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Writing Samples

Here you will find samples from my original screenplays varying in genre, length, and production stages.

A Forced Confession

A dark thriller involving an Uber driver and his passenger. What starts out as a standard Uber lift soon turns sinister when his passenger pulls a gun on him.

Synopsis

for A Forced Confession

It seems like any other night when Jess, an Uber driver, is taking Andrew, a business man, home. However, everything changes when he pulls into the driveway and finds a gun is trained on the back of his head.

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Andrew forces Jess into the house and chains him in the basement. A camera is set up on a tripod in front of him. Andrew has questions for him, and he won't be satisfied until he gets the answers he wants... and he will use whatever tactics necessary to get them out of Jess.

A Storm's Wrath

A feature length crime drama surrounding two woman who survive an accident when their prison transport truck crashes during a blizzard.

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They find shelter in a seemingly abandoned cabin, but when the owner suddenly shows up, they scramble to hide their true identities and motives for spending the night.

Synopsis

for A Storm's Wrath

Jaime and Leslie wander upon a cabin in the middle of the woods by chance after their truck transporting them to prison crashes due to the snow storm. They think they are safe and free, but that all changes when Jeff, the owner of the cabin makes a surprise visit in the middle of the night. Jaime quickly comes up with a cover story, but as the night progresses, Leslie becomes more nervous about their situation.

 

Things become even more complicated when a third convict shows up at the door 

with a severe head injury. The women struggle to keep up with their lies and begin to crack under the pressure as they face the possibility of serving even more time.

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All they want is a fresh start, but there is a price to be paid for freedom.

Wind Chimes

A short horror story involving a farmer on his land as he starts to experience supernatural events

Synopsis

for Wind Chimes

It's a hot, sunny day on the farm. It appears to be like any other day as the farmer goes about his chores: tending to the animals, fixing a fence, chopping some wood. However, strange things seem to keep happening. At first they start off small, but it escalates to new levels of horror as the day progresses.

 

These odd happenings beg the question: is  this the work of some pranksters, or is there something more sinister at play?

The Night Before Halloween

A short horror story involving Thomas being hunted and terrorized by a masked figure.

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It premiered at the TIFF building and is now released to the public.

Synopsis

for The Night Before Halloween

In the eerie world of "The Night Before Halloween," we meet Thomas - an everyday man trapped inside his own nightmare on the eve of Halloween. Thomas is being taunted and toyed with by the masked figure looming in the shadows. All he wants is to be there for his family, but other plans are set out for him.

 

The haunting question lingers, "Will Thomas escape his nightmare, or will Regret consume his mind?"

A short drama story involving a lost teenage boy and the mysterious girl next door.

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Received an "Honourable Mention"  for the 2023 NYC Midnight Screenwriting Challenge

Synopsis

for Blue

Set in 1984, a struggling teenage boy who's new to town strikes up a relationship with the myserteous girl next door through letters, but the more he learns about her, the more questions he has. 

 

Thomas and his family are trying to adjust to the move, now being so far away from where he grew up. His relationship to his father is strained to say the least and he's having trouble connecting to people at school.

 

However, Thomas catches a glimpse of his next door neighbour's backyard and more importantly, the girl sunbathing next to the pool in her blue bathing suit. Thomas can't see her face, but he instantly feels a connection to her. Thomas wants to know more about her, but she seems less forthcoming. Is the mysterious girl next door hiding something?

Ugly Habits

A short drama story about the vicious cycle of abuse. 

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Film has been released February 2023.

Synopsis

for Ugly Habits

After an awful fight with her wealthy and abusive husband, Dominic, Ava takes off and spends the night in an empty parking lot, going over her entire relationship, trying to figure out what to do.

 

From the outside, Ava seems to have it all, but what people don’t know is that her husband, Dominic, is really an angry drunk that takes his aggression and frustration out on her. The relationship started out incredible, but Dominic started getting angrier more easily, screaming all the time, hurling insults, punching walls, throwing glasses, and eventually, hitting her. Ava having come from nothing and now having everything, doesn’t know what the right thing to do is.

 

If she leaves she’ll go back to having nothing, but if she stays the price she pays may be far worse.

Desperate Measures

A short crime drama about a young couple way over their heads and faced with a very difficult decision.

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It premiered June 2024 and is currently in its festival circuit.

Synopsis

for Desperate Measures

A young couple find themselves in an empty parking lot in the middle of the night with a hostage after a home invasion gone wrong.

 

After Matt was fired from his job as a delivery driver, he and his girlfriend, Skylar, decide to break into his old boss’s home and steal from him. However, everything goes wrong when his boss, Mr. Dawson, wakes up and grabs his gun. He and Matt fight for control and Matt’s mask is pulled down in the process.

 

Now Matt and Skylar are sitting in their car with Mr. Dawson tied up in the back, trying to figure out what to do.

Shadows of the Condemned

A feature length detective noir following Detective Cooper as he relives the case of his partner's murder with the department's therapist.

Synopsis

for Shadows of the Condemned

Detective Cooper is sitting in Dr. Sawyer's office. In order to be cleared for active duty he must open up to his therapist about what happened.

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As Cooper delves into the bad memories of his partner's homicide, he is forced to confront the fact that maybe he did not know his friend as well as he thought.

Under the Surface

A feature length drama about a young woman and her struggle to face the strained relationship she has with her family when she goes home for her father's funeral.

Synopsis

for Under the Surface

Sapphire has never felt truly understood by anyone except her father. They were very close, until she caught him having an affair.  Her image of her father was forever tainted when he blackmailed her to not say anything if she wants to go to away to college and finally escape their small, dreary town. 

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Two years later, Sapphire returns home for her father's funeral, but still feels compelled to keep their secret for the sake of the family. However, Sapphire soon learns that she is not the only one keeping secrets and things are not always black and white.

 

This is a story about betrayal, loyalty, family, morality, love, and loss.

From the Water

An uplifting short about a very competitive runner trying to recover after an accident, and meeting an intriguing women who seems to come from the water.

Synopsis

for From the Water

Mark is a competitive runner, obsessed with being the best. He had a bright future, including a scholarship for college, but after a terrible accident, he’s lost all hope.

 

Now he is training to try to win back the future promised to him, but it’s not going well. Mark is growing more and more frustrated and angry with his situation, but one day he hears music. He follows it to see an enchanting young woman standing in the water, singing and playing a beautiful melody.

 

Mark sits down, mesmerized by her. As he’s listening he relives the accident in his head and all that he has lost, but maybe there is more to life than running.

House Arrest

A feature length psychological thriller about a married couple who open up their home to a young woman, but their kind gesture disguises their more sinsiter plans. 

Synopsis

for House Arrest

After Karla crashes on her way to see her boyfriend for a week-long getaway, she is welcomed to stay the night at the Campbells, a seemingly lovely middle-aged couple.

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While there, Karla notices an uncanny resemblance to the Campbells' daughter, Rachel, who ran away from home three years ago. Now the wife, Stephanie, keeps calling Karla by her daughter's name, and Karla soon learns that her hospitality has a much more twisted and sinister motive behind it.

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Karla's trapped in the house with the depraved couple and there's no way out. She must fight for her survival and find a way to outsmart her captors before it's too late.

Reign of Terror

A short horror story involving a young woman and her intense phobia of clowns after a traumatic night she experienced as a child.

Synopsis

for Reign of Terror

When Ava was seven she witnessed something at the carnival that she’d never be able to forget: a bloody clown holding a knife in a dark alleyway. No one has ever believed her story, but the memory still haunts her even a decade later.

 

Her older sister Hailey, convinced that Ava made the whole things up, is resentful of all the attention Ava got as a child and decides to put Ava’s fear to the test.

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Is what Ava saw all those years ago really just her imagination, or is there something more sinister at play?

© 2022 by JULIA DIETRICH.

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