| The Baltimore Film Office at the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts is proud to announce the winners of the fifth annual Baltimore Screenwriters Competition. The winners are Durrell and Rebecca Nelson, who took first place with The Home Game; Robynn O Brooks, who placed second with Blaque Marble; and Kim Moir who came in third place with Once You Go Black.
Winners receive cash and other great prizes including all access passes to the Maryland Film Festival. The competition is designed to create awareness of screenplays as a literary art form and to encourage new screenwriters into the entertainment industry.
The Baltimore Screenwriters Competition is a project of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and the Baltimore Film Office at the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, in conjunction with Morgan State University’s Film and Television Writing Program, and Johns Hopkins University’s Film and Media Studies Program. Additional sponsorship provided by Municipal Employees Credit Union of Baltimore (MECU), Maryland Film Festival, NEXTCAR, Visit Baltimore, The Charles Theatre and Landmark Theaters.
2010 BALTIMORE SCREENWRITERS COMPETITION WINNERS
First Place- Durrell and Rebecca Nelson, The Home Game
Durrell and Rebecca met, fell in love and married in Los Angeles, California where both enjoyed successful acting careers in film, TV and commercials. They marveled at their similar backgrounds, shared Southern roots and a growing love of writing. Both were already somewhat accomplished with Rebecca winning the Virginia Governor’s Screenwriting Competition for Chincoteague Run and Durrell’s Falling Lightly winning the prestigious Jerome Lawrence Award in USC Professional Writing Program. After writing a number of screenplays, separately, the couple decided to collaborate on The Home Game. Inspired by their own growing family, they chose to write a story of redemption which gave hope to children in foster care. Three of their four beautiful children are adopted through the Los Angeles foster care system. Last year, Durrell and Rebecca made the big move back east and now reside in Virginia with their young children, Ben, Anthony, Sabrina, Lily and their dog, Max.
Second Place- Robynn O Brooks, Blaque Marble
Robynn O Brooks began his life in entertainment. At the age of 14, he joined two of his track coaches to form a DJ Crew which later spawned rapper Def Jef-- the first artist signed to legendary hip-hop record label Delicious Vinyl. With a diverse background in media and entertainment ranging from acting, modeling, film and music production to working behind the scenes for companies such as HBO, Cannon/Pathé Films and Warner/Chapel Music Publishing, Brooks has participated and gained an abundance of experience in the ever-changing entertainment industry. His most notable achievement was being the face of the L.A. Gear’s L.A. Tech product line. While shooting the original spot for the Light Gear campaign he was encouraged by the director to consider writing after his improvisational performance resulted in the creation of the slogan “You gotta own the light… If you wanna own the night.” Blaque Marble is a drama that intertwines the lives of three individuals and has each character confront their past, present and future through music and poetry.
Third Place- Kim Moir, Once You Go Black
Kim Moir has more than two decades of experience in the television industry and as an award-winning cameraman. As a screenwriter, he is the multi-award winner of the WMAR-TV Drama Competition. His script for Sinsitivity finished in the top 10 percent in the prestigious Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting sponsored by the Oscars Foundation (AMPAS). His latest screenplay Once You Go Black, which is currently in development, is an ambitious and multi-layered story about love, race and identity.
The Baltimore Film Office will accept entries for the 2011 Baltimore Screenwriters Competition on October 1, 2010 through January 28, 2011. The early submission deadline for entries is November 19, 2010. The absolute deadline for entries is January 28, 2011. Final scripts will be judged by film industry professionals. This year’s judges included film and television veterans Grant Curtis, Nina Noble, and Richard Walter.
Please check back periodically for updates on the 2010 competition.
SCREENWRITING RESOURCES
Visit these links for industry tips, news and general information on writing for films
*Important Viewing Today from Roundtable on Television on the Internet
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13953_3-10076798-80.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0
Screenwriting Sites
*Life after Lisa was one of the five finalists from the 2008 Baltimore Screenwriters
Competition. Now it's a web-series, check it out!
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/zontv/2008/11/cast_crew_from_hbos_wire_begin.html
*Great Columns and general information
http://www.wordplayer.com/
*Copyright information to Augment WGA
http://www.copyright.gov/
*Charles Deemer: Nuts & Bolts Screenwriting Section
http://www.geocities.com/cdeemer/
*Author’s website with great links & columns
http://www.craftyscreenwriting.com/
*Writer’s Guild of America
http://www.wga.org/
*Best website for free screenplays in master scene format (and transcript form only)
http://www.script-o-rama.com/
*Strunk and White’s Elements of Style On-line
http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html
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