Jaden Thompson Slamdance has announced the winners of its annual screenplay competition, with Mike Ackerman’s feature-length script “This End Up” winning the grand prize.
Slamdance announced the awards — recognizing writers across the categories of feature film, horror/thriller, TV pilot, short film and a special mentorship award — during a ceremony held at Los Angeles’s Westwood Landmark Theater on Wednesday night.
In total, the organization gave out more than $18,000 in prizes and industry services. Per the official synopsis of “This End Up,” Ackerman’s winning screenplay follows “a sheltered man who lives his life quite literally, and physically, upside-down.
When he finally meets a woman who accepts him as he is, her closed-minded family plants doubt as to whether his condition will stand in the way of her dream of an adventurous lifestyle.” Anna Lee Lawson, the film festival and screenplay competition manager, commented on Ackerman’s work, saying, “Mike’s script is a unique story of overcoming obstacles and in a remarkably creative way disability.” Lawson noted that Slamdance received over 4,000 screenplay submissions for this year’s competition. “We were all above-and-beyond impressed by this year’s submissions and the vast amount of creativity demonstrated,” she continued. “The 2023 winners and their scripts truly embody the Slamdance spirit in that they take risks and refuse to compromise.
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