STANLEY SWINDLING
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Screenplays
(visual decks and select pages available upon request)

Features
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Armadillo
co-written with Rachel Cylie Gross; story by Rachel Cylie Gross
​Horror • Thriller
 • 110 pages • 2022

Central Texas, 2003: Easton, a stoic line cook still grieving the loss of his younger brother, befriends a close-knit trio of eccentric locals. Unearthing the group's deadly secret offers him the chance to move on... if he can use his wits to survive.
  • Semifinalist - ScreenCraft Horror Contest (2022)
  • Top 10% finish - Academy Nicholl Fellowships (2021)
​The Enigma
Erotic Thriller • 120 pages • 2021
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Disgraced novelist Dan Alistair is reeling from a social media scandal when he meets beguiling newcomer Evan Verde at a secluded writer’s retreat. After Evan exploits their experiences to tell a twisted story, Dan becomes obsessed with uncovering his ulterior motives, pushing them beyond erotic fixation to the brink of madness.
  • Quarterfinalist - ScreenCraft Feature Screenplay Competition (2021)​
  • Quarterfinalist - WeScreenplay College Screenwriting Competition (2021)
  • ​Nominee, Best Graduate Feature - LMU SFTV Awards (2021)
    • Second consecutive nomination after previous win
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Nights on Fire
​Drama • Romance • Dark Comedy • 97 pages • 2020

In 2051, when the effects of climate change have made the planet inhospitable, a group of "Gen Zero" twentysomethings convene in a Palm Springs mansion to celebrate their final hours on Earth.
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​WINNER: Best Graduate Screenplay - Feature
LMU SFTV Awards (2020)

Voting determined by a jury of industry professionals
Magic Time
Biopic • Drama • Comedy • 2021

​Idiosyncratic coffeehouse owner Joe Cino allows queer playwrights to stage their radical productions amidst the turbulent milieu of 1960s Greenwich Village. Based on the true story of the Caffe Cino, the birthplace of Off-Off Broadway.
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​​Code of Conduct
Comedy • High School • 103 pages • 2019
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Whip-smart high school senior Mary Harrier inadvertently leads a revolution to reform the institutional biases at Christopher Columbus High.
​Cut
Psychological Thriller • 108 pages • 2018


A crew of ambitious college filmmakers descend into madness over the course of an unauthorized three-day shoot in the woods. Black Swan​ on a film set.
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  • Quarterfinalist - ScreenCraft Horror Contest (2018)
  • Second Rounder - Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition [Drama] (2019)
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Dovebird
Drama • Coming of Age • 101 pages • 2017


The suburbs of South Florida, 2006: introverted teenager Kevin Dover falls head over Doc Martens for Harry, his enigmatic classmate. Together, they navigate the wild excesses of the local nightlife, fumbling their way to self-discovery.
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  • Quarterfinalist - The LAUNCH Million Dollar Screenplay Competition (2019)
​​Pilots
Rent Free
Drama-Comedy • Half-Hour • Single-Camera • 28 pages • 2022
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Self-destructive slacker Dev spirals further out of control after inexplicably gaining the power to hear every conversation that other people have about him.

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​False Crime
​Dark Comedy • Half-Hour • Single-Camera • 38 pages • 2020

​When a run-in with an old acquaintance turns fatal, public radio host Ezra Webster uses his misfortune to fuel a sensational true-crime podcast.
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​Lucky Chance
Teen Drama-Comedy • Hourlong • 60 pages • 2020
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Prodigal teen Chance Wardell juggles the responsibilities of young adulthood while grappling with inexplicable supernatural powers after joining the ranks of an elite boarding school in coastal small-town Maine.
​Theatre
​CARDI B: An Argument in One Act
Drama • Comedy • Social Justice • 30 pages • 2020
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After a dinner party in the dog days of summer, a debate over a friend's microaggression forces Ian and Harrison to confront hidden anxieties over race and privilege. Written in the immediate wake of the racial justice protests of Summer 2020, CARDI B implores white audiences to interrogate their blindspots, ultimately asking, "Where do we go from here?"
​Coming Soon
Phantasmagoria (Feature)
Horror • Psychological Thriller • Drama • 2022
After moving to the suburbs to support his partner's work, video editor Sebastian suffers supernatural visions which he fears might be tied to their new home.


Nice Knowing You (Feature)
Comedy • Drama • Coming of Age • 2022
In the early 2010s, misanthropic high schooler Stanley finds his angst-ridden adolescence interrupted when he befriends a free-spirited, foul-mouthed stranger: himself, transported from fourteen years in the future.


How to Exorcise Demons (Feature)
co-written with Rachel Cylie Gross
Horror • Comedy • 2022
On their way to a reunion, a Jewish family is tasked with performing a DIY exorcism when Esther, the clan’s bubbe, is possessed by a malevolent paranormal entity. Little Miss Sunshine meets The Evil Dead.

Criticism & Essays

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​"How Much Do You Value Your Life?"
Published June 21, 2021 for Gayly Dreadful
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A personal essay detailing how the Saw franchise and so-called 'torture porn' improbably provided comfort in a battle to overcome suicidal ideation.
Read at Gayly Dreadful
Where is the Final Boy?
Published October 19, 2020 for Film Updates
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An in-depth examination of the ubiquitous Final Girl trope in horror, and a call to action for Hollywood: where are the sensitive men of genre cinema?
Read at Film Updates
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The Covert Danger of the Queer Shoulder
Published July 13, 2020 for Medium
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A new shorthand for film and TV writers is quietly dehumanizing LGBTQ+ characters and evading criticism in the process. A study of the state of queer representation in modern mainstream cinema.
Read at Medium
Two Truths, One Valentine
Published February 2020 for
ÄR Zine
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Hypothetical imaginations of the oft-loathed Hallmark holiday. In an age of cynicism, is the perfect Valentine's Day still possible?
Official Website
Purchase a Copy
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Reading an excerpt at the Cypress Dome Launch Party on April 19, 2018.
Joe
Published May 1, 2018 for The Cypress Dome Literary Magazine
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Creative Nonfiction / Memoir. A hopeless romantic's new relationship leads to surprising discoveries about his mother's complicated history with love.
  • Winner of the Editor's Choice Award for Nonfiction (2018)​​
Official Website
PDF copy of "Joe" available upon request.
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