Vampire Story ‘Day Shift’ Wins Slamdance Writing Competition
Tyler Tice has won the 2017 Slamdance Writing Competition Grand Prize for his vampire drama “Day Shift.”
Tice, an emerging writer from New Jersey, was awarded $8,000 for the grand prize win and $2,000 for first place
in the horror category at the annual awards ceremony Friday night at the Writers Guild of America West in Los Angeles.
“Day Shift” is a character-driven portrait of a blue collar vampire hunting in the San Fernando Valley.
“Before this contest, I was all but ready to pack it in and go back to school,” said Tice. “Becoming a finalist breathed new life into that dream I’ve had ever since I was a kid staring at video tapes in the horror section of Showbiz Video. Winning this Grand Prize is a tremendous honor and inspiration.”
The Slamdance Festival was founded as an alternative to the larger Sundance film festival. The 24th edition of the Slamdance Film Festival will run concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival, Jan. 19-25, in Park City, Utah.
Slamdance received over 3,000 submissions for the 2017 Writing Competition. Last year’s Grand Prize winner, Andrew Kightlinger, received representation from Principato-Young Entertainment and is currently in development on a new narrative feature which focuses on sex trafficking. Kightlinger won for his “Great White Shark” script last year.
Screenplays connected to the Slamdance Writing Competition that have gone to production include “Maria Full of Grace” from writer/director Joshua Marston and” The Woodsman,” co-written by Nicole Kassel and Steven Fechter, directed by Kassel. Recent winners that have gone on to be produced include “100 Bloody Acres,” written by co-
writers/directors Colin and Cameron Cairn and “Jug Face,” written and directed by Chad Crawford Kinkle.
The top three Slamdance screenplays in each prize category are as follows:
Features:
1st – Escher by Jason Kessler
2nd – Lenore by Goldie Jones
3rd – 8-Bit Heroes by Michael J. Harwood
Horror:
Grand Prize/1st – Day Shift by Tyler Tice
2nd – PreZident by Raoul Dyssell & Allan Choi
3rd – Beast of Virginia by Matthew Corley
Teleplays:
1st – Jackrabbit by David Schlow
2nd – Provenance by Tiffany Shaw Ho
3rd – Fringe Benefit by Rose Schimm
Shorts:
1st – The Clown-Faced Plumber by Frederick Jones
2nd – The Forest Fenced Becomes Backyards, Like Songs Are Born From Sound by Ryan M.
Moore
3rd – Geist by Julie Iannone
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