Some stories are written to entertain. Others come out like confessions—raw, urgent, impossible to keep inside. What’s Buried Beneath the Pines is one of those scripts. And this week, I’m proud to share that it’s been named a Second Rounder in the 2025 Austin Film Festival Script Competition, placing among the top 20% of over 13,000 submissions from around the world.
For anyone who knows screenwriting contests, this is not a small thing. Austin Film Festival isn’t just another stop on the circuit. It’s one of the most prestigious competitions and conferences in the industry—a festival built by writers, for writers. Careers have been launched here. Relationships have been forged here. And for my script to stand out in such a competitive field means it’s resonating exactly where it needs to.
The Significance of Austin Film Festival
To understand why this matters, you need to know what AFF represents. Every October, the heart of Austin turns into a hub for screenwriters, producers, showrunners, and executives. It’s a place where the focus isn’t on red carpets or flashbulbs—it’s on the craft. The conversations. The connection between story and storyteller.
The Script Competition is one of the largest and most respected in the world. Thousands of writers submit features, pilots, and shorts, hoping to break through the noise. To land as a Second Rounder at Austin means the work didn’t just skim past the first reader—it impressed enough to rise into the top fifth of an enormous pool. For a script this personal, that recognition means everything.
About What’s Buried Beneath the Pines
For those unfamiliar, What’s Buried Beneath the Pines is a Southern Gothic drama pilot. The story follows Gray Harris, the estranged son of a powerful timber baron, who returns home to rural Georgia to bury his father. What begins as an obligation spirals into something far darker as Gray uncovers a blood-soaked family legacy that refuses to stay buried.
This is not just a thriller—it’s a story about inheritance in its deepest sense. Not the money or the land, but the weight of secrets, shame, and silence passed down through generations. It’s about what happens when the past refuses to let go, and the cost of confronting it head-on.
I wrote this pilot because I had to. It’s not autobiographical, but it’s absolutely personal. Growing up in the South, I’ve seen how much power stories—and the things we don’t talk about—can hold. This script came out like a purge, like digging up something I didn’t even know was buried inside me.
A Season of Recognition
The Austin Film Festival recognition comes during a breakthrough season for this project. Earlier this year, What’s Buried Beneath the Pines was named a Semifinalist at Script Pipeline, a Finalist at the Nashville Film Festival, and a Quarterfinalist in Final Draft’s Big Break Contest.
Each placement has added momentum. Each nod has been fuel to keep pushing forward. To now add Austin Film Festival—a competition that every serious screenwriter circles on their calendar—is proof that this story isn’t just whispering. It’s being heard.
Beyond a Single Pilot
What excites me most is that Pines isn’t just a standalone script—it’s the foundation for a full anthology series called Revenance. Each season will unearth the buried sins of a different American family. The pilot sets the tone: Southern Gothic atmosphere, deep character work, slow-burn suspense, and an unflinching look at how the past shapes the present.
Think True Detective through a Southern Gothic lens. Dark, atmospheric, mythic. The kind of storytelling that digs beneath polite facades and asks what really festers when the truth is left underground.
Why This Matters
Winning contests is never the goal. Telling the story is. But recognition like this amplifies the work. It signals to industry eyes that the script is worth paying attention to. It opens doors that might otherwise stay closed.
For me, this recognition is a reminder that the stories we fear writing are often the ones that resonate deepest. What’s Buried Beneath the Pines wasn’t written to chase a trophy. It was written because it wouldn’t leave me alone. Because it felt like the kind of story that needed to be told, no matter how heavy the shovel.
Looking Ahead
Being named a Second Rounder at the Austin Film Festival is both an honor and a challenge. An honor because it means the story is connecting at the highest levels. A challenge because it sets the bar even higher for what comes next.
I’ll be heading to Austin this October to take part in the festival, connect with other writers, and continue to put this script—and this series—into the hands of people who can help bring it to life. With each competition placement, with each conversation sparked, What’s Buried Beneath the Pines moves one step closer from script to screen.
Final Thoughts
The work isn’t about validation. But when validation comes—from places like Austin—it’s a sign you’re on the right track. It’s a signal flare, reminding you and everyone watching that the story has weight. That it deserves to be heard.
So thank you, Austin Film Festival, for seeing this story. For lifting it up in a year when the competition has never been tougher. For reminding me why I keep digging.
The shovel’s still sharp. And I’m not done yet.