In case you forgot, the theme was "Trapped in a Cab".  Two way Tie for Writer's Choice and a six-way-ish tie for Writers Kinda Liked.

Writer's Choice

Sorry Dave by Richard Russell writing as S. Q. Brik - Short - The last cab is a self-driving nightmare for it's passenger. - pdf, format 8)

A.M.A. by Eric Wall writing as Deep Blue - Short, Sci Fi - Meet A.M.A., the latest in self-driving car technology! She’ll get you where you need to go in comfort and style. She anticipates the flow of traffic for a speedy arrival. She’ll engage you in pleasant conversation to pass the time. And SO MUCH MORE!!! - pdf, format 8)

Writers Kinda Liked

Speed Relationship-ing by James Barron writing as Art Vandelay - Short, Comedy - Two unstable loners find romance through an unconventional dating service. - pdf, format 8)

Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured by Anthony Cawood writing as Gordon Sumner - Short, Horror - A cleithrophobiac discovers that his fears could be a blessing when a late night cab ride detours into hell. - pdf, format 8)

Fair's Fare by Steven Clark writing as Phil DeGraves - Short, Comedy - An unsavory mechanic cuts a corner that won't cost him his life but, by golly, he just might wish it had. - pdf, format 8)

Whiteout on Route 89 by LC writing as Taxi T. - Short, Drama - A blizzard on Route 89 has dire consequences for a woman on the eve of her wedding day, and the taxi driver who gets her to confess all. - pdf, format 8)

He Drives Them - Crazy by David Lambertson writing as  - Short, Drama - An Uber Driver, hearing voices, seeks the help of a passenger to end his madness.  - pdf, format 8)

Driven to Death by Dustin Bowcott writing as Jessica Fletcher - Short, Revenge Thriller - During a cab ride home, a corporate asshole discovers that money isn't everything. - pdf, format 8)

Either Side of Limbo by Bill Sarre (Reef Dreamer) writing as Micky McMystery - Short, Drama, Cheap-to-Film - When an injured businessman jumps in a taxi with an misanthropic driver, he soon finds he has to solve a mystery in order to escape.  - pdf, format 8)

The Rest in no particular order.

All The Fives by Steve Miles writing as Clarence Growler - Short, Crime - When he stops to pick up an ailing stranger, a feckless cab driver stumbles upon an opportunity to escape his dreary existence - pdf, format 8)

Hard Fare by Steve McDonell (Stevie) writing as  - Short, Drama - Two men trapped in a taxi must work together to survive...10 pages pdf - pdf, format 8)

Jackrabbit by Darren J Seeley writing as The Phantom Menace - Short, Sci Fi, Comedy - A rookie driver and a taxi that can can go back in time fifteen minutes so the client can never be late. With a skeptic as the fare, what can possibly go wrong? - pdf, format 8)

Guilt Trip by John Staats writing as ? - Short, Drama - A short fare across town turns into a guilt trip down memory lane. - pdf, format 8)

Gostla Bell by Cameron Gray writing as  - Short, Thriller - A Londoner meets a Cornish taxi driver, and receives an unwelcome history lesson. - pdf, format 8)

No Clowning Around by Jeff Langham (Jeremiah Johnson) writing as  - Short, Drama - A clown takes a taxi to a birthday party and along the way learns a lesson. - pdf, format 8)

Face The Music by Vin Conzo writing as Leandro Porterhouse - Short, Dark Comedy - An shady businessman tries to change a young Indian cabbie's life, but he just may ruin it in the process. - pdf, format 8)

The Shortest Distance by Henry Christner (Stumpzian) writing as William Casteen - Short, Drama - A cabbie's route to a funeral proves more complicated than driving from Point A to Point B.  - pdf, format 8)

Deadly Companions by Jon Wood (NW3) writing as Pam Seckinpah - Short, Thriller - A deadly game of blackmail is played out in taxi. But who is playing who? - pdf, format 8)

Taxi Joe by Warren Duncan writing as  - Short, Horror, Found Footage - Two amateur documentary film makers get more than they paid for when they interview Joe, a homeless man who lives in a taxi in the woods. - pdf, format 8)

Bangkok, U.S.A. by Rick Fyvie & John Robbins writing as  - Short, Weird - A pizza enthusiast discovers he may have eaten his last slice... - pdf, format 8)

Stuck by Cindy L. Keller writing as  - Short, Comedy - A business woman gets stuck in a cab with a couple characters that push her over the edge. - pdf, format 8)

One Last Ride by Ammar Salmi (realxwriter) writing as  - Short, Sci Fi, Thriller - A business man, stuck in a time traveling cab, is hunted by an anarchist from the future. - pdf, format 8)

A Man Dies by Chris Shalom (Heretic) writing as Anonymous - Short, Drama, Sci Fi - A technophobe confronts his fear of the privately owned "UtiliCabs" that have become a staple of urban transportation.   - pdf, format 8)

The Perfect Plot by Richard D. Kinsella (Scar Tissue Films) writing as  - Short, Thriller - When Donald becomes involved in an old friend's paranoid crusade, it seems like an event that could only have been scripted. That may well be true. - pdf, format 8)

The Last Cab by Dan Campisi writing as Duke Of Weaseltown - Short, Sci Fi - Two lonely cab drivers pick up two passengers who desperately want to see their loved ones during a traffic jam of "biblical" proportions. - pdf, format 8)

Pounding Sand by Wes Chick writing as  - Short, Drama - A taxi driver is crushed by his own relationship with his taxi. Sometimes you just can't get out from under things.  - pdf, format 8)

And The Darkness Fades by Simon Mapp writing as Someone Or Other - Short - {no logline} - pdf, format 8)

Taxi for Murphy by Mark Moore (Irish Eyes) writing as Herman's Hermits - Short, Comedy - Ye old tale of a man and his horny dog - pdf, format 8)

Uber as Fast as You Can by Hunter Vogt writing as  - Short, Comedy - An aspiring actress rushes to meet a director of an upcoming film, but must battle Los Angeles traffic to get there. - pdf, format 8)

Help 91 by Chris Bodily writing as Utah Kintumi - Short, Thriller, Drama - A limo driver gets his revenge on the actor who beat him for a prestigious film role. - pdf, format 8)

Well done, Richard. I think Sorry Dave is the best work you've done yet. I'd give you a round of applause but it would look a little strange right now.

Well done to you too, Eric. I think many here must enjoy the ol' 2001 respins. I know I do.

Congrats to Richard and Eric - awesome stuff.

And congrats to my fellow finalists, great company!

Anthony

Awesome news, guys! Congrats Eric and Richard. And to all the finalists! Very well done -- and thanks DON, for doing this once again. We all love it.

Steve

Congrats, Richard & Eric!

Wow, I'm in a six-way-ish tie for what I'm gonna call runner-up/kinda liked/finalists, kinda. :)

Closest I've ever got to a mug. Don, dare I ask?  

I knew Johnny had a hand in Bangkok Pizza, and Rick!  ;D, and I picked Steve Miles always quality writing in All The Fives. Never would have picked Steven Clark's entry!

The rest I'll take another look at...

Was a fun ride this one.

Congratulations to everyone who took part, wherever they ended up. And thanks to everyone who read mine.

Props to the Richard and Eric -- and to all who provided some wild cab rides.

Also, thanks to those who offered thoughtful comments on mine.

Henry

Quoted from LC Wow, I'm in a six-way-ish tie for what I'm gonna call runner-up/kinda liked/finalists, kinda. :) Closest I've ever got to a mug. Don, dare I ask?

I know it's only a "crappy mug" but when I got mine in the post I was really chuffed. I have won money prizes in contests, but that gets spent - this is something nice and solid and permanent that I can see every day sitting on my shelf, a reminder of my glory days as I sink into my dotage.

I was a contender, Charlie...

Me too Simon!

I'm well chuffed to finish in the second tier as I wrote a straightforward revenge thriller that I know could be produced easily. Story-wise, it isn't all that... but I suppose it goes some way to showing that often it boils down to the way you tell them.

Congrats to Richard and Eric - well done. This was a fun one. Thanks to Don for all the effort.

Congrats to everyone, especially the newest mug winners!!

Don THANK YOU for all you do.  Without you, none of this would exist.

I think I'm getting better with each story.  I went really out of my comfort zone with "The Last Cab."  

But, really, congrats to everyone, lots of different opinions this time.

and you know what, every script got over 20 reviews.  That's awesome!!

Dan

Congrats to all. And to those whom writers loved.

Great shorts on such a difficult subject.

Dustin, I was sure yours was Cotla Bell - judging by the title alone. I still think it is.

James Barron - HAHAHA - in your face, yeah.  

I only read three, but I didn't enter, so...

Sorry Dave was the first one I read and I thought it was great. Congratulations Richard! 8) Eric as well, of course.

Quoted from khamanna Congrats to all. And to those whom writers loved. Great shorts on such a difficult subject. Dustin, I was sure yours was Cotla Bell - judging by the title alone. I still think it is. James Barron - HAHAHA - in your face, yeah.

Yeah, I thought Dustin wrote that one too.  Looks like most of the ones I liked were up there.  I did like some of the ones that didn't make it.  I think the majority of these with some tweaks and tightening could get made.  The variety was good.  I had fun.

Nope, Cotla Bell isn't anything to do with me... but I was quite happy for people to think that it was. It's rare that I write OWCs in British English. I'll usually use the US version, as much as I know of it.

Dustin, you should get an award for most unique character name.  Pneuma.  Where did that come from?

I looked up the Greek word for air and made a name out of it. At first, the guy died in the cab, suffocated - hence the name. The extra bit with the head cutting off was just so the make-up people could get stuck into a fun project. Every filmmaker should have a convincing decapitation in their portfolio.

Quoted from Jeremiah Johnson Dustin, you should get an award for most unique character name.  Pneuma.

Yeah, I was taken with that name. The script was one of my Recommends.

Congrats to Richard and Eric! You guys earned it!

And congrats to everyone else too. This was so much fun. I am never skipping an OWC.

Quoted from Khamanna James Barron - HAHAHA - in your face, yeah.

I'm starting to remember. It's all flooding back... did I...  yep, I robbed a convenience store that night. Oh well, least when the police find me I can say I got Writers Kinda Liked.

Congrats to the winners, two scripts I thoroughly enjoyed.

And great job everyone who entered, we all wrote a script in a week, and I thought that, in general, they were quite good.

I can finally respond to feedback now! I have been waiting for this day!

Congrats to the winners and all other participants for a great OWC.

Well done to the winners! I didn't actually read them before I had voted but will do so!

Congrats Richard! Your script stood out to me just from the logline, for obvious reasons, and it got a nod in the vote from me too. It really is fertile ground. The first idea I had was about terrorist hackers loading a bomb into a self-driving car and remotely driving it and its hapless passenger closer and closer to some important target. The budget requirement had me nix that idea.

Congrats to everyone who entered as well. Really good quality all around. Unfortunately my out of country traveling robbed me of internet over the past few day. I wished I'd gotten the chance to read more, and I will if anyone sends me a request.

And thanks to Don as always for organizing this and everything else he does!

Congratulations to the winners.
All the best to everyone who made the effort to enter.

Congratulations to all the winners, runners-up and everyone who takes part. It may sound cheesy but I think everyone who has a go at these is a winner in my book. I hope my comments helped and didn't annoy too much!

I got a lot of comments that Taxi for Murphy wasn't trapped in a taxi.
If you step outside the box you'll realize Murphy was trapped between the red head and the dog that was rodgering him..

That's just me defending my Friday night script ;D

Quoted from irish eyes I got a lot of comments that Taxi for Murphy wasn't trapped in a taxi. If you step outside the box you'll realize Murphy was trapped between the red head and the dog that was rodgering him.. That's just me defending my Friday night script ;D

Sorry, but, he wasn't trapped.  He could have stopped at any time.  Now, if she was raping him, I'd agree ;)

Yeah, I'm just having fun with you.  But, if he's "stuck" in a cab, then I'm a a dinosaur on Godzilla's island...

Dan

Yeah, fight for it, Irish!

The script is only dead when you lay down your arms!

Congratulations to Richard and Eric, well deserved.

Always surprising to see the writer reveal - my own guesses were way out (though L.C., you called mine pretty early on).  Good to see all the scripts getting a high read count - and kudos to those who didn’t enter but still jumped in to read.

Thanks to Don for hosting another challenge; plenty of good entries, here’s to seeing a few picked up.

Aha! Yep, I had you pegged SteveM. There's a certain eoquent style to your writing I admire. Hmm, my three guesses out of 31? Not bad.   ;)

** I vote Chris Bodily for most generous reviewer btw. Just an observation.

** And credit must go to Slug master, Jeff, not just cause he liked mine and has helped me with rewriting my pesky slugs, but because I think he was much more temperate with his reviews this time around, even those he didn't care for.  Didn't go unnoticed.  ;)

Pleased to see that I was Jeff's top pick... again.

Definite props to Chris B... even though his own didn't go down well, he tried to find the best in everyone else's. Which is nice, but I feel that the reviews lose a certain amount of impact... unless you get a bad one, then you know you've done something seriously wrong.

Proper congrats to the winners and runners up. Some really good scripts, to be honest I was surprised at the varitey given the tight nature of the challenge, guess it goes to show some of the talents around this wonderful place.

Quoted from DustinBowcot Pleased to see that I was Jeff's top pick... again.

What's the world coming to?   ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Quoted from DustinBowcot Definite props to Chris B... even though his own didn't go down well, he tried to find the best in everyone else's. Which is nice, but I feel that the reviews lose a certain amount of impact... unless you get a bad one, then you know you've done something seriously wrong.

Have to agree here, too.  Chris Bodily seems to love everything he reads...or close to it.

Quoted Text And a Special Consider to one of the most memorable scripts this time around... Taxi Joe

Only just found this.

Thanks, Jeff, I'll take it:)

Quoted from Warren Only just found this. Thanks, Jeff, I'll take it:)

I was being serious...hope you know that.

It may not have fell into the parameters, IMO, but it was effective.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to read and review my script; "The last ride" aka "one last ride." Sorry for the agony I caused everyone because of the messy writing. As some of you already guessed, it was written in a haste. I'm thankful to the generosity and kindness of the ones who powered through the suffering of reading my script to the end. Thankful to the ones who couldn't read any farther for their honesty.

Sorry I couldn't review more than 12 scripts. It was a fun experience. Thanks for making  it happen.

Next time I'm getting the mug. But please mods notify me of the OWC on the first day.

Thanks Don, sorry I haven't been round to say, ta. A hols without wifi...

I am happy, and  touched as well as surprised, that my script  "Either side..' Had some reception. Thanks. I don't write these days so it's such a good outing. I really look forward to these.

My script needs some work, but actually I feel it's one of those that could have something. One to fine tune.

But I think we'll need to accept one thing. Deep breath ...

The best OWC writer ... Ever ... Is  ...  Eric Wall.

That's my opinion.

If Mathias did more, recently, their could have been a fine old fight out, (and Ryan as well)  but in my five years here, no one has been that good, that often. Well done sir.

I have no idea what you do, but I hope you continue to write.

And well played richard. Such an active member now, bravo.

Thanks Don. It's free, and so worthy, to me. Thanks.

Been a while since I last chimed in, but...

Big congrats to the winners, the Bernies, and the "losers." IMO, we're all winners.

I loved a good chunk of these. There were a few that didn't deliver the goods, and it hurts that some of those were horror, sci-fi, and comedy. But at least one of these got a good rewrite, and I managed to get all the way through this time, lol. (Even though I was exhausted and falling asleep, but that's my problem, not yours; getting up at 6:30 a.m. every Wednesday for my day gig is a bitch.)

Certainly was fun this time around, as always.

My script didn't fare too well, but I didn't think it would be that bad. The whole "LIMOSUINE" thing, ha ha... embarrassing. That's either the spelling I got when I Googled or my fingers scrambled the spelling (which happens a lot when I type, even slowly); and thought "check for errors" also covered spelling. *blush*

I'm so new to Trelby, and I found out after the fact that Trelby has its own spell check, quite different from Celtx. Celtx spell check is more like Word (misspelled or foreign words are squiggly-underlined red). But at least I know for future reference. But at least this was a fun little test drive.

Nice to see all of my favorites get top or mid honors.

Quoted from ChrisBodily My script didn't fare too well, but I didn't think it would be that bad. The whole "LIMOSUINE" thing, ha ha... embarrassing. That's either the spelling I got when I Googled or my fingers scrambled the spelling (which happens a lot when I type, even slowly); and thought "check for errors" also covered spelling. *blush* I'm so new to Trelby, and I found out after the fact that Trelby has its own spell check, quite different from Celtx. Celtx spell check is more like Word (misspelled or foreign words are squiggly-underlined red). But at least I know for future reference. But at least this was a fun little test drive. Nice to see all of my favorites get top or mid honors.

I've not been overly impressed with Trelby, and the fact that it's free is the only real selling point for writers I think. I've tried pretty much every software and app going and really can't say many really are that much cop.

I use my iPad for first drafts - and at the moment am using Script Pro, which is fine for this. Then I edit it in Final Draft and/or Fade In. The latter is free for a limited version but very cheap even for the full one.

May be worth checking out? It has probably the best interface of any of the screenwriting softwares around.

All I need is a blank page and the ability to fill it with words. Everything else is surplus fluff.