2023 Winners

2023 Screenplay Winners

Please note that selection of any and all published winners is at the sole discretion of the Garden State Film Festival (“GSFF”) judging panel. The GSFF reserves the right to select or not select a “winner” or award for any particular category in a given year and are under no obligation to do so.  By participating in the GSFF, the participant acknowledges this disclaimer and waives his/her/their right to contest any decision by the judging panel to award or not award in a category.

This event is sponsored in part by:

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FEATURE WINNER:

Curly's Camp for Girls (and Boys)

Written by Kelly A. Byrne

Kelly Byrne is a writer from New Jersey, where half of New York’s talent is actually from.  

She started writing after she realized playing sports competitively meant a lot of running and kept writing after she won a summer camp award for writing and directing a short film. She later won the thesis prize at Princeton University for outstanding work on an original screenplay about a penny discovering her self-worth. 

She lives in Los Angeles where she has worked as a director’s assistant on such classics as “The Curse of Llorona” and “Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn” - and spent two years working in development at Amazon Studios.   

Now a student at the Stark Producing Program at USC, she spends her spare time writing for kids and family audiences to give them the great comedies they deserve, while asking the tough and sometimes ambiguous questions of what it means to grow up.

Synopsis: While during the school 14-year-old Seth is a bit of a nerd, at camp he’s a god. Only this year, his realm has merged with the girl’s camp. Determined to keep the status quo, Seth risks the only friends he's ever known for a summer of hijinks and games.

Short Screenplay Winner:

Ablaze

Written by Jenny Goddard-Garcia

Jenny Goddard-Garcia spent the first half of her career making short films while working in production, mainly as an Assistant Director, on indie feature films and music videos in Austin, TX. I have written, directed, and produced three of my own short films. In addition, she has produced numerous shorts and one feature with amazing collaborators.  Having relocated to Los Angeles to focus entirely on her writing career, she is enjoying getting to know the city. Big congrats Jenny on your win!

 
Synopsis: Born into a society that punishes the different, eighteen-year-old Kalinda struggles to maintain her secret ability to breathe flames, as a chance encounter with a group of amateur fire dancers tempts her to risk living a life that burns brightly.

Movie Music Winners

MOVIE MUSIC COMPETITION PLAYLIST

Best Retro Song
Back to 1964
Composer: Philip Curcuru
Performed by: The Atomik Age Project

Best Pop Song
Disconnected
Composers: Krysta Youngs, Julia Sinclair 
Performed by: Krysta Youngs 

Best Movie Theme
Foreboding
Composer: Beverly Cole Putnam
Performed by: Vitor Gonçalves

Best Blue Grass Song
Departure
Composer: Eric Elterman and Kensuke Shoji
Performed by: Kensuke Shoji and Eric Elterman

Best Vocals in a Home Grown Score
Cici’s Sonata – Music Score
Composers: Edward B. Kessel
Performed by: Edward B. Kessel

Best Score from a Short
A Sunny Lovely Day
Composer: Alberto Anaya
Performed by: Alberto Anaya

Best Orchestral Score from an Animation
The Last Cloudweaver
Composer: Ros Gilman
Performed by:  Ros Gilman, Prague Metropolitan Orchestra

Best Country Song
Night Skies
Composer: Matthew Hackett & Husayn Ruhe aka the Puge
Performed by: Matthew Hackett & Husayn Ruhe aka the Puge

Best Theme from a Documentary
Songs of Little Saigon
Composer: Sid De La Cruz
Performed by: Tina Huynh, Jason Nguyen, Elizabeth Le, Minh Nguyen. Conducted by Sid De La Cruz

2022 ACTOR NOMINATIONS

BEST ACTOR IN A FEATURE

Jerry H. Sroka – Our almost completely true STORY

Ben Begley – Fourth Grade

Aaron Monaghan – Redemption of a Rogue

 

BEST ACTRESS IN A FEATURE

Miya Cech – Marvelous and the Black Hole

Mariette Hartley – Our almost completely true STORY

Mena Suvari – Fourth Grade

Aisling O’Mara – Redemption of a Rogue

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A FEATURE

Peter MacNicol – Our almost completely true STORY

William Baldwin – Fourth Grade

Kieran Roche – Redemption of a Rogue

Leonardo Nam – Marvelous and the Black Hole

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A FEATURE

Morgan Fairchild – Our almost completely true STORY

Teri Polo – Fourth Grade

Liz Fitzgibbon – Redemption of a Rogue

Rhea Pearlman – Marvelous and the Black Hole

 

BEST ENSEMBLE (FEATURE)

Redemption of a Rogue

Fourth Grade

Our almost completely true STORY

Marvelous and the Black Hole

  

BEST ACTOR IN A SHORT

Timothy Hornor – Bernard Checks In

Ian Morrison – Parrot 

Lucca De Oliveira – You’re Now Beyond Hope, Arizona

Xander Berkeley – The Little Drummer Boy

Robin Lord Taylor – Skeletons

Tosin Morohunfola – Ride

Brian Keane – Matthew

 

BEST ACTRESS IN A SHORT

Anna Camp – GraceLand

Lainie Ventura – En Suite

Bonnie McKee – April Kills the Vibe

Karlijn Koel – Game Über

Katie Vincent – HomeBound

Jameelah Nurridin – Aftermath

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A SHORT

Conner Marx – Bernard Checks In

Daniel Nguyen – April Kills the Vibe

Geordie Kieffer – You’re Now Beyond Hope, Arizona

Michael Graziadei – The Little Drummer Boy

Ezra Knight – Matthew

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A SHORT

Ashley Platz – Bernard Checks In

Elyse MIrto – You’re Now Beyond Hope, Arizona

Scarlett Lewis – Operation: Cavity

Louisa Erlich – Matthew

Eileen Davidson – Aftermath