UCLA taps 7 screenwriters

By VARIETY STAFF

Seven screenwriting students have received the seventh annual Diane Thomas Awards from the UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

Among this year's judges were Steven Spielberg, Michael Douglas, Kathleen Kennedy, agent Norman Kurland, Amblin Entertainment development VP Deborah Newmyer and producer Cathleen Summers.

First-place winners this year were Stuart Beattie, for "Mayday," about a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, and P.G. Thomas, whose "Two Dogs Running" is a 1930s period piece about a sharpshooting 16-year-old.

Robert Dorian won second place for "The Auction," a thriller about a government worker's suspicions about a series of accidental deaths. Third place went to Adrianne Stone for her script "Harley," about a jaded, obnoxious rock star. Honorable mentions went to: Robert Dorian, Patricia Mayo Ford, Joseph Swinger and Sarah Werner.

The entries were recommended by instructors in whose classes the scripts were developed during a two-year period ending in September.