2025 Robert Foshko Memorial Scholarship & Screenplay Competition Winners Announced!

We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2025 Robert Foshko Memorial Scholarship & Screenplay Competition: Deborah Valcin (MFA Screenwriting '25) for her feature screenplay OH, CARADEAUX! and Mason Scivally (B.S. in Radio-Television-Film '25) for his feature screenplay IF WE MAKE IT THROUGH DECEMBER. Named in honor of former UT screenwriting professor Robert Foshko, two scripts are chosen each year from our undergraduate and graduate programs. Winners receive a cash prize.

Deborah Valcin is a Haitian writer-director who spent most of her life growing up in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She did her undergrad film studies at Angelo State University where she also did theatre, and the University of North Texas where she got her Bachelor’s. Deborah has done everything from being a camp videographer to a translator for a U.S. medical ship, to working at a bed bug company, but writing has always been her passion first and foremost. She mainly writes about the Haitian experience and the Haitian diaspora through sci fi, fantasy, and magical realism. Her script OH, CARADEAUX! was a second-round selection at the Austin Film Festival.

Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Mason Scivally has always wanted to be a writer. He became obsessed with movies and TV at an early age, even memorizing the TV guide so he wouldn’t miss a classic Simpsons re-run, or a late night B-Movie on the Sy-Fy Channel. This habit (or whatever you would call it) grew into a fascination with filmmaking which he has carried onto this day. Mason has made multiple short films, and led the TSTV sketch comedy show Longhorn Latenight his senior year, before graduating with his RTF degree this past spring. He aims to continue to write stories of all types and genres, while keeping a focus on working class people and environments.

Read our edited interviews with Deborah and Mason below! 

Interview with 2025 Robert Foshko Memorial Scholarship & Screenplay Competition Winners Deborah Valcin and Mason Scivally

When and how did you develop an interest in writing?

Deborah Valcin: Since I was a kid, I’ve always been drawn to writing. I learned early on in my youth that I was a storyteller. It seemed like one of the best ways for me to understand and be connected to the magical moments but also the hard times of growing up in Haiti. It was how I coped in school, and if I was good for anything in my class in Haiti, it was reading my creative works for everyone else’s amusement. For me, writing has always been a way for me to communicate with others when I couldn’t communicate verbally.

During my teenage years, I developed a curiosity and fascination with screenwriting during my time alternating between Haiti and Texas. When I was in middle school in Austin, I found a couple of screenwriting books at Barnes & Noble, and taught myself the basics. When I was homeschooled freshman year in Haiti, I wore down all my DVDs by watching the behind-the-scenes features, and really got into dissecting stories on a structural level. Prose and playwriting didn’t quite fit for the visual stories I wanted to write, but screenwriting gave me that freedom I was looking for.

Mason Scivally: I vividly remember watching SNL at 6 or 7, and immediately trying to recreate all of those sketches. I remember the first thing I ever wrote was a Survivor parody, with the big twist being…EVERYONE was Australian! I continued to write (hopefully better) sketches, and eventually began making them with my friends, which then led me to joining Longhorn Latenight in college, and taking the writing process more and more seriously.

What inspired you to write your Foshko-winning screenplays?

Deborah: The inspiration for OH, CARADEAUX! has been the same for all my work: Haiti. My father and his family are from Northern Haiti, which is where the Haitian Revolution started and ended. Going to an American missionary school in Haiti, I don’t remember learning about the Revolution except as an elective in elementary—we were only allowed to learn American history as a class course, and speaking Haitian Creole was mostly frowned upon. In a way, it was like the history of my direct ancestors was being gatekept from me. Every bit of Haitian history was something I learned on my own and it was like opening a portal or unlocking an ancestral puzzle.

I’ve always wanted to write and direct a film about the Haitian Revolution, but I wanted to start with a more intimate story first. That’s what CARADEAUX is for me, an attempt to build a bridge and reach out to my direct ancestors since I may never know exactly who they were and what role they played in the Revolution. It’s my idea of reclamation, and a form of communication. I was also inspired by books like Dance on the Volcano by Haitian author Marie Viex-Chauvet and Med Hondo’s film West Indies ou Le Nègres Marrons de la Liberté; both of which informed the operatic and experimental angle of the script, and deal with the same time period.

Mason: A few pages into the first draft, I lost a very close family member, who helped raise me and always encouraged me to read and write as much as possible. A lot of the script is based on my own grieving process, and the stream of emotions I experienced in those following months. I also wanted to write a Christmas movie that captured a lot of the bittersweet emotions that come with being home for the holidays.

How do you go about developing your characters and finding your characters’ voices?

Deborah: For me, the characters come once I establish what kind of story I want to write. Once I come up with the story, it’s easier to imagine the characters that would fit within that world. The characters I imagine are always based on the people I know from Haiti; from their patterns of speech, to their sense of humor, to their unique methods of problem-solving and relating to each other. I believe that the first line of dialogue my character says should tell the audience everything they need to know about them and how they’ll move through the story.

Mason: I watch a lot of movies, listen to a lot of coffee shop convos, and try to imagine how people I know would react to the situations I set up. Dialogue comes easier for me, as so much of sketch writing is just rewriting the same scene over and over again until every line is funny. I gave that same approach to this screenplay, trying to perfect
these scenes and these characters, until every moment felt true and authentic.

What are some of the more memorable films from your youth?

Deborah: The Incredibles was surprisingly the film that helped me understand storytelling through movies. I watched it in theaters in Texas as a kid and was obsessed with analyzing it (my sister and my cousins hated to see me coming with my Incredibles book). The Magnificent Seven was another one I revisited a lot. My dad loves westerns, so I grew up watching lots of American westerns: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, El Dorado, Buck and the Preacher, and Silverado being some of my favorites. I was probably too young to watch Pan’s Labyrinth right as it came out, but that film strengthened my love of myths and the concept of stepping into another world just like The Chronicles of Narnia did. But, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl was the gateway film for me in more ways than one. It was the first blockbuster I saw that took place in my part of the world (Tortuga is a real island that’s part of Haiti!), and it developed my love for mixing heightened and magical realism with the politics of the real world. That was the first time I watched a movie and thought, “Wait…I’m allowed to do that?”

Mason: Stand By Me was a movie that blew my mind as a kid, and one that I always begged my Mom to put on if I was sick. I found such solidarity in that world, and with those characters, and I loved the way it blended tragedy and humor, in such an authentic, natural way. Scream was another one that completely changed how I thought about movies, and what they can be. Happy Gilmore and Big Daddy also deserve a mention.

You were in the Master in Fine Arts program in Screenwriting in the Radio-Television-Film department at The University of Texas at Austin. What has your experience like?

Deborah: Being part of this MFA program has been a very affirming experience for me. My goal in this program has been to sharpen my voice, and collaborating with such an understanding group of people has taught me the importance of holding on to your vision. I’ve learned a lot from the faculty and other filmmakers in the program when it comes to giving helpful notes and feedback and remembering that we’re all here to be better writers.

You were an undergraduate student in the Radio-Television-Film department at The University of Texas at Austin. What was your experience like?

Mason: Growing up in Texas, there had always been one dream school for me, so when I didn’t get into Rice, I knew UT was the place I wanted to be. In all seriousness, the RTF program was an amazing experience, and lived up to all of my years of excitement and anticipation. Whether it was learning from such great professors and mentors, making films with wonderful teams of students, and building friendships that will last my whole life, I really can’t imagine my future without the lessons I learned here. A big shoutout is due to the Incubator Program, The Hourglass, and especially Longhorn Latenight, where I got to the Writers’ Room experience every weeknight for FOUR years.

What are your career goals?

Deborah: I want to continue to write and film Haitian stories. I want to continue to strengthen my directing muscle through writing and directing more short films, including turning CARADEAUX into a proof-of-concept, and work my way up to directing my first indie feature. I also want to be a showrunner in the future, so joining a writer’s room, and applying to fellowships and training programs for showrunners is something I’m working towards. One of my biggest goals is to create my own production company in Haiti where I can help provide resources for Haitian filmmakers in the country full time as well as focusing on my own projects.

Email any questions to UT RTF Area Head for Screenwriting Maya Perez.