Graduate Student's Screenplay Accepted to the Beverly Hills Film Festival

Adelphi University is pleased to announce that graduate student David Rodriguez’s ’09, M.F.A. ’12 screenplay, Please Spell D-E-A-T-H, has been accepted to the 2011 Beverly Hills Film Festival, which will take place from April 6 to 10, 2011 in Beverly Hills, CA.

Please Spell D-E-A-T-H is a mystery-thriller screenplay chronicling a young man’s attempt to figure out the truth behind his father’s departure years ago. Throughout his life, protagonist Aaron Carpelli has been told that his father left town following a heated domestic dispute. Now, in order to pass English to avoid failing out of high school, Aaron must complete an assignment by answering the question, “What is your biggest fear?” Through exploration of his unnatural fear of death, Aaron begins to expose connections between his fear and his father’s disappearance, which turns out to be entirely different from the story he has known his entire life.

Though it is both Mr. Rodriguez’s first completed screenplay and submission to the Festival, Please Spell D-E-A-T-H was chosen as one of 100 finalists from thousands of entries. The festival, which consists of various industry events as well as the screening of approximately 50 films, culminates in a gala awards ceremony. Throughout the five-day festival, Mr. Rodriguez will have the opportunity to attend panel discussions and networking events with high-level industry executives searching for new material. Mr. Rodriguez’s screenplay has the chance of becoming one of three award-winners in its category.

The Beverly Hills Film Festival is an international competition dedicated to showcasing the art and talent of emerging independent filmmakers. The festival allows participants to feature their films in the highest quality venues available to consumers around the world. Professionals and industry tastemakers representing all facets of the movie industry have regularly been spotted attending.