To make a great film you need three things – the script, the script and the script. - Alfred Hitchcock

Script Finalists

  • Feature Length Script

    Aktion T-4 - by John Martins III

    Kirby in Limbo - by Jamie Campbell

    The Knife Thrower’s Assistant - by Joyce Kline

    The Summer I Made Love- by David C Raymer

    The Zoo - by Jamie Alan Mollart

  • International Short Script

    Almost Human - by Bernhard Reidhammer

    Coffee Is Life - by Jodi J Morneau

    Dead Sparrows - by Bret Jones

    Dreidel - by Glenn Lissner

    Hymn Of The Birds - by Victoria Zubick, Lisa Joy Zubick

    Peter Losing Wendy - by Logan Aisslyn May Jovanovski

  • BC Short Script

    Oh Beth! - by Jes Sugrue

    Wah Lau - by Tanya Jade

Script Winners

Feature Length Script

1st Place
The Zoo by Jamie Alan Mollart

James Marlowe has a gift for selling people things. Cocaine and alcohol fuel his ambition, but when body and mind break, he plunges into a surreal dark world. The way back to sanity, to the wife and son might be gone or might lie behind the fantasy of The Zoo.

Jamie is the author of two novel and has been widely published in magazines. He wrote and produced his first film last year and his second is in pre-production. He is a director of a large advertising agency, so the world of The Zoo is one he knows well.

2nd Place
Kirby In Limbo by Jamie Campbell

Kirby Jenkins had the perfect life: a beautiful marriage, a successful daughter, and a well-planned retirement to look forward to. When a tragic car crash turns his world upside down, Kirby attempts to pick up the pieces and find a reason to keep going.

Jamie Campbell is a screenwriter based out of Kansas City. He was the winner of the Grand Prize in last year's Dallas International Film Festival. His screen-play, Sneakerhead, is currently in production with Torfoot Studios, and his short thriller Mourning Sickness was produced by V-Pac Productions in the United Kingdom.

3rd Place
Aktion T-4 by John Martins III

In Nazi Germany, a Lutheran bishop, a Catholic deacon, and a deaf mother fight to save her epileptic son's life from Hitler's forced euthanasia program, "Aktion T-4."

John Martins III, who loves everything and everyone Canadian, has won first place for his screenplays at twenty-three different film festivals and screenwriting contests, including events hosted in Toronto, Winnipeg, and Chatham-Kent.  He has resided in Sierra Vista, Arizona—right down the street from Tombstone—for the past twenty years. 

1st Place
Almost Human by Bernhard Riedhammer

International Short Script

A man runs to the aid of an injured woman without realizing she might be part of something much bigger - and not quite who she claims she is.

Bernhard is an award-winning writer with several years of experience as a screenplay editor. He has won and placed high in dozens of festivals, including PAGE, BlueCat, Scriptapalooza, Austin, Cinequest, and Raindance. Most recently, his short drama Tree o' mine was produced and is currently hitting the festival circuit.

2nd Place
Dreidel by Glenn Lissner

Samuel tells his friends the horrors his grandfather Isaac suffered at a concentration camp during the holocaust and how he took revenge on a sadistic Nazi prison guard.

I was born in Hollywood...well, not that Hollywood, but Hollywood, Florida where I was adopted by a family from NYC. We moved to NC when I was 7 for a heavy dose of culture shock. but it is where I continue to reside. I love all kinds of horror films and wanted to add something to the genre, I am proud to share with you one of those shorts; prompted by a challenge to write a horror short around a dreidel.

3rd Place
Hymn Of The Birds
by Victoria Zubick, Lisa Joy Zubick

Madi and her family begin to face the harsh reality of her moms declining health - a journey of grief none of them could quite anticipate.

Victoria is a Toronto-based director, screenwriter and actor. After studying classical theatre at George Brown Theatre School, Victoria decided to pursue her passion and explore the world of film and television. 'Laundry' will be the first out of many stories she aspires to tell.

BC Short Script

1st Place
Wah Lau by Tanya Jade

When Ava's mother Soo Pek is expelled from her retirement home for starting a fight, Ava has to take her in, forcing her to face how small her life has become.

Tanya Jade is a Canadian-Australian actor and filmmaker of Singaporean and Dutch descent. Her work centres around love, identity, cultural displacement and violence against women. Her award-winning short film, Wallpaper, has completed a highly successful festival run and she goes into production for her next short film this spring. Tanya strives to tell stories that make people feel less alone.

2nd Place
Oh, Beth! by Jes Sugrue

In order to say yes to herself - and to a great match that’s stuck in the friend zone - a codependent, middle-aged teacher must first learn to say no.

Jes is a published author, script consultant, and laurel-winning screenwriter with six feature screenplays ready to produce.

All have earned a "Recommend" status with coverage providers. Oh, Beth! is her first short, a proof of concept for a feature currently under revision.  

"I'm so grateful for CVIFF and its support of emerging screenwriters. Thank you!"