We are excited to announce the winners of the 2021 Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition.
THIS HUNGER by Alessandra Jara Del Castillo has been selected from nearly 952 entries as the Grand Prize Winner. COPY CAT by Vanessa Branch has been selected as the 2nd Place Winner; and HIDE YOUR CRAZY by Austin Kase has been selected as the 3rd Place Winner.
THIS HUNGER by Alessandra Jara Del Castillo
An indifferent Hispanic housewife grows infatuated with her husband—only after he returns from the dead, hungry for meat.
Described by our readers as “…beautifully evocative, terribly human, and wildly compelling.” THIS HUNGER is a subtle story about the death, rebirth, and re-death of a marriage that works as both a zombie body horror and a compelling drama. Striking images and distinct, nuanced characters made this script a delight to read, and will surely reverberate through our readers minds for a long time to come.
COPY CAT by Vanessa Branch
A middle-school teacher plagiarizes her student’s writing and she suffers the deadly consequences.
COPY CAT is a unique idea that really impressed our readers and jury. “The character interactions are believable and compelling, the plot is strong, and overall this story fits the conventions of the horror genre while expanding outside the box with interesting characters.”
HIDE YOUR CRAZY by Austin Kase
Iris wants to be alone on her birthday, and when her current hookup Dan throws her a surprise party, he finds out why.
“Funny, Horrific and Amazing!”, HIDE YOUR CRAZY is ” …a well-staged, funny short that would be a crowd-pleaser at festivals and online.” One reader went on to say this short was “Well written, wonderfully visual, and ends in a well earned full circle story beat. The dialogue feels emotional and organic, and the pacing leads to some actual tension in a single-location story, which is hard to do. There are even moments of genuine humor. Overall very well done.”
In addition to the Killer Shorts team, this year’s jury included literary managers John Zaozirny (Bellevue Productions), Scott Stoops (Good Fear), Krista Sipp (First Friday Entertainment), Matthew Dartnell (Writ Large), Scott Carr (Management SGC), Zack Zucker (Bellevue Productions) and Glenn Cockburn (Meridian Artists); senior programmers Sophie Carroll (ALTER) and Chelsea Lupkin (Short of the Week); horror filmmakers and producers Julian Terry, Jenn Wexler, and Jason Tamasco; plus legendary horror actors Barbara Crampton and Joe Bob Briggs.
The Top 3 Winners will receive Final Draft 12 software, Shudder Subscriptions, Creepy Co. Gift Cards, Rue Morgue Subscriptions, Increased Rank on Coverfly’s The Red List, ISAConnect Memberships, Waived Submission Fees to over 20+ other competitions, a killer trophy designed by Tyler Green FX Studio, spooky swag from Slasher App, Trick or Treat Studios, 1313 Mockingbird Lane, Waxwork Records, Fright Rags, Ghoulish Gary, and circulation of their materials to our network of top literary managers and agents.
Our 3rd place winner will also receive 5 pages of in-depth analysis and actionable advice from The Script Butcher!
Congratulations to these winning writers, and thank you to our readers, judges and to everyone who submitted projects; we read an overwhelming amount of killer shorts, and can’t wait to see what’s in store Season 3!
View the Quarterfinalists, Semifinalists, and Finalists here.
And if you’d like to receive a notification when this contest re-opens for entries, you can subscribe for updates via Coverfly here.
And be sure to check out Killer Shorts recent success stories here.
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Big thanks to our festival partners, and the following Womxn & BIPOC organizations: The Write or Die Chicks, Women Make Movies, Ladima Foundation, NYWIFT, African American Women in Cinema, The Light Leaks, Hedgebrook, Screen Queens, Rianne Pictures, Alliance of Women Directors, LIFTT, Black Screenwriters, Ms. In the Biz, and Indigenous Australian Filmmakers.
