Announcing The Semifinalists - Josephson Entertainment + Roadmap Writers Short Story Competition

Image
j

 

Josephson Entertainment, the production company behind Disney’s ENCHANTED franchise and FOX’s long-running drama series BONES, is partnering with Roadmap Writers to launch a dedicated competition to identify commercial short stories to bring to market for television or feature film adaptation. A grand prize of $7000 will be awarded to the winner and they will enter into an option with Josephson Entertainment for a period of 24 months. They are only optioning the short story with any further development of said story to be done independent of the writer. 

This short story challenge is open to original short stories of any genre that can captivate the reader in no more than 50 pages. 

And now we're pleased to announce the... 

 

 
SEMIFINALISTS
Author Project Title Logline
Bill WalkerA MAN OUT OF TIME In 1959, a New York journalist gets a once-in-a-lifetime chance to review a live show featuring rock bands from the future, unaware that before the night is through his girlfriend will be dead and he will travel back in time to save her and their future...
Bryan Chadwick A TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY HERESYWhen does a coincidence become more than just a coincidence?
Tom HolowachBLUE EYES, GREEN ISLANDSFrank Sinatra visits Hawaii for the first time in 1952, at the lowest point of his career. He sings his all for ordinary people, and in turn, they teach him to open his heart and appreciate a simpler way of life. As a result, his situation magically turns around, leading him to the greatest heights of future success in his life.
Arnon ShorrCOTOPAXIA trail of gruesome murders leads a skeptical sheriff to the ruins of a Jewish agricultural settlement in 1880s Colorado
Monique HayesGIANTAs a petite boy tries to navigate life in his Jim Crow-controlled town, he attempts to find ways to feel taller.
None Ahyicodae IN TEN MINUTES, YOU DIEA paranormal investigator receives a mysterious offer: there's a 10-min creepypasta video with the clickbait title, "The most terrifying story you'll ever watch." Everyone who watches dies before the end. For $1,000 per minute, he agrees to watch it, but soon realizes the biggest mistake he's ever made was pressing play...
Sung-Ju Suya LeeINSANE ASYLUM HEISTWhen a young, broke psychiatric hospital cleaner and her two roommates get evicted in 24 hours, they steal undocumented artwork in the hospital basement, but the renovation guys and an intern clerk also have the same idea as 'patients' run amok after the fire alarm goes off. 

A re-imaging of Georgia O'Keeffe's artwork and the letters she received from Frida Kahlo.
Meemee TaylorLAVENDER SHEETSA corpse wrapped in lavender sheets. After waking up with no memory of the morning's events, a wife gathers clues and uncovers horrible secrets. Did her husband do it? Can she handle the truth?
Eleni Sakka MISS FORGET ME NOTWhen a fan writes a love letter to the Broadway actor, Terence Grantham, with whom she is in love with from afar, while hiding behind the intriguing nom-de-plume of Miss Forget me not, an unexpected love affair and second chances align in the lives of those two people who seem they are two strangers.Or was it all a game of destiny?
Yvonna RussellMURDER MYSTERY WEEKENDActress Jacqueline Bonaparte agreed to perform in "Murder Mystery Weekend" at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel. If she only had followed her first instinct and stayed home with her cocker spaniel, Douglas. To quote Shakespeare" Something wicked this way comes".
Kate SchultzNO TALKING ALLOWEDA teen boy comes of age in a family where limited communication throws up barriers and stifles his efforts to make his way in the world. He searches for unique ways to navigate his frustrations.
Olga HoltzONE IN A BILLIONWhen an entitled tech billionaire flees a nuclear catastrophe with his entourage, little does he expect a presence in his bunker, more menacing than the world he left behind.
Lucy LewisRATHOLEA TikTok influencer is forced to attend an all-girls' Catholic boarding school or she will be sent back to her juvenile detention facility. Laylor, the delinquent sophomore, enters the iron gates of St. Bartholomew's fighting the bats, the battier nuns, and the even brattier girls. Will Laylor survive her first day in this hellhole dorm they call RATHOLE?
Kayona Ebony BrownREAPERAfter the Grim Reaper is demoted for playing fast and loose with her ethereal duties, she comes up with a plan to reinvent herself and change the dynamic of life and death on earth.
Max RissmanSCORPION TAILWhen genetic modification becomes mainstream, a group of high school girls become obsessed with obtaining animal tails to enhance their popularity and status, but things quickly spiral out of control when one of their classmates arrives at school with a venomous scorpion tail.
Pamela WeissSKEWNESSA young gay lawyer in Atlanta goes to great lengths to hide his true self in the 1980s.
Jared ShipleySNOWBALLWhen a young man hires him to find his ex-roommate, private detective Marshall Santone gets more than he bargained for when he finds the roommate murdered, and his investigation quickly snowballs out of control.
Phyllis Zimbler MillerSOLOMON'S JUSTICE: A LOS ANGELES COUNTY VETERANS COURT SHORT STORYDrama SOLOMON'S JUSTICE - When a Vietnam vet suffering from PTSD becomes the first judge of the experimental LA County Veterans Court, he struggles with his own war demons as he dispenses justice to troubled veterans who have pled guilty to crimes. (Inspired by the real-life Los Angeles County Veterans Court.)
Suzanne GriffinTHE CHOCOLATE KANDINSKYWhen a widowed bookseller wages war with his callous brother over the sale of the family's priceless Kandinsky, he discovers that his love for his brother's wife - a troubled survivor of the Soviet Gulag - may be the only thing in his life that's truly priceless.
Erica LandTHE DARKNESSWhen their mentally ill mother resurfaces after a ten-year disappearance, two sisters must confront their family's dark past.
John RaeTHE HERMETICA father must return to his voodoo roots to outwit a demon who comes to collect a debt--his newborn girl.
Stephen NollyTHE OTHER SIDE OF PARADISEWhen the young wife of a brilliant geneticist succumbs to cancer, he refuses to let her go. Using his research, he secretly experiments with her living tissue, preventing cell death and bringing her back to life. Only now, she is not only the woman he loved - but something else. And she can never die.
George ManoTHE SARAJEVO PLANMuhammad Mehmedbašić regrets his participation in the plot to assassinate the Archduke of the Astro-Hungarian Empire, a terrorist attack which eventually led to World War I and nineteen million deaths.
Lisa GarveyTHE VANISHING ON EERIE COVEWhen the monstrous spirit of a missing boy returns home, he sets out to uncover how he died before asking a jinni for his third and final wish.
Lindsay GrossmanWILL IT BE LIKE THIS FOREVER? In a world where a cure for mortality exists, an anxiety-prone recent college graduate grieves for the very first time and falls for her best friend's brother.

SEMIFINALISTS

Image
Bill

 

Bill Walker

A MAN OUT OF TIME 

BIO

Image
Bryan

 

Bryan Chadwick 

A TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY HERESY

BIO

Image
Tom

 

Tom Holowach

BLUE EYES, GREEN ISLANDS

BIO

Image
Monique

 

Monique Hayes

GIANT

BIO

Image
None

 

None Ahyicodae (Quincy Lee)

IN TEN MINUTES, YOU DIE 

BIO

Image
Suya

 

Sung-Ju Suya Lee

INSANE ASYLUM HEIST

BIO

Image
MeeMee

 

MeeMee Taylor

LAVENDER SHEETS

BIO

Image
Eleni

 

Eleni Sakka

MISS FORGET ME NOT

BIO

Image
y

 

Yvonna Russell

MURDER MYSTERY WEEKEND

BIO

Image
K

 

Kate Schultz 

NO TALKING ALLOWED 

BIO

Image
L

 

Lucy Lewis

RATHOLE

BIO

Image
k

 

Kayona Ebony Brown

REAPER

BIO

Image
m

 

Max Rissman

SCORPION TAIL

BIO

Image
p

Pamela Weiss

SKEWNESS 

BIO

Image
h

 

Jared Shipley

SNOWBALL

BIO

Image
P

 

Phyllis Zimbler Miller

SOLOMON'S JUSTICE: A LOS ANGELES COUNTY VETERANS COURT SHORT STORY 

BIO

Image
S

 

Suzanne Griffin  

THE CHOCOLATE KANDINSKY

BIO

Image
e

 

Erica Land

THE DARKNESS

BIO

Image
j

 

John Rae

THE HERMETIC 

BIO

Image
S

 

Stephen Nolly

THE OTHER SIDE OF PARADISE

BIO

Image
f

 

George Mano

THE SARAJEVO PLAN 

BIO

Image
lisa

 

Lisa Garvey

THE VANISHING ON EERIE COVE 

BIO

Image
l

 

Lindsay Grossman  

WILL IT BE LIKE THIS FOREVER? 

BIO

Image
j
The Roadmap Promise

Roadmap Writers prides itself on the quality of executives we bring to our programs and we work hard to get you the best feedback possible.

Our vetted executives are chosen by the legitimacy of the companies they work for and their ability to evaluate pitches and pages.

Only the executives you sign up for will be provided with your materials.