Hollywood, Ca. October 2011

As a direct result of his placement in the 2010 Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition, screenwriter Bill Balas has optioned his winning screenplay, Aleady Gone, to producers Peter Katz and Don Le.

Bill’s journey began in February 2011 when his script was chosen from nearly 1,000 entries and announced a finalist in the Thriller Category of the 2010 Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition. While submitting the winning scripts to producers, Fresh Voices were approached by Peter and Don seeking high quality thrillers that could be made on a budget. Having read a number of samples, they quickly identified Already Gone as their next project.

2010 Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition Grand Prize Winner

Patrick Caulfield won the Grand Prize of the 2010 Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition with his comedy script, Saint Patrick's Day. The script is about 3 best friends struggling with the obligations and responsibilities of adulthood. When they find their annual Saint Patrick's Day celebration under threat, events begin to spiral out of control. Read what Patrick has to say about screenwriting, his  experience winning the Fresh Voices competition and what has been happening since. 

Joel Mendoza - Co-Founder Fresh Voices/ CEO Attraction Entertainment

Looking back on movie releases from the last 20 years, it’s easy to see why one would believe that Hollywood is stuck in remake rut, relying too heavily on sequels, prequels, adaptations, reboots, and remakes. One could even be forgiven for arguing that there are no original scripts coming out of Hollywood anymore.

But don’t be discouraged. Many original screenplays break through the Hollywood gridlock and find huge success at the box office. What’s even more exciting is that many are written by previously unproduced writers.  Below is just a partial list of successful films based on original screenplays written by unproduced screenwriters.  (Box Office numbers as reported by Box Office Mojo.)