Create a piece in any format or genre in which a Valentine's Day dinner takes a twist
Valentine's Day is not all it appears to be - write a scene or short story, direct a scene, or produce an audio piece in which the server at a restaurant is a participant (unwittingly or planned) in a couple's Valentine's Day dinner. Set the scene, establish your characters, and give us an unexpected twist. Create in any genre (comedy, horror, thriller, scifi) and make it your own!
CHALLENGE RULES
Our Sundance Challenges are open to everyone in the Sundance Co//ab community. One entry per person, per challenge. Each person who participates will receive a completed feedback form on the work they submit by one of our Sundance judges. The winner will receive a Sundance Co//ab subscription for one year, a one-on-one mentoring session with a Sundance Advisor.
The winning submission will be featured on the site prominently, but all submissions will be viewable to the community. All submissions will be given equal consideration and the final winner will be determined by the consensus of the designated Sundance judges.
Only those submissions that meet the criteria outlined in the submission guidelines will be able to be selected as the winner.
Jurors
Diane Bell
Diane Bell is a screenwriter and director. Her first feature, Obselidia, premiered in Dramatic Competition at Sundance where it won two awards, and went on to be nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards. Her second film, Bleeding Heart, a drama starring Jessica Biel and Zosia Mamet, premiered at Tribeca and was widely distributed.
In addition to writing and directing films, Diane teaches workshops on screenwriting and filmmaking, both in person and online. Her guide to successful indie filmmaking, Shoot From the Heart, is out now, providing a step-by-step actionable plan for making a standout movie as well as the inspiration to do it.
Connect with her at http://www.dianebell.com.
Joan Schimke
An Academy Award nominated filmmaker, Joan Stein Schimke’s short films (One Day Crossing and Solidarity) have screened at over 100 festivals worldwide. Joan directed for Law and Order and has worked in various production positions for Taylor Hackford, Eric Mendelsohn, and Woody Allen. She has recently completed the short film, Saeed, which is currently making the festival rounds. The film is about a Syrian refugee family trying to put their lives back together after suffering the ravages of war.
The Buried Life, a feature film script co-written with Averie Storck, went to the Hamptons and Sundance Screenwriting Labs, where it received a grant from the Sloan Foundation. The film is in development.
As a social activist, Joan volunteered at a refugee camp in Hungary during the war in the former Yugoslavia and was on the original committee for V—Day with Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues). Her first short documentary film, Reap the Whirlwind about the Center for Women War Victims in Zagreb, screened around the world and raised awareness and funding for the center.
Joan is a graduate of Columbia University’s MFA Film Program and an Associate Professor at Adelphi University in New York where she has been teaching film and video production for the past 14 years. She is married to Brent Schimke and has a son, Alexander.
Enid Zentelis
Enid Zentelis is an award winning director, screenwriter. Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival, Evergreen, stars Cara Seymour, Mary Kay Place and Gary Farmer. Bottled Up, nominated for The Nora Ephron Prize at Tribeca Film Festival, stars Oscar-winner, Melissa Leo, Marin Ireland, and Josh Hamilton. Other awards and festivals include: New York Film Festival, Tribeca, Seattle, Sao Paolo, Torino, Stockholm and winner of Best Director prize at Sonoma FF. She is the creator of the episodic pilot, Au Pair (Bentonville Film Festival, Episodic Competition, 2017), and is host and creator of the forthcoming podcast, My Grandmother the Spy, a series chronicling her grandmother’s work as a spy for the Allies in Budapest during WWII.
Her commercial work as a director includes films for President Clinton and The Clinton Foundation/Radical Media, interviews and EPKs for Eric Clapton, WILCO, 3 Doors Down, Warner Records, and Universal Records.
She is a fellow of the Sundance Institute, a NBC-Universal Directing Fellow on Tina Fey-produced series, Great News and an NYU Graduate Film Alumna. She is currently developing her next features and a scripted series.