“DROOL” WINS 2006 SLAMDANCE SCREENPLAY COMPETITION
Ten Finalists Chosen From Over 2,000 Submissions

Los Angeles, CA – Nancy Kissam’s “Drool” has won the 11th Annual Slamdance Screenplay Competition. The announcement was made at a special awards presentation and reception last night at the Writers Guild of America, west, attended by Slamdance alumni and members of the WGAw Independent Writers Caucus. Kissam’s story of a housewife that kills her abusive husband, then along with her kids and her new girlfriend take a family road trip to bury daddy, received a $7,000 Grand Prize Award. “Drool” along with nine other finalists were chosen by Slamdance readers from over 2,000 screenplays submitted to the competition.

"This year’s finalists are a diverse group and their material all share an undeniably independent spirit. Drool is a perfect example of an uncompromising voice that is just waiting to be discovered,” says Screenplay Competition Director John Stoddard.

The Top Ten Screenplays (in order):
1st Drool by Nancy Kissam
2nd Black Dove by Phil Penningroth
3rd Ball by Julian Breece
4th Pennsyltucky by Francis Abbey
5th Vampire Strippers Must Die! by Keith Hartman
6th Jump the Void by Goro Toshima
7th Three Latin Girls by Yamin Segal
8th Reserved Seats for the Plain and Unconscious by Steve McCall & Zak Hilditch
9th Sugarcane Blues by Chris Gordon
10th Struck by Lynne R. Kamm

Best Short Screenplay:
4 Corners, by Ken Pisani

Nancy Kissam’s Drool has won the 11th Annual Slamdance Screenplay Competition. The announcement was made at a special awards presentation and reception last night at the Writers Guild of America, west, attended by Slamdance alumni and members of the WGAw Independent Writers Caucus. Kissam’s story of a housewife that kills her abusive husband, then along with her kids and her new girlfriend take a family road trip to bury daddy, received a $7,000 Grand Prize Award. Drool along with nine other finalists were chosen by Slamdance readers from over 2,000 screenplays submitted to the competition.

As a year round organization, Slamdance serves as a showcase for the discovery of emerging talent and is dedicated to new filmmakers and their vision. Started in 1995 by a group of filmmakers, Slamdance continues to be organized and programmed "by filmmakers for filmmakers."

Slamdance has established a unique reputation for premiering independent films by first-time directors working with limited budgets. With the renowned film festival as its core, Slamdance has expanded its ventures to include Writing Competitions, the Anarchy online short film competition, Dirty Dozen short film DVD series, a $99 Special short film production wing and a Games Competition.

Slamdance alumni include Christopher Nolan, Marc Forster and Jared Hess. Each festival produces film acquisitions including the upcoming Sony release of Sasquatch Dumpling Gang and Mad Hot Ballroom, one of the most financially successful theatrically distributed documentaries of all time.

The Slamdance Writing Competitions receive over 2500 submissions per annum. Slamdance winning screenplays acquired for production include Nicole Kassell and Stephen Fetcher's The Woodsman, Joshua Marston's Maria Full of Grace and current release Tim Boughn's Neo Ned. In 2004 the Screenplay Competition launched a new division dedicated to the teleplay. This competition is sponsored by fox21 and offers the winner a five-figure cash prize and a development deal with fox21.

Slamdance is always looking for new ways to assist emerging artists and contribute to the film community. In this spirit Slamdance launched a new Horror Competition last month, for long form screenplays.