WeltBild Insel - An experienced scriptwriter won the Weltbild script writing competition yesterday, in a closely decided  contest that began in  September.

The German media firm WeltBild.de held an open jury session yesterday in which the four finalists were discussed by the five-member jury, consisting of TV Presenter Bettina Cramer (formerly of Sat. 1 Blitz), TV Producer Rainer Matsutani (Tatort), Rowan Barnett (The AvaStar), Sabine Hirtes (Baden-Württemberg Film Academy) and Tilmann Auer of WeltBild.de. The finalists were:  "White Spot" by Thommas Miles, "Blow Up" by Awie Apfelbaum, "Das Geheimnis des 7.Meeres" by Orpheus Kurosawa and "A Sailor and the Lady of the Lake" by Vivan Jackalope.  Judging was done by points.   The entry with the highest score at the end was declared the winner.   After a discussion of each entry,  Auer announced that Thommas Miles' "White Spot" had been selected as the winner.

Later on in Trigital Vox, Miles said that he read about the contest in an online newspaper, "and as I have written a lot of scripts I just participated."  The idea for "White Spot" was born while he was out jogging and he briefly summarizes the story, "A spiritual ritual on an island creates an unknown phenomenon which is a threat to the avatars living there...it is all about crossing borders."

 Miles has been a television thriller and romantic comedy writer for about ten years and has also worked for Robert Halmi from R,H.I. Entertainment, in Los Angeles. "He is one of the biggest producers in the states,"  Miles says.  Miles believes that Second Life provides great opportunity for writers. "I hope the film industry will move into SL very quickly." This could be a new golden era for writers because production costs are low.  Miles adds, "I really support my American colleagues in U.S., the screenwriters, in their strike."

Marissa Bergbahn, of Bokowsky  + Laymann, a  German content developer that  helped bring  WeltBild.de into Second life says, "The general idea of the contest is to involve the community in the whole project."  Weltbild is a very big media group in Germany. Bergbahn says WeltBild has, "a very modern and progressive approach for a company this size.  Not just to buy an island and build something on it, but go one step further and include the community."  When asked what was next now that they had the screenplay, Bergbahn answered, "The next stage will be to produce the film with actors from the community."