Slamdance Announces Screenplay Competition Winners
By: Kaitlin Milligan Oct. 11, 2019
Slamdance today announced the winners of its 2019 screenwriting competition, awarding its Grand Prize to writers Tamra Teig and Michael Lipoma for their feature screenplay "The Fall." Additional prizes were awarded during a ceremony hosted by Writers Guild of America West across feature film, horror/thriller, TV pilot and short film categories. Slamdance awarded more than $16,000 to winners across all categories.
"The Fall" is a historical drama taking place in East Berlin in 1989. A single mother is forced to become a spy to save her son when he's framed for murder. Her act of revenge, woven into historic events, leads to the fall of the Berlin Wall. "With over 4200 submissions this year, our judges were challenged by a wealth of exciting new writers to choose from. Many plugged into the passion and concern around socially conscious themes our world is currently dealing with in raw, fun and unique ways, " says Slamdance President Peter Baxter. "We are proud to award the incredibly talented writing team of Tamra Teig and Michael Lipoma with Slamdance's 2019 Screenplay Competition Grand Prize for their feature script "The Fall", a story about a single mother who brings down the biggest wall." "The recognition of industry professionals validates our abilities as storytellers in a way that praise from a friend or relative never can." say writers Tamra Teig and Michael Lipoma."The Slamdance Screenplay Competition honors the best work in truly independent screenwriting," says former WGAW President Howard Rodman. "The Guild is honored to host these awards, and proud to reiterate what we all should know: that the very best writing is at once more gorgeous and more insurrectionary than what is typically sold to us."
For more information on Slamdance, visit: https://www.slamdance.com Follow Slamdance on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram About Slamdance By filmmakers, for filmmakers. Established in 1995 by a wild bunch of filmmakers who were tired of relying on a large, oblique system to showcase their work, Slamdance has proven, year after year, that when it comes to recognizing talent and launching careers, independent and grassroots communities can do it themselves. In addition to the Festival, Slamdance serves emerging artists and a growing community with several year-round initiatives. These include the Slamdance Screenplay Competition, its educational program Slamdance Polytechnic, DIG showcase of Digital Interactive and Gaming art, distribution efforts through Slamdance Presents, worldwide screening series Slamdance on the Road, and LA screening series Slamdance Cinema Club. Notable Slamdance alumni include: The Russo Brothers (Avengers: Endgame ), Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk ), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity ), Lena Dunham (Girls ), Ari Aster (Midsommar), Josh and Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems ), Marina Zenovich (Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind), Brian Knappenberger (Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press ) Lynn Shelton (Sword of Trust ), Gina Prince-Bythewood (Shots Fired), Seth Gordon (The King of Kong), Dana Nachman (Pick of the Litter) , Sean Baker (The Florida Project ), Rian Johnson (Knives Out) and Bong Joon Ho (Parasite) . Box Office Mojo reports alumni who first showed their work at Slamdance have earned over $17 billion at the box office to date.
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