Tennessee Script Contest Winner is Greenlit for Production!

Brooke Mihalek's script For Abuelo, named winner of the Tennessee Screenwriting Association's "Short 'N Shoot" script contest, is moving into production by film production company Penumbra Entertainment.

"Most screenwriters never get a chance to see their work produced and on a big screen. With the help of the TSA, Penumbra Entertainment hopes to change that," said Chris Hollo, co-owner of Penumbra. The company is based in Nashville and has other film and video credits including the thriller feature The Legend of Lake Hollow, currently streaming on Amazon Prime, Tubi, and other outlets.

Chris Hollo and Brooke Mihalek.

For Abeulo is a drama which follows the story of a widower who seeks to fulfill his late wife’s lifelong dream and receives unexpected help from his complacent, teenage grandson. The opportunity gives them the chance to reconnect and the trajectory of their lives are changed forever.

"The fact that this story is going to be shared and that it’s going to highlight family, empathy and compassion… I’m so excited and I feel really blessed,” Brooke said.

Brooke is relatively new to screenwriting but has years of experience as an actress and performer. For Abuela is Brooke's second competition win this year. Her romance, The Last Ride, won the TSA's Short 'N Sweet script contest in the spring and was selected for a table read by local actors at a taping of the streaming series Page 2 Screen. The first script Brooke wrote won the 4th Wall Film Challenge and was made into a short film.

The Finalist scripts in TSA's Short 'N Shoot contest this year are:

Two Dollars A Week written by Kelly Brownlee

Trampoline written by Jim Peacock

Traumatic Teaching Disorder written by Mark Sundermann

Drawn to Love written by Ramona Wilkes

"Short 'N Shoot has by far been the most successful screenplay contest the TSA has held in years," said Mark Naccarato, president of the Tennessee Screenwriting Association. "Brooke's stories hit a sweet spot. They touch the heart and they have something important to say. I'm really looking forward to seeing this project go from the page to the screen!"

The Short 'N Shoot contest received forty submissions by forty different writers who were encouraged to submit scripts which could be shot on a micro-budget and were "highly-producible." The length was limited to ten pages and only TSA members were eligible to enter the contest. All entries were read "blind" with no one but the contest manager aware of the scripts' authors. First-round judges were Peter Kremer, MK Kopp, and Michael Butts. Second round judges were Bob Giordano and Mark Naccarato and the contest's manager was Daniel Spear.

The five top-scoring scripts were submitted to Penumbra, with co-owners Chris Hollo and Mark Mosrie choosing the winner. "Casting on For Abuela is already underway and pre-production is in full swing," Hollo says. "We are aiming to film in September and release the film in November." Penumbra awarded the $250 cash prize to the winner and has acquired the rights to produce Brooke's script and distribute the completed film.

The announcement of the contest finalists and winner was made at the TSA's annual "Summer Social" event at the NECAT studio in West Nashville, where over forty screenwriters and other creatives enjoyed an evening of film-themed party games, food, and fellowship. In addition to announcements about the Short 'N Shoot contest, the TSA also announced the recipients of its first scholarship awards program.

The next script contest sponsored by the Tennessee Screenwriting Association will be the "Short 'N Scary" contest, which is themed around horror/suspense and has a deadline of Oct. 31, 2026.

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The Tennessee Screenwriting Association has been supporting Tennessee's screenwriters and filmmakers since 1987 and is based in Nashville, TN. The TSA's mission is to promote the art and craft of screenwriting; to support the screenwriter in the application of his or her skills; and to provide a pipeline for information and opportunities to network with other writers and film industry professionals. The TSA meets every Wednesday evening. Details about the TSA and its programs are at TennScreen.com. 

Penumbra Entertainment is an award-winning, Tennessee-based production company that shoots commercial video and a wide variety of narrative projects. Their feature length psychological thriller "The Legend of Lake Hollow" is now available on Prime, Tubi, Apple Play, Roku and many other streaming platforms. The company is headed by longtime creatives Chris Hollo and Mark Mosrie, who have a combined 70 years in commercial visual production.