Three Screenplays by Sarantos Melogia Named Quarterfinalists in Final Draft’s 2026 Big Break Screenwriting Contest

Born to Fail, X9, and The Last Blessing all advance in the prestigious screenwriting competition

CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, September 2, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Writer and multidisciplinary artist Sarantos is celebrating a major screenwriting milestone after three of his projects were named Quarterfinalists in the 2026 Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Contest.

The advancing projects are:

BORN TO FAIL — Feature / Drama
X9 — Feature / Thriller-Horror
THE LAST BLESSING — Television / Half-Hour Pilot

Final Draft has officially listed all three projects among its 2026 Big Break Quarterfinalists. Born to Fail appears in the Feature Drama category, X9 in Feature Thriller/Horror, and The Last Blessing in the Television Half-Hour Pilot category.

The triple recognition represents an especially meaningful moment for Sarantos, whose writing moves across genres while remaining focused on emotionally driven characters confronting identity, loss, morality, connection, and the consequences of the choices they make.

“As a writer, you hope that something you create connects with the person reading it. To have three completely different projects move forward in the same year is incredibly meaningful to me. Each one came from a different emotional place, and each required me to take a different kind of creative risk. I’m grateful to Final Draft and the Big Break readers for giving these stories the opportunity to continue their journey.”

Three Projects. Three Different Worlds.
BORN TO FAIL is an intimate character-driven drama about a disillusioned filmmaker whose unexpected creative breakthrough forces him to reconsider what failure, success, and artistic purpose really mean. The story explores the fear of failure, vulnerability, human connection, and the courage required simply to keep showing up.

X9 is a near-future science-fiction thriller centered on Andrea Santiago, a brilliant scientist who discovers a suppressed cure for a devastating memory-erasing virus. Framed and hunted by the pharmaceutical empire protecting the secret, she races to expose the truth even as her own memories begin disappearing. The screenplay explores memory, identity, institutional power, medical ethics, and the cost of telling the truth.

THE LAST BLESSING, competing as a half-hour television pilot, rounds out the trio and demonstrates the breadth of Sarantos work across both feature and episodic storytelling. Final Draft’s official Quarterfinalist listing names the project alongside Speron’s two feature screenplays.

One Writer, Three Distinct Placements
Having projects advance across multiple formats and genres underscores Sarantos commitment to building a diverse body of screen work rather than remaining within a single storytelling lane.

From the deeply personal creative struggle at the heart of Born to Fail, to the high-stakes speculative world of X9, to the episodic storytelling of The Last Blessing, the three selections represent different sides of the same creative philosophy: genre matters, but emotion comes first.

“I never want to tell the same story twice. What connects my work is the human being at the center of it. Whether the world is intimate and realistic or built around a massive speculative idea, I want the audience to care about the person who has to make the impossible choice.”

Final Draft informed Sarantos that all three projects are advancing to the next round of consideration. The 2026 Big Break Semifinalists are scheduled to be announced September 25.

For now, the three Quarterfinalist honors mark another significant step in Sarantos expanding creative portfolio and reinforce a simple idea that runs through much of his work:

Keep creating. Keep risking. Keep showing up.

ABOUT SARANTOS

Sarantos is a writer and multidisciplinary artist whose screenwriting spans drama, science fiction, thrillers, comedy, romance, historical storytelling, and television. His work combines accessible genre concepts with character-driven stories centered on identity, vulnerability, morality, resilience, and human connection.

His growing screenplay portfolio includes projects such as Born to Fail, X9, The Last Blessing, The Algorithm of God, He’s Easy To Like, The Heart Remembers, 400 Years of Shadows, and 10 Reasons Why I’m a Bad Idea.

ABOUT THE FINAL DRAFT BIG BREAK SCREENWRITING CONTEST

The Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Contest recognizes emerging screenwriting talent across feature, television, and short-form categories. Final Draft has published its official list of 2026 Quarterfinalists, including all three of Speron’s advancing projects.

Sarantos Melogia
Sarantos Melogia LLC
info@melogia.com

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