Eureka Grads Win Film Festival Category

Two Eureka High School grads just won a "sitcom spec" competition for a script written for "Modern Family. The script is called “Earthquake Party,” and it earned top honors in last week's Austin Film Festival.

Abi and Phil Wurdeman, a brother/sister writing team, grew up in Eureka, but have been in Los Angeles for six years, writing comedy, according to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article. A record number of competitors--more than 6,500 scripts--were received in the screenplay/teleplay category.

The pair told the Post-Dispatch that St. Louis attributes definitely are woven into their scripts:  "You see a lot of irreverent humor and themes focused on authenticity and community,” Abi Wurdeman said.

Venues related to the festival include the Paramount Theatre, Alamo Drafthouse Ritz, Alamo Drafthouse Village, Long Center Rollins Theatre, Hideout Theater, Austin Convention Center, and the Bob Bullock Texas State History Musuem IMAX & Texas Spirit Theaters. The conference panels take place at the Driskill Hotel & Intercontinental Stephen F. Austin hotel in the heart of downtown Austin.