Applause Screenwriting Competition

Competition semifinalists and finalists will be announced on this website. Winners will be announced on this website, by press releases to the media and Hollywood industry representatives and by email or letter to all entrants. The following firms have agreed to read the winning scripts.

The Post Office mishandled the forwarding of some entries. Consequently the contest was cancelled and all entry fees returned.

Melinda Mullins (melinda@melindamullins.com) of El Prado, New Mexico has won the grand prize of $1000. Her script Henrietta Tillman is a Western tale about a spunky teenaged girl who leaves home with three kids tagging along to find her kidnapped brother.

Nicole Perlman (NP312@nyu.edu) of Boulder, Colorado took the second prize of $500 for her script Challenger . Haunted by his contribution to the atom bomb, irreverent physicist Richard Feynman flouts authority to discover and publicize the reasons for the Challenger space shuttle disaster.

Kris Hall (krishall@aol.com) of Los Angeles, California took the third prize of $250 for The Devil Protects His Own. After an agnostic Jew goads German refugees to train as fighters, he’s ordered to lead them back to Germany to assassinate Hitler.

Finalists were (in alphabetical order):

Brian Belefant (mmad@belefant.com) of Woodland Hills, California for Make Mine A Double. Two dashing spies who are strangely alike join forces to uncover the source of their similarity: a power-mad scientist named Fleming who uses sound waves to program his subjects.
Gene E. Conroy (moviwtr@aol.com) of Redondo Beach, California for A Psalm of David. Two DEA agents clash, then groove as they pursue a ruthless Nazi possessing a supernaturally powerful artifact.

Why enter a small contest before a big one? Ask 2002 Applause winner Doug Hundley whose script Finn Again just won 1st prize (Adventure/Sci-Fi) in the 2004 American Accolades contest:

"A lot of screenwriters limit themselves to entering only big contests. That's not necessarily the way to go. Many producers don't even want to hear from a writer unless he/she can list at least one contest win.

One of my scripts recently made the top 40 in the Austin Heart of Film Competition. That's only semi-finalist status, and "gloating" about it may garner no more than a "ho-hum" from agents and producers.

The same script came in first in the 2002 Applause Screenwriting Competition and took the contest's Gold Country/Lake Tahoe Regional Award. It just took first (Adventure/Sci-Fi) in the 2004 American Accolades Screenwriting Competition. It also landed in the Hall of Fame of Kevin Spacey's www.triggerstreet.com. Being able to point to such "firsts" when I contact people in the business is a big plus.

Go ahead and enter the big competitions if you like, but don't overlook the reputable smaller contests that don't get quite as many entries. They may increase your chances of eventually making a sale."

Doug Hundley (707-462-3733; hundley@pacific.net) of Calpella, CA won the grand prize in the 2002 Applause Screenwriting Competition. Hundley's script Finn Again chronicles the continuing adventures of Hick Finn in his twenties.

Syrie James (310-397-5965; SyrieJ@aol.com) of Los Angeles, CA took the second prize of $500 for her high-concept script Up. After an accident leaves him strangely unable to sleep, the protagonist of Up is troubled by moral dilemmas.

Scott Lipanovich (707-542-2807; slipanovich@yahoo.com) of Santa Rosa, CA took the third prize of $250 for his youth-market script Running Through Stone. Running Through Stone follows a circle of high school friends in which a football rivalry with another school gets fatally out of hand.

Finalists were (in alphabetical order):