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Over $30,000 Cash & Prizes
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1st Place: Terry O'Brien for Flesh & Blood Cash and Prizes: $15,000 total cash plus finalist prizes. One-year mentorship with two mutually selected industry professionals, in addition to 3-day unique and intensive CineStory Screenwriting Retreat, where industry executive mentors work one-on-one with writers’ scripts, move their projects to the next level, & provide pathways to a professional life in the business. Also, airfare to Los Angeles and 3-night hotel stay (unless winner resides in or around Los Angeles). Screenwriter Terry O’Brien of Toronto, Ontario is the first-place winner of the $15,000 Final Draft, Inc. Big Break Screenwriting Award for his original feature screenplay Flesh & Blood, about urban teens entering the wilderness to bust an older brother from a juvenile boot camp. What begins as a heroic adventure turns to kidnapping, murder, and a fight for survival. In the tone of Deliverance, this is a coming of age story with brutal consequences. |
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“Coming from a big family, loyalty and fighting come instinctively, so this screenplay came relatively quickly and easily, which is quite an unusual accomplishment for me. A good sign. After entering Final Draft, Inc. Big Break, each notice of rising placement was a welcome validation of all the hard work that goes into writing. Final judging by such an incredible panel of notable industry professionals truly makes this award exceptional.” The award, presented by Liz Alani of Final Draft, Inc. at a ceremony in Hollywood, includes participation at the CineStory Retreat in Idyllwild, California. The annual, invitation-only writer's prize features industry mentors working one-on-one with screenwriters to provide script and career guidance in an intensive, relationship-building four-day setting. “The award has opened a lot of doors for me, and brought an incredible amount of exposure to my work. [Winning] was critical step in my journey. I’m forever grateful to Liz Alani and the entire Final Draft, Inc, team for organizing such a brilliant event.” |
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2nd Place: Jordan Thomas for Arctic Air Cash and Prizes: $4,000 total cash plus finalist prizes. Unique & intensive 3-day CineStory Screenwriting Retreat, where industry executive mentors work one-on-one with writers’ scripts, move their projects to the next level, & provide pathways to a professional life in the business. Also, airfare to Los Angeles and 3-night hotel stay (unless second & third place winners reside in or around Los Angeles). Second place goes to Jordan Thomas of Seattle, Washington. His script Arctic Air is the story of an Alaskan bush pilot who turns bootlegger to save the airplane he believes houses his best friend's disembodied spirit. He crash-lands in a remote village inhabited by recovering alcoholics and the love of his life. If he can escape before the villagers get to the booze, he won't be forced to choose between the plane, or a promise made to his dead partner. |
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"I'm always on the lookout for the key moments in life. You never know when they're going to happen and often it's in hindsight that we realize they happened at all. The thrill of thrills is living in one of those moments, fully aware. I've been speechless exactly once in my life and Liz Alani is the culprit. When she told me I'd placed in the top three, I felt like I should scream, cry, offer to wash her car, something. ‘Thank you’ was all that came out. Looking back I'm amazed at how much I learned through the experience. From the first night and hearing Stephen J. Cannell speak, to the meetings with industry pros, to the CineStory retreat. The whole experience was eye opening and a hell of a lot of fun. I don't think I could overstate the value the CineStory retreat had for me. I feel incredibly fortunate that I was included in Final Draft, Inc.'s first year of participation. Last week I stood at a Barnes and Noble newsstand, opened a copy of Script magazine, and there I was with Terry and Robert. I remember how much I had enjoyed their company and how honored I felt to be in that picture with them. That's the stuff that makes you recommit day after day. That's the stuff that makes impossible dreams seem tangible. Thank you, Liz Alani and Final Draft!” |
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3rd Place: Robert Bowden for A Child of Our Time Cash and Prizes: $2,000 total cash plus finalist prizes. Unique & intensive 3-day CineStory Screenwriting Retreat, where industry executive mentors work one-on-one with writers’ scripts, move their projects to the next level, & provide pathways to a professional life in the business. Also, airfare to Los Angeles and 3-night hotel stay (unless second & third place winners reside in or around Los Angeles). The third-place winner is Robert Bowden of Bristol, United Kingdom. His screenplay, A Child of Our Time centers around a shy and secretive artificial intelligence that helps euthanize her dying creator only to become hunted by the authorities. When fate offers her a chance to redeem herself she takes it, knowing she faces certain destruction. |
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| “Just about the time I became a teenager I read a short science-fiction story in English class by Brian Aldiss, called Who Can Replace A Man. That was the moment the bug bit me. It was the particular way he framed his characters in his story and how it hooked me that led me to want to write. Although life is complicated and the path I took was a different one, the bug-bite persisted. The stories collected in my head – and the characters to go with them. All I had to do was to find a way to get them out. Though this has turned out to be quite a journey, it has been a most enjoyable one. Perhaps the most important thing for a screenwriter trying to break into the industry is to get read and at times this can seem almost impossible for someone on the outside. Being placed in the top-three of the Big Break contest quite literally brought that mountain to me. The whole experience was astonishing really. Suddenly I was being read by producers, established screenwriters, and management companies. And if that wasn’t enough, Big Break’s organizer Liz Alani arranged face-to-face meetings. I got a lot of useful feedback, none of which was lost on me and has set my course for going forward. All in all it was a real confidence booster – an affirmation that the years of learning and writing were worth it.” |
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2008 Finalist Prizes Top 10 Finalists receive: 2008 Finalists (listed in alphabetical order) 2008 Semifinalists (listed in alphabetical order) |
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$500 cash |
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Visit the Hall of Fame Galleries