Teacher makes the grade

Fourth-grade school teacher Adam Bellamy, 29, never really fancied himself a writer, but after taking a screenwriting class at the College of Southern Nevada last year he decided to enter a contest on a whim -- and won.

Bellamy, a downtown-area resident for the last six years, submitted his work to the Nevada Film Office's annual screenwriting competition hoping only to end up in the top tier of candidates.

"I've always had this dream of writing," he said. "But when I got the call in January saying I'd won, I couldn't believe it."

As winner of the competition, Bellamy will have his screenplay edited, perfected and shopped to local production companies for filming consideration.

Bellamy said he wrote the untitled screenplay in 16-hour sessions over a few weekends last year.

"It was really tough, but I have too much work during the week to do anything but focus on that," he said. "It was really tough, but I knew where I wanted to go with it."

Bellamy said he got the idea for the screenplay, which traces the journey of a man who gives up everything to ride the railways and finds himself in the process, from a book called "Hobo."

"I've always loved stories about drifters," he said. "This one was amazing. And it prompted me to write this story of this guy who has some illusions shattered and discovers the beauty and horror of life along the way."

Bellamy said his main character is disillusioned, closed off to the world around him but throughout the story, finds that he is opening up to see his circumstances in a new light.

"It's really interesting how you see these character take flight," he said.

Bellamy said he already has an idea for his second effort, a spaghetti western adventure he hopes to start working on next year after he has finished coaching sessions with screenwriting instructor Dan Decker.

"That was part of the prize," Bellamy said. "Dan is helping me develop my script even further and get it ready to be shopped in Los Angeles. I will be doing that for at least the next six months."

According to Nevada Film Office representative Danette Tull, scripts are graded on structure, quality, story, dialogue, characterization, conflict, pace, theme, title and marketability.

"The screenplays are judged anonymously by professional story analysts from The Script Department in Los Angeles," she said.

The Script Department is a screenwriting consultant firm.

Competition guidelines require that at least 75 percent of the script be filmable in Nevada.

The submission period for the 2009 screenwriting competition will run from May 1 to Aug. 30. Entry is free. Further contest rules and guidelines are available on at www.nevadafilm.com.

Bellamy said that, like any film writer, he would love to see his work on the big screen.

"The idea that this could happen, that I could maybe be able to do this for a living is so exciting," he said. "I realize that it is still really early on, this being my first real screenplay. But I have some grand aspirations."

Contact North Las Vegas and Downtown View reporter Amanda Llewellyn at allewellyn@viewnews.com or 380-4535.