Meet Our 2026 Feature Contest Winner, J.R. Spaulding!

We’re thrilled to introduce our 2025 Feature Fellowship winner, J.R. Spaulding, whose screenplay CUTTHROAT GAMES impressed us with its vivid characters and razor sharp dialogue.

In CUTTHROAT GAMES, a union negotiator compromises his career to help his brother get his job back and finds himself dragged into an act of vengeance that will ultimately threaten to derail his future and destroy their family.

J.R. Spaulding Jr. grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. He received an M.A. in theatre history from Michigan State University and has worked as an actor, director, technical director, and guest instructor at theatres in Alaska, Maine and various locations in between. A distinctly Midwestern writer, his works are typically grounded with a blue collar mentality and feature characters who confront their circumstances through a mixture of practicality, ingenuity and a good deal of hard work. Currently, Spaulding lives in metro Detroit where he works as a teacher to re-socialize and de-automatonize the youth of America.

Congratulations, J.R.!