short story reading

Winning Short Story: Before and After by S. Pfeiffer

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Story performed by Elizabeth Rose Morriss

Get to know the writer:

What is your short story about?

The story’s about a woman facing the impact a shocking experience from childhood has had on her life.

What genres would you say this story is in?

It’s mostly a thriller with a hint of film noir i suppose.

How would you describe this story in two words?

I’d say odd and uncomfortable 🙂 Someone described it as Lynchian which i find evocative.

What movie have you seen the most in your life?

I tend to forget movies i’ve seen:( Even the ones I really loved. Casablanca stands out though.

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

hmmm. Tubthumping or Paper Planes by MIA maybe.

Do you have an all-time favorite novel?

Jane Eyre

What motivated you to write this story?

A deadline for a workshop! I don’t really know what motivated me to write it to be honest. I write intuitively and it usually comes from whatever current fixation I’m on that comes and goes after a few weeks or so.

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

Gertrude Stein or Buckminster Fuller. Georgia O’Keefe. That’s 3, sorry.

Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

Progressive Politics and Astrology.

What influenced you to enter your story to get performed?

I thought it would be cool to see it performed because it’s got a cinematic feel to it.

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

Learn to trust yourself and your own process.

Winning Short Story Reading: Always Watching… by Kordale Gibson

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Story performed by Elizabeth Rose Morriss

Get to know the writer:

What is your short story about?

My short story is about a man killing someone who he feels deserves to die. The story is told exclusively through this man’s stream of consciousness, revealing his beliefs, motives, & revelations.

What genres would you say this story is in?

Suspense, Mystery

How would you describe this story in two words?

Thrilling eye-opener

What movie have you seen the most in your life?

Life
If not, The Dark Knight

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

I Love music way too much to have a favorite song.

Do you have an all-time favorite novel?

I have so many more books on my list, but as of now, my favorite would have to be The Talented Mr. Ripely.

What motivated you to write this story?

My friends & I were debating whether a serial killer could be completely sane or not. I was on the side saying that they could be. So I, the writer of the group, decided to come up with a story or series of events that would turn a sane man into a serial killer. In other words, this kind of started out as a joke. But when I started writing it, I saw that it was actually coming out pretty good. So I decided to challenge myself & continue the story seriously. I veered away from the whole serial killer thing & kept to whatever was coming to me. I actually wrote the entire thing without knowing what I was going to do or where I was going with it. I literally just thought as I wrote. That’s what I’m most impressed about, personally.

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

Probably Albert Einstein

Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

Music!!

What influenced you to enter your story to get performed?

I’ve been writing for a while now, but I started out writing poems & lyrics. I started getting into storytelling & Loved it. I also found out I was really good at it. This short story was my first attempt at creating a story & it came out great in the eyes of myself & everyone who read it. So after that, I decided to pursue that form of writing. I started writing more stories & realized I could possibly do this for the rest of my life. In order to do that, I’d have to get my work out there. And that’s why I did this.

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

Keep writing, only if you have passion for it. Try to write as often as you can & constantly challenge yourself. Don’t compare your writing to others’, your writing can touch people others’ can’t. Write for yourself before writing for anyone else.

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