short story reading

Short Story: ON THE RUN by Wanda Weaver Kight

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Performed by Amaka Umeh

Get to know the writer:

What is your short story about?

“On the Run” is about a young woman on the run after a false conviction for first degree murder. She escapes Georgia and ends up in L.A.

What genres would you say this short story is in?

Thriller genre

How would you describe this story in two words?

Wrong Verdict

What movie have you seen the most in your life?

Shawshank Redemption

What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)

Favorite song is TLC’s “Don’t go Chasing Waterfalls”

Do you have an all-time favorite novel?

Favorite novel is “To Kill A Mocking Bird”

What motivated you to write this story?

Motivated by a true story of a woman who stayed on the run for years, changed her identity til she was finally caught

If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

Person to have dinner with would be John F. Kennedy

Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

Love to take pictures and Zumba

What influenced you to enter your story to get performed?

Just trying to get my writing out in any and all venues

Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?

Keep writing, learning, reading

Winning Short Story – A Far Distant Wind by L S Kleinschmidt

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Performed by Val Cole

 Get to know the writer:

What is your short story about?

A Far Distant Wind tells the story of an everyday person living her life who becomes trapped in an international crisis and learns the importance of living everyday.

What genres would you say this short story is in?

Dramatic Memoir –

How would you describe this story in two words?

Tragic realities

What movie have you seen the most in your life?

I have a LONG list, but definitely one is Schindler’s List. Another is Forest Gump, and of course any movie with Sidney Poitier, Fred Astaire or directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?

It’s not actually a song – I love Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. A favorite song is Moon River.

Do you have an all-time favorite novel?

Again, there are many, and my favorite changes regularly, probably too regularly, but Grapes of Wrath is one of the best.

What motivated you to write this story?

A news story and my deep passion for telling stories, understanding history, and New York City

If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

Again, I have a long list, but Pope John Paul and Jacqueline Kennedy would be definite choices. Their courage during terrible times and their dedication to history, country, and human freedom impressed me greatly. As a writer and lover of movies and screenwriting, I would have loved to meet Robert Osborne on TCM.

Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

Improving literacy skills ( writing + reading as without both, a free society is lost); human rights and advocacy also can help everyday persons live happier meaningful lives.

What influenced you to enter your story to get performed?

A recent connection I made on LinkedIn told me about the festival. I’ve been writing in multiple genres for years, and I particularly love the power and emotion of oral dramatic performance. So, I submitted the story.

Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?

Ideas are everywhere around you, but it is the constant gathering and personal consideration of them that makes you a writer. Being in the right place at the right time is luck, but when that stroke of luck appears, you need the talent and the experience to discover the story only you can tell. Then you have to know how to tell it right. I believe good writing is all about scene, and you learn scene and how scene delivers character, theme, and story by watching tons of movies. I do that all the time.

 

 

Director/Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editor: John Johnson

TV CONTESTSUBMIT your Short Screenplay or TV SPEC Script
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FULL FEEDBACK on all entries. Get your script performed		 SCREENPLAY CONTESTFIRST SCENE (first 10pgs) SCREENPLAY CONTEST
Submit the first stages of your film and get full feedback!

Short Story Reading of THE ATTACK by Mark Renshaw

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Performed by Val Cole

 Get to know the writer:

What is your short story about?

It’s about a guy experiencing a severe panic attack. From his perspective, he views these incidents more like battles, as if he’s being assailed by an invisible force. Using this viewpoint helps him to focus through the pain and fight back.

What genres would you say this short story is in?

Drama.

How would you describe this story in two words?

Grief, recovery.

What movie have you seen the most in your life?

I’m a sucker for the original Star Wars trilogy.

What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)

My favourite song changes as time goes by. One of the ones I keep going back to though is Dream On by Aerosmith.

Do you have an all-time favorite novel?

One of the few books I’ve read numerous times is Legend by David Gemmell.

What motivated you to write this story?

At the time, I was trying to cope with the loss of my mother and I was experiencing anxiety and panic attacks for the first time in my life. Writing this was quite cathartic.

If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

Isaac Asimov. He’s my literary hero.

Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

I love turning my work into produced films. I’ve produced two of my own stories so far and I’m in post-production of a third. It’s amazing to see what I’ve written given life on the screen.

What influenced you to enter your story to get performed?

I entered a Doctor Who TV script into the Fanfiction Festival a couple of years ago, and it won a table read. It was wonderful to see the script performed by real actors so I decided to try something similar with one of my short stories.

Director/Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editor: John Johnson

TV CONTESTSUBMIT your Short Screenplay or TV SPEC Script
Voted #1 TV Contest in North America.		 SCREENPLAY CONTESTSUBMIT your Short Screenplay or FEATURE Script
FULL FEEDBACK on all entries. Get your script performed		 SCREENPLAY CONTESTFIRST SCENE (first 10pgs) SCREENPLAY CONTEST
Submit the first stages of your film and get full feedback!

Winning Short Story: Murder is a Breeze by M Maureen Skahan

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Performed by actor Hugh Ritchie

Get to know the writer:

What is your short story about?

A wronged chef kills an influential critic who caused the chef’s ruin.

What genres would you say this short story is in?

murder/thriller/

How would you describe this story in two words?

Cold revenge

What movie have you seen the most in your life?

To Kill a Mockingbird

How long have you been working on this story?

A month

Do you have an all-time favorite novel?

A Time to Kill

What motivated you to write this story?

Story prompt in my writer’s group

Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

Cooking and wine

What influenced you to enter your short story to get performed?

A challenge from my writer’s group mentor

Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?

First just write and keep writing. Second, be brave enough to share what you’ve written.

*****

Director/Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editor: John Johnson

Winning Short Story: THE MISCREANT by Lionel Walfish

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Performed by actor Hugh Ritchie

Get to know the writer:

What is your short story about?

Fictionalized image of a negative personality, bent on destruction of others.

What genres would you say this short story is in?

Fiction

How would you describe this story in two words?

Pure Fiction

What movie have you seen the most in your life?

Alfred Hitchcock’s STRANGERS ON A TRAIN.

How long have you been working on this story?

Two days

Do you have an all-time favorite novel?

‘YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN’ Thomas Wolfe

What motivated you to write this story?

The idea of motivated evil.

If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

Patricia Highsmith (She wrote Strangers On a Train)

Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

Theatre, music, the arts in general.

What influenced you to enter your short story to get performed?

I enjoy getting ‘feedback’ after a ‘live reading’.

Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?

Just write !!!

*****

Director/Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editor: John Johnson

Winning Short Story: A Christmas Miracle in Butzbach by D K Christi

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Performed by actor Hugh Ritchie

Get to know the writer:

What is your short story about?

Against impossible odds during the Viet Nam era, young love between an American college girl and her Navy fiance triumphs on a snowy, moonlit Christmas Eve in the courtyard of an ancient church in Butzbach, Germany

What genres would you say this short story is in?

non-fiction

How would you describe this story in two words?

A miracle

What movie have you seen the most in your life?

Dances With Wolves

How long have you been working on this story?

Since it occurred in the late 60s

Do you have an all-time favorite novel?

Wuthering Heights

What motivated you to write this story?

The unforgettable emotional moment that remained with me for a lifetime. The couple married, have three sons and two grandchildren. It is the ultimate miracle with a continued happy ending.

If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

Jesus Christ

Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

Equality of opportunity across the globe

What influenced you to enter your short story to get performed?

The magic deserves performance.

Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?

Write a bit every day about everything.

*****

Director/Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editor: John Johnson

Winning Short Story: Marionette by Melissa R Mendelson

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Performed by actor Hugh Ritchie

Get to know the writer:

What is your short story about?

Have you ever had that moment, where you felt small, vulnerable, misunderstood and it didn’t matter if you were the villain or hero because nobody wanted to hear about it, and all you want to do is disappear? But what if you could make it disappear? What if you could make it all go away, so it doesn’t come back again? That is what Marionette is about.

What genres would you say this short story is in?

Horror; Mystery/Suspense

How would you describe this story in two words?

Been Bullied?

What movie have you seen the most in your life?

I have seen way too many movies in my life, but right now, I’m loving The Purge: Anarchy.

How long have you been working on this story?

I’m a member of this artistic, collaborative website called, HitRecord, and last June, I stumbled across this simple drawing by shanaynaynaomi. It’s just a drawing of a little girl, who is holding a pair of scissors in one hand and the strings of a marionette in the other hand. The drawing is actually called, Marionette, which inspired me to write this story.

Do you have an all-time favorite novel?

Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer. This was one of the books that my grandmother, may she rest in peace, bought for me, and sadly I had given it away. Recently, I bought it off Amazon and hope to use it as my character’s favorite book in my new novella/novel.

What motivated you to write this story?

Please, see number 5.

If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

Kevin Smith

Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

Movies and TV Shows

What influenced you to enter your short story to get performed?

I have been an avid submitter of WildSound for awhile now because they deliver on not only their performances of your writing but on exposure as well.

Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?

Last year, I went on a self-publishing spree and spent a lot of money on book giveaways through Goodreads, and I definitely increased my exposure. But I think my biggest mistake with this was not having those stories professionally edited, and with my next novella/novel, I plan on having it thoroughly edited before it’s published/self-published.

*****

Director/Producer: Matthew Toffolo

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editor: John Johnson