Philip wrote his first screenplay largely due to the prompting of a writer friend. The second script he penned, Neon Cactus, landed a berth as a Quarter-Finalist in the Academy’s esteemed Nicholl Fellowship (1990). Since then, more than thirty of his scripts & films have received acclaim in screenwriting contests, film festivals and writing fellowships (a complete listing of awards can be found via a link below).
Philip is a member of the Arizona Production Association.
An award-winning writer and director, Philip is frequently sought out for and has completed many work-for-hire screenplay assignments such as the recently completed:
OUT OF THE DARKNESS – Based upon the efforts of Clyde Tombaugh to discover Pluto in 1930 Arizona.
He penned three work-for-hire popular short films for the festival circuit including:
MIRAGE AT ZABUL PROVINCE (2015), a short film written by Philip and directed by Nathan Bettisworth completed and a four festival award-winning film and was in competition in an Oscar-Qualifying film festival.
OTRO LADO (2018), a short film conceived by EP and composer Alex Holland.
ELEVATOR PITCH (2017), based upon a short screenplay contracted by EP, Rutger Oosterhoff.
Last year his short screenplay ZAP! took first place honors in the Phoenix Film Festival. Despite the pandemic the script was filmed last year, where Philip made his directorial debut. Now complete with the festival circuit, the film was selected to fifty-five festivals worldwide.
In April of 2022, Philip directed his second short film from his script METEORIC. With an amazing cast, this film is currently on the film festival circuit.
Additionally, Philip is in conversation as a work-for-hire director on short films to be filmed in Arizona. Other short films based upon Philip’s scripts are in various stages of development.
Committed to restoring feature film production in southern Arizona near his home base in Tucson, Arizona, Philip is working to fund his screenplay, NEON CACTUS, which in its first draft placed in the esteemed Nicholl Fellowship. As well he is now pursuing funding for his award-winning western screenplay, CACTUS JUNCTION. Both scripts are modest budget (under $3M) and have talent attachments.
He continuously works to develop his armada of screenplays, features and shorts, including his multi-festival (Burbank International Film Festival, San Antonio Film Festival) winning script, AN UNDOCUMENTED RUMOR, a hot button, politically-charged thriller with diverse talent and in which both the protagonist and antagonist are female.
Philip served as a juror for the Prescott Film Festival where he also conducted screenwriting workshops….. click here to continue reading.
