Final Draft, Inc. Annual Awards Event

Each year, Final Draft, Inc. hosts an annual gala and awards presentation where the Big Break Screenwriting Contest winner is brought to the stage along with industry leaders accepting Screenwriters Choice Awards and the coveted Hall of Fame Award. This year's event, hosted by comedian and actor Jay Mohr, was held on February 7th at the Paley Center for Media and was a who's who of the screenwriting world.

Annual Awards Event Host Jay Mohr

Lawrence Kasdan accepting
the 2012 Hall of Fame Award

2012 Big Break Screenwriting Contest
Winners, Contest Coordinator Shelly
Mellott, and CEO Marc Madnick

Screenwriters Choice Award Winner Danny Zuker (Modern Family) accepting the award

Screenwriters Choice Awards

The Screenwriters Choice Awards provide an open forum for Final Draft customers to vote on the best screenplays and teleplays of the year. Unlike any other industry award, the Screenwriters Choice Awards allow writers from outside the guilds to cast their votes to recognize the talent behind the best scripts and teleplays of the year. And the winners are:

Best Original Screenplay:
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained – accepted by Reginald Hudlin, producer
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Chris Terrio, Argo – accepted by Actress Kerry Bishé (Argo)
Best Television Comedy:
Modern Family – accepted by Writer Danny Zuker
Best Television Drama:
Breaking Bad – accepted by Series Creator Vincent Gilligan

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Number 1 Best Selling - The Industry Standard

Hall of Fame Award

At the Annual Awards Event, the Hall of Fame Award is presented to an industry leader whose body of work has been an inspiration to writers and filmmakers worldwide. Past Hall of Fame Award recipients include Syd Field, the late Sydney Pollack, Robert Towne, Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Oliver Stone, and the late Stephen J. Cannell.

This year, Lawrence Kasdan received the award. Fellow screenwriter Ted Griffin (Ocean’s Eleven, Terriers), along with Simon Kinberg, Aline Brosh McKenna, and surprise guest John Hancock (The Blind Side), gave moving tributes to Kasdan and presented him with the Hall of Fame Award. Kasdan has written or co-written four of the most successful films in motion picture history -- Raiders of The Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of The Jedi, and The Bodyguard. He is also credited with the classic films Body Heat, The Big Chill, Silverado, The Accidental Tourist, and Grand Canyon, among others.
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The Big Break Screenwriting Contest

Big Break is an annual, global screenwriting contest designed to launch the careers of aspiring writers. The Big Break top-three winners are announced at the Annual Awards Event, with the first-prize winner being honored on stage. Past winning screenplays have been sold or optioned and several writers have earned lucrative writing deals. This year, the honors went to:

First Place - Craig Houchin for Ludlow, a Drama
Second Place - April Rouveyrol for Life Copy, a Sci Fi Script
Third Place - Matthew Snyman for The Whaler's Daughter, a Drama

Congratulations to our winners!
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