While enjoying an overnight celebration at a regional theme park, a group of graduating high school students are targeted by a vicious killer wearing a dragon mask.

Get to know the writer:

1. What is your screenplay about?

Grad Nite centers around a group of high school seniors on an overnight field trip to a theme park where mutilated bodies begin to pile up.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

This is a slasher, a horror slasher, with a dash of coming-of-age for depth.

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

Slashers as a horror subgenre are unique in that nostalgia and familiar beats are expected and celebrated just as much as originality. It’s the originality in Grad Nite that is unlike any other slasher you’ve ever read or seen. These are characters that are sidelined in other stories, taking center stage here, with a unique tone and energy that is patented me (Sion-Raize).

4. How would you describe this script in two words?

Recentered horror.

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

Probably Addams Family Values or White Christmas.

6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?

Just over a year. I began writing it in early January 2025.

7. How many stories have you written?

Countless. This is my third feature script in addition to several short films, three published books, several more manuscripts on my hard drive, and three seasons of my series Pretty Dudes.

8. What motivated you to write this screenplay?

The original plan was to write a script in a week as a challenge to myself. Eventually, I fell in love with the world of the script and used the story to explore the nature of horror—what is horrifying, who finds it horrifying, and why?

9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?

No real obstacles. This one just took work and focus.

10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

I’m passionate about uplifting, supporting, and platforming people from marginalized communities and minoritized backgrounds.

11. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?

I wanted to jump into the deep end with connoisseurs of horror. I’m grateful for the initial feedback, most of which reflected similar notes I’ve gotten on the draft.