The Nashville Film Festival’s Screenwriting Competition is underway with Has Been Beauty Queen, a script co-written by alumna Jennifer Gerber '13, reaching the final round in the Feature Film section of the festival. Winners will be announced in the week of October 1 to October 7 when the festival has its virtual run.
Gerber’s semi-autobiographical story is about growing up in the South as a teenage beauty queen with a bipolar mother. She is also set to direct the project.
Earlier this month, one additional alumnus was announced to have reached the semifinals of the Pilot competition of the festival. Welcome to Wonderland, written by alumnus Bam Johnson '19, tells the story of a swampland homicide that launches a spiraling investigation unearthing dark secrets embedded in a celebrated, small-town theme park.
Alumni Eric Unverzagt '17 (Red Eye) and Patrick Clement '20 (Pray for Rain and Sun) also competed in the Feature Film section of the competition and reached the quarterfinals earlier this month. Clement’s second script, Study in Blue, came just as far in the Pilot competition.
A native of Arkansas, Jennifer Gerber recently premiered her debut feature film The Revival. Her films have played at many international festivals including Outfest, NewFest, Palm Springs Short Film Festival, Champs-Elysees Film Festival, VGIK Moscow, and Boston International Film Festival. Her directing awards include Regional Finalist for Student Academy Awards, Princess Grace Award, Jury Special Mention at NewFest, VGIK Best Student Program Award, Tropfest NY 2013 Finalist as well as receiving the “Indie Soul” award at the Boston International Film Festival. In addition to Has Been Beauty Queen, Gerber is currently in development with another directing project, Shelter, starring Academy Award winner Melissa Leo, and Zazie Beetz and David Rysdahl.
The Nashville Film Festival, founded in 1969 by Mary Jane Coleman, was originally known as the Sinking Creek Film Celebration. It was voted one of “25 film festivals worth the entry fee” by MovieMaker Magazine and highlighted as One of the Best Film Festival Prizes by Film Festival Today. In 2019, USA Today named it one of the top 20 film festivals in the US.