Alessandra Jara Del Castillo has won the 2nd Annual Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition.
The contest, now in its second year, awarded Alessandra as the overall winner out of 952 entries for her horror short screenplay, THIS HUNGER. Alessandra Jara Del Castillo’s script follows ‘an indifferent Hispanic housewife who grows infatuated with her husband—only after he returns from the dead, hungry for meat.” It’s a subtle story about the death, rebirth, and re-death of a marriage that works as both a zombie body horror and a compelling drama.
The Killer Short Contest celebrates horror short screenwriters from around the world, connecting them with managers, producers, and filmmakers. Season 1 third place winner, Chris Hicks, signed with a manager after the contest inspired him to adapt his viral short story THE BUTTER STREET HITCHHIKER, and increased his exposure to industry members on the screenplay submission platform, Coverfly.
COPY CAT by Vanessa Branch has been selected as the 2nd Place Winner and HIDE YOUR CRAZY by Austin Kase has been selected as the 3rd Place Winner.
Killer Shorts partners with female-led film groups to provide heavy discounts for submissions to their female-identifying and non-binary writers. With this discount, the contest saw an increase, from 1 last year, to 4 womxn placing in the Top 10 in Season 2.
“This year we focused on providing even more opportunities for women and POC,” says contest director Alison Parker, “Not only did we end up with two women of color in the Top 3, but I was excited to learn that Alessandra entered the contest because of the discount we provided.”
The Killer Shorts’ jury included: Julian Terry (Whisper, They Hear It, The Nurse), Chelsea Lupkin (Short of the Week, Lucy’s Tale), Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator, From Beyond, You’re Next), Joe Bob Briggs (The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs), Scott Stoops (Good Fear Film + Management), Glenn Cockburn (Meridian Artists), Sophie Carroll (ALTER), Scott Carr (Management SGC), Jason Tamasco (Bad Idea Films), John Zaozirny (Bellevue Productions), Zack Zucker (Bellevue Productions), Matthew Dartnell (Writ Large), Krista Sipp (First Friday Entertainment), and Jenn Wexler (The Ranger).
As a part of the prize package, the Top 3 winners receive circulation and recommendation to a network of Hollywood managers, agents, producers, and development executives, Final Draft 12 screenwriting software, Shudder subscriptions, waived entry to multiple other contests and festivals, increased rank on Coverfly’s The Red List, and swag from sponsors like Creepy Co and Rue Morgue. The third place winner receives coverage notes from The Script Butcher.
The newest addition to the list of prizes is a one-of-a-kind skull-shaped typewriter trophy, hand-sculpted and designed by Tyler Green of Tyler Green FX Studios (SyFy’s FACE/OFF).
“As always, we are looking for original short screenplays with captivating stories and unique voices in the horror genre. The amount of raw talent out there is staggering and we can’t wait to read next year’s scripts” said Parker.
Next year’s competition will reconvene with submissions opening on June 1, 2021 and closing on Dec 17th. The worldwide contest is open to anyone over 18 years old and accepts screenplays up to a maximum of 25 pages.
For more information visit: KillerShortsContest.com
