Ray Petrolino

Cary, North Carolina

AuthorScreenwriter

Member Since:
February 2021

Last online:
3 days ago

Invites sent:
0

About Ray

Branded an "abject failure" by his dog, Ray struck up a partnership with him: the animal would dictate and the human would write. The results? Three award-winning screenplays: A Leap into Darkness (Coverfly RL Top 20, Top 8% all projects), Zombie in the Attic (Coverfly #1 Television Short of the Year, Top 1% of 9k Television (Short) projects), and most recently, Rot, which was just named a Quarter Finalist in the 2025 Page International Screenwriting Awards competition, as well as a Semi Finalist in the 2025 Emerging Screenwriters Thriller Screenplay Competition (and QF in their Horror Competition). From the 2025 Golden Script Competition, regarding Rot: "COMMERCIALITY: Given the genre and the subject matter, this has real mainstream potential, particularly if the casting is right. However, in terms of genre audiences, this almost feels like a sure thing, the perfect combination of gore, scares, dark humor and sex." It all started with A Leap into Darkness, though, which has placed in seven screenplay competitions (Stage 32, ScreenCraft, Emerging Screenwriters, Table Read My Screenplay, Creative Screenwriting, StoryPros, and Page Turner) and has received critical praise from the Austin Film Festival (“strong writing, well-developed characters, & original storyline, has the potential to delight audiences both young and older”) and BlueCat (“This script was actually hard to put down”). With talking animals and a family-friendly storyline, Leap is a thrilling, uplifting, 4-quad fantasy adventure perfect for live-action or animation.

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Life Experience

Photos

Videos

Achievements

Awards

Quarter Finalist, Emerging Screenwriters Horror Screenplay Competition
(2025)
Semi Finalist, Emerging Screenwriters Thriller Screenplay Competition
(2025)
Quarter Finalist, PAGE International Screenwriting Awards
(2025)
Quarter Finalist, Page Turner Screenplays Faith Based Features & TV Pilots Competition
(2025)
Readers' Favorite Silver Book Award Winner for the novel A Leap into Darkness
(2023)

Table Read My Screenplay Top 100 Action/Adventure
(2021)

Semi-Finalist,14th Annual StoryPros Awards Screenplay Contest
(2021)

Qtr-Finalist, ScreenCraft Sci-Fi & Fantasy Screenwriting Competition
(2021)

Qtr-Finalist, Stage32 2nd Annual New Voices in Animation Screenwriting Contest
(2021)

Quarter-Finalist, ISA Comedy Genre Busting Screenplay Competition
(2021)

Semi-Finalist, Table Read My Screenplay Genre Screenplay Competition, Comedy Pilot
(2021)

Quarterfinalist, Creative Screenwriting Animation Screenplay Competition
(2021)

Quarter Finalist, The Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards Summer Competition
(2021)

Quarterfinalist, Creative Screenwriting Animation Screenplay Competition
(2021)

The Red List Fantasy Feature Top 20 of the Month
(2021)

Coverfly #1 Television Short of the Year
(2021)

Qtr-Finalist, Emerging Screenwriters Genre Screenplay Competition
(2020)

Semi-Finalist, Vail Screenplay Competition
(2019)

Finalist, Austin Revolution Film Festival
(2018)

Representation

Featured Projects

Work Experience

Credits

Camisado: Presentation Reel (2022)
Series Producer A brutal encounter with the ruthless CEO of a logistics company puts two women and their child in the crosshairs in this presentation pitch aimed for the festival circuit in 2022.
Quantum Doughnut (2019)
Film (short) Director A delightful melding of doughnuts, Deity, destiny, and disruption.

Loglines

Rot Thriller ⋄ Horror When his dead girlfriend rises up from the noxious depths of a haunted lake, a hapless young man clings to the hope that she’s still the woman he loves. But as her body withers and her mind darkens, he realizes she’s not alone—something vengeful and hungry is inside her.
A Leap into Darkness Fantasy ⋄ Family When the queen succumbs to a baffling illness, an earnest young dog must lead a ragtag band of animals in a desperate fight to save their kingdom from war and the cunning manipulation of a dark sorcerer.
Zombie in the Attic Horror ⋄ Comedy A lonely accountant and a surprisingly intelligent, empathetic zombie are forced to navigate together through the living and the dead while evading the zombie's conniving ex-girlfriend.