Big Break™ Success Stories

Big Break™ Top 40 Finalist Christopher DeBaisse scores representation
Screenwriter Christopher DeBiasse, who penned the script We Need Some Space and placed as a top-40 finalist in the Final Draft, Inc. 2011 Big Break competition, was signed by producer and manager Jeff Belkin of Foremost Films this week. DeBaisse’s script is a comedy “about a guy who -- after getting dumped by his girlfriend -- goes on a bender and ends up sleeping through an alien invasion. When he wakes up, he is so single-minded about winning his girlfriend back, that he befriends aliens to find her,” says Belkin, who discovered DeBaisse through the Big Break Contest. “Christopher is a great writer. You see his talent immediately on the page. And, perhaps even more impressively, his scripts made me laugh out loud. Repeatedly. That's not easy to do and happens rarely,” Belkin adds. Big Break is an important contest for Hollywood, he confirms. “For scribes of any level, contests like Big Break prove to be a vital and necessary tool for exposure.” DeBaisee, a Los Angeles-based story analyst for Universal Studios, is happy to have that exposure as well as official representation.

December, 2011

In 2007, Nick Horwood placed second in the Final Draft, Inc. Big Break Contest with his medieval buddy-comedy Knight Knight. As part of the contest prize he was flown to L.A., where along with meeting Oliver Stone and several of the contests’ distinguished judges, Horwood also met previous Big Break finalist Brendan Foley. Early in 2011, Foley invited Horwood to attend a workshop for writers and producers in Denmark with him, comedy writer and actress Shelley Goldstein, producer Lars Herman, and Hollywood veteran producer Ned Dowd. Among the 28 European writers and producers was filmmaker Christina Bucher, who persuaded Horwood to let her direct Knight Knight and to co-produce the film with her. Less than two months later, shooting was completed on the low-budget medieval epic, shot entirely on location in a genuine medieval castle. Knight Knight said, "Big Break was the first contest I entered and it’s fitting that Knight Knight is the first feature film I have seen go from script to screen … earning me a writer, producer and actor credit along the way!"

(Photo credit: Hermit Film Productions)

For more information: http://www.facebook.com/Knightknightthemovie

Final Draft, Inc. Gets Close Up with 2010 Big Break™ Contest Winner Tejal Desai

2010 Big Break™ winner Tejal Desai had a manager and an option for his script Cowboys and Hindus before his three-day trip to Los Angeles was over. Big Break™ judge Jewerl Ross of Silent R Management immediately responded to the script and snapped up Tejal as a client shortly after they first met in person. Synthetic Pictures has also inked a deal for Tejal to write and direct his script. Tejal says: "[What] a memorable experience at Final Draft, Inc. in Los Angeles! The hotel, the meetings, the limo ride, red carpet, awards dinner, and the party, it was all amazing and truly unforgettable. What a great night!! [Big Break™ is] definitely one of the premier writing contests and I will recommend it to everyone I know." Mr. Ross had this to say about Tejal's screenplay Cowboys and Hindus, "This script epitomizes superior storytelling: characters whose humor and tragedy tug at the heart, and whose fears, desires and deepest emotions become your own, making it not an exercise in entertainment, but a complete validation of the power of great art. I'm excited to get to work for him." For more information about Jewerl Ross, please go visit http://www.silentrlit.com.

2010 Big Break™ second-place winner Mick Connolly of Melbourne, Australia took home honors for his clever, fast-paced heist comedy Crims. On returning home, he was contacted by Endeavor co-founder turned manager/producer David Greenblatt (the upcoming Battle Los Angeles). Connolly and his two fellow Big Break™ winners met and pitched to Greenblatt as part of their prize and Greenblatt loved the script. Greenblatt is now repping Connolly. Just days later, William Morris Endeavor Agent Danny Greenberg signed Connolly as well, and the team is busy introducing Crims to the industry. Connolly says: "The Big Break™ Contest lived up to its name for me. I secured a great manager within a week, met with executives and agents, and now have a number of producers asking to read my script. Final Draft, Inc. opens doors!"

Third-place 2010 Big Break™ winner Larry Brenner impressed judges with his vampire-zombie apocalypse script Flesh and Blood. Since his Big Break™ success, he has been contacted by several agents, managers and producers including Joe Roth Productions (Alice in Wonderland, The Huntsman) which is talking to Brenner about moving the script forward. Brenner is currently doing rewrites on the project for Joe Roth Productions. Brenner says: "I'm still excited about all of the things that have come out of my Big Break™. I'm in regular contact with producers, agents, and manager about my scripts and I've found some fantastic mentors as well. What a transformative experience!"

2009 Big Break™ winner Wyatt Wakeman was the first entrant to make the semi-finals with two different scripts. Judge Brian Spink recognized his talent quickly and signed Wyatt for representation shortly after his win with Borderland was announced. Wyatt says: "It's easy to forget that there are people out there who try and honestly support the writer, who get genuinely excited for him, and who want to see him succeed. Final Draft, Inc. has given me back my faith in the process. You know those few elusive, mythical steps that exist between being a struggling writer and having representation that believes in you, with the moxy to make things happen? Enter and win the Final Draft, Inc. Big Break™ Contest and those moments happen right before your eyes."