Frank J. Avella is the recipient of a 2019 International Writers Retreat Residency at Arte Studio Ginestrelle (Assisi, Italy) and a 2018 Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship.

LURED, his play about the Russia persecution of gays, was a 2018 O’Neill semifinalist and had its world premiere at Theater for the New City in 2018. The play was featured in the OnStage! American Theater Festival in Rome, Italy in 2019 and selected for the 2021 Dublin International Gay Theatre Festival. LURED took part in Dream Up Festival in 2016 and the William Inge Theater Festival in 2017. Frank was awarded a 2018 Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation Grant for LURED. Luredtheplay.com.

Frank received a 2015 NJ State Arts Council Fellowship Award for his play, CONSENT (a 2019 O’Neill semifinalist) as well as a 2016 Helene Wurlitzer Residency Grant & Chesley/Bumbalo Foundation Playwright Award.

Produced work includes CATAMITUS (2019 Best Play, Five & Dime Drama Collective) THE DEAD BOY, GREENER, THE BUBBLE, IRIS, LEXY, MICHAEL’S #1 FAN, 3 CAINS, UNHINGING and GODFORSAKEN. Other plays: VATICAN FALLS, ORVILLE STATION, FOR MAMMA, NEMESIS, MAD, LESS THAN 2 DEGREES and most recently, LOCKDOWN 2020.

The CONSENT screen adaptation won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2020 Austria International Film Festival and the Best LGBT Screenplay Award at the 2020 New Renaissance Film Festival in Amsterdam. The script took 2nd place (Honorable Mention) at the 2020 Venice Film Awards (Venice, Italy) and was a finalist for the 2020 Peachtree Village International Film Festival, the 2020 Page Turner Screenplay Genre Competition (Second Place), the 2020 Courage Film Festival (Berlin, Germany), the 2020 Beyond the Curve International Film Festival (Paris, France) and the 2020 Flight Deck Film Festival (NYC). The script was a quarterfinalist for the 2019 Creative Screenwriting Screenplay Contest, received Honorable Mention in the Movie Script category for the 88th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition (2019), and was nominated for Best Feature Script in the 8th Edition of the Paris Play Film Festival (2020). CONSENT was a semifinalist for the 2020 Austin Revolution Film Festival, the 2020 Hollywood International Golden Age Festival and the 2020 Fade-In Awards (Drama category) and has been selected for the 2020 Rome Independent Prisma Awards, the 2020 Los Angeles Motion Picture Festival (Drama), the 2020 Long Story Shorts International Film Festival (Romania), the 2020 Indo American International Festival of World Cinema (Mumbai) and the 2020 Love Wins Film Festival.

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The LURED screen adaptation won the Best LGBTQ Feature Screenplay Award in the 2020 Silicon Beach Film Festival and is a finalist (and Special Mention) for the 2020 London International Screenwriting Competition and the 2020 Beyond the Curve International Film Festival (Paris, France) as well as a semifinalist for the 2020 Fade-In Awards (Thriller category) and the 2020 Cyrus International Monthly Festival of Toronto. The screenplay was selected for the 2021 LGBTQ Unbordered International Film Festival, the 2020 LA LIVE Film Festival, the 2020 Indo American International Festival of World Cinema (Mumbai), the 2020 Rome Independent Prisma Awards, and the 2020 Hollywood International Golden Age Festival.

His screenplay, SCREW THE COW, was a 2020 Best Screenplay Finalist/Nominee in the Best Dark Comedy Screenplay category for the Houston Comedy Film Festival, the Austin Comedy Film Festival, the Portland Comedy Film Festival and the European Cinematography Awards (ECA) and is a nominee (one of three) for Best Comedy Screenplay for the 2020 Georgia Shorts Film Festival a as well as a Semi-Finalist for the 2020 Page Turner Screenplay Genre Competition (top 15 scripts). The script was also selected for the 2020 SoCal Film Awards, the 2020 Los Angeles Motion Picture Festival and the 2020 Atlanta Comedy Festival.

Frank’s screenplay short, MULTITASKING, is a semifinalist for the 2020 Nevada City Film Festival.

Frank is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild.

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https://filmfreeway.com/FrankAvella