Screenwriting : 3rd Annual Palm Springs Women in Film & Television + Stage 32 Short Script Competition -- who submitted? by Jaz Lagrimas

I entered this contest with a short script featuring two women during Christmastime in Colorado—one a surgeon recently in remission from ovarian cancer, and the other a young receptionist at an adoption agency who’s estranged from her family. A favorite theme of mine is moral ambiguity, and this story poses the question: Can a relationship based on lies ever become real?

I typically write novels and feature-length screenplays so I’m excited to find out how DOUBLE-CROSSED CHRISTMAS, my first short script, is received.

Best wishes to all who’ve also entered their projects!

I entered my short script "bunker" in this completion... looking forward see what the judges think!!!

Logline:

When a middle-aged couple receives a financial windfall, they move their family of four to a wealthy community where their faith is not only tested, it also teaches a young wealthy teen money cannot always buy safety.

happy reading,

v.

I submitted this as a writer and director.

The Dish about the moment someone decides they’re done playing nice, and starts telling the truth out loud.

It’s about power, perception, and the quiet pressure to fit into a world that was never built for you. At its core, it’s a story about a woman who walks into a room where everything has already been decided for her, how she should behave, who she should be, what her future should look like, and instead of shrinking to fit, she flips the narrative in the most public, undeniable way possible.

The rehearsal dinner felt like the perfect setting because it’s performative by design. It’s not just a meal, it’s a stage. Everyone has a role, everyone is watching, and everything is curated to present a version of perfection. That tension, between what’s real and what’s presented, is where the story lives.

I was also interested in exploring the intersection of love and ambition. When relationships start to look more like strategy than connection, what does that do to a person? And at what point do you stop being a partner and start being part of someone else’s plan?

Tonally, The Dish leans into satire, sharp, uncomfortable, and a little indulgent, because sometimes the only way to expose something absurd is to let it fully reveal itself. The humor disarms you, but the truth lands hard.

Ultimately, this is a story about one's own agency. About reclaiming your voice in a room that benefits from your silence. And about the power of choosing yourself, even when it costs you everything you thought you wanted.

I entered my short script, "Finding Freedom." It is an uplifting story about the healing power of skydiving based on true stories of skydivers I have had the privilege of meeting. It is set at Skydive Perris in California which I loved being able to incorporate as the setting since it is so full of positive energy and embodies the spirit of the skydiving community.

Logline: When a survivor of domestic violence, Ellie, signs up for a first-jump skydiving course,

she discovers that learning to control her fall from 14,000 feet might be the first step

toward reclaiming the life her ex-husband took from her.