Eva Madden and David Middleton were chosen as winners of the 26th Atlantic Film Festival’s Inspired Scripts program presented by Telefilm Canada and Astral Media The Harold Greenburg Fund.

After pitching their scripts at the Astral Media The Harold Greenberg Fund Pitch Match Session to a group of industry professionals, the two scripts were chosen to receive up to $15,000 towards taking their first features from first to second draft stage.

“Obviously getting development money is exciting but this opportunity is even more thrilling because it pushes me forward as an emerging filmmaker and gives me a chance to make my first feature,” said Madden whose script Sweet Nothing will receive a full read through by professional actors at the Inspired Scripts, Script Out Loud session on Wednesday, September 20 from 2 pm to 4 pm at the Delta Halifax.

“Telefilm Canada is proud to support this inspired program aimed at developing screenwriters in Atlantic Canada,” said Gordon Whittaker, President, Atlantic Canada, Telefilm Canada. “Not only do we hope all the finalists are able to further develop their stories but we hope to work with some of them in the future.”

“The Harold Greenberg Fund is honoured to be a founding partner of the Atlantic Film Festival’s Inspired Scripts program,” said John Galway, President, Astral Media The Harold Greenberg Fund. “This year’s scripts were a strong sample of script writing talent from the Atlantic region. We look forward to seeing the two writers continue to develop their scripts with us.”

Sweet Nothing (NL)
By Eva Madden
Sweet Nothing is a story of long-distance love. Sean Nash is 25 years old. Single and satisfied, never very good at relationships and too restless to stay in one place for very long. She is happy with her current independence until a visit to her home province of Newfoundland reacquaints her with Daniel Fisher, the boy next door. They literally collide and quickly fall in love. But love at a distance is never easy. Soon Sean is struggling between her desire for independence and adventure and her deep longing, not only for Daniel but for home, for Newfoundland.

Dark Destinies (NS)
By David Middleton
Dark Destinies is the story of an end-of-summer week for eight teenagers, all of whom are 15 and 16 years old, and how their lives are interrupted and set off on temporarily dark tangents through encounters with various adult influences. Told in an interwoven storytelling fashion, using both setting and shared characters as a link between tales.