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A screenplay by USC Lancaster’s Howard Kingkade, theatre and speech, is one of nine finalists in the 2002 National Screenwriting Competition.
The feature-length A Working Class Hero takes place in 1953, when an Alabama native returns from the Korean War and moves his family to Gary, Indiana, to find work in the steel mills.
“I grew up in the Gary area,” Kingkade said. “I worked in steel mills when I got out of high school, so I was familiar with it, and I had done some reading on the area. A lot of things in the screenplay, such as fatalities at a mill, I have either experienced firsthand or knew of.”
Scripts entered in the National Screenwriting Competition, an annual juried competition, are evaluated by producers and directors based on concept, structure, character, cinematic quality, and superior writing. First, second, and third place awards are chosen, and each winner is given a monetary award and a possible option offer to produce their screenplay. The competition winners will be announced by early summer.
Though he’s delighted by the nomination, Kingkade isn’t idly waiting for the results.
“Some of the production companies involved in this competition have asked to see other work I’ve written—which is great, but this is the only complete screenplay I have,” said Kingkade, who teaches composition and public communication. “I have started a screenplay that takes place in Kentucky, and I may go up to Kentucky to do some research this summer.”
04/04
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