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Virginia Film Office Announces 2003 Governor's Screenwriting Competition Winners

The Virginia Film Office announced the four winners of the twelfth Governor's Screenwriting Competition. They are Robert Davenport of Alexandria, Eugene Harris and Megan Holley of Richmond and Ivor Noel-Hume of Williamsburg.

The Governor’s Screenwriting Competition was created to celebrate the accomplishments of Virginia writers, as well as to promote the future of filmmaking in Virginia. It provides screenwriters with a forum for their work and an opportunity to present their scripts to decision-makers in the film industry. Each writer submits a full length screenplay or television script to be evaluated by a panel of Virginia judges. Finalists from the first round of judging are then sent on to a second panel comprised of active professionals in the film or television industry.

Robert Davenport attended high school in England, followed by Middlebury College and a stint as a Navy pilot. He then took a law degree and earned his MBA form Harvard Business School. He has held a succession of creative and business affairs positions at various entertainment companies including Twentieth Century-Fox, CBS, Viacom, and New World Pictures. His screenplay, “The Six Court Martials of Uriah Levy, chronicles the rocky military career of America’s first Jewish officer who rose to the highest rank in the United States Navy, despite simmering anti-Semitism and his own arrogant and self-destructive behavior. It’s a humorous look at a man who even today holds the distinction of being the most court-martialed officer in U.S. military history.

Gene Harris grew up in Virginia and lived in the Richmond area from the age of two. He graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in Communication Arts and has worked in the television and video production business ever since. He is currently a writer, producer and director for Metro Productions, a film, video, and interactive media production company based in Hampton, with offices and production facilities in Richmond. “Lost Time” tells the story of Barton Bishop, a cynical and self-hating man, who accidentally injures a black woman while driving to his graveyard-shift factory job. The woman is found to be a slave from the family’s ancestral plantation who has somehow been transported through time to the present.

Megan Holley is a writer, director and editor based in Richmond. She has worked for six years as an editor on both commercial and corporate projects. Megan’s first feature film, “The Snowflake Crusade,” was completed in 2002. The Sci-Fi drama has screened at festivals across the country including last year’s Virginia Film Festival. Her films have won numerous awards including “Best of Show” for the Rosebud Film Festival and the Colossal Film Festival, and “Best Short” at US Super 8 Film Festival. “Sunshine Cleaning” is the story of Rose who, desperate for money and respect, enters the grisly but lucrative industry of crime scene cleaning with her sister. As she scrubs away the imprint of death she discovers what is important in life.

Ivor Noel-Hume was born in England and prefers to be called Noel. In England, he graduated from college and had a short military career with the Indian Army. He worked for many years as a stage manager before joining the Guildhall Museum in London as post-war rescue archaeologist for the city of London. He came to Virginia to head the department of archaeology at the College of Williams and Mary where he held a variety of positions until his semi-retirement in 1985. In 1992 he was made Officer of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth in recognition of British cultural services in Virginia. He has published 15 non-fiction and two fiction books and recently turned the script of “Civilized Men” into a novel. In his screenplay, the English land on an island in Virginia's Great River in April, 1607, and name it Jamestown. But dissention among the colonists' leaders, coupled with sickness, shortages of food, and disputes with the Native Americans they called "savages,” soon had the settlement at the brink of failure.

Eighty-five screenplays were submitted to the competition and twelve finalists were selected to go to the second round of judging. In addition to the winners, the finalists were: T.K. Elmore (Blacksburg), Kedijah Iman Vidal (Richmond), Diane Rhodes-Michaely (Herndon). Judith A. Bird (Forest), Christopher Cunningham (Virginia Beach), Tom Randolph (White Planes) Brian C. Baker (Sterling) and Carole Bellacera (Manassas).

The Governor’s Screenwriting Competition is held annually and is open to Virginia residents. The majority of the script must take place in Virginia or at locations which could reasonably be found in Virginia. For further information on the competition contact the Film Office at (800) 854-6233, or visit the Film Office website at www.film.virginia.org.

WINNERS

Civilized Men
Ivor Noel-Hume
Williamsburg

The English landed on an island in Virginia's Great River in April, 1607, and called it Jamestown. But dissention among the colonists' leaders, coupled with sickness, shortages of food, and disputes with the Native Americans they called "savages,” soon had the settlement at the brink of failure. In the frigid winter of 1609-1610 that came to be known as the "starving time,” the survivors would have voted to go home had there been ships to take them.

Lost Time
GeneHarris
Richmond

Barton Bishop, a cynical and self-hating man, accidentally injures a black woman while driving in his graveyard-shift factory job. Barton and his sometime girlfriend Liz, his father, and his teenage daughter determine that the woman, Emma, is a slave from the family's ancestral plantation who somehow has been transported through time to the present. At the insistence of his father and daughter, Barton begrudgingly begins to help Emma find out what became of her children and descendants and to help her acclimate to the 21st century. In doing so, he starts to rediscover purpose in his own life. But the people who accidentally transported Emma forward through time have other plans for her…

Six Court Martials of Uriah Levy
Robert Davenport
Alexandria

“The Six Court Martials of Uriah Levy” chronicles the rocky military career of America's first Jewish officer. Uriah Levy rose to the highest rank in the United States Navy, despite simmering anti-Semitism and his own arrogant and self- destructive behavior. It's a humorous look at a man who even today holds the distinction of being the most court-martialed officer in US military history

Sunshine Cleaning
Megan Holley
Richmond

Rose Lorkowski is unmarried at the edge of thirty, cleaning houses to provide for her young son and settling for scraps of affection from another woman’s husband. This is not what she ever imagined for herself. Desperate to change the trajectory of her life, Rose quits her job and, along with her sister, enters the grisly but lucrative industry of crime scene cleaning. As the two scrub away the residue of death they discover what is truly important in life.

Updated: 12/18/2003

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