Congrats to Our 2026 Feature Contest Quarterfinalists!

We’re excited to announce our 2026 Feature Contest quarterfinalists! This year’s submissions showed tremendous talent. It was a pleasure to read everyone’s work.

Many thanks to our dedicated judges, who spent hours reading and evaluating our submissions.

WHAT’S NEXT

Quarterfinalists will be offered any open spots to this year’s retreat after the semifinalists, finalists, and winners are invited to attend. Attendees receive three 90-minute one-on-one sessions with CineStory mentors and participate in mentor-led panel discussions and group writing exercises on topics ranging from finding representation  to pitching like a pro. Click here for more information about the feature retreat.

Congratulations to this year’s feature quarterfinalists, and please check back in August, when we’ll announce our semifinalists!

THE 2026 FEATURE RETREAT & FELLOWSHIP QUARTERFINALISTS

(listed alphabetically by title)

ALLIGATOR MOUTH by Kevin McKinley

AMBITION, I FEAR by Matthew Sprosty

AUTOCORRECT by Douglas Stark

AYAT by Samina Saifee

BARON VON STEUBEN (WORKING TITLE) by Jamie Benson

BEYOND THE PALE by Christian Hearn

BIG CITY DREAMS by Chris Desmond

BLACK ROSE by Merridith Allen

BLANK by Shiva Ramanathan

BLUE ON BLUE by Sam Robson

BOOB SWEAT by Nic Cohen Hayley Nash

BORDER TUNNEL by Mark Wasserman

BOYSIE by Daniel Higley

BROKEN by Phillip Roquemore

THE BUCKET HIT LIST by Karen McDermott

BUD AND SANDI LEAVE NEW YORK by Gerard Zarra

CBGB’S FOREVER by Brian O’Connor

THE CHEMISTRY OF ICE by Lisa Hickey

THE CHRISTMAS DO OVER by Kathleen Snider

THE CLEANER by Andy Yang

CLOSING COSTS by David Feldman

COLD DESERT by James Wright

THE CONTROL VARIABLE by Aaron Lieben

COPAGANDA by David Erickson

CORSAIRES OF THE AEGEAN by Petros Paranikas

COVER ME by Stacey Dodge

COWBOY by Alex Mindt Randall Harvey

CUTTHROAT GAMES by J.J. Spaulding

DARKSINK_ by David Fein

DEAD WEIGHT by Theodor Cucu

DEADBEAT DICK by Heather Davis

DETROIT RUN by Odin Ozdil

DEVOTED by L.M. Harter

A DIPLOMAT by Edward Balli

DON’T TOUCH THE GOOD STUFF by Silma Berrada

DRY LAND by Oscar Rodríguez Górriz

FADING GRACE by Hope Hickli

FELT by Ran Jing

FINALE by Kathy Fritz

FINDING FANTASTIC by Heidi Hornbacher

FIRST PERSON VIEW by Jason Pates

FORTUNE & GLORY by Charles Copeland

FOXES NEVER QUIT by Mariana Soto

FREEZER by Jacqueline Hicks

THE GEORGE WASHINGTONS (V2) by Paul Schutte

A GIRL’S GUIDE TO VAMPIRISM by Jack Aupperle

THE GOLD STANDARD by Nicole Dimond

GOOD GIRLS GET FED by Kelly Lou Dennis

GRAVE COMMAND by Evelyn Davis

GREEN RIVER BLUES by Charlie Anderson

GULBADIN by Puspangshu Chowdhury

HEARTMAN by Tiffany Yarde

HUMDRUM by Daniela Di Salvo

HURT PEOPLE by LaDarrion Williams

ICEBLINK LUCK by Natascha Snellman

INTERREGNUM by Mason Gersh

THE INTESTINES by Drew Lichtman

IRIS WRITES POEMS by Nicole Reinert

THE ITALIAN LOVER by Suzanne Griffin

JANET’S WORLD by Kemari Bryant

JUST SAY YES by Christine Hoang

JUST YESTERDAY by James Sereno

KILLER SOUNDTRACK by Jeff Ullman

KIM’S MONEY TREE by Kyung-Ja Lee

THE LANDLORD by Joel Michalak

LIONFISH by James Jimenez

THE LONE STAR by Katherine Douglas

LOST by Benjamin Del Fuoco

LOVE MOTEL by Hyon Jung Lee

MALLWALKERS by Debra Kirschner

MAMA MOMMY by KT Frances Hartline

THE MAN. THE MONSTER. THE SEA by Avi Glick

MENIL AND HER HEART by Isabella Madrigal

MESA VERDE by Sean Jourdan

MESTENGO by Theresa Carey

MY KARATE BAT MITZVAH by Merridith Allen

THE NIGHT CAN’T FIND ME by Michael Kimber

NOTHING YOU CAN SAY by Leanne Milech

NULLIPARA by Megan Spatz

OBLIVIOUSNESS by Jarrett Bens

OFF COURSE by Ann LeSchander

ONCE AND FUTURE SELF by Vanessa Herman

THE OPUS by Derek Nicoletto

ORANGES IN THE WINTER by Leanne Milech

OZZY SAVES by Jordan Thornton

PERFECTLY ABLE by Robert McFalls

PIETRA FREDDA by Matthew Nicholson

PIPE DREAMS by Mojẹri Coker

THE PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR by Mary Conroy

THE PROPER STRANGER by Matthew Zoni

QUNK by Jill Bauer

THE RECKONING by Nick Nelson

RECONSTRUCTION by Eran Barak-Medina

RHETTRIBUTION by Sam Robson

RUNNING IN PLACE by Jude Lutz

RUNT by Dave Kagno

SAPPHIC by Marissa Johnson

SEE YOU SEE ME by Erin Galey

SEEN, THE by Mike Le

SEMAGLUTIDE by Jacob Zorn

THE SEVENTH by Jasper Rashwood

SHAVED ICE GIRL by Jack Aupperle

SHEROES by Betsy Nagler

SICKENING by Jeffrey Schick

SOLVE FOR X AND WHY by Marianne DiMascio

SPACE by Leila McCall

SPOTLIGHTS by Cynthia Damon

SPY ANOTHER DAY by Odin Ozdil

STAN by Dre Larivée

STARS ALSO DIE by Shauna Ray Ratapu

STATELESS by Andy Yang

A STILL, SMALL PAW by James Lantz

STIR IT UP by June Christopher & Michael Clark Haney

STOIBOBO by M. Running Bear Bunch

SUBSTRATE DEPENDENCE by Kevin Sterling

SUNDOWN by Nick Fuller

SWEET LITTLE BABY by Michael Kimber

TENDER YOUNG CREATURES by Emily Brubaker

TESSA, GRANDE by Zoey Sidwell

THERE IS NO LOVE IN THE UNIVERSE by Kate Mellors

THIS INCESSANT FUNERAL by Sandra Shim

THY FIST AND FANG by Bryson Hille

TRAIL CAM by Jesse Moore

THE TRAIL by Ray Gettman Bush

TRAIN TO NOWHERE by Jiacheng Wang

TUESDAY NIGHT DRAGONSLAYER CLUB by Michael Clarke

THE UNHAPPIEST DAY OF HER LIFE by Hayley Nash

UPSTANDING CITIZENS by David McMahon

VANQUISHED by Elliot Harrison

VOLUNTEER-ISH by Sarah Showfety

WENDYBOT by Kasi Brown & Brandon Walter

WILD GODS by Gina Manola

WINTER AMES by Matilda Schulman

WOMAN’S BEST FRIEND by J. Gabriel

ZOETROPE by Nick Hurwitch