Script File
The Squawker
Two gonzo grad students and a fearless Native American woman clash with the FBI as they search for an endangered, sacred bird that could save her tribal homeland from loggers.
Jake and Duncan, grad students in ornithology, venture to the mountains of the Pacific Northwest in search of the Squawker, an extremely rare, exotic, and comical bird that scientists claim is extinct. They meet Shawnee Ray, a young native American woman, who tells them she knows where to find it, but a logging company is building a compound there, right in the heart of her tribal homeland.
She leads them into the back country, and while Jake and Duncan are searching for their prized bird, she blows up a bridge and sets fire to the logging camp. The FBI shows up to hunt down the perpetrators.
Shawnee Ray, Jake, and Duncan are on the run. If they’re caught, they’ll spend twenty years in prison. But if they can find the Squawker, they’ll save this magnificent bird from extinction and keep Shawnee Ray’s tribe from vanishing from the face of the earth.
As the authorities close in, they take to the sky in a hot air balloon — ready to risk it all.
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Project Type:Screenplay
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Number of Pages:106
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Country of Origin:United States
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Language:English
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First-time Screenwriter:No
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Student Project:No
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WeScreenplay Semifinalist 2016 ScreenCraft Family-Friendly Script Contest Semifinalist 2014 Screenplay Festival Semifinalist 2012 Creative World Awards Semifinalist 2012 Reel Authors Semifinalist 2012
Bio.
After surviving a BA from Stanford and an MFA from UC Riverside, Mr. Peters set out to fulfill his life’s true ambition: to become a starving artist. He was immediately successful.
As an actor, he burst onto the stage, then blazed his way into films, TV, and commercials. Inexplicably, he has spent an inordinate slice of his career on hiatus.
His first stage play was greeted by rave reviews from friends and family, but never produced. During this trying time, he found solace in the violence of the martial arts. His second play won two national play writing awards, receiving a total of seven productions in theaters across the country — and suddenly his mother stopped telling him he should have been a lawyer.
Riding this wave of newfound success, he launched into screen writing as well. Mr. Peters has now penned three plays and six screenplays, all based on former friends who have read his scripts and refuse to speak to him anymore. In the words of the author, his work “reeks with promise.”
Mr. Peters currently resides in Los Angeles with his sweet wife and two dramatic, emotional, bickering, teenage daughters. It’s been nineteen years since he’s had a good night’s sleep. Like most journeymen screenwriters, he looks forward to that happy day in the not-so-distant future when he can finally fork over the Guild’s hefty initiation fee.
Though he’s won or placed in over 50 screenwriting contests, been selected for the prestigious BloodList, had numerous option offers, and enjoys the ardent support of his family and dogs, Mr. Peters has yet to kick down Hollywood’s thick door. He remains undaunted and takes pride in the fact that he’s far too stupid to give up the fight.
Mr. Peters enjoys writing both thrillers and comedies. When he’s working on thrillers, he often wakes up with nightmares — and that let’s him know he's on the right track. On writing comedy, he offers this one insight, “I need to feel funny when I sit down to write. Looking funny is not enough.”
Craig Peters
www.craigpeters.info
Resume
Education:
BA Stanford 1976
MFA UC Riverside 1979
Writing Credits for Screen:
THE 49TH DAY
Feature - Thriller / Horror
Atlanta Screenplay Awards Finalist 2020
New York City International Screenplay Contest Finalist 2020
Inroads Screenwriting Finalist 2019
Emerging Screenwriters Semifinalist 2019
Big Break Semifinalist 2019
Capital Fund Screenplay Competition Hot 100 2018
Big Break Quarterfinalist 2018
13Horror Screenplay Finalist 2017
Official Selection of the FilmQuest Festival 2017
Selected for the BloodList 2016
ScreenCraft Horror Contest Grand Prize Winner 2016
WeScreenplay Third Place Winner 2016
ISA Fast Track Fellowship Top 50 2016
Page Quarterfinalist 2016
Best Screenplay, Horror, Table Read My Screenplay 2015
Circus Road Semi-Finalist 2015
ScreenCraft Horror Semifinalist 2015
Capitol Fund Screenplay Competition — Hot 100 2015
ScreenCraft Fellowship Finalist 2015
WeScreenplay Quarterfinalist 2014
Circus Road Semifinalist 2014
Write Movies Finalist 2014
ScreamCraft Horror Semifinalist 2014
Beverly Hills Screenplay Contest Silver Prize Winner for Horror 2013
Nicholls Quarterfinalist (top 372 out of 7251) 2013
Screenplay Festival Semifinalist 2012
Creative World Awards Finalist 2012
Reel Authors Screenplay Contest Finalist 2012
Fresh Voices Contest Semifinalist 2012
CineStory Writers Retreat Winner 2011
American Screenwriting Competition Semifinalist 2011
Script Pipeline Finalist (top 20 out of 3000) 2010
Story Pros Grand Prize Winner 2009
Script Savvy 1st Place Winner 2008
Blue Cat Semi-Finalist 2008
Screenwriters Showcase 2nd Place Winner 2007
Screenplay Festival Finalist 2007
American Zoetrope Quarterfinalist 2007
THE DEMON OF HOPE STREET
Feature - Thriller
Big Break Semifinalist 2019
Finish Line Script Competition Official Selection 2018
StoryPros Semifinalist 2017
Page Semifinalist 2016
Cinequest Feature Quarterfinalist 2016
Shore Scripts Quarterfinalist 2016
WeScreenplay Finalist 2015
Script Pipeline Quarterfinalist 2015 (top 3% of 3500 scripts)
ScreenCraft Fellowship Semifinalist 2015
Table Read My Screenplay Contest Semifinalist 2015
WeScreenplay Semifinalist 2015
Fresh Voices Quarterfinalist 2015
Big Break Contest Top Ten Thriller 2014
StoryPros International Screenplay Contest Semifinalist 2014
New York Screenplay Contest Finalist 2014
CineStory Quarterfinalist 2014
ScreenCraft Fellowship Semifinalist 2014
Screenplay Festival Semifinalist 2014
Hollywood Screenplay Contest Finalist 2013
Fresh Voices Screenplay Contest 2013, Nominee for Humanitarian
Award. “This award rewards material that highlights social and political
issues around the world, as well as writers that strive to make a positive
difference through their writing.”
Story Pros Quarterfinalist 2013
Happy Writers Screenplay Contest Quarterfinalist 2013
SOVEREIGN CITIZEN
Feature - Thriller
ISA Fast Track Fellowship Top 50 2020
Table Read My Screenplay Semifinalist 2017
Story Pros Quarterfinalist 2017
Fresh Voices Quarterfinalist 2017
ISA Fast Track Fellowship Top 50 2016
Table Read My Screenplay Semifinalist 2016
Script Pipeline Quarterfinalist 2016
Story Pros Quarterfinalist 2016
Shore Scripts Quarterfinalist 2016
Hollywood Hills Screenplay Competition Top Finalist 2015
WeScreenplay Finalist 2015
Script Pipeline Quarterfinalist 2015 (top 3% of 3500 scripts)
Write Movies Quarterfinalist 2015
THE SQUAWKER
Feature - Comedy / Action / Adventure
Emerging Screenwriters Semifinalist 2019
Table Read My Screenplay Semifinalist 2017
WeScreenplay Semifinalist 2016
ScreenCraft Family-Friendly Script Contest Semifinalist 2014
Screenplay Festival Semifinalist 2012
Creative World Awards Semifinalist 2012
Reel Authors Semifinalist 2012
THE LIBERTY BELL SWEEPSTAKES
Feature / TV Special - Comedy
Based on the author’s original stage play The $88,000 Liberty Bell Sweepstakes that won two national playwriting awards and received seven productions on stages from coast to coast — recently adapted for the screen
Official Selection of the LS and B Comedy Writing Contest 2016
THE MYTHICAL GOLDEN TROUT (Completed 5/18)
Feature - Comedy / Action / Adventure
Stage 32 Gidden Media Grown Up Movies Contest Semifinalist 2020
New York City International Screenplay Contest Semifinalist 2020
Write/LA Semifinalist 2019
Story Pros Semifinalist 2019
Finish Line Script Competition Official Selection 2018
Story Pros Screenplay Competition Quarterfinalist 2018
In Development
SONGS OF MAD WILLIAM
Feature - Drama
Writing Credits for Stage:
THE $88,000 LIBERTY BELL SWEEPSTAKES
Stage Play - Comedy
Productions:
Harlequin Theatre, Cayuga College, NY 1992
Theatre Americana, Altadena, CA 1990
Kingston Showboat Theatre, Eddyville, NY 1988
New Playwright’s Theatre, Ashland, OR 1988
The Y.E.S. National Playwriting Festival Winner 1987 (Playwright in Residence at
N. Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY)
The Uprising Theatre, Long Beach, CA 1987
Glendale College Theatre, Glendale, CA 1986
THE MIGHTY SAMSON SISTERS
Stage Play - Comedy
FOUR DAYS FROM HONEYSUCKLE GARDEN
Stage Play - Comedy