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Indie festival Slamdance has identified the next next big screenwriters.

The annual fest, which recently unveiled its Indies Awards Show slated for December 2024, has announced the winners of its 2024 screenplay competition. Slamdance recognizes writers in feature film, horror/thriller, TV pilot, short film, and mentorship categories, with more than $18,000 in cash prizes, plus industry services, awarded. The prizes were awarded during a live ceremony at the Writer’s Guild of America, West. IndieWire first announced the results.

Past alums have included ”Day Shift” scribe Tyler Tice, “Tiana” series head writer Joyce Sherri, and “The Woodsman” co-writers Nicole Kassell and Steven Fechter. Sherri was also present at the 2024 ceremony as the guest of honor to welcome the new winners to the Slamdance family.

This year, the Grand Prize was bestowed to Jorge Lucas for his screenplay “Yokai,” which is a Japanese paranormal thriller based on his partner’s heritage. “Yokai” centers...

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta) has unveiled the finalists for two of its pitching competitions, one in partnership with Monster Pictures and the other with Sony.

Both events will be held during the upcoming Aacta Screenfest.

Aacta Pitch: Focus

Developed with Sony, Aacta Pitch: Focus is aimed at film students, offering the opportunity to pitch, develop, shoot a proof of concept and produce a short film, with

guidance from an experienced panel of short filmmakers. The grand prize is $15,000 in production funds along with an extensive suite of complimentary film equipment from Sony.

Finalists include:

I Can’t Get Next To You – Mollie McGregor, Jenna Woodhouse, London Hartard, Chloe Bobbin (Aftrs)

Trapped within her father’s grief and desperate to connect with her late mother, Glen

accidentally travels back in time, from 1988 to 1969, where she must contest with her teen father for her young mum’s...

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Australian comedy web-series.The Justice Lease.is returning a for second season after winning $70,000 at the Viewster Online Film Festival.

In 2013, Severe Comedy self funded series one of The Justice Lease, a six-part web series which focused on the daily domestic lives of Superman, Batman, The Hulk and Aquaman, set in a suburban Australian share-house.

Series one of.The Justice Lease.screened at Melbourne WebFest, La WebFest (winning eight awards) and was awarded a $70,000 cash prize in the inaugural Viewster Online Film Festival.

Since then, the creators have used that budget to create a five-part series, which will be launched on March 22 via YouTube..

Producer Erasmo Raimundo said the funding had allowed the team to create the kind of series envisioned at the beginning..

"An entirely over-dramatic comedy that both pokes fun at, and reveres, the superhero genre,. he said..

Director Jeremy Brull likes to think of it as cross...

Australian director Jeremy Brull.s The Justice Lease has won the top prize of $US70,000 in an online festival.

Shot for just $7,000, the web series features real-life versions of Superman, Batman, Aquaman and The Hulk as they struggle to live together in an Australian share-house.

The prize was awarded by the advertiser-supported Video-on-Demand service Viewster in the inaugural Viewster Online Film Fest (#Voff). The theme was When Life Gives You Lemons...

The judges were Us producer Ted Hope, who is CEO of Fandor, Finnish director/creator of Iron Sky Timo Vuorensola and German actress Nora Tschirner.

The judges said: .The episode Man of Steel was very well constructed and extremely funny.. They indicated they really want to see what.s going on in the director.s head.

Brull, who shot The Justice Lease with co-producer Paul Michael Ayre, said: .After a year of struggling to get this series out to the masses,...

The Justice Lease, an Australian comedy featuring very domesticated versions of Superman, Batman, Aquaman and The Hulk, has won the inaugural Viewster Online Film Festival and the $70,000 top prize from the Swiss-based VOD service. An online series produced by Australian production company Severe Comedy, Justice Lease reimagines the famous superheroes as roommates sharing a house in Australia, where instead of super villains, they face endless bickering and petty battles over rent and housework. The winning episode, Man of Steel, features Paul Michael Ayre, who co-wrote Justice Lease with director Jeremy Brull, as a domestic Superman, jealous

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