2003 GRAND PRIZE WINNER:

Curtain of Iron -- Inis Clubs: Colorado Springs, CO

Curtain of Iron is an action story about a gutsy woman determined to get her young family out of East Germany, but a spurned Colonel blocks her 6-year-old daughter's way out, triggering ingenious and adventurous escape attempts. Inspired by a true story. 

Contact: Inis Clubs, Email

1st Place: Jayne Foole  -- David Sanger / David A. Lipton: Studio City, Ca

Jane Bold, born to poverty during the reign of King Henry VIII, rises to prominence as the first female fool in England just as her lifelong patron, Queen Mary, becomes England's first female monarch.  Jane must balance her ambition against her desire for love and ultimately against her very conscience as she struggles to stay true to her station in the face of the Queen's mounting atrocities.

Contact: David Sanger, email

2nd Place: Death Watch -- Marlo Brawer: North Hollywood, CA

When wrongly convicted murderer Ray Gamble survives his own execution, he has to find a way to clear his name, only to discover the evidence from his case is about to be destroyed. He must convince his family he's still alive, race against the clock to reach the evidence that can exonerate him, fight off the guards chasing him and stop a serial killer who escaped with him from killing again.

Contact: Marlo Brawer: email

3rd Place: Middle America -- Stuart Ross Fink: New York, NY

A box of rain, solving for X and a decade of suburban  sprawl provide the backdrop for this unusual love story between "Most Likely to Succeed," and "The Weird Girl in the Corner." A tragi-comic tale told over two dizzying nights, ten very long years between them.

Contact: Stuart Ross Fink, email

4th Place: Safe Harbor  -- Susan DeMasi: Greenlawn, NY

Hallie Mayer is a brilliant, but neurotic, biologist forced to confront her phobias when her research takes her to a remote island off the Maine coast. After she falls in love with a local pilot, he is presumed lost in a plane accident at sea, where Hallie must face her greatest fears during the search and rescue mission. 

Contact: Susan DeMasi, email

5th Place: Birds and Bees -- Suzanne Stavinoha: Austin, TX

Twenty years after a rare bacteria wiped out the male race, women rule and 'sexbots' satisfy. The governing alliance claims continuous efforts to bring men back, but their lies are exposed when Eva meets Adam.

Contact: Suzanne Stavinoha, email