Screenplays Selected as Semi-Finalists in GREAT GAY SCREENPLAY CONTEST

Twelve new screenplays with LGBT themes or characters have been named semi-finalists in the 2011 Great Gay Screenplay Contest sponsored by Pride Films and Plays. PFP's Executive Director David Zak says, "The writing submitted to us keeps getting stronger and stronger, and all 12 of these pieces should be given serious consideration by film producers now."

The 12 semi-finalists are:
Boy by Carey Baldwin, Los Angeles, CA
Bre'gan's Fist by Tom Emerick, Chicago, IL
Easy on the Eyes by Kevin Michael West, Los Angeles, CA
Greener Pastures by Lindsay Gambini, North Plainfield, NJ
Henry and Gil by Michael Phillips, Atlanta, GA
Home of the BLACK SWAN by Maria Della Croce, Boston, MA
Open House by Rick Kinnebrew & Martha Meyer, Evanston, IL
Rough Trade by Howard Casner, Los Angeles, CA
Secret Boulevard by Dylan Costello, London, UK
Wandering the Elysian Fields by Richmond Weems, Clayton, NC
The Way Shim Likes It by James Palmer, Los Angeles, CA
Welcome to LA by Howard Casner, Los Angeles, CA

The 12 scripts move on to the next round of judging, with the five finalists announced on September 19 at Sidetrack at the PFP Event from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The five finalists will be performed as staged readings in our Great Gay Screenplay Finale Weekend at the Hoover-Leppen Theater at Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted, on October 21 to 23. A full performance information will be released on September 20.

Boy by Carey Baldwin, Los Angeles, CA
After nearly a decade of supporting himself as a sex worker in San Francisco, Kayden Sawyer decides to return home for his father's funeral. Through his experiences on the road and with his estranged family, Kayden finds wisdom and open-mindedness in unexpected places.

Bre'gan's Fist by Tom Emerick, Chicago, IL
Bre'gan's Fistis the story of two people, one a human, the other a Mage, who have both suffered personal loss. As they comfort each other, a crisis emerges that threatens the entire Earth itself. Can they repair the damage done to their shattered lives and save the planet in the process?

Easy On The Eyes by Kevin Michael West, Los Angeles, CA
Ethan (a neurotic playwright) and Jake (a hunky actor) are best friends who decide to become friends with benefits. Unfortunately, the arrangement triggers a lot of emotional consequences that neither one counted on. It's a "When Harry Met Sally..." for gay men.

Greener Pastures by Lindsay Gambini, North Plainfield, NJ
In Greener Pastures, two young women defy convention to follow their hearts in a pioneering romance set in 1816 New England. Is the grass always greener on the other side of the fence?

Henry and Gil by Michael Phillips, Atlanta, GA
A modern-day musical set in the Darwinian halls of public high school, Henry and Gil revolves around fashion-forward Henry and the feelings he develops for his show choir partner, the sexually-ambiguous Gil. And you thought musicals couldn't get any gayer.

Home of the BLACK SWAN by Maria Della Croce, Boston, MA
Home of the BLACK SWANis a love story about two women, but also a rites-of-passage tale about mothers and daughters. It explores how mothers mold their daughters' self-esteem with spoken and unspoken messages--often insidiously passed down from their own mothers.

Open House by Rick Kinnebrew and Martha Meyer, Evanston, IL
Two men, a snobby interior decorator and a wanderer, fall in love as they restore a historic rock cottage. In small-town Depression-era Wisconsin, they struggle to sustain a business that hides their marriage in plain sight. Based on a true story.

Rough Trade by Howard Casner, Los Angeles, CA
On his way to audition for a porno film in L.A., hustler B.J. spends the night with a john only to wake up the next morning to find he has switched identities with his one-night stand and that two thugs are after the john and plan to kill him.

Secret Boulevard by Dylan Costello, London, UK
In 1949 and 1989 Hollywood, Secret Boulevard follows the scandalous ramifications of a forbidden love affair between naive young British actor Patrick Glass and his famous male co-star - the brooding and enigmatic movie heart-throb Jackson Harper. Sometimes we can only love if we are allowed to... especially in Hollywood.

Wandering the Elysian Fields by Richmond Weems, Clayton, NC
A hard-boiled, gay private detective must reflect on his own relationships and his misanthropic behavior as he tries to solve a murder case that no one wants solved.

The Way Shim Likes It by James Palmer, Los Angeles, CA
When Jamie's private tutor dies unexpectedly, this intersex teenager defies father's wishes and enrolls in public school to achieve popularity "like the kids on TV." The Way Shim Likes It follows Jamie as she/him/shim poses alternatively as a boy and girl, fools the whole school, and breaks a few hearts.

Welcome to LA by Howard Casner, Los Angeles, CA
In this black comedy, Adam's first few days in Los Angeles are greeted by a continual discovery of dead bodies in his building; an amorous police officer who wants to have sex with him, then wants Adam to read his screenplay; and a mentor whose main advice is not to masturbate more than once a day.

Author Bios

Currently living in Los Angeles, Carey Baldwin (Boy) grew up in the Midwest before attending New York University. He does freelance production design and video editing for a paycheck while exploring collage, illustration, bicycle maintenance, and printmaking when not writing.

Howard Casner (Rough Trade and Welcome to LA) moved in 2001 from Chicago to Los Angeles, where he has earned a reputation as a script consultant as well as providing coverage for several screenplay competitions and Here! Networks/ Regent Entertainment. His plays have been seen in Chicago, New York, and L.A. In 2002, he received a GLAAD nomination for best L.A. production for A Cold Coming We Had of It. Find more info here.

Dylan Costello (Secret Boulevard) is a screenwriter and playwright. His debut movie Coronado is currently in pre-production in Hollywood and his first two plays were produced in London in 2010. His climate change short film Edge of Existence was also shown at the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit in December 2009.

Maria Della Croce (Home of the BLACK SWAN) is an award-winning writer/director who has been passionate in her career about creating positive and realistic portrayals of women and minorities, and telling the honest stories of the LGBT community, in advertising and various media.

Tom Emerick (Bre'gan's Fist) is an aspiring screenwriter and playwright. He also enjoys writing poetry, short stories, and songs, and holds a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Detroit Mercy. Originally from Detroit, he currently resides in Chicago.

Lindsay Gambini (Greener Pastures) recently began writing screenplays after spending more than 30 years as an arts administrator with writing responsibilities. Her first screenplay, Greener Pastures, received an Honorable Mention in the One in Ten Screenplay Contest and she is now working on a play with music about a professional women's choir.

Rick Kinnebrew and Martha Meyer (Open House) write plays for children as part of their library work. During their honeymoon in Wisconsin, they visited Pendarvis - the inspiration for Open House. Rick's play Rise was read at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago.

James Palmer (The Way Shim Likes It) is gay and a comedy writer (in that order). Originally from New Jersey, he now lives in Los Angeles. When not writing scripts or blogging, he's scouring press releases for his name.

Michael Phillips (Henry and Gil) is an architect and screenwriter originally from Ohio. His screenplay Boner's High School Reunion was the 2010 winner of the One in Ten Screenplay contest. He currently lives in Atlanta with his boyfriend Corbin and their two cats.

Richmond Weems (Wandering the Elysian Fields) is a published short story writer, and DVD reviewer. His work has appeared in Necrotic Tissue, Aberrations, Absent Willow Review, Every Day Fiction, and other print and online venues.

Kevin Michael West (Easy On The Eyes) is currently an MFA student at USC, studying film directing. His gay-themed play Top and Bottom performed to sold- out houses in L.A., N.Y. (off-Broadway), and Provincetown. His film A Very Fair Deal screened at the L.A. Shorts Festival.

For more information on the contest, and other Pride Films and Plays events, including the Great Gay Play and Musical Contest (which will accept entries from September 1 to October 31), visit www.pridefilmsandplays.com. 

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