Cinephiles, filmmakers, their supporters, and the curious descended upon ComedySportz, Minneapolis, last evening for Screenwriters Workshop’s first-ever “Leave ’em Hooked” Screenwriters Showcase and Movie IQ Quiz, hosted by the audacious Jill Bernard.
Judges selected five screenplays with the best first ten pages to be read by actors before a live audience. At the end, the audience was asked to vote which script they most wanted more of.
It was Minneapolis writer Jane Barnes who earned “Best Screenplay” for her script “Please Excuse Me While I Hang Myself,” and was awarded $100 cash. Audience member Peter Armstrong won the Movie IQ Quiz and also went home with $100 cash.
In all, thirty-six screenplays were submitted for consideration. Judges were asked to read all scripts and list their top ten choices in rank order. The following five screenplays appeared the most and highest in balloting and were featured in the showcase:
- “Anatomy of a Town,” written by Patricia Fox (crime/drama)
- “Gone the Sun,” written by Tom Weber (action/drama)
- “Mitch and Charlie,” written by Alvin Easter (drama)
- “The Wallet,” written by Ron Johnson (horror/drama)
- ***WINNER*** “Please Excuse Me While I Hang Myself,” written by Jane Barnes (dark comedy)
Judges also provided every entrant a written critique of their submitted work.
Screenwriters Workshop put together the “Leave ’em Hooked” Screenwriters Showcase as a venue to expose emerging Minnesota screenwriting talent to a wider audience. Thanks to all screenwriters who submitted, as well as everybody who worked to make this event a success.
(Update) Screenwriter James Byrne has posted a review of the event at MNdialog, the Minnesota Film and TV Board’s message board.
