Albert’s screenplay The Verge of Seas has advanced to the Second Round in the Drama Feature Category in the Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition. Each year, the Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition typically receives over 14,000 script submissions.
For over two decades, Austin Film Festival has been one of the most acclaimed contests within the industry for establishing the careers of up-and-coming writers. Past competition entrants have signed with major agencies and have had their scripts optioned, acquired, and produced by signatory production companies. Wes Brown, 2014 winner of the AMC One-Hour Pilot Award, has staffed on the AMC television series Goliath; Troy Miller, the 2013 winner of the Horror Screenplay Award, had his winning script optioned by Frank Darabont’s Darkwoods Productions; at the 2014 Austin Film Festival, the world premiere of Dawn Patrol was presented, a film produced from a 2008 finalist script written by Rachel Long and Brian Pittman that was acquired by Enderby Entertainment; and Amy Aniobi, 2011 semifinalist, has been hired to write for HBO’s Silicon Valley.
The Verge of Seas, written by Albert, is a “Black List Endorsed/Recommended” script about a grieving widower struggling to raise two young sons. When he returns to his childhood lake house, he’s unexpectedly trapped in a parallel universe in which he’s been dead for 30 years, his kids have a different adoptive father, and his late husband is not only alive—but straight. Now, he must choose between the life he built and the one he was meant to live, before a cosmic event seals his fate forever.
The project was a finalist for the 2025 Emerging Screenwriters Sci-Fi & Fantasy Screenplay Competition and 2024 Shore Scripts OutHere: An LGBTQIA+ Screenwriting Contest.
“A BEAUTIFUL, GROUNDED SCIENCE-FICTION JOURNEY… RAW AND HEARTFELT… A UNIQUE VOICE AND CONCEPT THAT FULLY DELIVERS AN EMOTIONALLY-CHARGED STORY.”
“HEART AND EXCELLENT STORYTELLING… AN EMINENTLY ENJOYABLE ROMANTIC FANTASY FILM THAT’S WELL-PACED AND CLEVERLY PLOTTED… THE WRITING IS STELLAR.”
“THE SCRIPT BEAUTIFULLY COMBINES THE GENRES OF SCI-FI AND ROMANCE INTO AN INNOVATIVE NARRATIVE ABOUT THE POWER OF LOVE AND CHOSEN DESTINY… THERE IS A VERY PROFICIENT TALENT BEHIND THIS SCREENPLAY… IT’S PRETTY EASY TO ENVISION THIS BECOMING A HIGHLY SOUGHT-AFTER SCRIPT IN A COMPETITIVE MARKET… AN IMMENSELY ENTERTAINING STORY THAT DESERVES TO FIND SUCCESS IN A CINEMATIC MEDIUM!”
“A PRETTY EXCEPTIONAL SCRIPT. SUBTLE AND ELEGANT IN ITS HANDLING OF BOTH DIFFICULT SUBJECT MATTER AND A HIGH CONCEPT MYSTERY… IMMENSELY POWERFUL AND ENTERTAINING… THE STRENGTH OF THIS SCRIPT LIES WITH THE TWO MAIN CHARACTERS WHO SLOWLY COME TO LIFE BEFORE OUR EYES, IMPERFECTIONS, CONFLICTS AND ALL… THERE’S PLENTY OF UNDERSTATED HUMOR WOVEN IN BETWEEN THE DRAMA.”
“WITH A BRILLIANT PREMISE, POIGNANT RELATIONSHIPS AND THEMES AT PLAY, AND STRONG WRITING THROUGHOUT, THIS SCRIPT DELIVERS A THOUGHT-PROVOKING AND ENGAGING READ… COMPELLING AND EXCITING FROM START TO FINISH… THE QUEER LOVE STORY AT THE CORE IS REFRESHING AND HEARTFELT.”
