PSWIFT Short Script Regular
Jonathan LaPoma

Jonathan LaPoma

Author, Musician and Screenwriter

San Diego, California

Member Since:
March 2014
Last online:
> 2 weeks ago
Invites sent:
0

About Jonathan

Jonathan LaPoma is an award-winning, best-selling novelist, optioned screenwriter, songwriter, and poet from Buffalo, NY. In 2005, he received a BA in history and a secondary education credential from the State University of New York at Geneseo, and he traveled extensively throughout the United States and Mexico after graduating. These experiences have become the inspiration for much of his writing, which often explores themes of alienation and misery as human constructions that can be overcome through self-understanding and the acceptance of suffering.

LaPoma has written five novels, thirteen screenplays, and hundreds of songs and poems. His screenplays have won over 150 awards/honors at various international screenwriting competitions, and his black comedy script HARM FOR THE HOLIDAYS was optioned by Warren Zide along with Wexlfish Pictures (AMERICAN PIE, FINAL DESTINATION, THE BIG HIT). LaPoma's novel DEVELOPING MINDS: AN AMERICAN GHOST STORY is an Amazon Best Seller ("Satire" and "Urban Life" Kindle categories), and it won the 2015 Stargazer Literary Prizes (Visionary and Metaphysical Fiction category) and won the bronze medal in the 2016 Florida Authors and Publishers Association President's Awards (Adult eBook category). His novel UNDERSTANDING THE ALACRÁN won the silver medal in the 2017 FAPA President's Awards (Contemporary/Literary category). He lives in San Diego and teaches at a public secondary school.

LaPoma is also an online instructor of a writing course, FROM FIRST DRAFT TO BESTSELLER, which teaches beginning authors how to self-publish and market their books, and build their readership from zero. From more information on this course, or for Jonathan LaPoma, visit .

Gender:
Male

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UNDERSTANDING THE ALACRÁN, a novel by Jonathan LaPoma

Links

Loglines

  • Chasing White Rabbits

    Chasing White Rabbits Budget: $100K - $1M | Horror When a famous true-crime podcaster returns to her hometown to investigate the murder of a childhood friend's family, she slowly begins to realize that she's actually investigating her own traumatic past. *co-written with Isabel Drean

  • Diplomatic Ammunity!

    Diplomatic Ammunity! Budget: $1M - $5M | Comedy ⋄ Drama A struggling Hollywood screenwriter recruits his former best friends to help him write a script about a series of pranks they pulled in high school, and they discover why their friendship fell apart (ADAPTATION meets IDIOCRACY). 

  • The Kidnapped

    The Kidnapped Budget: $1M - $5M | Action ⋄ Drama In Mexico, a drug cartel boss kidnaps a washed-up Hollywood director, and the two are driven to insanity while shooting a documentary about the boss's once-powerful cartel--a project meant to help both men reclaim lost glory.

  • The Piltdown Man

    The Piltdown Man Mystery ⋄ Historical ⋄ Drama In 1953, two scientists interrogate a man they believe may have perpetrated "The Biggest Scientific Hoax of the Century," planting a fake skull in Piltdown, England long believed to be the Missing Link connecting man's ancestry to that of the apes.

  • Harm For the Holidays

    Harm For the Holidays Independent ⋄ Comedy ⋄ Drama ⋄ Family After his brother attempts suicide a few weeks before Christmas, an unrepentant asshole with a heart of gold moves back in with his comically dysfunctional family to help his brother, only to discover that his brother is the sanest of them all.

  • Sandley

    Sandley Comedy ⋄ Drama A first-year teacher in an at-risk Los Angeles middle school finds the inspiration to confront his bullies through his interactions with a lovable, but equally teased, student.

  • A Sacrifice to the God of the Blues

    A Sacrifice to the God of the Blues Independent ⋄ Drama An impressionable young man struggles to make sense of the alternating good and bad advice he receives from a much older friend as they travel through the heart of Mexican drug territory on a cursed trip to a remote Pacific coast beach.

  • A Noble Truth

    A Noble Truth Drama Two estranged best friends set off on a road trip to explore what truths unite people in a modern America dominated by apathy and discord. It is soon clear, however, that truth is the last thing either man seeks. (EASY RIDER meets GOOD WILL HUNTING).

  • Dellwood

    Dellwood Drama ⋄ Family ⋄ Sports A successful, but unhappy, novelist reluctantly returns to his childhood town to attend a friend’s funeral. While there, he reminisces about his childhood experiences playing basketball on a city court to escape from emotional abuse, and he understands himself and the theme of his next project more clearly. (STAND BY ME meets THE BASKETBALL DIARIES).

  • The Way Back Home

    The Way Back Home Drama A young boy who loves animals must cope with his father’s insistence that he will someday work in the slaughterhouse that has employed the men of his family for the past several generations. (KES meets BILLY ELLIOT).

  • Sofi's Journey

    Sofi's Journey Drama ⋄ Romance An obsessive-compulsive twenty-one-year-old Peruvian woman, hoping to find love and relief from her mental illness, travels from Lima to the USA on a work-abroad program and takes a job at a small ski resort in Montana. (MARIA FULL OF GRACE meets GIRL, INTERRUPTED).

  • La Tierra Que Yo Amo (Land That I Love) co-written by Natalia Porras Sivolobova

    La Tierra Que Yo Amo (Land That I Love) co-written by Natalia Porras Sivolobova Drama ⋄ Romance After trying for seven years to successfully make it as a dancer in New York, a 30-year-old half-Mexican, half-American woman with dual citizenship reluctantly returns to her hometown of Oaxaca, Mexico and struggles to find her identity. (MIDNIGHT IN PARIS meets EVEN THE RAIN).

Credits

Awards

  • Near Nazareth Festival, Official Selection
    (2107)

  • ISA Drama Genre Busting Screenwriting Competition, Quarterfinalist
    (2021)

  • Beverly Hills Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2019)

  • Twister Alley Film Festival, Finalist
    (2019)

  • Las Vegas Screenplay Contest, Finalist
    (2019)

  • Oaxaca Film Fest, Finalist
    (2019)

  • Sacramento Film Festival, Official Selection (for two scripts)
    (2018)

  • Twister Alley Film Festival, Finalist
    (2018)

  • Las Vegas Screenplay Contest, 2nd Place: Comedy
    (2018)

  • Oaxaca Film Festival, Finalist
    (2018)

  • Southern California Screenplay Competition, Semi-Finalist
    (2018)

  • The Monthly Film Festival, Semifinalist
    (2017)

  • Sacramento International Film Festival, Semifinalist
    (2017)

  • Beverly Hills Film Festival, Finalist
    (2017)

  • Oregon Short Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2017)

  • Southern California Screenplay Competition, Semifinalist
    (2017)

  • Las Vegas Screenplay Contest, 3rd Place (Comedy)
    (2017)

  • Cannes Screenplay Contest, Finalist
    (2017)

  • iHolly Next Generation Indie Film Festival, 1st Place: Drama
    (2017)

  • Screenplay Festival, Finalist
    (2017)

  • Table Read My Screenplay Contest, Semifinalist
    (2017)

  • Sunset Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2017)

  • British Independent Film Festival, Finalist
    (2017)

  • Oaxaca Film Festival, Finalist
    (2017)

  • Los Angeles CineFest, Semifinalist
    (2017)

  • Eurocinema Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2017)

  • Austria International Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2017)

  • Malta Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2017)

  • Cinema New York City, Official Selection
    (2017)

  • Austin Revolution Film Festival, Semifinalist
    (2017)

  • Indie Gathering Film Festival, 3rd Place: Comedy
    (2017)

  • Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, Finalist
    (2017)

  • New Renaissance Film Festival, Finalist
    (2017)

  • Creative World Awards, Quarterfinals
    (2017)

  • Lake Charles Film & Music Festival, Semifinals
    (2017)

  • Creative World Awards, Finalist
    (2017)

  • Eye Catcher Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2017)

  • Neu World Studios International Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2017)

  • Hollywood Independent Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2017)

  • Moondance Film Festival, Semifinalist
    (2017)

  • Moondance Film Festival, Finalist
    (2017)

  • New Renaissance Film Festival, 1st Place: Drama
    (2017)

  • Evolution Mallorca Film Festival, Semifinalist
    (2017)

  • Hollywood Screenplay Contest, Grand Prize Winner (Comedy)
    (2017)

  • World Series of Screenwriting, 3rd Place (Comedy)
    (2017)

  • World Series of Screenwriting, Finalist
    (2017)

  • Los Angeles Screenplay Contest, 1st Place (Comedy)
    (2017)

  • London Film Awards, 4th Place
    (2017)

  • Pasadena International Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2016)

  • Finow International Film & Script Festival, Official Selection (for two scripts)
    (2016)

  • NewLife Film & Script & Music Festival, Official Selection (for two scripts)
    (2016)

  • FilmMakers International Screenwriting Awards, Semifinalist
    (2016)

  • ScreenCraft Fellowship, Quarterfinalist
    (2016)

  • Los Angeles CineFest, Official Selection (for two scripts)
    (2016)

  • Las Vegas Screenplay Contest, Finalist
    (2016)

  • Twister Alley Film Festival, Official Selection (for two scripts)
    (2016)

  • Media Adventures Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2016)

  • Los Angeles CineFest (June Edition), Semifinalist
    (2016)

  • Swedish International Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2016)

  • Indie Gathering Film Festival, 4th
    (2016)

  • Page International Screenwriting Awards, Quarterfinalist
    (2016)

  • Oaxaca Film Festival, Finalist
    (2016)

  • Creative World Awards, Preliminary Finalist (for two scripts)
    (2016)

  • Wayfarer Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2016)

  • Extreme Screenwriting Contest, Semifinalist
    (2016)

  • Austin Film Festival, Second Round
    (2016)

  • EyeCatcher International Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2016)

  • Southern California Screenplay Competition, Finalist
    (2016)

  • MAC Underground Film Festival, 1st Place
    (2016)

  • Lake Charles Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2016)

  • Evolutions Mallorca Film Festival, Semifinalist
    (2016)

  • Auckland Film Festival, 1st Place
    (2016)

  • Hollywood Screenplay Contest, Finalist
    (2016)

  • Anchorage International Film Festival, Finalist
    (2016)

  • Evolution Mallorca Film Festival, Finalist
    (2016)

  • World Series of Screenwriting, Finalist
    (2016)

  • The Monthly Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2016)

  • Los Angeles CineFest, Semifinalist
    (2016)

  • European Independent Film Award, Official Selection
    (2016)

  • Los Angeles CineFest, Semifinalist
    (2016)

  • London Film Awards, Grand Prize
    (2016)

  • WriteMovies Monthly Contest, Honorable Mention
    (2016)

  • California Film Awards, Honorable Mention
    (2016)

  • Fresh Voices, Quarterfinalist
    (2016)

  • WriteMovies Winter, Quarterfinalist
    (2016)

  • WriteMovies 37, Quarterfinalist
    (2015)

  • WriteMovie 37, Finalist
    (2015)

  • Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, Finalist
    (2015)

  • Mountain Film Festival, Honorable Mention
    (2015)

  • Canada International Film Festival, Honorable Mention
    (2015)

  • Twister Alley International Film Festival, Finalist
    (2015)

  • Sacramento International Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2015)

  • Women in Cinema International Screenplay Competition, Finalist
    (2015)

  • River Bend Film Festival, Top Three Finalist
    (2015)

  • Beverly Hills Film Festival, Finalist
    (2015)

  • Amsterdam Film Festival, Finalist
    (2015)

  • Barcelona International Film Festival, Finalist
    (2015)

  • Extreme Screenplay Contest, Finalist
    (2015)

  • San Francisco Global Movie Fest, Official Selection
    (2015)

  • Reel Writers, Semifinalist
    (2015)

  • Awareness Film Festival, 3rd Place
    (2015)

  • Glendale International Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2015)

  • Oaxaca Film Festival, Top 12 Finalist (Of about 1,000 submissions)
    (2015)

  • Evolution Mallorca Film Festival, Official Selection (For two scripts)
    (2015)

  • Courier Awards, Semifinalist (For three scripts)
    (2015)

  • The Monthly Film Festival, Official Selection (for two scripts)
    (2015)

  • Albuquerque Film Festival & Comic Con, Official Selection
    (2015)

  • FilmMakers International, Second-Round Qualifier (for two scripts)
    (2015)

  • BLOW UP Chicago International Arthouse Film Fest (for two scripts)
    (2015)

  • Hollywood Sky International Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2015)

  • Marquee Lights Competition, Semifinalist (winners pending)
    (2015)

  • Los Angeles Screenplay Contest, 2nd Place: Drama Category
    (2015)

  • Los Angeles Screenplay Contest, Finalist
    (2015)

  • Aura Screenwriter Awards, Finalist
    (2015)

  • London Film Awards, Grand Prize Winner: Feature Screenplay Category
    (2015)

  • Aura Screenwriter Awards, Semifinalist
    (2015)

  • California Film Awards, 5th Place
    (2015)

  • California Film Awards, Finalist
    (2015)

  • Beverly Hills International Film Festival, Finalist
    (2014)

  • Rated SR - Socially Relevant Film Festival, Top Four Scripts
    (2014)

  • Sacramento International Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2014)

  • Table Read My Screenplay, Semifinalist
    (2014)

  • Barcelona International Film Festival, Honorable Mention
    (2014)

  • Awareness Film Festival, 1st Place: Best Overall Script
    (2014)

  • Chicago Screenplay Contest, 3rd Place: Drama Category
    (2014)

  • New York Screenplay Contest, Finalist
    (2014)

  • West Field Screenwriting Awards, 1st Place: "The New York Award"
    (2014)

  • Glendale International Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2014)

  • Hollywood Screenplay Contest, Grand Jury Prize-Best Overall Script of over 1,000 submissions
    (2014)

  • Oaxaca Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2014)

  • London Film Awards, Grand Prize Winner: Feature Screenplay Category
    (2014)

  • Beverly Hills Screenplay Contest, Finalist
    (2014)

  • Las Vegas Screenplay Contest, Grand Jury Prize
    (2014)

  • Las Vegas Screenplay Contest, 1st Place: Drama Category
    (2014)

  • WriteMovies, Quarterfinalist (For three scripts)
    (2013)

  • Oaxaca Film Festival, Official Selection
    (2013)

  • Indie Gathering Film Festival, Honorable Mention (For two scripts)
    (2013)

  • Filmmakers International, Quarterfinalist
    (2013)

  • Filmmakers International, Second-Round Qualifier
    (2013)

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