2022 True Story Showcase

The True Story Showcase recognizes scripts, books, short stories & stage plays in any genre that feature a story based on, or inspired by, true events.

2022 WINNER

HARPERS FERRY

by Kirby Heughan

An abolitionist attempts to ignite a slave rebellion prior to the Civil War.

2022 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

4-19-95 by Matt Skuta On April 19, 1995, the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed by a domestic terrorist. Victims like Luke Franey and Daina Bradley found themselves trapped in the wreckage. In the following seconds to hours, hundreds performed harrowing rescues on one of America's darkest days.

ASH by Dave Stockwell (based on the book "Route 9 Problem: The Battle for Lang Vei"). A Special Forces medic, forced under fire during the Vietnam War, must attempt to rescue fellow Green Berets trapped by enemy tanks, becoming the first African American awarded the Medal of Honor in Special Forces history. | LangVeiBattle.com

BANKING THE COALS by Judi Robinson The weight of a woman's life of trauma, sexual abuse, abandonment, generational pattern, addiction, and unforgiveness, is lifted when she chooses not to fan the hot coals of hurt, that are banked in the back of her heart. | UsableVessel.com

BENAVIDEZ by Davy Godfrey & Tabata Godfrey A poor Mexican orphan faces seemingly insurmountable odds during his military career and earns the Medal of Honor through an unparalleled act of bravery.

CAN'T TELL by Donna Kipp Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in the 1960s, when blood sugar testing wasn't available, a girl tries to cope until she meets the man of her dreams.

COLOR ME CROOKED by Don Desrosiers The meteoric rise and the catastrophic fall of the mayor of the City of Fall River Massachusetts, Jasiel Correia. | Amazon Author Page

ELMAS by Paul Kazandjian When the Ottoman Empire begins deporting Armenians from Turkey, a kidnapped Armenian boy and his mother struggle to find a way back to each other.

FINAL BLOW by Simon Iliopoulos A corrupt Detective and the entire State Police Force are hell bent in capturing a charismatic rogue criminal but it’s his defiance to stay alive and remain free that captures the hearts of a nation

HART CRANE by David Kaneen Poet Hart Crane achieves fame and notoriety during the Great Depression before self-destructing in alcohol and sexual excess, leaving behind a series of classic poems praising the myth of America.

JOHNNY by Zackary D. Hill, Joshua Riffle & Matthew D. Riffle A family struggles with the past (Vietnam and a road trip to find Johnny Cash), the future (single motherhood), and the Vietcong (the men in the black pajamas) as Alzheimer's breaks down the barrier between memory and reality. | IMDb

KENT by Sarah Granger A Kansas teenager stricken by polio in 1953, battles the dreaded iron lung, upper body paralysis, and prejudice to regain his independence and build a new future. | SarahGranger.com

LOBOS by Sonny Rios A group of six teenage boys, who, true to their high school’s mascots’ (Lobos) nature, travel in a pack, and stick together through thick and thin. | SonnyRios.com

MANO NERA (BLACK HAND) by Samantha Caprio-Negret & Richard Price Sorin (Story by Philip J. Caprio) When his brother is killed, an Italian immigrant struggles with the decision to kill the man who called the hit: the head crime boss of Mano Nera (the Black Hand Society), who also happens to be his wife's brother. | SamanthaCaprio-Negret.com

MARSHAL BASS LAW by Sterling Daniels Bass Reeves, a black middle-aged farmer with a large family, embarks on an unlikely new career as a lawman tasked to capture outlaws terrorizing Indian Territory in late 19th Century.

NO. 7 by Alan J. Field & JanEric Ohrn As a free-spirited gardener charms his way into the lives of two elderly sisters, he challenges the art establishment when he tries to authenticate a priceless Mark Rothko painting, unable to rein in obsessive behavior that not only puts the sisters’ assets at risk, but also destroys his own sanity. | AlanJField.com

QUEEN OF HEARTS by Kathleen Welton A rescued race horse and the first woman to enter an equestrian event in the 1952 Olympics form an unbreakable bond and win a silver medal in individual dressage. Inspired by the true story of Jubilee, the family mare and Lis Hartel, paralyzed by polio from the knees down. | AkaBooks.com

SHAOLIN WOLF-MAN by Tom Freyer In 19th Century China, a reclusive, grotesquely hairy Grand Master of kung fu is forced to lead a rag-tag band of Shaolin monks into battle against the General of the Imperial Guard to save the boy Emperor and his mother. | LinkedIn

THE DEVIL & DICK GREGORY by Sean Slater In 1963 comedian Dick Gregory sacrifices his comfortable life as an entertainer to pursue a political career, making him a prime target of J. Edgar Hoover’s deadly Counter Intelligence Program.

THE FIGHTING FIRST by Alex P. Stephens The story of a young Army officer who leads his men through the harrowing battles of WWII, and the story of his 14-year-old son, who 32 years later, wrestles with understanding his ailing father's past and the changing world around him. | LinkedIn

THE JAMES KING VERSION by David Schroeder The highest reaches of society consider Clarence King to be the most remarkable man of his generation. Ada, a former slave, and his wife of thirteen years, knows him only as James Todd, a light-skinned African American, Pullman porter of modest means.

THE NINE LIVES OF WALKER HARRIS by Vaughn Roste | Story by Derek Harris When his plane crashes behind enemy lines, an American WWII bombardier must fight to remain alive and undiscovered - but his best chance lies with the Italian partisan resistance. | IMDb

THE PEAR TREE by K. M. Sandrick Explores the impact on the people of a small village after the assassination of the head of Nazi-Occupied Czechoslovakia by Czech Resistance fighters in the spring of 1942. | ThePearTreeBook.com

TWO NIGHTS AT THE PINE STREET INN by J. Christopher Haslip After suffering childhood clergy abuse, a college dropout lives a life of drugs and rock & roll until, seeking a spiritual connection, he gives up all his worldly belongings and goes out on the streets as a homeless person.

YOU AIN'T NEVER GONNA BE SHIT by Ken Lingo A poor, abused Black woman enters public housing as a single mother of two in the 1970’s and, through incredible determination, gets her G.E.D., a good job, meets with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and is instrumental in forming the first citywide Tenant Association in Chattanooga, Tennessee to demand the rights of public housing residents.

Z by Judy Belshe-Toernblom The unsung story of Reginald A. Fessenden who is best known for his pioneering work developing radio technology. | IMDb