David Dean
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cynohead.com
David Dean
@cynohead.com
140 followers 48 following 250 posts
PAGE Gold Winner – 2025
AFF Semi-Finalist – 2025

"In his lifetime, he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen."

https://cynohead.com
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cynohead.com
Looking pretty sweet...

#scriptsky #austinfilmfestival #aff2025
32nd annual Austin Film Festival poster. Rattlesnake made of filmstrip with a fountain pen tongue
November 15, 2025 at 10:03 PM
cynohead.com
I'm proud of the work, but I do wish the AFF readers wouldn't gush like this.

#scriptsky
AFF reader comment: "The script is easy to read and has no formatting issues. The story progresses through a beginning, middle, and end"
November 5, 2025 at 10:15 PM
cynohead.com
First page of a short script - CONTINUITY - that I wrote just for fun earlier this year.

#scriptsky #FirstPageFriday
Open on blackness. A tiny white dot appears at the center of our vision. The dot expands outwards -- like an old television screen switching on -- and becomes... INT. DINGY WORKSHOP - DAY We are in someone's seated POV. Ahead of us: a cramped, dimly lit workshop. Every surface overflows with barely recognizable junk: Battered oscilloscopes and microscopes, anatomical models, thick piles of academic papers, jars of murky fluid... ...a confusing mixture of items both scientific and esoteric. And in the top left corner of our vision -- as if part of a simple HEADS-UP DISPLAY -- floats the _number 22_. Sitting directly ahead of us on a wheeled office chair is an exhausted middle-aged man in a shabby lab coat. This is MICHAEL. He is frazzled and unkempt, and though we may not immediately notice, he sports a drab pair of FOLDED ANGELIC WINGS. Michael looks directly at us, exhales in deep frustration -- MICHAEL Right then... -- and then reads from a sheet of paper with the bored tone of someone who's been through this many times before. MICHAEL Welcome to consciousness. My name is Michael, and you are test subject number... He peers at a vintage computer on the table to our right, its screen turned away from us. MICHAEL ...twenty-two. Without looking, he points to the floating number in the top left of our vision.
October 31, 2025 at 3:27 PM
cynohead.com
Very cool to see your own script in AFF’s script library.

It’s like the Smithsonian but more flammable.

#scriptsky #austinfilmfestival #aff2025
Script for Displacement by David Dean. Semi finalist in AFF’s short screenplay category.
October 23, 2025 at 7:00 PM
cynohead.com
Sweet mother of midpoints...

My screenplay VOICELESS is a PAGE Gold Prize Winner.

No idea what to do with myself, but it will involve drinking.

#scriptsky #pageawards
2025 PAGE Awards Action / Adventure Gold Prize Winner - Voiceless by David Dean Over BLACK: The CRUNCH of a boot against wood. A second, harder CRUNCH -- a door violently assaulted. Finally a SPLINTERING CRASH as the door is KICKED IN. A BURLY MAN stands silhouetted in the doorway of: INT. NORTH FORK CABIN - DAY [1894] The job done, the man steps aside in favor of SHERIFF TABER -- a gruff man in his mid-fifties. His paunch and Cattleman hat block out the sun. TABER Hell's teeth... His POV: A FOURTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL -- CALLIE -- slumps on the floor of the cabin. Resting back against the log wall. Her face is pale under her dirty blonde hair. She stares up at Taber -- her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. Her petticoat is STAINED WITH BLOOD. No way to tell if it's hers. A thin trail of blood leads to a KITCHEN KNIFE lying a few feet away on the cabin floor. Taber takes this in. Speaks without urgency. TABER Where is he? Callie nods loosely toward the open door of an adjacent room. Taber doesn't need to look in there. TABER Can you walk? INT. CARRIAGE - DAY The sound of horses' hooves on a dirt road. Callie is slumped in the back of the carriage. Her CUFFED hands resting on her lap.
October 15, 2025 at 7:18 PM
cynohead.com
The Predator handshake meme, with Children's Entertainment and Eugenics agreeing on Physical Attractiveness As A Measure Of Moral Worth.
September 23, 2025 at 1:19 PM
cynohead.com
My feature scripts may not have been to the judges' taste, but I'm thrilled to say my short script DISPLACEMENT has made it to the AFF semi-finals!

#scriptsky #aff32 #aff2025 #austinfilmfestival
Austin Film Festival Script Competition Semi-Finalist laurels. FADE IN: INT. CHICAGO POLICE PRECINCT - HOLDING CELL - DAY A thick steel door swings open before us, revealing the cell interior. There's barely enough room to spread your arms in here. A dismal cube of rough concrete. The only furniture to speak of is a low steel bench anchored to the floor. Into the claustrophobic space steps AMELIA. Late teens, close-cropped hair and third-hand clothes. Suppressed anger in an army surplus jacket. Right now her hands are cuffed behind her back. Middle-aged OFFICER NASH guides her in. He gestures lazily at the cramped cell. OFFICER NASH Deceptively spacious, don't you think? Exclusive location... You've got your south-facing views... Amelia's gaze flicks up to the single tiny window: a sad smear of light through the scuffed glass. OFFICER NASH Ideal for a first-time buyer. Amelia rolls her eyes -- got no time for this. She raises her cuffed hands behind her: Get me out of these. Nash grunts. Pulls keys from his pocket and slowly uncuffs her. In no hurry. OFFICER NASH House-hunting's my guess. Why else break and enter and take nothing? Any thoughts on that? AMELIA (under her breath) I didn't break. OFFICER NASH What's that? The cuffs are off. She turns toward him. Doesn't look him in the eye.
September 19, 2025 at 5:55 PM
cynohead.com
Well, damn, I'm a PAGE Finalist.

#scriptsky
2025 Page Awards Finalist. Voiceless by David Dean. First page of the feature script VOICELESS: Over BLACK: The CRUNCH of a boot against wood. A second, harder CRUNCH -- a door violently assaulted. Finally a SPLINTERING CRASH as the door is KICKED IN. A BURLY MAN stands silhouetted in the doorway of: INT. NORTH FORK CABIN - DAY [1894] The job done, the man steps aside in favor of SHERIFF TABER -- a gruff man in his mid-fifties. His paunch and Cattleman hat block out the sun. TABER Hell's teeth... His POV: A FOURTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL -- CALLIE -- slumps on the floor of the cabin. Resting back against the log wall. Her face is pale under her dirty blonde hair. She stares up at Taber -- her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. Her petticoat is STAINED WITH BLOOD. No way to tell if it's hers. A thin trail of blood leads to a KITCHEN KNIFE lying a few feet away on the cabin floor. Taber takes this in. Speaks without urgency. TABER Where is he? Callie nods loosely toward the open door of an adjacent room. Taber doesn't need to look in there. TABER Can you walk? INT. CARRIAGE - DAY The sound of horses' hooves on a dirt road. Callie is slumped in the back of the carriage. Her CUFFED hands resting on her lap.
September 15, 2025 at 6:18 PM
cynohead.com
Now deleted reddit post from someone claiming to have made AFF's second round with an AI-generated script.

You're always going to be competing against people with no ethics.

#scriptsky

www.reddit.com/r/Screenwrit...
Screenshot of reddit search result. Extract: "I woke up after having a long, complex, vivid dream of a world with an all knowing AI being controlled by a shady government"
September 11, 2025 at 6:16 PM
cynohead.com
Screenplay posters are all the rage...

So here's some artisanal, hand-crafted poster art for my PAGE semi-final script VOICELESS.

Couldn't quite capture the full depth of emotional resonance, but I think I came close.

#scriptsky
Poster art for the screenplay Voiceless by David Dean. Depicts a group of people speaking, but the central person has an empty speech bubble. It looks to have been drawn by someone with no artistic talent whatsoever.
August 18, 2025 at 5:28 PM
cynohead.com
Honored to have made the PAGE Awards semi-finals, as I believe there is no higher accolade (Don't check this).

Raising a glass to all my fellow entrants.

#scriptsky
2025 Page Awards Semi-Finalist. Voiceless by David Dean.
August 15, 2025 at 6:31 PM
cynohead.com
What's your favorite series finale?

#scriptsky
Screenshot of the Angel finale, "Not Fade Away". Characters in a rain-swept alley.
August 6, 2025 at 11:10 PM
cynohead.com
Fourth page of my script TWILIGHT YEARS.

It eventually becomes a vampire story, but not quite yet.

#4thPageOnThe4th #scriptsky
They watch the attic door warily as the footsteps ascend. On the attic door: CREAK. CREAK. CREAK. Edith's eyes go wide as she realizes: EDITH The _suitcase_. He'll see it -- The DOORKNOB RATTLES as a hand grabs it from the other side. It squeals, slowly turns... and the attic door swings open. Edith's father, MR. MEARS (40s), stands silhouetted against the half-light of the stairway. His suit and tie are rumpled and loose. He's drunk. A stooping mess. MEARS Edie? His POV: Edith turning from the bed. The skirt around the bed falling to partially cover the suitcase now stashed beneath. MEARS You don't answer? EDITH I was asleep. MEARS You trying to make a fool of me? GRACE (O.S.) She had a nightmare. Mears notices Grace for the first time -- moved to a chair in a darkened corner. He swings his attention to her. MEARS This isn't your room. You should be down the hall. (to Edith) She keeping you awake? What's she been telling you? GRACE I haven't -- MEARS _I didn't ask you_.
July 4, 2025 at 6:05 PM
cynohead.com
First page of my script VOICELESS.

One of a few I entered into contests this year, so it could be being rejected at this very moment.

#FirstPageFriday #scriptsky
Over BLACK: The CRUNCH of a boot against wood. A second, harder CRUNCH -- a door violently assaulted. Finally a SPLINTERING CRASH as the door is KICKED IN. A BURLY MAN stands silhouetted in the doorway of: INT. NORTH FORK CABIN - DAY The job done, the man steps aside in favor of SHERIFF TABER -- a gruff man in his mid-fifties. His paunch and Cattleman hat block out the sun. TABER Hell's teeth... His POV: A FOURTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL -- CALLIE -- slumps on the floor of the cabin. Resting back against the log wall. Her face is pale under her dirty blonde hair. She stares up at Taber -- her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. Her petticoat is STAINED WITH BLOOD. No way to tell if it's hers. A thin trail of blood leads to a KITCHEN KNIFE lying a few feet away on the cabin floor. Taber takes this in. Speaks without urgency. TABER Where is he? Callie nods loosely toward the open door of an adjacent room. Taber doesn't need to look in there. TABER Can you walk? INT. CARRIAGE - DAY The sound of horses' hooves on a dirt road. Callie is slumped in the back of the carriage. Her CUFFED hands resting on her lap.
June 20, 2025 at 7:55 PM
cynohead.com
Symptoms of aphasia can include challenges with understanding spoken or written language.
An article with the headline "GQuuuuuuX Is a Celebration of Gundam Blorbos".
May 11, 2025 at 12:57 PM
cynohead.com
The red curtains and zigzag-patterned floor from Twin Peaks' red room. Rest in weirdness, David Lynch.
January 16, 2025 at 8:34 PM
cynohead.com
Great Scene Descriptions From Doctor Who History: Part 3 – About Damn Time.

#scriptsky
Scene description: "DOCTOR WHO IS MAKING AN ANTI-DALEK GUN"
December 3, 2024 at 11:34 PM
cynohead.com
Another installment of "Great Scene Descriptions From Doctor Who History".

#scriptsky
Scene description: "LOST IN ADMIRATION OF THE BUCKET"
December 1, 2024 at 10:49 PM
cynohead.com
Finding inspiration in old Doctor Who scripts.

#scriptsky
A screenshot of scene description reading "ANGRY HEN NOISE".
November 30, 2024 at 4:18 PM