UCLA sweeps 2008 Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards

The Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards were founded by Samuel Goldwyn Sr. in 1955 to encourage young writers. The awards competition is open to all University of California students. This year’s winners were selected from a field of more than 120 feature-length script submissions from eight UC campuses.

But when the winner and finalists were announced Monday by Samuel Goldwyn Jr., president of the Samuel Goldwyn Foundation, during a ceremony at UCLA, which turned out to be the School all of them attended.

Judges included Geoff Gilmore, director of the Sundance Film Festival; Debbie Liebling, president of production for Fox Atomic; and Marlee Matlin, actress and producer.

The awards carry prizes of $15,000 for first place, $7,500 for second place, $4,000 for third place and $1,000 for an honorable mention. This year’s winners are:

First Place:

“Self Help” by Austin Formato (New York, N.Y.)

In this dark comedy, Ronnie signs up for an exclusive service that provides cryogenic freezing and robot replacement as a Christian-friendly alternative to suicide, but after he meets the girl of his dreams and reconsiders life, he discovers there’s no way out.

Second Place

“Odd Man Out” by Robyn Paris (Greensboro, N.C.)

In which a family obsessed with perfection disintegrates when their golden-boy son, Todd, is diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Third Place (tie)

“Out of Road” by JJ Nelson (East Lansing, Mich.)

This comedy centers on three friends who must take a road trip out west with their friend’s ashes to fulfill his last wish and are instructed to include his younger sister, who is no longer a little tag-along.

Third Place (tie)

“The Hole in the Brain of Phineas Gage” by Richard Rapoza (Manteca, Calif.)

A devoted wife and mother must grapple with the suspicion that her husband may be a different man after surviving a skull-skewering injury in an automobile accident.

Honorable Mention

“Spin Cycle” by Suzie Bohannon (Albuquerque, N.M.)

This action sci-fi coming-of-age story tells the tale of a 14-year-old boy who must push his family’s washing machine across a dystopian Los Angeles to a pawn shop in order to make ends meet.

Among previous winners of the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards are such outstanding film directors and writers as Allison Anders, Francis Ford Coppola, Pamela Gray, Colin Higgins, Jonathan Kellerman and Eric Roth.

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Keywords

"austin formato" "samuel goldwyn" 

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