Through the years many aspiring screenwriters have gotten their start through the American Screenwriters Association and our annual screenplay competition. Scripts have been optioned, screenplays have been bought, contests have been won and long lasting professional friendships have been forged. Below are just a few of the reasons to enter our competition and increase your script exposure a hundred fold!

(Note: We've just started collecting this information so look for more success stories to be added every month!)

In summarizing our competition Michael writes: " I had entered scripts into other contests before and had done very well, but the ASA contest was a big step up for me, both in terms of prestige and the level of competition.   Winning money is nice, but it’s really the access to Hollywood producers that makes entering these contests worthwhile, and my experience with ASA is that they deliver what they promise.".
 

George Borelli won our International Screenplay Competition with his script, The Jewel and the Sword, and attended our conference for the first time as his prize. Since then his script was optioned by Tom Sarnoff Entertainment, and it won Quarterfinalist in Quantum Quest, Quarterfinalist in New/Century Writer in 2001 (Associated with Francis Ford Coppola.). His script, Unit Nine, was a Finalist in New/Century Writer, a Quarterfinalist in ASA International, and Dr. Boyd was a Quarterfinalist in Quantum Quest. George is also a prolific writer whose screen plays, short stories and books include "Joey's Story". ---A one hour TV show ,"Love Child".--- Full Length Script, "The Most Hated Woman in the World"  (The Madalyn Murray O'Hair Story)--- Script, "Richard"--- Script, "Fritz"---Script, "The Girl Next Door"---A short story, "Help is at the End of my Arm"---Script, his books "Recollections" --- Vignettes of a Psychologist, "A Collection of Published Pop Psychology Articles", "Role Simulation Manual" A Technique for Resolving Human Conflict", and three published childrens books: "The Great Wizard of Imp", "The Great Wizard of Imp and the Boogaloo Pirates", "The Great Wizard of Imp and the Night Santa Got Lost".

Craig Clyde (Salt Lake City, UT) won the ASA International Screenplay Competition and came to our conference as his prize. He networked and met a lot of fellow writers and industry professionals. Craig signed a deal with Porchlight Entertainment for his screenplay "A Home For The Holidays." The script is a romantic comedy about a man who must somehow find a job and family by Christmas Eve in order to inherit 20 million dollars. Joe Broido and Michael Jacobs of Porchlight brought the script in after publicity about Craig's winning of the ASA award. Clyde will do a rewrite and polish for the company which has fast tracked the script for shooting. Craig's script, Nowhere Man, is currently in development with Davis Entertainment at Universal.  Craig writes us,"... that script -- and your competition -- got the ball rolling." Additionally, his ASA win caught the eye of Tag Entertainment and they purchased Miracle Dogs from Craig and hired him to direct it.  It starred Stacy Keach, Kate Jackson, Rue McClanahan and Ted Shackleford, and was picked up by "Animal Planet" and will premiere on that cable network in February or May of 2003. Finally, Craig writes, "Since that day in Los Angeles at your screenwriting conference, and winning for "Nowhere Man", I'm now asked (and paid if you can believe it) to speak to other screenwriters.  I was one of the presenters at the Reno Screenwriting Conference and am going to be making my presentation at Las Vegas and Tahoe later this year.  It was all because of you guys.  But I told you then, yours was the best program I'd been involved in.  And I have been involved in a few. Much success in 2003.  I owe a lot of mine to you. 

UPDATE: Craig just wrote us with this news..." I'm writing a lot these days. Just finished a second screenplay for David Wyler's 100 Acre Wood production shingle and the BBC (Wyler, director William Wyler's son, is also doing the remake of the Audrey Hepburn/Peter O'Toole R.C. -- "How To Steal A Million" at Fox 2000) I just finished a thriller for the company "Underground" and had recently turned in "Pirate Hunter" for the same entity.  I'm also doing a book adaptation for EMI in the United Kingdom entitled "Angels In The Sky", based on the true life story of music sensation Rexford.  Additionally working on a screenplay to be shot in Florida next year.

Karen Marie Howland wrote Black Diamond and placed as a finalist in ASA's competition. Nine production companies and/or entertainment agencies responded positively to her subsequent queries and all but one wrote personal notes on their letters. Comments ranged from - “I read your story with great interest.” (Colossal Entertainment) -“Please keep in touch with future material” (Grey Line Entertainment) -“On a side note our reader felt the story was very powerful and would be willing to discuss the screenplay… look forward to future submissions”. (Alex Rose Productions) Their reader spent over an hour on the phone with Karen sharing his insights and encouragement. Currently, Lee Daniels Entertainment in NY is reading her script (they were associated with Monster’s Ball) and Red Line Entertainment requested the script through her entertainment lawyer. Karen is currently working on two screenplays; Christmas Album and Snowville. 

Eoin O'Connor of Ireland was a finalist in our 7th annual competition with his script, Van Diemen Downs. He received reads from Samuel Goldwyn Films and although they passed on the script, they did give Eoin some positive and encouraging feedback. He also had a request from the Radmin Company, and few other agents/managers also requested to see it. They are: Marc Manus, Mercer Filmed Entertainment and Principle Entertainment. Some producers were also in touch including Imaginites Ltd., Vida Loca Productions and Saltzman Productions.

In the summer of 1997, after completing a one month intensive course entitled ‘Developing the Screenplay’ run by University College Dublin in association with New York’s Film School, Eoin enrolled for and was accepted into Dublin Institute of Technology’s Advanced Diploma in Film. This course incorporated all aspects of the filmmaking process including screenwriting. He wrote, edited and directed an eighteen minute short film, entitled ‘Night and Day’, as part of his work on the course and graduated in spring 1999.  In the intervening years Eoin has worked in Dublin intermittently as a film camera assistant on a number of short films as well as traveling, for extended periods of time, to places such as Australia, South Korea, Japan and China and has been writing, full-time, for the last eighteen months. Eoin has completed three original feature length screenplays, a conspiracy thriller, ‘Memorial’, an action/adventure-thriller, ‘Van Diemen Downs’, for which he was awarded 5th place in the American Screenwriters Association’s International Screenwriting Competition 2004, and a contemporary crime-drama set in Dublin city, ‘The Monte Carlo Method’. He is currently working on his fourth feature length script, a horror set on a deserted island off the west coast of Ireland, entitled ‘Church Island’.

JAY FLYNN wrote the indie feature "Chains."  He holds a MFA Film School degree from Northwestern University and a BS in Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology, which allows him to get the hero in and out of trouble without violating all the laws of physics but in still surprising ways.  KAENAN OLIVER is a writer/story analyst who worked in development with Martin Sheen and has a prize-winning short story and novel to her credit.  She was a staff writer on a syndicated children's show, a copywriter/editor for Warner Bros. International TV and writes all the team's sex scenes. DOMINIC OLIVER studied acting in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles and has appeared regularly in film and TV roles including the upcoming "D-War," "NYPD Blue" and HBO's "Double Bang."  In addition to putting the OFO team together, he produced the West Coast premiere of "High Tension in the Tropics" and is co-developing two stage musicals.  Together the trio has written seven prize-winning scripts and all team members currently have projects under option.  Please see their website at writersact.home.att.net for further information.

Jay, Kaenan and Dominic finished 2nd in our 7th annual competition and received numerous inquiries of interest from Producers: Impulse Productions, Tim Van Rellim, Mighty Empire, Imaginites (W. Australia); Agent/Managers:  The Radmin Company, Principal Entertainment and Writers: Siobhan Kenard Wallace

Todd Riddle was the winner of our first international script competition with his script, The Death of Feziweg Zero, which received many reads and expressed interests! Todd worked with Kevin Spacey's company for nearly a year rewriting. He has since written two more features "a tribute to emily" and "the high white ceiling." After writing the additional scripts - and winning the ASA contest - a production company that recently produced an indie called "lift" suggested Todd write a short film, which he did called "worry less, rock star." The production company liked enough to let Todd direct the short film, which is about twenty minutes long and is currently being edited. The plans are to use the short to find funding for the feature "a tribute to emily" or "feziwig" or "the high white ceiling." Todd writes us, "everyone that I tell that I won the ASA screenwriting contest is very impressed. It is always a great door opener into a conversation. I recently left my Boston advertising  job for an agency in Minneapolis that produced the BMW films. I am still talking to production companies and am confident once the short is completed I will be able to find funding for a feature in hopefully not the too distant future."

Tim Slover had a second place finish for his script, Joyful Noise. Tim believes his placement allowed his agent to shop the screenplay more aggressively. As a result of that, a producer has expressed strong interest in the script. Tim is writing a play on commission for the Fulton Opera House, a LORT theatre in Lancaster, PA. The premiere is slated for Feb. 2004.

Paula Sullivan finished in First Place for our 7th Annual Competition with her script, The Black Box. Paula had her script read by Samuel Goldywn, Mandalay and Protazoa, and has an indie producer with financing available interested as well.

Shona Tuckman had her script "Hit on Me" place 4th in our competition. Her script was optioned by Erratic Entertainment (LA prod. co).  It also placed in 7 other contests. Shona gained a manager from the writing of this script, thanks to a referral by the production company that optioned it. 

Rudy Yuly met and pitched AEI's VP Brenna Lui at ASA's conference. As a result he is now managed by Entertainment/Editorial International (AEI). Rudy wrote us saying, " Thanks to everyone at ASA for your help, encouragement, access to decision-makers, and great educational opportunities."

If we have missed your success story and you were a finalists in our competition, please email us and we'll share your story with the world!