TV ONE ANNOUNCES SECOND ANNUAL AMERICAN BLACK FILM FESTIVAL SCREENPLAY COMPETITION FINALISTS

TV One, the network dedicated to represent the best in Black culture and entertainment, has announced the 2016 TV One Screenplay Competition finalists - N'Zuri Za Austin (Dallas, Texas), Cheronda Gunn & Traci Rooks (Houston, Texas), and Michelle McKissic (Arlington, Texas). Launched last year, the TV One Screenplay Competition was created to encourage and promote the production of creative, contemporary, engaging and relatable screenplays.

TV One's three finalists will receive an all-expense paid trip to this year's American Black Film Festival in Miami (June 15-19) and will set up and direct a scene from their script performed by this year's festival actors in front of a live audience during ABFF's "Celebrity Scene Stealers" event (Friday, June 17). A brief overview of the TV One Screenplay Competition finalists scripts are as follows:

"Tale of a Script" by N'Zuri Za Austin: In search of the next best screenplay, script reader Brandon shares a collection of short stories he found in a pile of "unreads" that narrate the dangers of social networking. The stories, each telling of the dangers that await us behind the keystroke of our computer screens, are a puzzle piece that will lead us on a journey of deceit.

"The Fandom" by Cheronda Gunn and Traci Rooks: When their favorite couple on network's hottest TV show is taken in a direction they don't like, five crazed fans decide to kidnap the Showrunner and force her to write the ending they want.

"Downsized" by Michelle McKissic: When a reformed playboy downsizes his family's lifestyle in a secret attempt to save his marriage, his kids learn of his scheme and begin a little plotting of their own.

This year's winner will be announced at "The Best of ABFF" Awards Ceremony on Saturday, June 18. The winner will earn a $5000 cash prize and a chance to have their screenplay produced into an original, made-for-TV movie, which will debut in 2017 on TV One and at the 21st.