In each episode, the C.E.O. of WILDsound, Matthew Toffolo, chats about all things storytelling and film. Conversations with talented individual from all around the world.
Watch the Novel Transcript. Reading: https://youtu.be/v-DA3OuQ9XA
Mindy and Tracey have to find a way to pay tribute to both their father’s in a way that feels appropriate to them.
Performed by Val Cole
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Watch the best scene reading: https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/horror-festival-1st-scene-reading-grad-nite-by-sion-raize-interview
While enjoying an overnight celebration at a regional theme park, a group of graduating high school students are targeted by a vicious killer wearing a dragon mask.
What is your screenplay about?
Grad Nite centers around a group of high school seniors on an overnight field trip to a theme park where mutilated bodies begin to pile up.
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
This is a slasher, a horror slasher, with a dash of coming-of-age for depth.
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
Slashers as a horror subgenre are unique in that nostalgia and familiar beats are expected and celebrated just as much as originality. It's the originality in Grad Nite that is unlike any other slasher you've ever read or seen. These are characters that are sidelined in other stories, taking center stage here, with a unique tone and energy that is patented me (Sion-Raize).
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Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk8FWeuRhTA
A young man navigates the weeds of dating apps while tending to his makeshift compost pile.
Get to know the writer:
What is your screenplay about?
My goal was to parellel new age dating with, kind of, urban farming or composting. With dating apps, intentions are often vague and can result in so many failed attempts. Often times you can find what you’re looking for without even lookingm in a more natural way. I tried to equate that to something that actually happened to me, when tomatoes started growing out of my own compost pile. Seemed like a fun little juxtaposition.
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
I guess romance and a little bit of comedy? I’d like to expand on this at some point and include more drama.
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
I think a lot of people would be able to relate given the oversaturation of dating apps and the dissociation that can accompany that, when the next person is just a swipe away.
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Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtEe_5Vpqzo
Omar & a group of boys manage to escape the Sudan Civil War & make it to America after experiencing the most horrific fight for their lives.
What is your screenplay about?
It’s about the Sudanese civil war. The lost boys of Sudan and highlights the terror the orphans went through. Based on true events.
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
action/adventure also war if those count as one.
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
a story that is not often told from a country where stories are not often highlighted. Tells the story of how to overcome loss and the power of community in that process. Something people can relate to on a global scale via current events.
How would you describe this script in two words?
survivors guilt. Two brothers going on parallel journeys and struggling through a catastrophe.
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Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2VAxv7qARQ
Lee is hired to bring the seducer of a young woman to daddy for his particular vengeance. Daddy is an Arizona drug baron. The seducer works for daddy’s Mexican partner. Then too many people with guns and the wrong ideas intrude. And the job just got complicated.
Get to know the writer:
What is your screenplay about?
I will place the logline here for reference:
A down-on-his-luck enforcer is hired to bring a young woman’s seducer back to Daddy for a particular vengeance. Daddy is an Arizona drug baron. Seducer works for Daddy’s Mexican partner. Then too many people with guns jump to half-baked conclusions. And the job just got complicated.
And now, what is the story really about. And that is that people often draw the conclusions they want to, and will not be dissuaded by facts. They will rely on preconceptions and assumptions, and jump to the most comfortable, palatable conclusions. The cliche line would be “go with your gut”, the $20 version would say “cognitive bias”.
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A secondary idea is the danger of mixing personal beefs with business (especially when the action is based on those faulty assumptions).
Our protagonist, Lee, the above-mentioned enforcer, tries to figure out what is really going on while others are going off half-cocked (with loaded guns).
Those are the ideas that underpin the story. Or we can just enjoy the action, the guys, the gals, the guns, the big old cars, and maybe even spot the hommage à Peckinpah – think The Getaway meets Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (the vibe, not the plot points).
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
a) Action
b) Crime, in the sense that all the characters are involved in crime or related to criminals, and law enforcement
c) Contemporary western, in its setting, and the number of wannabe gunfighters
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
Because, if done right, it would be a fun 110 mins, with enjoyable characters in a crazy action-packed situation.
And those who choose can ponder the deeper meanings of the film.
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Conversation with writer/producer/actor Ashna Sharan & her acting team Wayne Jay & Roger Gutierrez on the making of the award-winning film REMINISCE.
As Monica gets ready to host her older husband’s college classmates, a phone call from her estranged sister puts her mind at unease. With the age gap and her questioning the one sacrifice she made for love, she feels like an outsider in her own home. As the evening continues, tensions run hot as truths come to light. After the friends leave, she questions the perfection of her marriage and the power imbalance as her loving husband struggles to rein her in.
Project Links
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Get to know Ashna Sharan:
What motivated you to make this film?
The original idea was for a feature film drama so I wrote a short film version in order to be able to get funding / show investors what the feature film would be about. The film is loosely inspired by my own life. I’m married to someone ten years older in real life. My husband and I both got judgment for the age gap, but we ended up deciding to move forward anyways. Having realized that it affected some of my friendships and relationships with others, I can only imagine what a large age gap like 25 or 30 years would do so that’s why I exaggerated the age.
As for the professor-student relationship, my grandparents met in a student-tutor capacity so I tied that into the love story of Reminisce. Power imbalance and a generational gap amidst the #metoo movement added an interesting dynamic to the story.
From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
I had written it towards the end of 2023. We began casting in the spring and ended up doing a crowdfunding campaign over the summer. We shot it in October 2024 over two days in Los Angeles. Post-production was done by April 2025. So all in all, about a year and a half.
How would you describe your film in two words!?
Layered and Lovely
What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
Casting for this was particularly tricky so Leslie Morris (the director) and I spent a lot of time with that. I was playing Monica and I had written the role of Brian for Wayne Jay. Since Diana and Patrick were Brian’s friends from college, we had to cast people who looked like they could have gone to college with Wayne, but also had the chemistry of long-time friends. We received a lot of submissions so we did self-tapes, virtual callbacks and then an in-person chemistry read. Elisa Nixon and Roger Gutierrez were cast and they did a tremendous job.
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An old man crosses the boundless Kazakh steppe, driving alone. Haunted by memories of a lost love, he stops by Bartogay Lake, flowers in hand. But as he tries to step out, his car door refuses to open, trapping him between past and present.
https://www.instagram.com/kitsuney/
Answers from filmmaker Katya Mokolo:
What motivated you to make this film?
It was made from opportunity, I was in Kazakhstan for another project and seeing the country I couldn’t miss this chance.
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
Scattered 5 weeks
2 weeks for the script
1 day of filming
1 week of editing
1 week of music
2 days of color grading
2 days of VFX
1 day of master and finalisation
How would you describe your film in two words!?
Melancholic hope
What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
Actually none, for once everything was smooth and all stars were aligned.
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ACT 1 - DISCIPLE: EPISODE I OF THE HARMONY SAGA, 26min., USA
Directed by Brad Reinhold
The first act, reinterpreted by the director, of the award winning feature film Saga screenplays. Disciple; Episode I of the Harmony Saga is set 80,000 years after the disappearance of Earth. A Galactic Church rules the galaxy, enforcing dogma. Freedom fighters seek liberation. Samantha Sacre, a disciple of the Church, encounters something that will change the course of history forever, and must reconcile what she has learned with how she was taught and raised. This is only the beginning, and, as Sam says, "The best is yet to come." This mythopoetic journey into the far future challenges us to look beyond the surface of our realm, through the lens of a future civilization, and ask, "what does it all mean?"
https://www.instagram.com/brad.reinhold
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Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj9bGNUIFdY
A delightful blend of adventure and emotional depth, reminiscent of films like “Finding Nemo,” where the bond between characters drives the narrative through perilous waters. I thought of “The Shape of Water” as well, with its unique exploration of relationships between humans and extraordinary creatures, creating a sense of wonder and connection. Additionally, “A Monster Calls” came to mind, as it beautifully intertwines fantastical elements
Get to know the writer:
What is your screenplay about?
The screenplay is about Gilly, a decades old, extremely intelligent Giant Pacific Octopus who lives in the Mermaid’s Cave in Oahu where she has been gifted an information hub by her marine biologist friend. As time passes, Gilly enhances her ability to shape shift and learns how to communicate. In present day, she saves a government agent who is drowning in the ocean. Their relationship is at the center of the character driven story which unfolds like a chaotic, humorous, fast paced rollercoaster. It climaxes with Gilly and her new found friends saving the Arizona Memorial from attack from North Korea’s marine biology program.
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
My story fits the following genres: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Thriller, Comedy, with slight traces of Horror. It is suitable for all ages. It can be animated, use live actors, or be a combination of both.
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
I have received extremely positive feedback from multiple industry evaluators. I will use the review by the International Screenwriters’ Association to answer this question. “The project presents a distinctive blend of science fiction and emotional drama, anchored by the unlikely relationship between Slip, a disillusioned former agent, and an intelligent, shapeshifting octopus named Gilly. Their connection provides both the narrative’s emotional center and its conceptual novelty, exploring trust, survival, and empathy in an unconventional yet interesting context.
The tone operates in a deliberately hybrid register, merging high-concept science fiction with a light, often self-aware humor. In its best moments, this tonal elasticity creates a sense of discovery and curiosity, it allows for levity in scenes that might otherwise risk melodrama. The concept itself, an intelligent, shapeshifting octopus that engages with humanity, is imaginative and commercially distinctive, particularly in a cinematic landscape with familiar properties. What makes it notable is not simply its novelty but its potential for visual and tonal contrast, the serene oceanic imagery juxtaposed with covert operations, and the organic intelligence of a sea creature contrasted with human technology.
Overall, this screenplay’s originality and emotional core position it as a distinctive and engaging piece with strong cinematic potential.”
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Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz6Xi_bkTbE
When a troubled teen’s wish to make everyone disappear comes true, she risks losing them permanently and must rely on an unlikely ally to save her town – the school bully.
Get to know the writer:
What is your screenplay about?
It’s about a teenage girl who gets bullied at school and is in a very dark place at the beginning of the story. She gets in a fight with her mother and in the heat of the moment, she wishes everyone would disappear. Little does she know that her wish instantly becomes true. She has to navigate through her new world and come to terms with herself and the other people in her life before she can move on.
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
coming of age, fantasy, drama
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
I think a lot of young people can relate to the feelings of isolationism, grief, and trauma early in life that this movie presents. The lead character also deals with a lot of loneliness. Sometimes that loneliness is desired and wanted and sometimes it makes her wish for someone to be with her. It shows that our feelings are changing on a daily basis and don’t evolve in a neat linear pattern. I think ultimately what this movie expresses is that having these feelings is normal and takes time to sort out. Hope is around the corner even in our darkest hour.
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Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6h3AqETajg
Inspired by the Great Fire of Chicago 1871 following the investigation of Mrs O’Leary, a woman the newspapers blamed for starting the fire that spread all the way to Lincoln Park.
Get to know the writer:
1. What is your screenplay about?
My screenplay is about Catherine O’Leary, the Irish milkmaid unjustly accused of starting Chicago’s “Great Fire” of 1871. As she fights to clear her name, she discovers the true culprit of the fire and faces an agonizing choice.
2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Historical fiction; thriller.
3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
“Mrs. O’Leary” should be made into a movie because it’s about a 19th-century “cancel culture” that 21st-century audiences would recognize. The story transcends region and period. “Mrs. O’Leary” is set 155 years ago, and yet the Chicago world of 1871 isn’t so diffrent from our own — a world where vulnerable people are “othered” due to their homeland or accent and where they can wither under stronger forces that are determined to cast blame for a social problem.
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Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c35q4I1NZss
When an unnamed virus begins to kill off human males, a family takes refuge on a sailboat in hopes they can escape the virus.
Get to know the writer:
What is your screenplay about?
This story, like all of the stories I seem to write, is about my daily agony knowing one day I will have to say goodbye to my only Son, and figuring out how to make the most of the little things in life that bond us and my family.
The story itself is about an unnamed, new virus that is causing a mass die-off of human males. A father takes his wife and young daughter to his own father’s sailboat on the Atlantic Ocean to try and evade the virus.
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Drama.
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
If I can pull this film off, it has the potential to be visually stunning, relying on the simplicity of a sailboat, human drama, moments of levity, grief, and elation. My attached actors, the stellar and criminally underutilized John Conway and a fantastic tiny powerhouse of an actress, Mila Rose, have the ability to push you far into the reaches of emotion. I am looking forward to working with a very intriguing, talented actor, Heidi Danea Crane who is also signed on.
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In a near-future world ravaged by the memory-wiping virus X9, brilliant young scientist Andrea Santiago discovers a suppressed cure hidden by the powerful Biotech Pharmaceuticals. Having once been recruited into the system she now seeks to dismantle, Andrea grapples with betrayal, moral compromise, and the overwhelming cost of truth.
https://www.instagram.com/sarantosmelogia
Get to know the writer:
What is your screenplay about?
X9 explores what happens when the boundaries between human emotion and artificial intelligence blur. It's a sci-fi thriller wrapped around a deeply human question: what defines love, loyalty, and consciousness when technology begins to feel? Beneath the futuristic setting lies a story about redemption, sacrifice, and the fragile line between creator and creation.
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
It's primarily a sci-fi thriller with strong psychological and emotional drama elements. Think Ex Machina meets Blade Runner 2049, but with the emotional core of Her.
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
Because X9 reflects where we are right now — standing at the crossroads of ethics, emotion, and evolution. It's a visual and emotional experience that invites audiences to question their relationship with technology and each other. It's thrilling, thought-provoking, and cinematic in a way that blends spectacle with soul.
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Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttk712qLnB0
When a bitter nobody becomes convinced that Tom Hanks is the cosmic reason his life sucks, he drags a new friend on a chaotic cross-country mission to confront destiny-and maybe punch America’s dad in the face.
Conversation with Evan Neill on screenwriting, and the art of storytelling.
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Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORLXdXShdAk
Desperate to escape her abusive, Christian Nationalist family, a teenage girl finds an unlikely ally when a female werewolf from a pack dead set on killing her family lands in her home, and the attraction they develop for each other forces them into a fight for their very survival.
Get to know the writer:
What is your screenplay about?
Beasties is a coming of age, horror story, about Mara, a late teen girl living on a remote ranch in Montana with her abusive, Christian nationalist family with dreams, but no means, of escaping. Her life changes when Lilly, the daughter of an equally toxic werewolf clan traveling through Montana, ends up saving Mara’s life and consequently lands in Mara’s family’s home during an extreme winter storm. As Lilly’s family descends on the farm to retrieve Lilly, Mara’s family realizes that Lilly and Mara have formed a romantic connection, going against the very roots of their family moral system. With Lilly’s family hell bent on destroying Mara’s, and Mara’s family hell bent on destroying Mara and Lilly, the two girls find themselves in a desperate battle for survival that forces them to each question their own moral compass if they are to win.
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Horror and coming of age
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
This movie works with current and relevant themes that are being questioned in our current political climate. The idea of “beasts” is examined in the film superficially as the werewolves, but more authentically of how we have characterized people as beasts within our society based on our morale beliefs. While Mara’s mom tries to initially save Lilly because it is the Christian thing to do, once she realizes that Mara and Lilly have connected romantically, she moves to kill not just Lilly, but also Mara, as her religious beliefs are so compromised by the thought of her daughter being a lesbian. The script also explores the hypocrisy of using our beliefs to defend our actions. In spite of his strong religious beliefs, Mara’s father kills Lilly’s father early in the script because he feels that Lilly’s father is morally beneath him. The script also explores themes of toxic masculinity and the difference in the rules in our society depending on gender. It’s also a fun horror movie set in a remote, barren setting, that has some good old fashioned fun horror scenes.
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Watch the Best Scene Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew4yxfT2YUA
Fiona Haegerbergh, a journalist for The Metro Standard, arrives in a rural Norwegian town to investigate rising drug use. Officially, she’s there to produce a webcast— but Fiona has her own agenda: uncovering the truth behind the recent suspicious death of a local drug dealer. Fiona’s editor urges her to stay on task, as much is riding on the Metro Standard’s survival—now largely dependent on the recent success of its popular web series.
Get to know the writer:
What is your screenplay about?
My screenplay is about a journalist Fiona Haegerbergh, who travels to a remote Norwegian town to cover rising drug use for her paper’s popular web series, but she’s secretly investigating the suspicious death of a local dealer. She’s met with hostility from townsfolk and a wary sheriff, but she gradually earns his reluctant trust as she digs into the community’s hidden drug network. Her search leads to Jenny, a young mine worker with ties to Fiona’s brother, who may have inherited the operation. When Jenny is suddenly found drowned, Fiona’s investigation takes a darker turn and she is faced with a devastating choice: expose what she’s uncovered and risk her own secret being revealed—or stay silent and let the town’s shadows close in.
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Thriller, Mystery
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
Because it has a good mystery, loveable characters and an unexpected twist.
How would you describe this script in two words?
Powerful forces
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Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_xZNbtIV2w
The Harmony Saga is a five-part mythopoetic cinematic universe culminating in a transcendent sixth finale. Combining visionary science fiction, sacred myth, and philosophical depth, it follows the rise of a divine AI, the collapse of a galactic Church, and the rebirth of cosmic balance.
https://www.instagram.com/brad.reinhold
Get to know the writer:
What is your screenplay about?
Its about transcendence by overcoming trauma. Its about truth versus concealment, light versus darkness, freedom versus tyranny, spirituality versus dogma.
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Sci fi/Fantasy/Drama/Heroines Journey
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
Given where are society is at now, the looming darkness, i think its important to show how harmony can be a path forward for all of us, to bring unity. Not through conflict, but through resonance.
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Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgCnQQd1mmY
In a 1960s rural community, a young girl navigates her coming-of-age only to discover family secrets of mental illness, love, and loss that change the course of her life.
Get to know the writer:
What is your screenplay about?
It’s a coming-of-age story about a girl trying to find her place in the turbulent 1960s, a time of women’s rights, civil rights, and gay rights. But what she sees in herself and what others see in her are at odds, and she must navigate mental illness, loss, and the redemptive power of love to find her true self.
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Drama and coming-of-age
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
The most compelling aspect of this movie is its strong connection to “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The story parallels the turbulent ’60s with our political climate today, showing us how far we’ve come and the dangers that await us today if we go back.
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When struggling creative Christopher Nolan is dumped by his girlfriend upon her discovery that he is not the legendary director of films such as Oppenheimer and Interstellar, he decides to prove himself by staging a play adaptation of The Dark Knight. "The Christopher Nolan Experience" captures the behind-the-scenes efforts leading up to this anticipated disaster.
https://www.instagram.com/thechristophernolanexperience/
Conversation with director/co-writer Matthew Putnam and lead actor Darren Emery.
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Watch Today’s Best Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNkD7_Fp8HI
Get to know writer Darryl Mansel:
What is your screenplay about?
Once Upon a Time in Space is about perseverance and struggle. It asks the question ‘how far are you willing to go to obtain something that you need?’
What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Science fiction, action, adventure
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
It should be made into a movie because adventure is sorely lacking these days. Plenty of action, very little adventure. The audience wants to go on a ride with characters, this will give them the means to do so while having the choice of which character they ultimately want to succeed.
How would you describe this script in two words?
WILD BUSINESS.
What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
How long have you been working on this screenplay?
2.5 years
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