2026 HollyShorts Screenplay Contest Quarterfinalists Announced
We're thrilled to announce the quarterfinalists for the 2026 HollyShorts Screenplay Contest. Congratulations to the talented writers behind these 112 screenplays, selected from an exceptional pool of submissions. The full list of quarterfinalists is below.
1 in 6 — Sionne Elise
A Girl Got Her Hand Blown Up in Dolores Park — Roisin Isner, Kyle Casey Chu
Above the Bridge — Martina Lisec
After Hours — Julian Yoval
Arc — J M Kellerman
As Is (Revision 2) — Christopher Glass
Ashes — Maaman Rezaee
Azul — Maximo Contreras
Be Careful What You Draw For — Javi Romero
The Belly and the Butcher Knife — Kevin Talley
Below the Surface — Stephen Lewis
Between Frequencies — Mateo Márquez
Bibi — Heloise Chung, Brandy N Carie
The Bookmobile — Cat Dale
Briggfoot — Aidan Cullen
Bud Burkett Was All Set to Die — Jeff Reese
Caine — Eduardo Muniz, Danilo Moraes
Captain Metro — Troy Alexander
Cherry — Christopher Rogers
Chop Suey — Richard Wilby
The Code Switch — Hisonni Mustafa
The Confession — Noah Stroehle
Crow — Matilda Corley Schulman
Dark Country — Daniel Yi
Dead Water — Kevin Machate
The Death Row Cook — Jessica James
Dependa(ble) — Rachel Troche
Did You Have a Good Time? — Kevin Talley
Dr. Becky's Guide to Uncommon Symptoms — Peter Andrews
Durango — Daniel J. Ricottone
E.V.E. — Sara Silkin
Electa — Kenny Kistner
The Executioner's Lighthouse — Mark Clark
Exit Interview — Dion Aralihalli
For the Sake of Hana — CK Thornton
Goodnight, Los Angeles — Matt Dickson
Grave Command — Evelyn Davis
Gross Prophet — Kathryn Robinson
Handsy — Eryn Rea
Hedonism — Jessica Lynn James
Her Road Trip — Gabriella Alexandra Garcia
Hey Darlin' — Heather Clark
Hip-Pocketed — Samina Saifee
The Hit — Leslie Alejandro
Inklings — Peter Ray Field
Intelligently Artificial — Matthew Valvardi
Know Your Lights — Al Benoit
The Last Word — James Crisp
Lemonade — Monika Gossmann
Lightbulb — N/A
LiveStream — Allan Tamshen
The Logistician — Abdulaziz Aldughaither
Maiden — David Bright
Marina and Lucho — Luis Garcia & Jayme S Hall
Meat — Victoria Villarreal
Merlin's Magic Ride — Anthony Notarile & Chris Angelis
Mis Undead Quince — Jocelyne Berumen
Miss Woubi — Adesua Okosun
Monterey — Richard Bruce Stirling
Murder Ballads & Love Songs — Matilda Corley Schulman
My Night with Grim — Mark Yablonovich
No One Took Her Seriously and Now They're All Dead — Brandon Mercer
Nocturne — Jae Cho
Not That Kind — Michael H Moore
Of Iron & Ink — Sara Al Thani
Oliver — Michael Albanese
The Opus — Derek Nicoletto
Orange Soda & Dance — Zhuangzhuang Tan
Over African Skies — Richard Wilby
The PaRC — Morgan Grice
The Post-Mortem of Taylor Jordan — Eric J Cook
Private Party — Josephine Yozzi
Protected Species — Szilvia Szkurka
Pyrrhic — Nikki Petkopoulos
Radio Contact — Kevin Machate
Retribution — Brandon J. Somerville
The Revver — Mike Hanson, Kelly Susan Moothart
Rippers — Joseph Oliver Hooten
Road Kill — N/A
The Runner — Jianna Maarten Saada
Santa Claus is Coming to Hell! — Ben Alpi, Michael Klug
Saving Glory — Farook Qais
Schrodinger's Grandma — Alessandro Cerri
Seep — Suzanne Griffin
The Shadow — Grace Griemsman
Shadow Conspiracy — Angel Whitaker
Sila — Mashael Alqahtani
Silence=Death — Peter Ray Field
The Skywalker — George Robert Strayton
Smart Womb — Roni Brown
Something You Don't Understand — Walter Rivera
The Speech — Josh Miller
Spirit of the Dragon — Andrew Ching
Spirit Walkers — Victor Dean
Stage 9 — Yinuo Zhao
The Surface Calls — Matthew Kravchuk
Tell Me About It — Jack Maxwell
Textura — Nick Jackson
They Came for Me — Douglas Lieberman
They Come at Night — Tony Archer
To Be a Man — Robbie Robertson
Trashy Saves Love — Noah Staum
Trauma Bond — Bryce Hatch
The Two Musketeers — Dustin Richardson
U.F.H. (Unidentified Flying Human) — Melissa Mars
Under the Old Sycamore — Ellis Lee Neary
Vice Grip — Steven Traviss Smith
Waxed — Pamela Schott
We're Here to Kill It — J.M. Kallet
What's Buried Beneath the Pines — Kris Shuman
Who Stole the Head of Bobbi DuPree — Kris Shuman
Written in the Stars — Robert G. Rhyne