Virginia Screenwriters Forum

A screenwriting group based in Richmond, Virginia

VSF News

March 2026 Critique

Our next critique is Saturday, March 21st, 2026, featuring pages from Alice Hartzog and Tom Sanchez Prunier.

Enter via the security entrance next to the loading dock on 7th Street, sign-in and proceed to the 3rd Floor.
If you are a guest writer interested in joining us, please email info@virginiascreenwritersforum.com and we will notify you on how to participate.
Our regular in-person meetings are held at The Dominion Energy Center, 600 E Grace Street – 3rd Floor, Richmond, Virginia.

PLEASE NOTE: Please try to arrive by 9:30 am. Our meetings begin promptly at 10:00am.

Contact us if you are planning to attend, as space can sometimes be limited. Emerging and experienced writers are always welcome to attend a meeting to learn more about us. VSF membership is at capacity and we are no longer accepting applications. Guest attendance is limited to three visits. Hope to see you there!

VSF Held First Short Filmmaking Community Lab

The Virginia Screenwriters Forum(VSF) held its first short film lab for the public at the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA). “Make It Short: The Three Pillars of Short Films” featured best practices from the following award-winning members: Brian Weakland, screenwriting; Michael C. Ivey, producing, and Adam Lapallo, directing. Held Sunday, Feb. 21, the lab presented two shorts from the annual VSF Showcase, “Handsy” written by Brian Weakland and “Blowhard,” written and co-directed by Rachel Weatherly. Director Robin Farmer called the shorts good examples of “concise, clever, cinematic and cheap” movies.

Announcing the Lineup of the 2025 VSF Short Film Showcase

Virginia’s largest and most highly awarded screenwriting organization, the Virginia Screenwriters Forum (VSF), will present its fourth annual Short Film Showcase Sunday, Aug. 17 from 1 to 4 p.m., in the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) auditorium. The Showcase features original shorts written, directed, and produced by its talented members. Admission is free.

For thirty-five years, VSF has brought together aspiring and successful writers for film and television to engage in the art of creating award-winning, commercially attractive scripts in a variety of genres including comedy, drama, sci-fi, thriller, and horror. More recently, VSF has reached out to the greater Richmond film community to partner with filmmakers, producers, directors, and a wide range of creatives who share a love of movies.

Participating members and their films are:

  • WEREWOLF COPS, Alice Hartzog
  • THE DOWNLINE, Rachel Weatherly
  • STACY’S A SELLOUT, David Patrick Wittle (writer) and Adam Lapallo (director)
  • 5G, Kris Haase
  • BLOWHARD, Rachel Weatherly
  • WOODWALKER, Adam Lapallo (writer)
  • CUSTODY, Brian Weakland (writer) and Mike Ivey (producer and director)

 

VSF Celebrates 35th Anniversary

 

The Virginia Screenwriters Forum (VSF) kicked off summer with its 35th anniversary luncheon in the library of the Hofheimer Building in Scott’s Addition. The celebration included a pasta lunch, music and a reel of VSF highlights, which include sold and optioned scripts and a sampling of prestigious contests and fellowships won.

In recent years, VSF has launched a national screenplay contest, a Writers Room and an annual short film showcase.

“Helene Wagner founded VSF to create a community of screenwriters who wanted to help each other elevate their stories,” said VSF Director Robin Farmer. “We keep that visionary mission alive, but we also inspire members to produce and direct their own scripts. I think Helene would be proud of how we’re building on her legacy.”

2025 VSF Accolades

Virginia Screenwriters Forum (VSF) continues its winning streak with wins and placements in global, national and local contests, film festivals, fellowships and residencies. Congratulations! Our members’ 2025 accolades include:

Robin Farmer

  • Chateau d’Orquevaux Artists & Writers Residency in Champagne-Ardenne, France
  • Athena Film Festival Writers Lab
  • Athena Film Festival Chinoye Chukwu Emerging Writer Award Finalist
  • The Writer’s Lab International Semifinalist
  • Nashville Film Festival Screenwriting Contest Semifinalist
  • Page International Screenwriting Awards Quarterfinalist
  • Austin Film Festival Second Rounder

Adam Lapallo

  • Launch Pad Pilot Competition Top 100
  • Austin Film Festival Second Rounder
  • UNTOUCHABLE premiere, Paladino D’Oro Sport Film Festival, Italy
  • UNTOUCHABLE, 16th BCN Sports Film Festival, Barcelona, Spain

Karen Lanning

  • Berlin International Screenwriting Festival Official Selection
  • Outstanding Screenplays TV Pilot Competition Quarterfinalist
  • 29th Annual Fade In Awards TV Pilot/Web Series Competition Grand Prize Winner
  • Page International Screenwriting Awards Quarterfinalist
  • Vail Film Festival Finalist

Paul Schutte

  • CineStory TV Contest Quarterfinalist
  • Page International Screenwriting Awards Quarterfinalist
  • Filmmatic Drama Screenplay Awards Season 10 Semifinalist

Brian Weakland

  • New York Screenplay Contest Finalist
  • Page International Screenwriting Awards Quarterfinalist
  • Official Selection in film festival Los Angeles Short Film Awards 2025

Bob Eason

  • Richmond International Film Festival Arts Institute Six-Month Fellowship Completed

Terry Gau

  • Storyknife Writers Retreat 2026 Waitlist

Third Annual VSF Short Film Showcase Highlights Winners

Barry Hite’s SAINT LINDA swept the awards at the third annual VSF Short Film Showcase held at the Ashland Theatre. Hite’s comedic film won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress awards and tied for Best Screenplay with Adam Lapallo’s Ghost Light. Bob Eason’s DEAD won Best Actor. Eric Carlson’s MAGGIE CAMPBELL, co-directed by Adam Lapallo and Rachel Weatherly Grant, won Audience Choice. Maggie Campbell is VSF’s first funded production. At the showcase, Lapallo shared the film was recently selected as an Official Selection for the Magic of Horror Film Festival in October.

 

 

The 2024 filmmaker awards were judged by Richmond’s own Calvin “Jai” Jamison. A writer/Director, Jamison was most recently an executive story editor on the CW’s Superman & Lois, where he also directed an episode. He also worked on Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kathy Nguyen Li won $500 as the grand prize winner of the First Look, First Act (FAFL) Screenwriting Contest for NGUYEN OR LOSE. The D.C.-based writer’s feature screenplay, REFUGE, placed as a Semi-Finalist in the Academy Nicholl Fellowship, is Black List Recommended, and won her placement in the Women in Film and Video (WIFV)’s Narrative Script Development Fellowship in 2023.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Runner-up Vivian Owen, who co-wrote OCCULT DETECTIVE with Patrick Alexander, also attended the presentation. Owen wrote and script supervised the post-apocalyptic horror short, The Drove, which won Best Film in the Richmond 48 Hour Horror Film Project. Owen teaches in the Cinema department at VCU School of the Arts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patrick Alexander is a screenwriter, producer, and director based in Sarasota, FL, whose work has been showcased at film festivals around the world. He is the co-founder and co-director of The John Alexander Project, a 501c3 nonprofit that produces international stories for NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Director, producer and writer Joy Kecken selected the 2024 FAFL awards, which included Honorable Mention for Debra M. Kamecke’s SUMMER OF GHOSTS. Kecken’s credits include Apple TV+’s “Swagger,” the critically acclaimed HBO series, “The Wire” and “Homicide: Life on the Street.”

Announcing The Lineup Of The 2024 VSF Short Film Showcase!

We are so incredibly proud of our members’ work this year, featuring collaborations with the NOVA Motion Picture Co-Op and the 48-Hour Film Project, as well as our first-ever in-house produced film! Join us Saturday, August 24 noon – 4p.m. at the historic Ashland Theatre to celebrate the work of these talent filmmakers!

DEAD

Dark Comedy
Written by Bob Eason
Directed by Robert Kendzie
Starring Darren Marquardt, Margot Moser, Sarbajeet Das, and Allen McRae
Produced by the Northern Virginia Motion Picture Co-Op
A man arrives at the hospital in an unusual condition.
He is, to all appearances, dead, but it will take a bit
of convincing before he’s willing to admit it.

THE NEXT GREAT WRITER

Comedy
Written and Directed by Alethea McCollin
Starring Tracy James, Chelsea Allen, Gabriel McCollin, and Jaida Brown
Darla’s spontaneous decision to become a writer is
challenged by her alter ego Marla, who mercilessly deridesher. Can Darla finally rise up and put her inner voice to rest?

 


 

SAINT LINDA

Mockumentary
Written by Barry Hite
Directed by Jeff Hadick
Starring Emma Pope and Milo the Corgi
What does it mean to be a dog person?

GHOST LIGHT

Horror
Written and Directed by Adam Lapallo
Starring Ashley Thompson, Sarbajeet Das, and Lisa Edmondson.
Produced by Fourth Floor Films
Two actors staying late after rehearsals run afoul of the Arcadia Theatre’s oldest folktale. Made as part of the 2023 Richmond 48 Hour Horror Film Project.

NACHA MAMA
Experimental Comedy
Written and Directed by Rachel Weatherly
Starring Summer McCarley and Jackson Grant
A seasoned stepmother walks the viewer through
the complexities of life as a bonus parent in a series
of tableaus.

PATHWAYS
Sci-Fi Drama
Directed by Kristofer Haase
Written by Kristofer Haase and Michael Ivey
Starring Sarbjaeet Das, Tom Fields, and Gemma Davimes
When Sarbajeet visits a neurotech clinic, he must face
his innermost demons on his journey to recovery. Made
as part of the 2024 Richmond 48-Hour Film Project.

YOU’VE BEEN SERVED

Drama
Written and Directed by Adam Lapallo
Starring Ashley Thompson, Erin Stanley, Terry Menefee Gau, and David Patrick Whittle.
The table is turned on two backstabbing coworkers. 

MAGGIE CAMPBELL
Thriller, Mystery
Directed by Adam Lapallo and Rachel Weatherly
Written by Eric Carlson
Starring Aaron Grant, Terry Menefee Gau, Tricia Hawn, and Sarbajeet Das
Produced by the Virginia Screenwriters Forum
A murdered woman’s spirit, seeking retribution,
confronts her killer when he returns to the scene of
his crime.

The Third Annual “First Act, First Look” Screenwriting Contest is Open for Submissions!

Film and Television Director Joy Kecken will serve as a guest judge for the Virginia Screenwriters Forum’s (VSF) third annual First Act, First Look Screenplay Contest, which is hosted on Filmfreeway.com from April 1 through May 31.A show runner, producer and librettist, as well as a playwright, Kecken has worked in television productions, films and documentaries for over 20 years. She has written and directed for the critically acclaimed HBO series, THE WIRE and served as an executive producer on Apple+’s SWAGGER. As a consulting producer she has worked with some of the team from SWAGGERon the upcoming Nat Geo’s Genius series for the MLK/X season. She also served as a co-executive producer on FX’s KINDRED. Kecken’s feature, ALL-IN, is in development with Maven Pictures.

Her additional writing credits include MOTHERLAND: FORT SALEM, MARVEL’S CLOAK AND DAGGER and HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET. Kecken’s shorts and feature documentary that she wrote and co-directed screened at over 30 film festivals and appeared on Showtime and BET. “VSF is elated and honored to have a judge of Joy’s stature,” said Robin Farmer, VSF director. “Our contest is increasingly attracting talented writers near and far. In 2023, we had a submission from a Scotland-based screenwriter.” A $500 cash prize will be presented to the Grand Prize Winner at the 2024 VSF Short Film Showcase at the Ashland Theatre, Saturday, August 24, noon to 4 p.m. The showcase is free.

SUBMIT HERE

Congrats to VSF’s 2024 Contest Winners!

VSF is celebrating another commendable year of our members winning screenwriting contests, fellowships and residencies as well as official film festival selections and awards. Please join us in congratulating the talented writers of the VSF:

Robin Farmer

  • Awarded a 2025 Château d’Orquevaux Artists & Writers Residency in Champagne-Ardenne, France.
  • Awarded a Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) residency
  • Selected by Women in Film & Video for an eight-month Narrative Script Development Fellowship
  • Academy Nicholl Fellowship Quarter-Finalist
  • Athena Film Festival Writers Lab
  • Short screenplay on the United Kingdom Film Festival’s Best 3 Minute Script Longlist
  • PAGE Screenwriting Contest Feature Screenplay Semifinalist
  • The Writer’s Lab Feature Screenplay Quarterfinalist

Adam Lapallo

  • Launch Pad Feature Competition Top 50
  • Atlanta Film Festival Quarterfinalist
  • ScreenCraft Spring Film Fund Semifinalist
  • Filmmatic Screenplay Horror Awards Quarterfinalist
  • Horrific Hope Film Festival Official Selection (short film)
  • Indie Short Film Festival Official Selection (short film)
  • Fredericksburg Film Festival Official Selection (short film)
  • Richmond International Film Festival Official Selection (short film)

Rachel Weatherly

  • Launch Pad Feature Competition Top 50
  • Indie Short Film Festival Official Selection (short film)
  • Awesome Con Film Festival Official Selection (short film)

Terry Menefee Gau

  • Ocean City Film Festival Official Selection (short film)
  • Indie Short Film Festival Official Selection (short film)
  • Richmond International Film Festival Official Selection (short film)

Bob Eason

  • Selected Script from the VSF Producer’s Pitch Day, to be produced by the Northern Virginia Motion Picture Co-Op in 2024
  • Richmond International Film Festival Feature Screenplay Semifinalist

Karen Lanning

  • Richmond International Film Festival Short Screenplay Top Official Selection
  • Fade In Awards TV Pilot/Web Series Semifinalist
  • Finish Line Script Competition Honorable Mention (2)

Vicky Dupuis

  • Frights! Camera! Action! Horror Screenplay Contest Honorable Mention

Kristofer Haase

  • Chicago Short Film Festival Finalist (short film)
  • Independent Shorts Awards Best Thriller Short Nominee (short film)
  • NY Shorts Official Selection
  • LA Thrillers Official Selection

Eric Carlson

  • Richmond International Film Festival Short Screenplay Top Official Selection

David Patrick Wittle

  • Richmond International Film Festival Feature Screenplay Quarterfinalist

Paul Schutte

  • CineStory Feature Screenplay Semifinalist

 

 

VSF Celebrates the Holidays With Our First-Ever Producer Pitch Session!


It was a wonderful time at VSF’s year-end Holiday Party! Members participated in a potluck and a three-page Feedback Frenzy. VSF capped off the event with our first-ever pitch session, where writers pitched their short screenplays to a panel of indie film producers for the chance to have their scripts produced in 2024. It’s an exciting time to be a screenwriter in Virginia!


Congrats to (L to R) Adam Lapallo, Robin Farmer, and Eric Carlson for being voted the top scripts of Feedback Frenzy! Eric took third, Adam took second, and Robin was the grand prize winner.