By Adam Ross
Uncut follows a drug runner who must team up with a Hasidic geriatric after a rival cartel kills his partner and kidnaps his baby son. The unlikely duo has one night to finish their gangland deliveries and appease the cartel.
Speaking to FilmInk about his win, Neer said: “Final Draft’s software is fantastic, and I’ve been using it to help bring my ideas to life for a long time. Their screenwriting contest has celebrated many brilliant creators over the years, so being the winner of the Action category is both touching and exciting for me. Receiving recognition from such a prestigious contest is an honour, and I’m grateful to Final Draft for selecting my script.”
Coincidently, Musa Shelter’s success has seen him signed to The Cartel – one of the biggest creative management companies in Los Angeles, and with their help, he is negotiating the sale of his first feature film script.
Of Egyptian-British descent, Musa Shelter served in the military before entering the film industry. He has used his lived experience to inform his writing, and his previous spec scripts have won some of the industry’s biggest screenwriting competitions. In addition to his Big Break win, he is also a Page Award gold winner, a semi-finalist in the Academy Nicholl, an Austin Film Festival finalist, and an AWG Monte Miller Award winner.
For years, Musa Shelter honed his craft by working in development, reading for companies such as StudioCanal, Coverfly, and The Story Doctor. He also gained experience by working on the sets and post-production of some of the biggest films ever shot in this country, including Elvis, Thor, The Great Gatsby, The Wolverine, and Gods of Egypt.
Next up for Musa Shelter is the world premiere of his short film Perspectives at Flickerfest International Short Film Festival. Based on a true story, Perspectives follows a young soldier who suspects a man on an Israeli bus of being a suicide bomber. She must now choose between the other passengers’ lives and a potentially innocent man, with the world watching via the live streams of the bus’s passengers.
Perspectives will premiere on Monday the 23rd of January at The Bondi Pavillion
