ISA Staff Picks: May 2024

These screenplays and their writers were selected by ISA staff members as standouts in their genres and formats for the month of May 2024. They are being submitted to agents, managers, producers and production companies actively looking for writers to rep or projects to produce. 

THE FINAL CUT by Chaseedaw Giles (Feature)

Logline: Faced with the gruesome and routine task of repairing bullet trauma to the hairlines of deceased young Black men using donated hair, Anthony, a self-made and charming barber, struggles to mask the onset of PTSD. Inspired by a true story from a West Baltimore community plagued by gun homicide.

Selected by: ISA Staff Member Shayna Weber

Comments: Chaseedaw Giles is a multi-faceted creative whose skills as a journalist come into play with this script, based on her New York Times article of the same name. The Final Cut is an inspirational and important story that pulls at the reader's emotions and brings us into a world we may not have experienced before. Excited for what Chaseedaw has in her future, she is definitely one to watch!

Accolades:
ISA Top 25 Screenwriter to Watch in 2024
Stowe Story Labs Programs and Fellowships Application - Fellowship Winner (2023)

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DETENTION by Steve Coy and John Ferraro (Feature)

Logline: A queer half-Mexican teen grappling with his identity in a dead-end Texas border town helps two migrants survive the ICE facility run by his estranged father.

Selected by: ISA Staff Member Molly Kasch

Comments: Detention is a timely and poignant piece that uses strong, multi-faceted characters to take a look into the disturbing issues of the US immigration system. The characters draw you into their world instantly, as they experience separation, family conflict, and inner struggles of identity and loyalty. Using both heart and levity, this script shines a light on a little talked problem that is still an issue today.

Accolades:
Table Read My Screenplay Park City - Grand Prize Winner (2024)
Nichol Fellowship - Finalist (2023)
Screencraft Drama Screenplay Contest Finalist (2023)

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LUMI by Jon Brecto (Pilot)

Logline: 50 years after Earth’s fossil fuels have run out, electricity and power are only for the wealthy elite, who are buying up more than their fair share, but when a burnt-out ER doctor, fired for stealing power cells, discovers that his final patient is the world’s first bioluminescent woman, he's conflicted by wanting to turn her in to pay off his debts, or help her escape due to what she represents.

Selected by: ISA Staff Member Max Timm

Comments: Lumi is a solid, tightly written pilot with a lot of potential for future intrigue, strong and easy to understand character dynamics, powerful socio-economic issues, and a marketable/mainstream network series idea.

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BROWNIE MARY by Brent Delaney (Feature)

Logline: At the height of the AIDS crisis, Mary Jane Rathbun illegally distributes cannabis-infused brownies to heal thousands of gay men in San Francisco and inadvertently becomes the face of the first medical marijuana movement in U.S. history.

Selected by: ISA Staff Member Felicity Wren

Comments: Erin Brockovich for Medical Marijuana. This is such an inspiring story about real people in a not so distant past. Mary is an epic lead character and her infectious curmudgeonly personality a standout. The writing is dynamic and engaging, reliving a tumultuous time with wit, humor and heartbreak.

The love, friendships and relationships of the group really pop, conveying fun, innocence and hope. It is a compelling tale. A woman who found her calling and found love in her community in the direst circumstances. A true legend. And in memory of a lovely man. 

Accolades:
Emerging Screenwriters Genre Screenplay Competition - Grand Prize Winner (2024)
Nicholl Fellowship - Winner (2024)

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GROSS PROFIT by Thomas Yungerberg (Feature)

Logline: An entrepreneur and his neurotic brother are hired to disguise suicides as freak accidents for their clinically depressed customers, but when the daughter of a former client returns, their business model spirals out of control.

Selected by: ISA Staff Member Reggie Singh

Comments: Gross Profit is a brave script that touches upon suicide with poignancy and also some surprising dark humor (I must admit, I laughed out loud, a lot). It is a difficult subject matter to tackle at the best of times but this story pulls it off, even leaving a small sense of hope. From the opening scene the main characters leap off the page with their strong voices and palpable pain that they intrinsically carry due to the nature of the assisted suicide business. In the story world nobody really knows about 'the business'. In the main characters' eyes, they are offering a service to help facilitate the next chapter in a family's life but at what personal cost.

Accolades:
Emerging Screenwriters Drama Screenplay Competition - Grand Prize Winner (2021)
Emerging Screenwriters Genre Screenplay Competition - Finalist (2021)
ISA Fast Track Fellowship - Top 50 (2021)

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MINOTAUR by Tim Auld (Feature)

Logline: Ashamed of being treated as a hero, a self-loathing war veteran hopes to earn valor by searching the remote wilderness for a missing child, only to find she's being hunted through a booby-trapped labyrinth by a psychotic green beret.

Selected by: ISA Staff Member Craig James

Comments: Minotaur is an intense dramatic thriller that takes us on a riveting ride in the vein of First Blood, Lone Survivor and Deliverance. The unique difference is that this story is driven by a strong female lead who suffers from emotional trauma and self-loathing, pushing her to take on a rescue mission towards an unexpected enemy. What really sets the writing apart is the balance between the action in the story and how it examines the struggle veterans face after their military service has ended. This is one of the strongest scripts the ISA team read in the past few years. Not only is it entertaining and action packed, but provides a deeper understanding and empathy for those suffering from the psychological impact of war.

Accolades:

Nicholl Fellowship - Semi-Finalist (2024)
Page Turner Awards - Page Turner Screenplay Award (2023)
Table Read My Screenplay Competition - Genre Winner (2022)
StoryPros Awards 14th Annual - Grand Prize Winner (2021)
Emerging Screenwriters Genre Screenplay Competition - Grand Prize Winner (2021)

Interested in reading any of these projects?
Please email Felicity@NetworkISA.org.

To request the screenplay via the ISA platform, you must be an ISA-vetted Industry Pro. Please apply here in your profile.

To be considered for our monthly ISA Staff Picks, please complete your profiles, add your projects, post your success stories, apply to writing gigs, fellowships, contests and our Diversity Initiative. You don't need to apply to all resources, you just need to be proactive as we are actively scanning the entire ISA platform for our next month's picks.