Article: Adapted Story Showcase

Adapted Story Showcase

The Adapted Story Showcase recognizes scripts, books, short stories, & stage plays in any genre that feature an adapted story.

2024 WINNER

MAVERICK BASIN

written by Eric Norwood

Based on the book "The Man-Killers" by Dane Coolidge

A pioneer family defends their settlement when a group of Texas ranchers threaten their property over grazing rights during the sheep and cattle wars.

2024 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

40 SHADES OF GREEN: THE JUNKMAN OF BROOKLYN by Joan Beesley (based on the novel "40 Shades of Green: The Junkman of Brooklyn" by Joan Beesley). An author dreams of meeting her famous ancestor. | JoanBeesley.com

A LOST LADY (Pilot: "A Spark") by Holly Swenson (based on the novella "A Lost Lady" by Willa Cather). A woman struggles to retain the power of her vibrance and spirit while trapped in a world where she doesn't belong and under the weight of the secrets of the men who love her.

AND GOD SAID, LET THERE BE GOLF by Timothy O'Rawe & Cathleen O'Rawe (based on the book "The Secret History of Golf in Scotland" by Duncan McPherson). A down-on-his-luck farmer with average golf skills sets out to win the town tournament and save the family farm.

AUNT-JU by Heino Heimann (based on "Nein Gesagt!" by Wilhelm Heimann). During World War II, a clever but rebellious JU-52 flight instructor disobeys orders to carry out an execution, and must deal with the consequences. | HeinoHeimann.de | Instagram: @aunt_ju52 and @hwrh

ELEMENTARY DEAR WATSON, HE'S A VAMPIRE! by Kevin M. Glover (based on the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Bram Stoker). When the S.S. Demeter washes ashore the English coast with all aboard dead, world-famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his flappable flatmate Dr. Watson are summoned to solve its mystery, eventually coming to blows with the disaster’s sole survivor: the charismatic, but deadly, Count Dracula. | FracturedScaryTales.com

GATSBY'S RIVAL by Richard Guimond (based on the novel by Richard Guimond, and inspired in part by "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald). A culture clash ignites a rivalry in the Roaring Twenties between socialite Jay Gatsby, and fisherman-turned rum-runner Joseph (“Foggy Joe”) Bucolo, as the two men vie to win control over the illicit liquor trade on Rhode Island’s waters and for Joe, the love of a spirited Swamp Yankee’s daughter.

GET OVER YOURSELF by Jerry Remillong (based on the opera "The Maestro" by composer Giovanni Paisiello). Two established female Team Leads must contend with a conceited new male temporary employee.

GIOVANNI'S ROOM by Brian Carufe (based on the novel "Giovanni's Room" by James Baldwin). An American expatriate in 1950s Paris grapples with his sexuality and identity, navigating a love triangle between his fiancée and a charming bartender with a tragic past. | briancarufe.com

GOD'S THREE TRICKS by Stefano Jay Bozzo (based on the novel "I tre inganni di Dio" by Stefano Bozzo). A troubled teenager has to face the consequences of adult relationships and a series of challenges, following his girlfriend on a humanitarian mission to Africa and the death of his mother. | stefanojaybozzo.com | Facebook: @stefanojaybozzo | IMDb

HEMINGWAY COUNTRY by Darren C. Sullivan (based on the short stories "Hills Like White Elephants", "Up in Michigan", "Indian Camp", "The End of Something", and "Soldier's Home" by Ernest Hemingway). Five vignettes: A young American man tries to convince his Latina girlfriend to have an "operation"; A drunk man forces himself upon a woman after a hunting trip; A teenage boy travels with his father, a doctor, to a remote camp to perform an emergency operation on a pregnant Native American woman; A young man ends his relationship with his girlfriend, then reconsiders his decision; A soldier struggles to adapt to life after returning home from war. | Facebook: @chet.jorgenson.3 | X: @DsullMusic

HOW SANTA CLAUS CAME TO SIMPSON'S BAR by Jean W. Yeager (based on the novella "How Santa Claus Came to Simpson's Bar" by Bret Harte). On Christmas eve 1863, a man sets out to ride a half-blind and totally insane "big yellow hoss" from a Sierra Nevada's mining camp, down a mountain, and across a storm-flooded river in order to buy Christmas presents for a very ill boy who lives in a flooded mine shaft with his drunk father. | The-Three.com

L'CROSSE by Gregg Marshall Greenberg (based on "Cyrano de Bergerac" by Edmond Rostand). Sammy Deberg is a poet, scholar and a lacrosse superstar leading his team in battle - just don't mention his nose.

PETER PAN: NOW OR NEVER by Joel Micah Donovan & Bailey Donovan (based on the novel "Peter and Wendy" by J.M. Barrie). Wendy Darling tells the tale of Peter Pan to her young children to help them cope with the anxiety growing up in the 21st century. | dragonwake.media

POOR PLAYERS by Ron Kaehler (based on "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare, "Jerry Bundler" by W.W. Jacobs, and "No Living Voice" by Thomas Middleton). A struggling actor receives a call summoning him to an out-of-the-way theater, at a rather inconvenient time, for a rather peculiar audition - one in which there’s more at stake than just getting the part. | RonKaehler.com | PoorPlayersOnstage.com

PRETTY BABY: THE TRAGIC DEATH OF MARION PARKER by Don Stroud (based on the book "Butterfly in the Rain" by James L. Neibaur). A grieving woman exposes the decades-old truth about her twin sister's murder to prevent the killer's lawyer from publishing his own skewed account of the tragedy. (The true story of the kidnapping and murder of Marion Parker in Los Angeles in 1927.)

SNOW WHITE AND ROSE RED by Austin Turmel (based on "Snow White" and "Snow-White and Rose-Red" by the Brothers Grimm). Rose Red and her half-sister Snow White must survive in the wilderness from a dwarf possessing dark magic.

SONGBIRD by Edgar Martinez Schulz (based on the book, "I Sang to Survive: A Story of Hope and Human Kindness" by Judith Schneiderman and Jennifer Schneiderman). The remarkable true story of a young girl and her family - from the horror of the Holocaust to the search for loved ones, to building a new life in America.

TALES OF DOMINARIA: THE BROTHERS' WAR by Evan Cook & Frankie Francavilla (based on "The Brothers' War" by Jeff Grubb). When two brothers discover ancient technologies fueled by a mystical energy source, a war sparks over the powerful artifacts as they battle for dominance.

THE FORMIDABLE MISS BENNET by Alisa Harral Kindsfater (based on the novel "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen). The daughter of a country gentleman, and a rich aristocratic landowner must overcome the titular sins of pride and prejudice in order to fall in love and marry. | IMDb

THE MAKEOVER MAN by Adam Sandel (based on the play "Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw). After being cancelled for an offhand classroom remark, a disgraced phonetics professor tries to reclaim his reputation by transforming a homeless street kid. | Film Freeway: @AdamSandel

THE MYCOLOGIST by Matthew D. Riffle & Zackary D. Hill (based on "The Mycologist" by Nicholas Money). In 1850’s Ohio at the forefront of cultural and scientific revolution, an immigrant college professor looks to the lowly mushroom for guidance as he is unexpectedly forced into fatherhood.

VYGOTH by Denys Bastov (based on the short story "Vrolyk" by Mark Samuels). When an enticing woman borrows an exciting new work manuscript from a mysterious stranger at the midnight diner, she is transformed in unpredictable and impossible ways.

SUBMISSIONS STATISTICS

Genre
Comedy: 24%
Drama: 18%
Science Fiction & Fantasy: 12%
Romance: 9%
Horror: 7%
Western: 7%
Action/Adventure: 6%
War/Military: 6%
Crime/Mystery/Thriller: 5%
Sports: 4%
Musical: 2%

Submission Location
United States: 91%
Europe: 9%

Format
Feature Screenplay, Television Script or Short Script: 81%
Stage Play: 19%
Book, Manuscript or Short Story: 0%

2023 WINNER

THE RED PLANET

written by Thomas Maggiore

Based on the book "The Red Planet" by R. R. Winterbotham

Six space travelers struggle to coexist with one another on their journey to Mars after learning the leader of the expedition has plans to return to Earth alone - but upon reaching their destination, the group is forced to unite against an attacking band of hostile Martians intent on killing the crew.

2023 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

A SIREN'S SWEET WHISPER by Fred G. Stemme (based on the book "The Lieutenant's Whistle" by Fred Stemme)

A TWISTED CHRISTMAS CAROL by Phil Olson (based on "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens)

ASH by Dave Stockwell (based on the nonfiction book "Route 9 Problem: The Battle for Lang Vei" by Dave Stockwell)

BETSY AND THE EMPEROR by Staton Rabin (based on the book "Betsy and the Emperor" by Staton Rabin)

BREAKNECK RIDGE by Thomas N. Smith (based on the book "Pursuit of Paradise: The Story of an East Texas Farm Boy, The Pacific War, and Love" by Thomas N. Smith)

CAMOUFLAGED SISTERS (Pilot) by Lydia Genner (based on the "Camouflaged Sisters" nonfiction anthology book series by Lila Holley)

DEAD SOUTH (Pilot) by Scott J. Thompson & Douglas Dell (based on the book "Deep and Dirty" by Douglas Dell)

FEED THE BRUTE by Corsica Wilson (based on "The Old Man & The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway)

GROWING UP IN PALM SPRINGS by Maddy Lederman (based on "The Seagull" by Anton Chekhov)

HOBEY by Tom Mackie (based on "The Legend of Hobey Baker" by John D. Davies)

IN HYDING by Carlos Perez (based on the book "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson)

JUST THE SIX OF US (Pilot) by Jimmy Sanders (based on the Warner Bros. series “Just the Ten of Us” created by Dan Guntzelman & Steve Marshall)

LEGEND by Brendan C. Elrick (based on "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson)

MAGIC TREE HOUSE (Pilot) by Patrick McDaniels (based on "The Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark" by Mary Pope Osborn)

ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS DREAM by Aisha Jackson & Shar Jackson (based on the movie "Once Upon a Christmas Dream" by Wayne Roberts & Christopher L. Antie)

ONLY APPARENTLY REAL by Michael Judd Richter (based on "Only Apparently Real" by Paul Williams)

PARNASSUS ON WHEELS by Jessica Ims (based on the novella “Parnassus on Wheels” by Christopher Morley)

PINOCHLE by Becca Stallard (based on the book "And the Birds Are Singing" by Rebecca Stallard)

THE GHOSTS OF GORESTHORPE GRANGE by Anthony A. Labriola (based on the short story "Selecting a Ghost" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

THE MERRYTIME MATCHMAKER by Courtney Walsh & Ashley Bratcher (based on the novel "A Match Made at Christmas" by Courtney Walsh)

THE MUMTAZ CHRONICLES by Jameel Anne Johnson (based on the writings of Emperor Akbar I, "Akbarnama" by Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak and "Jahagirnama" by Jahangir)

THE SUN ALSO RISES by Phillip E. Hardy (based on the book "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway)

2022 WINNER

BITTER LAKE

by Claire Phyphers

Based on the novel "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dreiser

A working class man falls in love with a socialite, which leads to tragic consequences for his poor impregnated girlfriend.

2022 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

AREN'T YOU THE FAMILY? by Angelise Milton (based on the book "Aren't You The Family We're Talking To From Heaven?" by SallyMae Jackson)

ASH by Dave Stockwell (based on the nonfiction book "Route 9 Problem: The Battle for Lang Vei" by Dave Stockwell)

IMOGEN, DAUGHTER OF CYMBELINE by J. Aldric Gaudet (based on the play "Cymbeline" by William Shakespeare)

LOVE OR BEST OFFER by Phil Olson (based on the short story "Love or Best Offer" by Phil Olson)

MANO NERA (BLACK HAND) by Samantha Caprio-Negret & Richard Price Sorin, story by Philip J. Caprio (based on the book "Murders in Monmouth: Capital Crimes from the Jersey Shore's Past - Chapter 6 "Revenge of the Farinella Brothers" by George Joynson)

NONE by Bryan J. Ferguson (based on the novel "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie)

PACT ARCANUM by Arshad Ahsanuddin & Toby Osborne (based on the book series by Arshad Ahsanuddin)

SNOWY STRANGEWAYS by Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel (based on the book "Snowy Strangeways" by Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel)

THE FINAL DAYS OF DOGGERLAND by Mike Meier (based on the screenplay "The Final Days of Doggerland" by Mike Meier)

THE LAST ACT by Jenn Whittaker (based on the nonfiction book "An Exhibit Denied: Lobbying the History of Enola Gay" by Dr. Martin Harwit)

THE SIEGE OF CITADEL BUTTERCUP by J.D. Murphy (inspired by the short story "Boule de Suif" by Guy de Maupassant)

UNDECIDED by Francesca Scotti-Goetz (based on the short story "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway)

2021 WINNERS

BLACK & WHITE

by Benjamin Burgess, Jr.

Adapted from the book "Defining Moments: Black & White" by Benjamin Burgess, Jr.

Two attorneys, one Black man and one white man, look back over their lives and navigate racial tension and stereotypes as they compete for the same partnership position at their prestigious law firm, which has just nabbed the two biggest cases in the firm’s history.

RENDERED SAFE

by Jeff Ingber

Adapted from the book "Rendered Safe: Tales of an NYPD Bomb Tech" by Jeff Ingber

The son of a career criminal becomes a legendary NYPD Bomb Squad Detective, escaping death numerous times and solving the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

2021 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS by Sophie Pell

ASYLUM by Kathryn Orzech

CRASHING AMERICA by Kip Pearson and Katia Noyes

DEAD HUNGER by T.J. Barkwill

FOREVERLY by Ray O'Conor

IT HAPPENED IN SILENCE by Shaun Delliskave

KNUCKLEHEAD by Wayne Geschwindt

MANY MOONS by Jeffrey Couchman

MIGRATION by Carly Keyes (story by Cari Noga)

ONE MORE HIT by Brad Max

SNOWY STRANGEWAYS by Melissa Tantaquidgeon-Zobel

SOMEWHERE BETWEEN LOVE & JUSTICE by SW Anderson

TAL JONES: A BLACK OIL LEGACY by Pamela J Richardson (with story by Bernard Moore)

TANKS IN THE WIRE by David Stockwell

THE APE IN OUR HOUSE by Marc Moody

THE BRIDE COMES TO YELLOW SKY by George Langworthy

THE DINOSAUR FOUR by Greg Rhem and Geoff Jones

THE FORGE by Howard W. Robertson

THE LAST ONES by C.D. Peterson

THE TELL-TALE HEART by Aleesha Dineros-Canuto

UNDER COVER by Guido Jimenez-Cruz

UNFINISHED MURDER BALLADS by Zackary Hill, Matthew Riffle, Darren Demaree & Joshua Riffle

WAR MOST CIVIL by Larry Wells

YOUNG JOAN by Charlotte Sheppard

2020 WINNERS

DON Q

by Richard P. Alvarez

Adapted from the book "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes

A bizarre accident sends a middle-aged jouster into a fantasy world, where he struggles against imaginary foes on the streets of San Francisco. Assisted by his teen-aged squire he confronts the demons in his past as well as those of the present.

IN FAIR NEW YORK

by Mark Lindberg

Adapted from the play "The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare

Two students find love while trying to escape the grip of their feuding crime families in present day New York City.

LOST BOY

by Annie Shaffer

Adapted from the book "Peter Pan" by J.M. Barrie

The origin of Peter, Wendy, and Captain Hook.

SON OF GUNN

by Lawrence Whitener

Adapted from the television show "Peter Gunn" created by Blake Edwards

African-American retired D.C. Detective Peter Gunn now works in L.A. as Studio Security. A late-night call from his estranged son brings him back to D.C., and into a Presidential assassination attempt as Russian and South African Diplomats try to kill him.

2020 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

A STUDY IN SCARLET by Jessica Ims

BAROQUE by Richard Vetere

BEGUILING DREAMS by Fred Stemme

ED REX by Brian Curran Lewis

HAPPY FEET... MAGIC HANDS... by Mark Donnell

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS by Mikhail Nauth

IMPOSSIBLE by Jaclyn Natoli

METAL GEAR SOLID by Agah Smith

MOODY & THE GHOST by Kim Hornsby

PILGRIM OF JOY by Randy L. Bixby

RAGS: AN AMERICAN MUSICAL by Nicole De Sapio

SEABIRD'S COMPLAINT by Phil Vengrinovich

THE HALLOWING: MARIE LAVEAU by Cristine Beato

THE WINTERS TALE by Joseph Millson

THREATENED by Dean Stavros

2019 WINNER

DECEPTION PASS

by Daniel Alburez

Based on the book "Riders of the Purple Sage" by Zane Grey

While looking to avenge the death of his sister and locate her missing child, a notorious gunman befriends and defends a spinster who is being persecuted by the town's religious leaders.

2019 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

1984 by Rose Paleologos (based on the book by George Orwell)

DEATH FENCES by Ron Chepesiuk (based on the book "Death Fences: Memoir of a Whistleblower" by Caroline Giammanco)

DEATH OF A REVOLUTIONARY by Marshall Ferrin (based on the book "Danton's Death" by Georg Buechner)

FORTRESS OF THE HEART by Mark Hedges (based on the true story of Judith Zatony-Vaughn) and the book "Fortitude" by Christina Gikas)

HEART OF DARKNESS by Margaret Blair Young (based on the book by Joseph Conrad)

I KILLED PINK FLOYD'S PIG by Jason Fraley (based on the book by Beau Phillips)

IN HYDING by Carlos Perez (based on the book "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson)

LULU by Samuel Garza Bernstein (based on the book by Samuel Garza Bernstein)

MERCURY AND ME by Maya Lewins (based on the book by Jim Hutton)

MY TAINTED BLOOD by Paul Sargia (based on the book by Hubert C. Kueter)

ORLEY FARM by Lynn Kear (based on the book by Anthony Trollope)

THE GOD MACHINE by Jeff Zorrilla and Fernando Dominguez (based on the book "The Invention of Morel" by Adolfo Bioy Casares)

THE KNIGHTS OF ATHENS by Robert J. Kem (based on the play "The Knights" by Aristophanes)

THE LONGEST HALLOWEEN by Greg Gilman (based on the book "The Longest Halloween II: The Hunt for the Forever Amulet" by Frank Wood)

THE LOVELY DARK by Bronwyn Lewis and Molly Lewis (based on the book "Lovely, Dark and Deep" by Joyce Carol Oates)

THE RIFLE by Diana Lee Woody (based on the short story by William Leggett)

THE TURN OF THE SCREW by Lorenzo Tamburini (based on the book by Henry James)

WE CARRY NUTHIN' OUT by Lawrence Whitener (based on the book "The Night of the Hunter" by Davis Grubb and the film, adapted by James Agee)

2018 WINNER

SIEGE PERILOUS

by Laura K. Miller

Adapted from the radio play "Siege Perilous: The Ordeal of Thelinde, Princess of the Barbarians" by Ronald K. Siskind

Sir Lancelot must escape a damsel-in-distress’ clutches, battle a wicked queen’s warriors, and defeat a giant in mortal combat in order to save a kidnapped princess from certain death. “Excalibur” meets “Night at the Museum.”

2018 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

35 MILES FROM SHORE by Emilio Corsetti III

CYBORG CIPHER by Jennifer Ford

GLORY SEASON by Mark Hedges

GRAVES AND GOBLINS by Adam Zanzie

HEARTSTONE by Michael Williams, Robert Biheller & Phillip Margolin

KINGPIN OF THE HOOD by Ron Chepesiuk

ON BURNING GROUND by Dean Blumberg & Philippa Heal

PHILLIP NOLAN by John Shea

REDBALL by Jon Huggins

SOMETHING LIKE FATE by Matthew Huntington

THE COLOR OF EVIL by Connie Corcoran Wilson

THE DOOM PATROL by Nick Carmine

THE DREAM JUMPER’S PROMISE by Kim Hornsby

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE WONDERLAND by Brianna Mayers

WHEREFORE ART THOU? by Joe Territo

2017 WINNER

THURSDAY

by Olivia Needleman

Adapted from the book “The Man Who Was Thursday” by G.K. Chesterton

A man recruited into a secret anarchist sect of Scotland Yard is tasked with saving the world.

2017 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

A DAY TO REMEMBER by Chris Canning

ABIDING HOPE by Jeff Shevlowitz

AMERICAN SNAKE PIT by Dan Tomasulo

ATTUCKS by Sam Chesney Smith

B-BOY BLUES by James Earl Hardy

BLACK HORIZONS, PART 1: RIFT IN THE VOID by Dylan Perry Morgan

BLAME IT ON THE MOON by Ali Qassim

COOK! byTheo Breaux

CRAZY CHARLIE by Ron Chepsiuk

HELL’S ACRES by Rich Rosenzweig

LIONS OF THE SEA by Jessi Thind

MATA HARI by Sheri Davenport

MOONLIT ROAD by Diana Lee Woody

NIGHT SKIES-REVOLUTION by Derek Gastry

REAFFIRMED: THE ROBERT DAVIS STORY by Mark Daniels

SCAPEGOAT by Emilio Corsetti III

SINGULARITY by Brett Creane, Vladimir Minuty and Angela Minuty

THE BLACK HEART BOOK by Carol Hoffman and Rosezelle Boggs-Qualls

THE COMET’S CURSE by Ashley Kay Mauer

THE FIRST TIME FOR PENNY by Janice L. Walker

THE HEART OF A TIGER by SreyRam Kuy, SreyReath Kuy, and Ross Raffin

THE LAST SAXON by Nigel Grant

THE PATHFINDER by Miriam Missura and TA White

TILL THE SKY BURNS by Don Barak

WARRIOR SONG by Mollie Hale

2016 WINNERS

BLOODY FALLS OF THE COPPERMINE

by Zackary Hill and Matthew Riffle

Adapted from the book “Bloody Falls of the Coppermine” by Mckay Jenkins

When two French Catholic Priests go missing in the Canadian arctic in 1913, a Mountie must endure an unforgiving wilderness and unknown cultures to uncover the truth and bring their killers to justice.

DEADLAND

by Ted Sterns

Adapted from the short story “Deadland” by Ted Sterns

In 1867 Montana, a bigoted Deputy Marshal reluctantly enlists the aid of a renegade Ojibwe warrior as a guide through hostile Indian Territory in order to safely reach a prospecting camp believed to be suffering a cholera outbreak, only to discover that the dead have risen.

VIRTUAL LIGHT

by Christine Beatty

Adapted from the book “Virtual Light” by William Gibson

A bike messenger and a young ex-cop come into possession of high-tech “Virtual Light” glasses that harbor proof of a criminal corporate conspiracy, putting them on the run from hired hitmen and corrupt cops in a dystopian future world of oligarchy and technology run amok.