman chooses to help the feisty woman who ripped him off and defy the powerful organization he was once loyal to.

Bio: Gio Forlenza is a new writer who recently began submitting scripts to contests. In 2020, he won 16 First Place Awards, earned 17 Finalist and 14 Semi-Finalist placements, and received one Fellowship.


UNION JACK

by Stephen Sunter

Genre: Comedy

Logline: A loveless Ohioan discovers his British alter ego is a big hit in the LA dating world. Until he falls for Emily, from Yorkshire.

Bio: Steve Sunter is a British-born screenwriter currently living in Las Vegas, Nevada. After many painful years working in Finance, he enjoys his early retirement eating, exercising and writing for fun. Union Jack is his first foray into the comedy genre, having previously focused on more gritty and thought-provoking work. His most recent thriller Trojan Horse tackled the difficult subject of internet child pornography, while his coming-of-age trilogy Strikes of the Conker traced a young man’s life filled with rebellion and non-conformity - followed by a period of eating, exercising and writing.


2021 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS


'A' MY NAME IS AUDREY by Richard Levine

BORN TO DANCE by Kathleen Welton

BRUNSWICK by Tom Cavanaugh

DADDY (Pilot Episode: "Goodbye Dad, Hello Daddy") by Harry Redlich

DEUCE by Keith Leu

GIANT by Michelle Conklin

I HATE CINDY LOVELET by Paul-Anthony Surdi

JUBILEE NATION by Henry Myers

MONTEREY by Jacqueline Robotham & John Clubb

NONTRADITIONAL (Pilot Episode: "You've Got Another Thing Coming") by Keith R. Higgons

OPULENCE ("Pilot") by Hannah Dobson

SWEET POISON by Guillaume Banniard

THE DOG by Monte Silver


SUBMISSIONS STATISTICS


Writer Gender
Male: 77%
Female: 22%
Other or Not Specified: 1%

Based On, or Inspired by, True Events
17%

Genre
Comedy: 32%
Dramedy (Drama/Comedy): 23%
Drama: 21%
Thriller/Mystery/Crime: 7%
Romance: 6%
Action/Adventure: 5%
Horror: 4%
Science Fiction/Fantasy: 2%

Submission Location
United States: 89%
Europe: 8%
Middle East: 2%
Not Specified: 1%