Jonathan LaPoma is an award-winning, bestselling novelist, optioned screenwriter, songwriter, and poet from Buffalo, NY. In 2005, he received a BA in history and a secondary education credential from the State University of New York at Geneseo. A few months after graduating, he and a friend took a seven-week cross-country road trip from Buffalo to the Pacific. Within a year of his return, he bought a one-way ticket to Mexico, where he lived in a small Pacific coast town for five months and traveled throughout the country in an attempt to find answers to questions that haunt many young adults trying to find their place in the world. These experiences have become the inspiration for much of his writing, which often explores themes of alienation and misery as human constructions that can be overcome through self-understanding and the acceptance of suffering.
LaPoma has written five novels, fifteen screenplays, and hundreds of songs and poems. His novels have been recommended by Kirkus Reviews and Barnes and Noble (B&N Press Presents list), have hit the #1 Amazon Bestseller lists in the “Satire,” “Urban Life,” “Metaphysical,” “Metaphysical & Visionary,” and “Religious & Inspirational” Kindle categories (USA, Canada, and Australia), and have won awards/honors in the 2018 Eric Hoffer Book Award, the 2016 and 2017 Florida Authors and Publishers Association President’s Awards, and the 2015 Stargazer Literary Prizes.
LaPoma’s fifteen screenplays have won over 160 awards/honors in various international screenwriting competitions, and Warren Zide (AMERICAN PIE, FINAL DESTINATION, THE BIG HIT), along with Wexlfish Pictures, optioned LaPoma’s screenplay HARM FOR THE HOLIDAYS in July 2017.
LaPoma was a jury member for the 2015 and 2016 San Diego International Kids Film Festival (screenplay competition) and the 2016 Cordoba International Film Festival (short film selection), and his work has appeared in 34thParallel Magazine and TODAY & YESTERDAY. He’s also a member of The Authors Guild and Gotham Ghostwriters.
He lives in Mexico City, where he plays in the rock band THE CROOKED EAST which is ReverbNation’s top-ranked rock band in Mexico City, and #2 in all of Mexico.
LaPoma is repped by Alexandra Maramenides of the Reve Agency.
Literary Awards Received:
- Stargazer Literary Prizes, 2015, 1st Place (Visionary and Metaphysical Fiction category)
- Florida Authors and Publishers Association President’s Awards, 2017, 2nd Place (contemporary/literary category)
- Florida Authors and Publishers Association President’s Awards, 2016, Bronze Medal Winner (Adult eBook category)
- Eric Hoffer Book Award, 2018, Finalist
- WriteMovies 38, 2015, Semifinalist
Screenwriting Awards Received:
- Hollywood Screenplay Contest, 2014, Grand Jury Prize (Best Overall Screenplay)
- Las Vegas Screenplay Contest, 2014, Grand Jury Prize (Best Overall Screenplay)
- Hollywood Screenplay Contest, 2017, Grand Prize Winner: Comedy Category
- London Film Awards, 2016, Grand Prize Winner: Feature Screenplay Category
- London Film Awards, 2015, Grand Prize Winner: Feature Screenplay Category
- London Film Awards, 2014, Grand Prize Winner: Feature Screenplay Category
- Los Angeles Screenplay Contest, 2017, 1st Place: Comedy Category
- New Renaissance Film Festival, 2017, 1st Place: Drama Category
- Awareness Film Festival, 2014, 1st Place
- Las Vegas Screenplay Contest, 2014, 1st Place: Drama Category
- West Field Screenwriting Awards, 2014, 1st Place: “The New York Award”
- Auckland Film Festival, 2016, 1st Place
- MAC Underground Film Festival, 2016, 1st Place
- iHolly Next Generation Indie Film Festival, 2017, 1st Place: Drama Category
- Las Vegas Screenplay Contest, 2018, 2nd Place: Comedy Category
- Los Angeles Screenplay Contest, 2015, 2nd Place: Drama Category
- Las Vegas Screenplay Contest, 2017, 3rd Place: Comedy Category
- World Series of Screenwriting, 2017, 3rd Place: Comedy Category
- The Indie Gathering Film Festival, 2017, 3rd Place: Comedy Category
- Chicago Screenplay Contest, 2014, 3rd Place: Drama Category
- Awareness Film Festival, 2015, 3rd Place
- London Film Awards, 2017, 4th Place
- Rated SR – Socially Relevant Film Festival, 2014, Top Four Scripts
- Indie Gathering Film Festival, 2016, 4th Place: Comedy Category
- California Film Awards, 2015, 5th Place
- WriteMovies Monthly Contest (December), 2016, Honorable Mention
- California Film Awards, 2016, Honorable Mention
- Indie Gathering Film Festival, 2014, Honorable Mention (for three scripts)
- Indie Gathering Film Festival, 2013, Honorable Mention (for two scripts)
- Barcelona International Film Festival, 2014, Honorable Mention
- Canada International Film Festival, 2015, Honorable Mention
- Mountain Film Festival, 2015, Honorable Mention
- River Bend Film Festival, 2015, Top Three Finalist: Independent Screenplay Category
- Oaxaca Film Festival, 2018, Finalist
- Twister Alley Film Festival, 2019, Finalist
- Creative World Awards, 2017, Finalist
- Twister Alley Film Festival, 2018, Finalist
- Las Vegas Screenplay Contest, 2016, Finalist
- Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, 2017, Finalist
- New Renaissance Film Festival, 2017, Finalist
- Oaxaca Film Festival, 2017, Finalist
- World Series of Screenwriting, 2017, Finalist
- Screenplay Festival, 2017, Finalist
- Cannes Screenplay Contest, 2017, Finalist
- Twister Alley Film Festival, 2017, Finalist
- British Independent Film Festival, 2017, Finalist
- Southern California Screenplay Competition, 2016, Finalist
- World Series of Screenwriting, 2016, Finalist
- Hollywood Screenplay Contest, 2016, Finalist
- Beverly Hills Film Festival, 2017, Finalist
- WriteMovies 37, 2015, Finalist
- Los Angeles Screenplay Contest, 2015, Finalist
- Los Angeles CineFest, 2016, Finalist
- Beverly Hills Screenplay Contest, 2014, Finalist
- Extreme Screenplay Contest, 2015, Finalist
- California Film Awards, 2015, Finalist
- Evolution Mallorca Film Festival, 2016, Finalist
- Anchorage International Film Festival, 2016, Finalist
- Aura Screenwriter Awards, 2015, Finalist
- New York Screenplay Contest, 2015, Finalist
- Women in Cinema International Screenplay Competition, 2015, Finalist
- New York Screenplay Contest, 2014, Finalist
- Barcelona International Film Festival, 2015, Finalist
- Amsterdam Film Festival, 2015, Finalist
- Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, 2015, Finalist
- Beverly Hills Film Festival, 2015, Finalist
- Beverly Hills Film Festival, 2014, Finalist
- Twister Alley International Film Festival, 2015, Finalist
- Southern California Screenplay Competition, 2018, Semi-Finalist
- Table Read My Screenplay Contest, 2017, Semifinalist
- Austin Revolution Film Festival, 2017, Semifinalist
- Evolution Mallorca Film Festival, 2017, Semifinalist
- Sacramento International Film Festival, 2017, Semifinalist
- Los Angeles CineFest, 2016, Semifinalist
- Los Angeles CineFest, 2017, Semifinalist
- Lake Charles Film & Music Festival, 2017, Semifinalist
- Extreme Screenplay Contest, 2016, Semifinalist
- Table Read my Screenplay, 2014, Semifinalist
- Southern California Screenplay Competition, 2017, Semifinalist
- FilmMakers International Screenwriting Awards, 2016, Semifinalist
- Los Angeles CineFest, 2016, Semifinalist
- Evolution Mallorca Film Festival, 2016, Semifinalist
- Marquee Lights Competition, 2015, Semifinalist
- Reel Writers, 2015, Semifinalist
- The Monthly Film Festival, 2017, Semifinalist
- Courier Awards, 2015, Semifinalist (for three scripts)
- Aura Screenwriter Awards, 2015, Semifinalist
- Austin Film Festival, 2016, Second Round
- Beverly Hills Film Festival, 2019, Official Selection
- Near Nazareth Festival, 2017, Official Selection
- The Monthly Film Festival, 2016, Official Selection
- European Independent Film Award, 2016, Official Selection
- Lake Charles Film Festival, 2016, Official Selection
- Oregon Short Film Festival, 2017, Official Selection
- EyeCatcher International Film Festival, 2016, Official Selection
- Wayfarer Film Festival, 2016, Official Selection
- Pasadena International Film Festival, 2016, Official Selection
- Swedish International Film Festival, 2016, Official Selection
- Finow International Film & Script Festival, 2016, Official Selection (for two scripts)
- Oaxaca Film Festival, 2015, Official Selection (Top 12 Finalist)
- Oaxaca Film Festival, 2016, Official Selection
- Oaxaca Film Festival, 2014, Official Selection
- Los Angeles CineFest, 2016, Official Selection (for two scripts)
- BLOW UP Chicago International Arthouse Film Fest, 2015, Official Selection (for two scripts)
- Media Adventures Film Festival, 2016, Official Selection
- Sacramento International Film Festival, 2015, Official Selection
- Sacramento International Film Festival, 2014, Official Selection
- Evolution Mallorca Film Festival, 2015, Official Selection (for two scripts)
- NewLife Film & Script & Music Festival, 2016, Official Selection (for two scripts)
- San Francisco Global Movie Fest, 2015, Official Selection
- The Monthly Film Festival, 2015, Official Selection (for two scripts)
- Glendale International Film Festival, 2015, Official Selection
- Glendale International Film Festival, 2014, Official Selection
- Oaxaca Film Festival, 2013, Official Selection
- Albuquerque Film Festival & Comic Con, 2015, Official Selection
- Hollywood Sky International Film Festival, 2015, Official Selection (for two scripts)
- Malta Film Festival, 2017, Official Selection
- Austria International Film Festival, 2017, Official Selection
- Cinema New York City, 2017, Official Selection
- Eurocinema Film Festival, 2017, Official Selection
- ISA Drama Genre-Bending Screenplay Competition, 2021, Quarterfinalist
- Creative World Awards, 2017, Quarterfinalist (for two scripts)
- Page International Screenwriting Awards, 2016, Quarterfinalist
- ScreenCraft Fellowship, 2016, Quarterfinalist
- Fresh Voices Screenwriting Competition, 2016, Quarterfinalist
- WriteMovies Winter Contest, 2016, Quarterfinalist
- WriteMovies 37, 2015, Quarterfinalist
- WriteMovies, 2013, Quarterfinalist (for three scripts)
- Filmmakers International, 2015, Quarterfinalist
- Filmmakers International, 2013, Quarterfinalist
- Filmmakers International, 2013, Second-Round Qualifier
- Creative World Awards, 2016, Preliminary Finalist (for two scripts)