2023 Feature Screenplay Finalists

The entirety of our vision and mission is contained within the October Colony, our flagship program. The experience is modeled in part on the historic tradition of the Artist’s Colony, the Artist Retreat. We provide writers with an entire month to … well… we’re not always sure. That’s the point. Of course we have hopes for all of our writers but we ask for no deliverables. The creative process is bigger and better than that. Correction: perhaps the only deliverable is Discovery.

We believe in our writers’ stories, but more importantly we believe in the people behind the stories. That’s an important detail because we are always aware that the life of a writer is a difficult one that contains ups and downs and a whole lot of sideways. We hope to find writers who are committed to the long road, people who will embrace the time and space we provide, people who are open and willing to Discover.

We are delighted to announce the four writers who will be spending October with us on Nantucket.

Courtney Loo BANG BANG TEAHOUSE

Evan Twohy TRUDY BLUE

Greg Scharpf SMOKE AS DIRECTED (Nantucket Film Festival feature screenplay winner)

Yeon Jin Lee SILICON VALLEY GIRL

It is also our honor to recognize the 25 finalists we considered for our 2023 October Colony. The level of talent, craft, originality, and passion in the screenplays we read was extraordinary, making our final selection both rewarding and challenging. Congratulations to all the writers who submitted their work to us. We deliberate and discuss and ultimately have to choose a mere three writers out of so many worthy ones. To all of you, please keep writing.

A. Sayeeda Moreno OUT IN THE DUNES
Allie Scully MOMSLUT
Alyssa Loh CHARIOT
Amy Huckabay FRIENDS TO THE END
Boise Esquerra THE GUARDIAN
Brandon Steiner OLIVER AND THE FIREFLY
Connor Simpson CONSUMPTION
Courtney Loo BANG BANG TEAHOUSE
Daniel Byers THIS UNQUIET EARTH
Dayo Adesokan DANTE DIES ALONE
Emily Hornsby GIRL LOVES GOD
Evan Twohy TRUDY BLUE
Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence NEWBIES
Lola Blanc MAGICAL THINKING
Lynn Chen JERSEY DEVILS
M.C. Plaschke A PHONE CALL TO WISCONSIN
Mark Elijah Rosenberg LEAFMEAL
Martha Shane SOMEDAY YOU WILL WAKE UP HAPPY
Nick Singer FAST ASLEEP
Peter Edward Forbes DREAM KINGDOM
Rory Crittenden BLOOD RED AND GOIN' DOWN
Samina Sami CROOKED LINES
Soojeong Son LOVE YOU CUNT
Yeon Jin Lee SILICON VALLEY GIRL
Yuan Yuan LATE SPRING