I have to really thank the actors for my reading, nothing short of terrific as they were, nothing short of incredibly smart, attractive, and perceptive as they were. They brought the script to life. – F. Maffai
FULL FEEDBACK on your stage play from our committee of Professional Playwriters, Production Heads and Story Consultants. Get a best scene of your stage play performed at the writing festival and made into a video for the winner.
Submit your 10 Page Play, 1 Act Play, or Full Stage Play to the Festival.
SUBMIT your STAGE PLAY Today You will receive feedback on your play in 3-5 weeks
Submit your Religion or Spirituality SCREENPLAY to the Festival, and we will automatically have it performed by a professional actor and turned into a promotional video for yourself.
Accept only stories that fit into the RELIGION or SPIRITUALITY genres.
Spiritual and religious stories are narratives that convey spiritual and religious themes, and can be found in sacred texts, oral traditions, and personal experiences.
Submit your TRUE CRIME Short Story to the Festival here and we will automatically have it performed by a professional actor and turned into a promotional video for yourself.
Accept only stories that fit into the TRUE CRIME genres.
Mainly what this contest does is give exposure to the writer. They will be able to obtain a solid agent, plus get notice by producers looking for writers like yourself. NOTE: The writer will always own 100% rights to their story. The only thing we do is help the writer. Either with notes on their next draft, or gain exposure by having their story showcased at our festival.
Get FULL FEEDBACK on either the 1st chapter or entire novel book from our committee of professional writers and writing consultants. Get your novel performed by a professional actor at the festival.
NEW OPTION: Or, just submit for an actor performance reading transcript of your novel (any 5 pages of your book). Great way to promote the sales of your book if you’re already published. (see examples on the video playlist below.)
SUBMIT your novel now (both your 1st chapter or full novel accepted) To be eligible for our Writing Festival Events. Submissions take 3-5 weeks for evaluation.
Submit a novel book and get it seen by the world.
A great way to get your words out there, obtain the agent you’re looking for, or just get your story seen by more people. If you win, your story will be seen by 100,000s of people when it’s read online using a top professional actor. It’s a rush you’ll never experience in your life seeing it come to life that way.
Cast & Brew is a comedy about an AD trying to manage a film set where coffee has been delayed, and the lead actor, Bruce, refuses to do any takes without his coffee first. Chaos erupts when Craft Services informs the AD and Producer about a worldwide collapse in the coffee supply chain. On the meantime, Bruce demands his detailed coffee order while the director pushes for rehearsals. The scene inside the film happens in a Western field where Bruce proposes to his girlfriend, Sara. He is grabbing her in his arms and as soon as she accepts his proposal, he lets her fall to the ground claiming he lacks the muscle strength without his coffee. The Producer then reveals the truth about the coffee crisis, leading to Bruce quitting the film. This sparks a huge chaotic montage ensues with crazy physical altercations.
“Cast & Brew” came to me in a New York coffee shop. From my window seat, watched people hurrying by, each holding a giant cup of coffeeIt struck me: not a soul without one, just a whirlwind of rush and stress.And I thought to myself “how attached are we to that coffee and why?”.
“What would happen if coffee would completely vanish?”
My hope is that audiences recognize how fast-paced our society has become, where every minute not spent being productive feels like you have committed a crime. We’re constantly rushing, and when we add caffeine into that mix, we only accelerate the loss of ourselves.
We lose the purpose of why we do things. I find this concept of obsession and lost of reality very interesting and I have discovered that I actually love to explore that in my films.
From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
It took a year. Script took me a week to make 1st draft as a visualised it all in that coffee shop in New York. I knew exactly what I wanted the film to be from beginning , middle and end.
Deadline Today to Submit to the Festival via FilmFreeway:
This film festival was an amazing experience from start to finish—seamless streaming, thoughtful programming, and engaging feedback from audience members. I was honored that my film received Best Choreography for their September event, and I couldn’t imagine a more supportive and creative platform to share work with a global community.
Entering its 18th year, WILDsound now gives filmmakers 5 tiers to showcase and promote their film. (all accepted films garner the audience feedback festival, the 2nd bonus screening, and the interviews.)
Great festival with the very unique feature of excellent short videos with audience feedback – great!
WILDsound offers excellent opportunities to elevate your script to the next level. Matthew is incredibly kind and helpful — definitely check out his podcast! Thank you for reviewing my precious baby, Blue Idaho.
An absolute gem of a film festival that provides chances for a screenwriter to get non-AI feedback, hear actors perform their work, and be able to promote their works by competing in the festival. This should be the standard for all screenplay competitions!
Thank you for awarding “Best Direction” to our film SWEET DREAMS! So humbled by the recognition. This festival is by far one of the best we’ve screened in. The feedback from audience members was inspirational; the podcast interview is one-of-a kind; the additional screening online brought us into homes across the world and communication from staff was timely and professional. WILDsound makes filmmakers feel welcomed, seen and supported–highly recommended!
The vicious attack that almost killed her erased all that she was. But not what she did. Elyse Tysoni s shocked to learn her taped confessions remove any hope of escaping her nightmare. Desperate for a lifeline, her only option is to be studied by Doctor Steve Bennett, a psychologist who specializes in psychopaths, to prove she is no longer a threat. But as the study progresses, it’sclearthere’smore to herstory than anyone knew.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Geoff Mays Nurse: Val Cole Elyse: Hannah Ehman
Get to know the writer:
1. What is your screenplay about?
ORIGIN STORY is about a woman, Elyse Tyson, who wakes from a coma to find herself in prison with no memory. Everything that made her who she was is gone; her life turned into a living nightmare. And she’s still responsible for what she did. She’s a serial killer. Or at least she was. We follow Elyse as she tries to piece together who she is now by delving into her past, even if that means losing herself again.
2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Psychological Thriller
3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
Beyond immersing the audience in a thrilling journey into the dark recesses of the human mind, ORIGIN STORY explores what makes us who we are and the meaning of justice. By putting those concepts to the test in a scenario that is an extreme contrast to what most of us experience, it makes difficult subjects easier to digest and provokes discussion.
4. How would you describe this script in two words?
Relentless suspense
5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
It’s a toss-up between Terminator 2 and The Princess Bride.
6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?
For a little over a year. I completed it in film school earlier this year.
7. How many stories have you written?
4 x Novels, 1 x Novella, 2 x Short Stories, 1 x Graphic Novel, 2 x Feature Film Screenplays, 1 x TV Pilot
8. What motivated you to write this screenplay?
ORIGIN STORY was a concept that I initially came up with to be a novel. I really liked it, but ended up shelving it when other projects demanded my attention. Then, I needed an idea for a feature film for school and decided to dust it off. I flushed out the story as I progressed through my classes, ultimately loving it so much that when I finished my outline, I decided to write a novella in addition to my screenplay.
9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
As the saying goes, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. After finishing my first draft, I thought I’d nailed my screenplay, only to discover in later classes that I still had a lot to learn. Any novelist who has taken on the challenge of writing a screenplay likely felt the pain of having to shift from writing prose to action lines. “Show, don’t tell” takes on a whole new meaning in the world of screenplay writing.
10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
I dedicated 21 years to military service, but now that I’m retired, I have the luxury of being able to follow my interests. And I’m passionate about living a life that’s filled with great memories and happiness. I like to joke that I speak “nerd” in multiple dialects. When I’m not writing (or talking about writing), I love indulging in my many fandoms any time I can: concerts, theater, conventions, movies, and reading (preferably with one of my dogs or kids cuddled up next to me).
11. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?
I entered the festival because I loved the concept of focusing on female-driven stories and the fact that every screenplay receives feedback. As a new screenwriter, any insight I can get from people experienced with evaluating screenplays is extremely valuable, and what I received did not disappoint. Add in the potential to have my work performed as part of the festival, and I was all in.
A former cop’s search for her missing sister leads her into the dark world of a witch’s coven, where ancient rituals and forbidden magic force her to confront her deepest fears and uncover the truth about her family’s past.
1. What is your screenplay about? Strip Craft is about the complexities of sibling love. How familial trauma can perpetrate choices that compound that trauma. In the story of Strip Craft, sisters Hailey and Amanda had experienced varying degrees of uncomfortable conditions and found themselves making choices that would compound their trauma. Hailey consumed with guilt, a drive to make better choices and help others headed on a separate path than her sister Amanda. When an ancient blood born connection to the occult warns Hailey that her sister is in dire trouble, she sets out to find her sister and bring her to safety. Little does Hailey know that this journey will bring her face to face with an ancient entity who may have a noble cause but their execution of retribution is evil. So this story is also about the perils of extremism within any ideology.
Also, Jeffrey Epstein did not kill himself.
2. What genres does your screenplay fall under? This is perhaps the toughest question for me to answer. The clearest answers are “Horror” and “Erotic Thriller”, but there are so many sub-genre’s. Sub-genre’s include; Body Horror, Supernatural, Suspense and LGBTQ+ love story to name a few.
3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie? I believe while the thematic elements in the story may be too much for mainstream audiences, there is definitely enough audience out there who enjoy the movies of John Waters, David Cronenburg and other alternative auteurs in the film industry to merit the production costs. I also believe that the script possesses both an honest and absurd approach giving it a very unique voice.
4. How would you describe this script in two words? Fun & Thought-provoking (One word because of the hyphen right 😉
5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life? Such a difficult question. To the best of my memory…. Probably Empire Strikes Back.
6. How long have you been working on this screenplay? Since April of 2018
7. How many stories have you written? Roughly 10.
8. What motivated you to write this screenplay? It was inspired by a short film I made back in 1999 on Super 8 called “Bloody Mary’s”. The premise was very similar and in fact the first 10 pages of Strip Craft are a version of that short film. My friendship with a (now ex) sex worker brought on the initial collaboration that birthed Strip Craft.
9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay? I think the usual stuff like having to kill babies. One of my favorite side characters, the dancer by the name of Tassel had to go at one point. The script started out as a bit campy and over the top which it still has some of, but when I brought on a more experienced Producer with access to name talent, I worked hard to make the more identifiable themes stand out over the excesses.
10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about? Cinematography and Comic books. I do a fair amount of camera work as a job and I’m adapting a different screenplay I wrote to a comic book. I’m having so much fun, I’ll most likely adapt Strip Craft to a comic book when I’m done with “Dark Darkness”.
11. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received? Having recently moved to San Diego and coming out as queer, I was inspired primarily by the proximately of LA to San Diego and of course that it’s an LGBTQ+ identifying festival. The characters are queer too but I hadn’t yet submitted to a “queer” festival.
Regarding the feedback I got, I can honestly say it’s some of the best feedback I’ve gotten. The feedback gives broad notes that can be applied across the whole screenplay. I’ve also felt reading notes from other sources that they are simply giving notes because they need to and were more about personal preference than notes on good screenwriting and better execution as were the notes from LGBTQ+ Los Angeles Film Festival focused on.
Festival Reviews 