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Pigasus Pictures sets 5th annual Indiana High School Screenwriting Contest
BLOOMINGTON – Pigasus Pictures, the Indiana-based film company co-founded by Greencastle High School graduate Zachary Spicer, is now accepting entries for short screenplays written by Indiana high school students.
The firm has been behind such feature films “The Good Catholic,” “Ms. White Light”and several other movies.
For the fifth year in a row, the team of professional filmmakers at Pigasus will select a winning screenplay, then bring a film crew to the town of the lucky high school student and fully produce their film. Students from area schools will be invited to work on the picture alongside professional filmmakers for an unparalleled learning experience.
“We really want young people to know that if you’ve never written a screenplay before, that’s OK,” Pigasus CEO Spicer, a 2002 Greencastle High School graduate, said. “We want to tell real stories about the real experiences of young people growing up in Indiana. Keep it simple, look around you, and just write what you know.”
“Growing up in Indiana it often feels like the film industry is so far away,” John Armstrong, co-owner of Pigasus, said. “But with Project Pigasus, we bring the film industry right to their doorstep.”
Previous winners include Kira Daniels from Madison, Whitney Roberts and Cynthia Foulke from Fishers, Marjorie Abrell from Spencer, and Sam Stanton of South Bend. Past winners have described this experience as “life changing.”
The submission deadline is Feb. 5 and the film will be produced in the latter part of the school year. The finished film will be screened in Indiana theaters, submitted to film festivals across the country, and subsequently made available for online streaming.
Since 2015, the producers at Pigasus have proven their dedication to growing the entertainment industry in Indiana, having produced a number of feature films and short films. As well as starting a non-profit company Pigasus Institute (the producing entity for Project Pigasus), it has opened a production studio in Bloomington and started the Bloomington Academy of Film and Theatre in 2019.
“There are a lot of really skilled and talented people in Indiana,” Armstrong said. “A large part of our work is simply connecting them and creating new opportunities. And we especially want to show young people that cool things are happening in Indiana, and that their stories are worthy of being told.”
For more information and to submit for the competition, students should visit www.projectpigasus.org.
Pigasus has produced acclaimed Indiana feature films “The Good Catholic” (starring Spicer alongside Danny Glover and John C. McGinley), “Ms. White Light” (starring Judith Light and John Ortiz) and “The Miseducation of Bindu” (starring David Arquette), and the films “The Duel,” “Runner” and “So Cold the River,” all set for 2023 release. Learn more about Pigasus Pictures at www.pigasuspictures.com.