FMS Students Serve as First Readers for the 2020 Baltimore Screenwriters Competition

FMS Students Serve as First Readers for the 2020 Baltimore Screenwriters Competition Again this year, FMS students contributed to Baltimore’s film arts culture by providing script coverage for the Baltimore Screenwriters Competition, sponsored by the Baltimore Office for Promotion and the Arts. Winners will be announced Saturday, May 2 during the Maryland Film Festival.

Under the supervision of FMS Senior Lecturer Lucy Bucknell, three seniors provided coverage of features for the 2020 competition. Here’s what they had to say about their experience:

 Cristina Fernandez, Class of 2021 It was such an honor to be a reader for the Baltimore Screenwriters Competition this year. I was really impressed by the quality of the work I read. It was a great opportunity to read and think critically about stories that I wouldn’t have experienced otherwise. I’ve been doing similar work writing script coverage for an internship, but reading local stories from local writers was uniquely exciting. It was incredible to see the breadth of creativity in the submissions and read through some wonderful Baltimore stories by Baltimore writers.

Katherine Paul, Class of 2020 As a senior Film and Media Studies major, it was exciting to get the opportunity to read and cover competition scripts. While it was my first time covering screenplays, it will certainly not be the last, because doing this made me think a lot more constructively and critically when it comes to writing and reading. This made the experience highly engaging and enjoyable. More importantly, the scripts that I had the pleasure of reading are strikingly memorable, and each work breathes life into the city which made me reflect on the city of Baltimore. I’m thankful to have had the chance to do this for sure!

Eric Yoo, Class of 2020 I was grateful for the opportunity to read for the Baltimore Screenwriters Competition, and enjoyed being able to read screenplays that related to the local community. I was introduced to fresh and creative voices during the process, and it was genuinely interesting just to get a feel for what some local writers are doing. I had a fun time reading the pieces, and critiquing feature length scripts was a new experience for me.