International Sports Film Festival Houston Reveals Finalist Judges For Screenplay Championship

International Sports Film Festival Houston (ISFFH) and Event Horizon Films (EHF) announced today the all-star judge lineup for the Sports Script Championship.

Golden Globe-nominee Darryl Ponicsan, writer of Vision Quest, Vince McKewin, writer of The Replacements, Michael Montgomery, actor and former NFL defender, ISFFH’s Josh Merwin and Event Horizon Films will judge each submitted screenplay, teleplay and short script that advances to the finals. In true sports fashion, scripts will go head-to-head in a tournament bracket until one writer is named champion.

Vince McKewin is a writer, producer and actor, best known for his screenplay, The Replacements, a football movie starring Keanu Reeves and Gene Hackman. He is also the screenwriter responsible for The Climb, starring John Hurt and David Straithern, and Fly Away Home, starring Jeff Daniels, Anna Paquin and Dana Delany. Extending his experience beyond screenplays, McKewin is a producer and writer for the NBC TV series’ Las Vegas and Taxi Brooklyn. He is also an award-winning playwright, and a former actor in a number of hit TV series. Prior to his entertainment career, McKewin worked at a New York advertisement agency. He received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland.

Josh Merwin is a photographer, videographer and founder of the International Sports Film Festival Houston. He launched his career as a photographer shooting for ESPN Magazine, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times and Houston Chronicle. His most recent work, A Gift For Life, is a film in post-production that covers the kidney transplant of a college baseball athlete. His passion for the power of film led him to create ISFFH, so that other filmmakers have platform to launch their sports stories. Merwin is also the director of the non-profit, Through the Lens – Houston, which teaches kids the power of storytelling through their own eyes; empowering them to create short films on a variety of topics affecting their communities. TTL and ISFFH are leading Holocaust Museum Houston’s Engines of Change students on their photo project, which will highlight rights from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Michael Montgomery is an actor and gridiron football star. He has made acting appearances in a variety of TV shows and films, including FOX’s Gotham, SHOWTIME’s Roadies, Director Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn Long Halftime Walk, BOUNCE TV’s Mann & Wife, Jack’s Apocalypse, and Superman vs Doomsday (pre-production). Montgomery is best known for his live broadcast appearances as a starting defensive end for the Green Bay Packers. Before switching to a career in acting, he played five years in the NFL, and year a piece with UFL and CFL. His career in the spotlight begin as the starting defensive linemen for Texas A&M.

Darryl Ponicsan is an award-winning screenwriter responsible for Vision Quest, a wrestling movie starring Emmy-nominee Matthew Modine and BAFTA-nominee Linda Fiorentino. He was best known for Cinderella Liberty, starring Oscar-nominees’ James Baan and Marsha Mason, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for best screenplay. Ponicsan also received an NAACP Image Award as “Screenwriter of the Year,” and was nominated for two WGA Awards for his work. Each of Ponicsan’s numerous screenplays attracted the attention of countless A-list actors, including: The Boost, starring James Woods; School Ties, starring Brendan Fraser and Matt Damon; Random Hearts, starring Harrison Ford; The Enemy Within, starring Forest Whitaker; Nuts, starring Barbra Streisand; and The Last Detail, starring Jack Nicholson. In addition to his screenplays, Ponicsan is the author of 14 novels and one non-fiction book. Prior to his entertainment career, Ponicsan was a Navy veteran, a social worker and a high school English teacher. He received his master’s degree from Cornell University.

International Sports Film Festival Houston, Feb. 3-6, 2022, is on a mission to provide emerging filmmakers with a platform to launch and make a positive impact in people’s lives through the power of film. ISFFH is looking for stories that go beyond the field and show the relationship between sports and live.

EHF’s annual Sports Script Championship is dedicated to helping emerging sports writers break into the industry. Each script is judged by readers from the industry’s top talent agencies and management companies during the preliminary rounds, giving sports writers the added value of high-profile industry experts reviewing and critiquing their work. From sports bio-pics and sports family to sports comedy and sports drama, the Sports Script Championship accepts any shorts, pilots and feature screenplays that involve a sports setting, athlete or competitive event.

Writers may submit sports scripts to ISFFH Sports Script Championship, now through midnight on Oct. 3, 2022. Winners will be announced during the festival’s fall golf ceremony to receive autographed sports scripts, industry exposure opportunities and tickets to a professional sporting event.

For more information on the International Sports Film Festival Houston, visit isffh.org. Details on the Script Championship are available at eventhorizonfilms.com. Information can also be found on: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

About Event Horizon Films

Event Horizon Films (www.eventhorizonfilms.com) is an award-wining film production company and screenwriting service in Dallas, Los Angeles and New York. Founded in 2019, EHF’s network of film professionals include Academy Award-, Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-winning talent and partners at top talent agencies and literary management companies. EHF is also the official host of the nationally-recognized screenwriting competition for the Dallas International Film Festival. EHF is committed to supporting screenwriters, building networks and producing stories.