As many of you know this year we are launching our first writers retreat. Applicants submitted 15 pages of the feature script they want to workshop and we narrowed that down to the top 10 stories that captivated our imaginations.
Next up we will read their full scripts and narrow the pack down to the 4 strongest screenplays. Those writers will join us in September for a day long retreat, at the Historic Palm Lodge, to work on getting those scripts a little closer to production.
While our judges are deep in those scripts we wanted to share a little about our finalists. Part of our mission is to elevate the profile of local filmmakers and I can’t think of a better way than to share a little about them and the stories they have written.
Let us know in the comments which ones you are most excited to see on the big screen.
The finalists are:
Genre: Historical Fiction
Synopsis: After Schoten, Netherlands, fell to the Nazis in 1941, two teenage girls, sisters raised by a single mother who taught them to resist fascism, are tapped to join the Haarlem Council of the Resistance. They do. Based on the true story of Truus and Freddie Oversteegen.
Bio: Alicia K. Garcia (she/her) is a professor, playwright, actor, improviser, and writer originally from Michigan. She holds an M.A. in Linguistics from Florida International University and an undergraduate degree from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. She has been published in ‘Unstamatic’ and ‘East by Northeast’ magazines; some of her short plays and comedy sketches have been produced by several South Florida theater companies. Her play “Space Latinos” was performed at the Short Play Festival for the Magnetic Theater in Asheville, NC, and “Living with Dee” was included in this summer’s Miami Shorts Festival. Alicia current lives, works, and plays in Miami, Florida.
Genre: Fantasy Romance Drama
Synopsis: Danny Ciccone, America’s beloved gay soap opera star, is devastated when childhood love and closest friend, Jon Christopher, dies unexpectedly in a tragic accident. In Heaven, JC is offered an impossible second chance: return to Earth by inhabiting the body of someone he truly loves. As JC’s spirit begins taking over Danny’s body, Danny finds himself torn between grief, desire, and a supernatural transformation that threatens his identity, career, and relationships. Set between glamorous Miami nightlife and a metaphysical afterlife, The Tide Is High is a supernatural romance about love, loss, obsession, and the terrifying desire to hold onto someone forever.
Bio: Edwin Resto is a Miami-based screenwriter and CEO of FTRON Productions. A 2025 Quarterfinalist in the ISA Great Pitch, Emerging Screenwriters, and NexTV competitions, his work blends “glam-noir” aesthetics with emotional, high-concept storytelling. His projects include the sci-fi saga FAGATRON®, the supernatural romance The Tide Is High, and the thriller Gratuitous, inspired by his experiences working in the service industry. Through bold visual worlds and emotionally charged narratives, Edwin explores identity, fame, grief, and transformation.
Genre: Noir Mystery
Synopsis: Alfonso Vega, a blacklisted Miami artist, returns to the city for the funeral of Humberto Rosa, his former mentor and one of the art world’s last living legends. At the will reading, Alfonso learns of Humberto’s final painting titled “Provenance”, is the key to a multi-million dollar estate auction, and that it somehow is in his hands. He has five days to find it before the entire collection is donated to a public institution, never to be sold.
Following a trail of clues hidden across Humberto’s prior work, Alfonso reconnects with Karina, Humberto’s daughter and estate executor, who becomes a reluctant partner. Each clue leads to a painting from Humberto’s celebrated career and eventually forces Alfonso to confront the truth he’s spent years running away from. The truth is, Alfonso was responsible for Humberto’s best pieces, working as a ghost artist and helping him hide his deteriorating health.
Before he can reach the end of the trail, Karina betrays him and reveals she was behind the threats and attacks meant to keep him from looking too closely. She takes what she believes to be Provenance and leaves him with nothing.
But Alfonso finds the real Provenance, and it’s nothing more than a blank canvas. He paints Provenance himself and delivers it to the auction. When Karina sees the finished work, she finally understands how he knows everything.
Alfonso walks away with no money and no painting. Just his name and an opportunity to make his own legacy.
Bio: I was born in Quito, Ecuador in 1995 and came to Miami at age seven, when my parents moved the family in pursuit of opportunities we couldn’t find back home. If it wasn’t reading, I spent my time drawing, or narrating elaborate adventures for my action figures.
I studied programming at FIU before switching over to English and writing after a friend over at UM pulled me in to help on set for a student film. Afterwards, he challenged me to write my own script. It was then I realized I’d been doing what I loved this whole time, just writing the wrong thing.
Since then, I’ve been writing and producing in Miami’s independent film community, including a series of narrative podcasts produced through the pandemic. I’m currently developing three original projects: a horror feature involving extraterrestrials in Tulsa, a cyberpunk action-thriller set in a flooded future Miami, and “Provenance”, a mystery set in Miami’s radiant art scene.
Genre: Horror/Comedy
Synopsis: On the eve of their father’s funeral, twin siblings decide to take on their family demons once and for all.
Bio: JESSICA FARR is a writer, director, and actor from Miami. She is an alumnus of New World School of the Arts, Fordham University, and Moscow Art Theatre (MXAT). She has developed original programming for film, television, stage, and radio, including Comedy Central’s South Beach Comedy Festival. She is a recent MIA Artist grantee, participant of the Miami Film Lab Development Series, the Playwriting Development Program, and a TCG Artist Grantee. Jessica has directed original work at City Theatre, The Kraine, The Gleason, Miami New Drama, GableStage, Miami Theater Center, and Mad Cat Theatre Company. Her film A FLORIDA STORY has won accolades in several festivals including Indie Short Fest LA, IndieX-LA, and the Independent Shorts Awards. Jessica is the co-creator and co-host of the podcast WORST PLACE ON EARTH, an original storytelling series based on South Florida headlines.
Genre: Folk Horror
Synopsis: Eager to make a name for himself at his development firm, recent Miami transplant Turner recruits Lacey, a guarded local woman, to guide him into a remote and highly coveted parcel of land tied to her family’s past and introduce him to its elusive owner. But once inside the overgrown property, they discover the land’s violent resistance to outsiders and that it is guarded by a mysterious occult group who may be tied to the recent death of Lacey’s mother.
As Turner’s obsession with the property grows, so does Lacey’s reluctance to pursue the mysterious proprietor and make the introduction. But before she can convince him to turn back, they arrive at the heart of the property: a decaying spec mansion slowly being reclaimed by the Everglades. Here, they finally meet the proprietor, a grotesquely disfigured man kept alive by an ancient ritual and desperate to free himself from the curse that binds him to the land by passing it on to someone new
Bio: Nick Nottebaum works as a graphic designer for Film and Television in South Florida but Batmans (new term for “moonlighting” that I’m workshopping) as a writer and director.
Genre: Thriller/Horror
Synopsis: Randy Sensabaugh, an African-American farmer and gentle soul who runs his small town’s annual corn maze is having a rough year. His wife has fallen into a coma after an accident on the property, his doctor son refuses to speak with him after the accident and he needs the money from the upcoming event at his farm to help pay the hospital bills. However, it’s only getting worse after the clothes of recently missing teens appears on the scarecrows made for him by his farmhand. Now he must figure out who or what in the corn is trying to ruin his reputation and his life while ending others.
Bio: Noah Salzman is an award-winning screenwriter and director based in Florida, with over a decade of experience writing compelling thought provoking narratives. His passion for crafting original character-driven, socially-informed stories was nurtured by the relationship with his hometown city of Miami. He was given the honor of ‘Best Film Director (2025)’ from The Miami New Times, he’s a juror/programmer for multiple film festivals, an AFF second Rounder, A Nostos Screenwriting Fellow with his feature script ‘Chow’, A Miami Film Lab Development Series Participant with his feature script ‘Turkey’ and the Founder of 5th Leg Table Reads.
Noah’s feature film debut ‘Clocked’ is the winner of a dozen awards including “Best Humanitarian Feature - Sedona International Film Festival”, “Best Narrative Feature Audience Award - Tallahassee Film Festival”, and “Golden Conch Best Florida Feature - Key West Film Festival” and is featured on the 2025 Popcorn List.
Genre: Crime/Neo Noir
Synopsis: Working hitman, Polish Swierczynski is content with his solitary life in New York, but now a job in Miami is bringing him back home after 30 years. What starts as a routine job gets complicated when he meets a local prostitute. Her connection shatters his lone wolf existence and he starts to question his life choices. Throw in 30 years of nostalgia and regrets and this could be Polish’s last hit. Unfortunately for him the gangsters who hired him to do the job are not interested in his emotional growth and just want the job done.
Bio: Born and raised in Miami. Graduated from FIU with a B.A. in Liberal Studies. Attended the Hollywood Film Institute. Founded and ran the Miami Underground Film Festival 2006-2009. I have written over 12 feature length scripts. Produced 5 feature films, including a RomCom in the Dominican Republic. I was involved in TV, Film, Commercial productions for 15 years. For the last ten years I have been a High School Teacher. I am currently teaching film, editing and the head of the Film Program at Christopher Columbus High School.
Genre: Thriller
Synopsis: Scott, 25, is broke, jobless, and drowning in student debt-with his parents co-signed and panicking. With no options left, he does what any desperate millennial might do: he strips for cash online.
Enter Mommy-an anonymous, big-tipping fan with one simple question:
Wanna play a game?
At first, Scott resists. But $1,000 says otherwise. Cringey dares. Naked dances. Then it descends into something darker-violent, psychosexual, and dangerously real.
Mommy ups the stakes by pulling in Scott’s roommates-Lulu and Jay, a couple with their own secrets-for group tasks that pit lust against loyalty, money against morality. As the night devolves into chaos, Mommy’s digital grip tightens.
Boundaries vanish. Lines blur. And when betrayal comes with a cash prize, trust becomes a luxury no one can afford. By sunrise, the trio survives-but at what cost?
The money’s gone. The footage is viral. Their lives are scorched. By the end, Scott has thousands of followers-but no friends, no family, and no way back.
The Only Fan is a bold, sexy techno-thriller about exploitation, ambition, and the twisted price of fame in the digital age.
Bio: Feature screenwriter. Born and raised in Miami. Cuban background. 16 years in Theatrical Management with Regal Entertainment.
Genre: Drama
Synopsis: After the death of her sister, an aging woman fills the home they once shared with mannequins, creating a fragile system to cope with isolation and grief. As her inner world and physical space begin to blur, the arrival of an outsider disrupts the order she has built to survive. ( *edited from email version per writer’s request)
Bio: Sebastián Marcano is a Miami-based Venezuelan writer and director focused on character-driven stories. After writing and directing eight short films, he is now developing his debut feature film, The Place of Things.
His work is deeply influenced by Latin American melodrama, observational cinema, and queer experiences, exploring the passage of time and the ways people navigate grief and identity. He currently works in the U.S. Hispanic television industry, surviving ongoing mergers, acquisitions, and constant reinvention.
Genre: Drama, Coming of Age, LBGTQ, Realism
Synopsis: Alexi is a young Brazilian Immigrant coming of age in a small house in Morning Side, Miami. Where he lives with his family who moved there from São Paulo. His journey of self discovery and identity is shaped through his experiences and traumas dating from his childhood to adulthood. When he reaches the age of 19, he reinvents himself in the image of his alter-ego, “Apollo” and runs away from home after his parents kick him out for being gay.
Bio: Victor Machin is an up and coming veritable writer from Miami, Florida. Who’s interests range from literature such as writing novels, short stories and poems to writing theater plays and screen-plays. He was a Theater Technical Director for three years at the William and Joan Lehmann Theater at Miami Dade College’s North Campus. He is also a music producer, film-score composer, podcaster, song-writer, arranger, freelance musician/ multi instrumentalist, actor and director. Victor finished his BA degree in Music Composition at the University of North Texas with an emphasis on media communications and sonic visual aesthetics while also developing his portfolio. He’s currently getting his Master’s Degree at the University of Miami’s School of Communication Cinematic Arts program. Where he is a Graduate Assistant on Scholarship.
Accolades: New World Center for the Performing Arts, Hannah Baumgarten’s Dance Now (Dance Commissions), NAMM Scholarship Recipient, Adrienne Arsht Center (Miami Music Project), University of Miami Gusman Hall, Clarke Hall, Steinway Gallery, Coral Gables, FL
Colony Theater, Origo Summer Stage 2015, Riga, Latvia, Europe
Little Haiti Cultural Center, and the Miramar Cultural Arts Center. UNT Press Editorial Assistant.
Miami Magic is currently FREE to watch online as part of the Hollyshorts x Film.io Short film Discovery Competition!
You get to watch the film and we get a chance grab an award (and a cash prize) at one of the most prestigious short film festivals in the country!
help us climb the leaderboard by leaving a review!
Applications are now open for the 2026 Oolite Arts Cinematic Residency.
If you are working on your first feature this opportunity is for your.
Benefits include: $50,000 in direct funding toward film production., access to rental camera packages and equipment support through partner organizations, ongoing mentorship throughout the residency period from industry professionals and advisors and so much more!
Applications will be accepted from June 1 through July 31, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
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