We are happy to present here — 10 screenplays of various genres for this very first list.
We’re proud of our gender balance, with People of Color being the majority of writers— 2 Black women, 2 LatinX/Chicano/Hispanic people, 2 Asian American women (one Southeast Asian American), and a handful of Caucasian Texans.
Thank you for taking a look!
LONE STAR FAMILY
Drama TV Series
by Cynthia Reid
Logline:
As old secrets emerge and their cherished Texas ranch teeters on the brink of a hostile takeover, a revered HBCU football coach and his proud cowboy family find themselves tangled in shadowy rivalries and contested ancestral claims. Pressured by unexpected offers and the whispers of hidden agendas, the Thompsons must unite—or risk seeing their legacy slip through their hands forever.
Background:
Set in contemporary Houston, Texas, LONE STAR FAMILY is a multi-generational drama steeped in Black cowboy heritage and the time-honored traditions of Woodson University—an HBCU renowned for producing athletes, including Coach Mark “Coach T” Thompson, his father and grandfather before him. The Thompson family—descendants of one of the town’s Black cowboy founders—grapples with ancestral claims, shifting alliances, and high-stakes offers that threaten the very land they’ve fought to protect. Now at the helm of Woodson’s football program, Mark must weigh the allure of a lucrative but dubious outside offer against his commitment to a legacy built on pride, perseverance, and community. At the family ranch, Ern, the resolute matriarch, strives to safeguard their ancestral stables and land amid old claims, suspicious visitors, and fading trust.
Within this tight-knit family, Monica, Mark’s devoted wife, battles a mounting health crisis, while their children— Ralston, a rising quarterback, and Ava, a budding equestrian struggle with the weight of their lineage. Cynthia, returning home after a bitter divorce, rekindles long-standing tensions with her brother Onyx, who never left the area but chafes under the family name’s heavy expectations. As each generation faces moral compromises and whispered conspiracies, the Thompsons must stand together or risk losing the heart of who they are.
Writer:
Cynthia is a former entertainment writer who has contributed to digital platforms such as Shadow & Act and JET magazine. When she’s not brainstorming her next writing venture, she immerses herself in researching the rich Black cowboy culture of Texas, broadening her understanding of historical legacies that deserve greater visibility. As an avid traveler, she’s seen firsthand how television shapes perceptions of Black American lifestyles, and she’s committed to creating and supporting narratives that foster positive change and inclusivity in our media landscape.
BITS AND PIECES
Road-Trip Comedy Feature
by Lindsay Stidham
Logline:
Best friends George and Jasmine are stuck in a rut in love and money. George is a top-seller for “Sen-Say,” an MLM that promises you can “make cents with scents.” After winning a trip to their national convention, he convinces Jasmine to come for a much-needed escape. A vacation of a lifetime takes a turn for the worse when they discover a dismembered penis in a cooler. Soon the dick in the box blows their lives wide open.
Background:
Set on the road from Folsom to Austin, BITS AND PIECES embraces and honors great Southwestern road trip movies such as the deep friendship of THELMA AND LOUISE and the self-discovery of PARIS, TEXAS. Meanwhile BITS AND PIECES is wholly its own story- focusing on the best friendship of GEORGE- a big-hearted naive gay man with a love of sales, and JASMINE- and a gregarious clear-eyed pregnant woman in desperate need of hope for her baby’s future.
George wins a trip to the Sen-say showdown- a convention for those with a record of success selling candles in a multi-level marketing scheme of a candle company. George and Jasmine set-off for the convention, but after discovering the cooler penis, soon find themselves mixed up in the too hot to handle throes of Fire Level saleswomen, some lovelorn cops just discovering their sexuality, and George’s pyromaniac of an ex-boyfriend, along with Jasmine’s Big Tex loving boyfriend ready to right any wrongs with his 500 steak knife.
While Jasmine and George may have long felt like fish out of water in their hometown, they are also proud products of Texas knowing that their dreams and hearts may never have grown quite so big anywhere else. As they attempt to return the wayward pocket rocket, their bond becomes even closer while they contemplate how to move their lives forward. With authorities and rivals closing in, they wonder how to improve their lives in their home state, and if one of them may finally have to look beyond the horizon.
Writer:
Lindsay holds an MFA in screenwriting from the American Film Institute. She has overseen two scripts from script to screen as writer/ producer: SPOONER starring Matthew Lillard (SLAMDANCE) and DOUCHEBAG (SUNDANCE) both released theatrically. Lindsay has also previously developed a pilot about the world of high school marching band with Disney and developed and taught classes for USC, Sundance, and Disney development execs. Lindsay is currently developing several darkly comedic female-driven stories inspired by true stories. She fell hard for Texas when falling in love with a guy with roots in San Antonio, and she intentionally partnered with talented independent producer Independence Hall who has roots in Dallas. Neon Heart Productions has partnered with Lindsay and Independence to continue the development of the script ensuring the Texas roots and world were expanded throughout the story.
DEVOTION
Horror Feature
by Shana L. Darabie
Logline:
An overextended popular girl finds her true inner self after joining a secretive cult leading to murderous consequences that will change her life and the lives around her forever.
Background, Writer’s Statement:
I initially developed an interest in cults when after the Heaven’s Gate cult suicides, one of my mother’s Panamanian friends made an offhand comment about “that place in Guyana.” Jonestown. It was insane that a group of people could take their lives and others because some charismatic leader told them to.
I’d had this story in my head for years but didn’t know how I wanted to approach it until I saw a PBS documentary about the early days of the People’s Temple. The church sounded so amazing. A socially involved integrated church with political beliefs that lined up with my own. I’m not even religious, in spite of what my major in Religious Studies would have you think, yet I found myself intrigued even though I knew the horrifying end to come. That was the moment I realized how someone could so easily get wrapped up in something so terrifying…
Writer:
The daughter of Trinidadian immigrants, Shana is a former fashion designer turned filmmaker based in Brooklyn, New York who grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. Previously, Shana worked in post-production doing motion graphics for commercials and television. In 2021, she was awarded the Devery Freeman Memorial Award for Screenwriting for her sci-fi/horror feature FACSIMILE. In 2023, her sci-fi pilot CLONES was a Circle of Confusion Writer Discovery Fellowship Finalist and her sci-fi/action feature SUPERVILLAINOUS was a WGAe and FilmNation NY Screenwriting Fellowship Finalist. In 2024, SUPERVILLAINOUS was also a Semifinalist for both The Writers Lab and Almanack Screenwriters October Colony.
Shana currently works as a Development Associate at the Department of Motion Pictures. She has written, directed and/or produced several commercials and shorts with plans to make her debut feature in the very near future. In her free time, Shana volunteers with Hollenback Community Garden and Books Through Bars.
Other stories of Shana’s that could be filmed in Texas: HARMONY HOUSE
DAUGHTERS LOST TO THE DESERT
Drama / Thriller Feature
by April M. Sánchez
Repped by: James Smith at Aaron Kogan Management
Logline:
A temperamental mother seeks justice for her youngest daughter’s murder amidst systemic corruption and accusations of being a murderous vigilante herself, which causes tension in the relationship with her surviving daughter.
Background, Writer’s Statement:
DAUGHTERS LOST TO THE DESERT is inspired by the true-life murders of hundreds of Mexican women and their families who speak out against systemic justice. Many of the women worked in factories a few miles away from where I grew up. The murders were gruesome. The killers were never brought to justice, and it left a lasting impact on me. I didn’t want these women to be forgotten so I decided to share their stories, and re-write many of their endings. I am making this movie in recognition of the women of Juarez.
Writer:
April M. Sánchez was born and raised on the US/Mexico border in El Paso, TX. Growing up in a bi-cultural city has inspired her stories, which often reflect the beauty, wonder, and traditional elements of border town culture. April was recently in development with a company who has an overall deal at Netflix on a whimsical TV series inspired by her childhood as an American born Latina growing up on the border.
April holds a bachelor’s degree in Screenwriting and a Latino Media Studies certification from UT Austin. Her scripts have made their way to the finalist round in the Sundance Screenwriters and Episodic Labs, as well as the Universal Writers Lab. She has been a Semi-Finalist in The Academy Nicholl Fellowship, PAGE awards, and the Screencraft fellowship, amongst others. She was a fellow and participant in the NALIP screenwriting lab, the Athena TV & Film screenwriting lab, Stowe Story Labs, and the NHMC TV Series Writers Lab.
In addition to screenwriting, April is a course advisor for the Sundance Collab course, Screenwriting: Core Element, taught by Trey Ellis. She is represented by James Smith with Aaron Kogan Management.
THE TRICKSTER AND THE DEMON
Horror Feature
by April M. Sánchez
Logline:
A con artist desperate to exorcise a demon from her brother’s body, without the help of the church she has defrauded, looks to a witch for guidance on battling these dark forces.
Background:
All over the world people believe in the existence of evil entities and some form of evil energy and demonic presences. Cultures and religions the world over have people and methods for expelling these evil entities that they’ve used for hundreds of years or more. However, in western media, the portrayal of expelling evil has been mostly shown through the lens of Catholicism and Christian exorcists.
This story flips the notion of exorcisms on its head by removing the option of help from the church and having the protagonist seek aid from someone usually seen as ‘evil’ themselves. This story is a fresh, new perspective on an established sub-genre of horror.
DOH-NUTZ
Comedy Pilot
by Marsha Song
Repped by: Avery Management
Logline:
When an ambitious commercial developer targets a small Texas town for her automation project, she is forced to navigate their dysfunctional culture to succeed.
Background:
The comedy pilot Doh-nutz is a fictional story set in the rural town of Welfare, TX. Inspired by true events, it follows the journey of the savvy and sexy Saja Doh, a commercial developer from Manhattan who has set her sights on Texas where the land is cheap and tax incentives are given freely like water. What she expected would be a standard development process is threatened when the town pushes back with their own demands. And what they want is a donut shop, the very thing she plans to eliminate.
Like any small town, resources are limited and the infrastructure is not updated. This creates conflict within the town and for Saja who is ready to start construction. Between an incompetent Mayor, hopeless City Council, nosey citizens, and controlling rich families, Saja has more than her share of headaches where it’s always two steps forward and three steps back.
Writer:
Marsha lives in Houston, TX, also known as God’s country. Her background in corporate sales and marketing and traveling overseas inspire many of her characters and stories not often seen on screen.
She co-wrote a dark comedy that was produced and is currently being submitted to festivals. Her next project is a horror thriller short where she will write and direct in Los Angeles. She also writes music and plays piano and guitar. One day she hopes to incorporate her music onto the screen.
“Fall in Love, Not in Line”
Historical Drama / Event Feature
by Thuc Doan Nguyen
Repped by: Vivek Kolli at LINK, Zach Stein at Granderson Des Rochers
Logline:
When the lynch pins of the Haymarket Affair are arrested after a bomb goes off during a labor rights protest (aka The Haymarket “Riot”), they must prove their innocence.
Background:
Parsons is a true “hidden history” story about Lucy and Albert Parsons of Waco, Texas. They are said to have been a married interracial couple before the Lovings of Virginia. Together they incited a class war on a massive scale in the United States over 150 years ago. This story has quite a few parallels to the story of Luigi Mangione and the effect he’s had on the populace lately. Lucy and Albert’s associate Louis Lingg was the Mangione of his time— a globally known jailed “outlaw” heartthrob.
The story begins in Waco and simultaneously in Germany, as we follow the lives of a young Albert, Lucy and those of the people who would grow up to become German immigrant labor leader activists in Chicago, Illinois.
Writer:
Now-a-days you can more often than not find Thuc (sounds like “Tope”) wandering the literal natural watering holes of the Hill Country between Austin and Waco, with her trusty hound aka Super Senior Dog Bea. Their human parents acquired a homestead in Georgetown, Texas.
Thuc was influenced by seeing the “Live by the Bomb, Die by the Bomb” woman (Concepcion Picciotto) outside the White House on her childhood field-trips. Protest culture began to capture Thuc’s attention. Thuc also spent time volunteering at a hospice growing up and protesting to get bicycle lanes in Chapel Hill, NC as a young teenager. She then helped with Labor Ready ex-inmates at warehouses in Vernon, California. She’s also been part of global large scale protests such as Occupy and Standing Rock.
Other Thuc stories that could be filmed in Texas: MASH UP, HAG STONE and WELL…
https://consideratecontent.com/
GHOST CREEK, TX
by Sergio Enrique and Jay Howard Thames
Repped by: Ryan Saul, The Cartel
Logline:
An orphaned 14 year old boy sets out to rescue his best friend and uncover the truth about the ghost of Elizabeth Johnson, a force that has haunted his family and town for over 60 years. A true story.
Background:
Anyone who grew up in Lost Creek, Texas was terrified by the legend of Elizabeth Johnson and Stoneridge Road. The story was pervasive — a constant like the Texas heat. It riveted the young and adults alike, even to this day, and for some, like Sergio “Dezi” Enrique, it was more than just a cautionary tale or a bedtime story that parents used to keep their children in line. Sergio was obsessed with the story and would recount with friends, family, even strangers — poring over in great detail what he knew about the legend. He would rehash old facts while uncovering new ones.
And as Sergio grew — so did the legend. Until the story of Elizabeth Johnson became more than a fascination, she became a fixation, and after 10 years of living it, the legend finally got the better of Sergio. He and three of his friends had to see for themselves what would happen if they were fortunate (or crazy) enough to catch a glimpse of the ghost of Elizabeth Johnson — to finally find out if she was real, just an old wives tale, or part of the town’s collective imagination.
So, one night in late Summer Sergio and his gang tempted their fate and walked Stoneridge Road, the place where the ghost of Elizabeth haunted the locals and tourists alike. It took everything they had to step onto the road and into the pitch-black Texas night. And what they found was astonishing, horrifying, and more life affirming than can be put into words.
That’s why, in many ways, this project means more to Sergio (the co-author) than any other he’ll ever work on. It’s the truth. Sergio’s truth. Without it he wouldn’t be the man he is today. He wouldn’t know why he was so fixated, and the story of Elizabeth Johnson was so personal to him. And without that knowledge, life itself would mean less. Much less. And he owes it all to a deceased girl named Elizabeth Johnson.
BOOM TOWN — aka TEXAS CITY
Historical Drama / Event Feature
by Jay Howard Thames
Repped by: Ryan Saul, The Cartel
Logline:
Three everyday Americans set out to reunite with their loved ones, save lives and salvage Texas City when a nuclear sized explosion destroys the town and kills over 600 people — and another one is set to occur in less than six hours. This is a true story.
Background, Writer’s Statement:
This is the first hand account of my Grandfather, Jesse Thames, one of the heroic survivors — and everyday Americans — who overcame nearly insurmountable odds to save their community, rescue their families and protect their town during the largest man made disaster the United States has ever experienced on April 16, 1947. While the event is not widely known — it was caused by a massive explosion of Ammonium Nitrate, manufactured and shipped by Monsanto to re-sod the bombed-out fields of France after WWII — it remains relevant to this very day as an egregious example of corporate greed and malfeasance on the deadliest of scales.
THE DO-RIGHT
Drama Feature
by Katie Cokinos
Logline:
After serving hard time for murder, a parolee seeks a fresh start though haunted by her past and unexpectedly imperiled working for a neophyte private investigator.
Background:
The arrival of summer in 1973 brought mixed tidings for America. The Vietnam War was over, Hank Aaron chased Babe Ruth’s record while the Watergate hearings on TV revealed the moral squalor of Richard Nixon and his minions. Down in the East Texas port city of Beaumont, oil flowed, and money changed hands as per usual. This is the setting for The Do-Right.
Back in 1959, 19-year-old Delpha Wade killed a man who raped her. She tried to kill the other one too, but he got away. Now she’s out, seasoned by fourteen years in the Do-Right (Southern slang for prison). Nobody’s rushing to hire a parolee. Persistence and smarts land her a secretarial job with Tom Phelan, a Vietnam Vet and ex-roughneck turned private eye who’s read too many detective novels. Together these two pry into the dark corners of Beaumont, where the Piney Woods of East Texas meet Cajun Louisiana, a bustling town dominated by Big Oil.
A mysterious client plots mayhem against a small petrochemical company – why? And Delpha finds herself looking into the eyes of her rapist, the one who got away.
The novelist Lisa Sandlin, author of The Do-Right, was born and raised in Beaumont Texas a few years before myself. My Dad was a wildcatter and I spent my youth driving the byways of the Golden Triangle – Orange, Port Arthur and Beaumont – where oil wells, refineries and bayous dominated the landscape. The Do-Right follows Delpha into this world. We see her begin life again while the trouble in her past – the fist in her belly – tries to hold her back. Faced with a changed world on the outside, only a few shreds of hope and the fear of going back to prison quell Delpha’s raw emotions. She knows fear and anger are poisonous, but can she replace them with emotions that sustain life?
Writer:
Katie Cokinos began her thirty-year career in films as an administrative assistant at the legendary media arts organization, Southwest Alternate Media Project (1988 – 1990). There she produced Eagle Pennell’s independent film, Heart Full of Soul (1990). Managing Director of the Austin Film Society (1990-1995) and the first publicist for Richard Linklater’s Slacker (1990). She wrote, directed and starred in the featurette Portrait of a Girl as a Young Cat, (2000, 60 mins.), premiered at SXSW. Katie wrote and directed the coming-of-age feature film, I Dream Too Much, (2016, 90 mins.), starring Diane Ladd, Eden Brolin and Danielle Brooks which premiered at SXSW, distributed by The Orchard, bought by Netflix.
Katie also co-wrote, directed, with poet Guy Reed, How the World Looks Now, (2018, 11 mins.) about Apollo 8 and the impact the Earthrise photo had on the world and they also co-directed, produced, Water Keeps Time, (2021, 30 mins.) a documentary about the lower Esopus Creek. Presently Katie is working on her latest feature, The Do-Right, a drama set in her hometown of Beaumont Texas. She is the Senior Programmer at Upstate Films, Orpheum Theater and founder and curator of the Saugerties Film Society.
RUNNING ON EMPTY
Drama Feature
by Jon Bangle
Logline:
When a runner in the twilight of his career loses his sponsorship, he is forced to face his estranged family as well as himself to keep his life from falling apart.
Background, Writer’s Statement:
After Billy Trenner is forced to leave his comfortable pro-athlete life, he has no choice but to move back home. The visual transition of lush mountains to a small, western Texas town is a strong element to Billy’s journey, working as a metaphor for his plight: no distractions and nothing to hide behind.
Billy is partially based on my late uncle (David) who lived in Rowlett, Texas outside of Dallas. He moved there from Wisconsin when he was in his mid 20’s and never looked back. As with Billy, he lived a solitary life.
Writer:
Jon lives the classic/stereotypical Los Angeles life: waiting tables to pay the bills and using the rest of any free time doing anything he can in the entertainment industry. He moved west as an actor but after creating a film festival at his restaurant of employment, he added writer, producer and director to his list of accolades, making 28 short films in three years.
The Texas List 