This vet won an award for his awesome screenplay about a young Army officer in Vietnam
Vietnam veteran Brian Delate won a screenplay competition by the MVP Foundation for his script "Dante's Obsession" on Friday, at We Are The Mighty Headquarters in Los Angeles.
The Staff Sgt. John Martin Veteran Writing Competition was open to active military personnel and veterans.
"Dante's Obsession" follows the story of a young lieutenant fighting in the tunnels around Saigon at the height of the Vietnam War and the beautiful Viet Cong spy he falls in love with who attempts to steal information from him. It was previously a finalist at the 2015 G.I. Film Festival.
Delate works as a writer, actor, and director for film, theater, and TV. He recently performed a play, "Memorial Day," that was also about his experiences in Vietnam. In 2014, he performed the play in Hanoi on the National Stage in front of Vietnamese and American veterans of the Vietnam War, including his former enemies.
The second place prize in the competition went to Navy Veteran Joshua Katz for his script, "The Ivory Coast." The screenplay is about a Kenyan Wildlife Services official investigating the slaughter of a family of elephants in a national reserve.
Third prize went to Michael Brown, an Iraq War veteran and former Marine Corps platoon commander. Brown's script, "Broken, in the Land of Dragons," tells of a Navy SEAL who meets a local school teacher in Pakistan and works with friendly fighters to defend her school from a concerted attack by religious extremists.
The contest and award ceremony were put on by the MVP Foundation, a charitable corporation that supports veterans in the arts. It was founded in 2014 by Iraq War veteran and Army officer Brian J. Martin. WATM Co-Founder and CEO David Gale was one of the judges.
NOW: 5 Hollywood directors who served and filmed real wars
WATCH: How The 'American Sniper' Screenwriter Earned The Respect Of The Navy SEAL Community
[jwplatform qz8quJCr]