Below is a list of all the screenplays that made it into the second round of SYS’s Six Figure Screenplay Contest 2024.
A big congratulations to all the writers who had screenplays make it out of the first round. Congratulations!
Every year I do struggle with how best to help the writers who aren’t selected. Trying to grade something as subjective as screenwriting is not an easy task. I acknowledge that no contest’s processes, including our own, are perfect. If you didn’t place as highly as you had hoped in our contest, get another opinion from someone else whom you trust. It’s always possible we’ve overlooked a great screenplay.
We will be announcing the quarter finalists on September 18th, 2024.
So without further ado here are the screenplays that have progressed to the second round of SYS’s Six-Figure Screenplay Contest 2024 (listed alphabetically by screenplay title):
Feature Screenplays
American Guilt (drama) by Daniel Vaz
Log Line: Adam suffers from guilt and PTSD following a shooting at his high school and tries to find solace in therapy and fellow victim, Jennifer.
Broken Strings (drama) by Rahel Grunder
Log Line: A spirited piano tuner, scarred yet full of life, finds the love of her dreams in a passionate relationship with a successful musician, only to discover too late the peril hidden behind his flawless facade as she surrenders her life to his needs.
Hope (drama) by Toofun West
Log Line: In an unexpected twist of fate, a rising actor must step into the most challenging role of his life, battling a cruel illness while redefining his relationships and understanding of what it truly means to live.
In the Dark (drama) by Stefan Alexander
Log Line: After signing up to fight in a senseless war, so he doesn’t have to watch his son die from leukemia at home, a father must lead his militia to a final objective to face a future worth living.
It Lives Upstairs (horror) by Carlton Welch
Log Line: While renting a rundown estate for the summer, a group of college students fall victim to a demented being that lives upstairs.
It’s What You See (drama) by Lisa Hickey
Log Line: A traumatized young woman must decipher which parts of her hallucinations are real in order to both unravel a man’s mysterious death and—just possibly—learn how to live.
Joan of Arkansas (comedy) by Isabelle Davis
Log Line: A willful college sophomore in California, far away from her uppity southern hometown, is forced back home for her Debutante ball and has every intention of ruining it for everyone.
Kirby in Limbo (drama) by Jamie Campbell
Log Line: A retiree’s perfect life is shattered when a car crash takes the lives of his wife and daughter. After an insurance settlement leaves him the world’s most miserable millionaire, he attempts to pick up the pieces and find a reason to keep going.
Living Too Late (thriller) by Alex McAulay
Log Line: A kindhearted middle-school teacher tries to help a troubled student, but accidentally incurs the wrath of the student’s demented parent, who begins stalking him and trying to ruin his life. This is a darkly comic thriller.
Love & Detroit (drama) by Michael Dunker
Log Line: When his cancer has returned for the third time, a wealthy man takes a euthanasia pill that ends his life the next time he falls asleep. An hour after he takes it, he runs into his 8th grade sweetheart – the love of his life – and he’s forced to stay up as long as possible.
Mom’s Third Husband (comedy) by Isabelle Davis
Log Line: Following her second divorce, a mother of four grudgingly agrees to let her children set her up on a series of dates.
Next Door Domme (dramedy) by Kerstin Porter
Log Line: When a lonely introvert discovers her neighbor is a dominatrix, she teams up with the domme to find a partner, but when she ends up dating a submissive, she must face her true self, kinky or not, to find true love.
On the Hour (horror) by Brandon Rhiness
Log Line: A group of friends spending the weekend in the country fall victim to a curse that causes them to die off one by one, every hour, on the hour.
One Lousy Mistake (drama) by Dave Wade
Log Line: A family fights to stay united after the matriarch performs an unthinkable act.
Reformation (drama) by Stephen Morgan-MacKay
Log Line: When a visionary bishop challenges the authority of the Vatican, the spurned daughter of a priest finds herself at the center of a conspiracy that will change her worldview and the worldview and future of the Catholic Church forever.
Rewinder (sci-fi) by Arun Narayanan
Log Line: Following an awkward first date, two twenty-somethings become addicted to a mysterious love potion at a Brooklyn dive that allows them to go back in time and reverse-engineer a perfect romance.
Riddle (thriller) by Shiva Ramanathan
Log Line: When a grieving doctor forebodes the gruesome murder of a novelist who received his dead wife’s heart, he embarks on a crusade to find the killer and stop the murder before it happens on Halloween.
Self Storage (horror) by Robert Walcott
Log Line: On his first shift at a self storage facility, a new night manager discovers that his workplace harbors some very disturbing business practices.
Shoulda’ Swiped Left (romantic comedy) by Michael Dugan
Log Line: A beautiful Woman and an ordinary accountant match on Tinder, but when she turns out to be an undercover FBI agent – their first date turns into a wild and deadly chase by a murderous cartel and the drug lord she just testified against.
Stuck Home for Christmas (comedy) by Chris Eckenwiler
Log Line: A struggling musician is left stranded outside his childhood home town on Christmas Eve, and is forced to spend the holiday with his quirky siblings, estranged parents, and high school crush.
The Salesman (drama) by Adam Seidel
Log Line: A lonely assassin on the cusp of a mid-life crisis is duped into a cross-country road trip with his next hit, an abrasive, suicidal man who wants company on his pre-death apology tour. ABOUT SCHMIDT meets BANSHEES of INISHERIN.
They Eat Their Own (thriller) by Steven Smith
Log Line: After losing WWIII the U.S. is split in half, just like Vietnam and Korea before it. Rebels fighting to reunite the country face mind-bending interrogations that threaten to crush the rebellion.
Tasered (dramedy) by David M Hinds
Log Line: A wellness influencer known online as The Happiness Angel loves her victims a little too much in this darkly comedic psychosexual dramedy about a sexy serial strangler in modern-day UK.
The Blood Challenge (thriller) by Breyanna Tolbert
Log Line: When a teen outcast accidentally creates a social media challenge for Gen z’ers to spill blood for the ones they love, the trend soon takes on a life of its own, leading to disastrous results, as she finally gains the viral popularity she so desperately craved.
The Decision (drama) by Carlos Perez
Log Line: A senator’s wife finds out the hard way just how bad the laws he helped create actually effect innocent pregnant women.
The Lyon of Times Square (drama) by Christopher Loveland
Log Line: Junior and his dysfunctional parents go to New York City for a college program’s audition. After blowing his audition, Junior and his family are caught in a mass shooting; the father dies playing the hero and is lionized by the media. CONTENT WARNING.
The Ultimate Enchantment (fantasy) by Aimee Dansereau
Log Line: A workaholic fairy and a charming vampire, who are at odds, are forced to team up to find a romantic match for a VIP client at the magical matchmaking company they work for, and unwittingly fall in love.
Thirty, Dirty and Trying (comedy) by Spencer Cohen
Log Line: A young couple find out that getting pregnant and having kids isn’t as easy as their High School Health teacher made it out to be.
Three Pretty Girls (horror) by Michael Dunker
Log Line: When a divorced man goes to check on his friend, he instead finds three mysterious girls living in his house. They invite him to a BBQ the next day where he returns with two friends and they discover these sirens are seducing men to their untimely death.
Three’s a Crowd (comedy) by Matthew Hoch
Log Line: An anxious, sexually inexperienced man asks his confident best friend to help him win over his work crush before she leaves for her new job, but things takes a surprising turn when they all end up in a threesome together and have to reassess their relationship to each other and to sex.
Trending (horror) by Mark McKee
Log Line: A woman is forced to reconcile her past and the privacy she holds dear after her selection for a game show that grants instant influencer status to the contestant.
Typhoid Gary (comedy) by Julio DeSanctis
Log Line: Three couples gathering for one last dinner before a nationwide pandemic shuts down their city are forced to host the asymptomatic fugitive that’s been spreading the disease across the US while the police stage a manhunt for him in their suburban neighborhood.
Vengeance of Saints (thriller) by Phillip Roquemore
Log Line: A small town priest struggles with the strict rules surrounding the seal of confession when a man confesses what he did to the girl missing from the church youth group.
Short Screenplays
A Bird in the Hand (comedy) by Stephanie Pocklington
Log Line: A man wakes up with his arm mysteriously replaced with a flamingo leg. As his situation descends into chaos he is forced to come to terms with his new appendage, eventually contemplating whether there may be a silver lining to his new condition.
Bev and Beauregard Simon (thriller) by Alysha Haran
Log Line: In the premiere episode of “Bev and Beauregard Simon,” the beautiful and enigmatic duo embark on a scenic coastal drive. However, their picture-perfect appearance conceals a dark twist – they are modern-day Avengers with a penchant for espionage. Narrated in the style of a children’s tale, their story takes an unexpected turn when they unveil their true identities as former spies seeking revenge against a Ministry of Defense target.
Cry For Midnight (horror) by Quinn Bailey
Log Line: A struggling young actress and a fading Hollywood starlet face off against a mysterious supernatural stalker… but soon discover that the greatest threat to their lives might be human.
Domestic Disturbance (thriller) by Darren Coyle
Log Line: A cop is called to a domestic disturbance. He finds a woman chained to a radiator and a man with a gun. Cop subdues the man and frees the woman only to find she is a werewolf and he’s in trouble
Fresh Start (sci-fi) by Kevin Willmering
Log Line: A down and out homeless man solves a scientific mystery.
Mouse (horror) by Michael Clifton
Log Line: A grieving father haunted by the loss of his child seeks solace in an unlikely visitor.
Sun Is Coming? (drama) by Saeid Ghasemi
Log Line: In a Dubai refugee camp, SHARIFOLAH battles bureaucracy and the looming threat of the Taliban to bring his scattered family together.
To the Moon (fantasy) by Michael Dukakis
Log Line: An LGBT+ kid from a troubled family tries to escape abuse by fulfilling three magical tasks in his grandmother’s fairy tale.
Trick-or-Treat (horror) by Carlos Perez
Log Line: A malicious young man receives a nasty payback on Halloween.
Wang and Da Rats (action/adventure) by James Bylinsky
Log Line: When a young Chinese deli owner in Queens pisses off a pair of neo-Nazis, he must confront his nonconfrontational nature to defeat them, save his deli, and save his life.