By Baltimore Office of Promotion and The Arts
The Baltimore Office of Promotion and The Arts (BOPA) proudly announced the winners of the 20th annual Baltimore Screenwriters Competition on Saturday, May 3, 2025, at the SNF Parkway Theatre during the Maryland Film Festival’s “Maryland Film Day” weekend. This annual contest is a project of the Baltimore Film Office in partnership with Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and Morgan State University (MSU) and sponsored by the Maryland Film Festival. Prizes were awarded in both the feature and shorts categories to the top three scripts set, or able to be filmed, in Baltimore.
“The Baltimore Screenwriters Competition celebrates 20 years of nurturing screenwriters and encouraging Baltimore stories. The Baltimore Film Office is proud of our long relationship with Johns Hopkins and Morgan State Universities who, along with the Maryland Film Festival, give the writers the opportunity to have their stories read by industry professionals and receive valuable feedback,” says Debbie Donaldson Dorsey, Director of the Baltimore Film Office.
The announcement of this year’s winners kicked off at noon with a panel discussion about the competition and screenwriting moderated by Dorsey. The panel included Keith Mehlinger, head of the film program at MSU; David Warfield, screenwriter and professor at MSU; Annette Porter, Director of the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund; Stephen Schuyler, winner of the 2020 Baltimore Screenwriter’s Competition and Saul Zaentz fellow for “Stealing Cars;” and film and television writer Ken LaZebnik.
The 2025 Baltimore Screenwriters Competition received 32 scripts. In the first round of judging, scripts were read by students from the Johns Hopkins and Morgan State University writing and film programs. Scripts moved through a second round of readers and in the final round of judging, the winners were selected by industry professionals Nina K. Noble, an Emmy award winning executive producer and producing partner of David Simon’s Blown Deadline Productions; Ken LaZebnik, a film and television writer who is also Director of Long Island University’s MFA in Writing and Producing for Television; Annette Porter, who is a producer at Nylon Films, Co-Director of the JHU MICA Film Centre, as well as the Director of the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund at Johns Hopkins University; and Baltimore native Darryl Wharton-Rigby, a film and television writer, director and Assistant Professor of Production at Temple University Japan.
The winners of the 2025 Baltimore Screenwriters Competition are:
Feature category
First Place — Chaseedaw Giles, “Baltimore Barber”
Photo: Instagram/ chaseedaw
In a West Baltimore neighborhood shadowed by relentless gun violence, the spirits of the deceased linger, haunting those left behind. Anthony, the community barber, navigates the veil between life and death, battling PTSD and a simmering rage as he gives haircuts to the living—and the dead.
Second Place — Evan Balkan, “I’m Possible”
“I’m Possible” charts Richard White’s journey from growing up homeless in West Baltimore to
becoming the first African American to earn a doctorate in tuba instruction and enter the rarefied air of the symphony orchestra.
Third Place — Jeff Gray, “End Zones and Equations”
At Baltimore’s prestigious Polytechnic Institute, a benched high school freshman and a star quarterback forge an unlikely bond, facing against their toughest opponents-and their own fears- as they prepare for the game of their lives.
Shorts category
First Place — Catherine Maslen, “Double T”
Before the age of cellphones two estranged lovers decide to meet at a Double T diner in Baltimore. Unbeknownst to them, there are two Double Ts at opposite ends of the same road. Complicated emotions ensue as the ill-fated couple try to figure out what is happening.
Second Place — Wordsmith, “The Purple Tape”
A group of students go on the hunt for a rare copy of Raekwon’s “The Purple Tape.”
Third Place — George Tittle, “Relations”
A lonely, troubled female ventriloquist wants a relationship-but her dummy objects.
Meet the screenwriters
Chaseedaw Giles is a dynamic storyteller whose talents span screenwriting, journalism, music, and acting. Her journalistic work showcases her dedication to highlighting underrepresented voices and addressing critical social issues. In Los Angeles, you can catch Chaseedaw on stage with her husband in their hip-hop/ jazz band Black From Home. Their music explores themes in Black culture, love, and resilience through a powerful fusion of genres. While living in D.C. and Maryland, Chaseedaw could be found on stage performing in various local theatre productions. Her work across these mediums gives her a unique perspective as a screenwriter. Her ability to blend real-world issues with narrative depth, authenticity, and emotional resonance positions her as a powerful voice in film. With a proven track record in multiple creative disciplines, Chaseedaw is poised to push the boundaries of independent film and deliver projects that resonate both socially and artistically.
Wordsmith is a songwriter, poet, recording artist, actor, playwright and philanthropist from Baltimore, Md. He earned a full athletic scholarship to play football at Morgan State University and graduated from Salisbury University with a Bachelor of Performing Arts Degree in 2002. He is a Grammy Voting Member, winner of the 2025 Bernard/Ebb Songwriting Awards, finalist for the 2024 Baker Artist Awards, voted one of 25 Black Marylanders to Watch in 2024 by the Baltimore Sun, and a five-time ASCAPLUS Award winner. He is an International Exchange Alumni with the US Department of State and has performed major concerts, humanitarian missions and held music/performance/poetry workshops around the world. In 2018, Wordsmith was hired to write new narration for Carnival of the Animals with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, officially becoming an artistic partner with the BSO in September 2020. Wordsmith officially opened his nonprofit Rise with a Purpose, Inc. in 2020, while delivering his first Ted Talk via John Hopkins University. Always looking to expand his horizons, Wordsmith joined the faculty of Baltimore School for the Arts as a playwright and director, while recently being voted on the board for the B&O Railroad Museum.
About the Baltimore film office
The Baltimore Film Office serves as the designated liaison between production companies and city agencies, providing one-stop shop access to city services and expedited permits for the purpose of economic development. It also serves as liaison between production companies and businesses, crew and communities, and markets Baltimore as a first-class location for the film industry. Learn more at baltimorefilm.org.
Media contacts
For media inquiries, contact Communications Manager Barbara Hauck at bhauck@promotionandarts.org.
Baltimore Office of Promotion and The Arts (BOPA) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which serves as Baltimore City’s arts council and film office. By providing funding and support to artists and arts organizations, BOPA’s goal is to make Baltimore a more vibrant and creative place to live and work.