Albert’s sci-fi romance feature screenplay The Verge of Seas has been chosen as a quarterfinalist for the 2025 Finish Line Script Competition. Semifinalists will be announced on June 12, 2025.
The Grand Prize Winner of Finish Line Script Competition will receive $10,000 as a cash prize, as well as meetings with 50+ industry professionals ranging from literary managers, agents, development execs, and producers. This year’s mentor list includes SVP of Comedy Jim Donnelly of NBC Universal, co-producer David Gambino of Perry Mason (HBO), EVP of Production at Warner Bros. Kevin McCormick, EVP of Programming at HBO Chris Salvaterra, and writer/co-producer of Dune: Prophecy (HBO Max) Siavash Farahani.
The Verge of Seas is 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 30 years, his kids have a different adoptive father, and his late husband—the love of his life—is not only alive… but straight. The project was a Second Rounder in the 2024 Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition and a finalist for the 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.”
“IMPRESSIVE AND ENTERTAINING… LIKE SOME OF THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION IN CINEMA, ITS STRENGTH DID NOT RELY ON EPIC BATTLES WITH MONSTERS OR MIND-BLOWING EFFECTS, BUT INSTEAD IN ITS ORIGINAL IDEAS, HEARTFELT MESSAGING, AND WELL-CRAFTED STORYTELLING FROM A WRITER WHO SEEMS TO ACTUALLY HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY.”
