Thank you to all who submitted their screenplays to the 2020 Phoenix Film Festival Short Screenplay Competition.
We are very excited to announce this year's winners!
First Place
Zap! by Philip Sedgwick of Tucson, AZ
An astronomer sharing backyard observations of the center of our galaxy has a run-in with mosquitoes, and a not so trusty bug zapper.
Second Place
One Afternoon In Purgatory by Timothy Kissel of Downingtown, PA
Imagine Purgatory as just another large, impersonal, retail store. One that has seen its better days, with all the panache of a rundown Walmart or aged super market. It's the story of three recently deceased individuals, and the interactions they have with the three cashiers who wait on them.
Third Place
MIJO by John McCarney of Goodyear, AZ
As the Second American Civil War rages, an American father risks his life to get his son across the border to safety in Mexico.
Finalists
Continental Breakfast by Butterfly Cherry of Chandler, AZ
An overly imaginative girl finds creative ways to escape the mundane, desolate life of working and living in an old roadside motel in the middle of nowhere.
Downballot by John Goshorn of Statesboro, GA
A small-town Georgia politician tries to claw his way back to power by any means necessary.
Confession by Max La Caria of Peoria, AZ
A man makes his confessions for his past sins.
Mullarkey's Ghosts by Lesley Lillywhite of Tucson, AZ
As an urban couple celebrates an anniversary in Arizona, ghosts from the old west conspire to unravel their secrets.
Safe by Walter Long of Phoenix, AZ
A grieving young boy finds a way to remember his lost mother using his love of baseball.
An Unfinished Agenda by Philip Sedgwick of Tucson, AZ
Two journalists, previously separated in a war zone, reunite in the Arizona desert to document vigilante activities and catch up with their incomplete personal agenda.
The Eulogist by Peter Strupp of Carefree, AZ
A cynical eulogist receives a postmortem visit from one of his "clients," in a conversation that forever changes his outlook on life and death.
Punked by Kate Whitehead of Toronto, Ontario Canada
Punk rocker Daryl attempts to save his marriage in the divorce court parking lot, but his wife Renee proves resistant to his well-hidden charm.
