(MENAFN- EIN Presswire) EINPresswire/ -- Screenwriter and psychotherapist David Ezell has won the Big Apple Film Festival Screenplay Competition for his psychological drama, Occam's Beard.

“It feels a little surreal,” Ezell said.“I've always believed in the story, from the moment it first came to me in February. But if you had asked me then if it would win an award for best screenplay, I would have said no way.”

The screenplay follows a former child star struggling to rebuild his career while convinced that the people closest to him-including his fiancée, his mother, and his psychiatrist-have been replaced by impostors.

A licensed psychotherapist trained at Columbia University, Ezell brings decades of clinical insight to his writing.

“I've treated severe illnesses and seen so much pathology in my professional life,” he explained.“That experience gave me a deeper understanding of what people with severe mental illness face-and it informs everything I write.”

Occam's Beard began as a treatment David wrote when the story came to him one morning. He later developed his treatment for the film into a short screenplay co-written with collaborator Harry Cooke. After filming some segments of the original script at Camelback Films, Ezell wanted to further explore this special story. His partner did not want to continue, so with Cooke's blessing Ezell continued developing the story himself. He began by first reworking the entire short script and then fitting that into a feature-length framework, which has since taken on a radically different shape.

“That's what I love about writing,” he said.“The characters take you where they want to go.”

Ezell is currently completing the feature script of Occam's Beard "very soon" and outlining his next project, a drama about a woman who loses her faith because of a decision she made years earlier.

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