Southern Storytellers, is a multimedia series produced in Nashville, Tennessee. The concept behind the series is simple: highlight great screenplays from our diverse community of Southern screenwriters and bring them the exposure and materials they need to pitch and sell their stories for production in the big screen.
The Southern Storytellers series provides a unique opportunity for screenwriters to have their screenplays performed and recorded by professional actors. The series includes two elements: a radio play-style podcast and web series episode consisting of staged readings of selected scenes, analysis from the actors, and storyboard art that illustrates the action on pivotal points of the script. The series is distributed on iTunes, Soundcloud, and other podcasting sites as well as the Nashville Arts Channel, YouTube, Vimeo, and Vimeo VOD. Southern Storytellers gives writers an opportunity to have their screenplays heard, rather than read, by filmmakers, film enthusiasts, and producers alike.
We want, through this project, to be able to introduce screenwriters, with amazing stories to tell, to directors who can tell that story on screen. We want to introduce storytellers and filmmakers to film financiers and patrons who can help fund their films and grow a sustainable film industry in Tennessee and across the South. In short, we want this series to be a driving force behind Southern screenplay finding space on the big screen.
Selected screenwriters will be featured on the Southern Storytellers Podcast series and receive copies of the podcast, web series episode, as well as the episode movie poster for individual promotional purposes. Selected shorts and teleplays will be featured in the radio play podcast only.
Individual jury awards a given to:
Best Screenplay
Best Short Screenplay
Best Teleplay
Best Female Written Screenplay
Best LGBTQ Screenplay
Best Diverse Perspectives Screenplay