The Ashtray Wins First Place in Shorts at the 2026 Slamdance Screenplay Competition

The Ashtray, the short screenplay by Robert Pierosh, has won First Place in the Shorts category of the 2026 Slamdance Screenplay Competition. The award was announced at the ceremony in Los Angeles on October 27, 2026.

Slamdance received nearly 5,000 scripts from writers around the world across all categories this year. The Ashtray advanced through the selection process to become one of three Shorts finalists before receiving the category’s top award.

The screenplay is a queer dramedy about a former drag queen, Lenny, now a shut-in. When Marilyn Monroe’s belongings go up for auction, he sets his sights on the one thing he thinks he can afford — her ashtray. The story explores friendship, chosen family, getting unstuck, and the meaning we attach to the things people leave behind.

For Pierosh, the recognition marks a milestone for an idea he carried for more than 25 years before writing the screenplay this year.

"I write alone, with our rescue dogs keeping me company, and somewhere along the way I fall in love with my characters. To discover that other people connect with them too — and then to receive this recognition — is extraordinary.”

The Slamdance win follows The Ashtray being named a Second Rounder (Top 25%) in the 2026 Austin Film Festival Script Competition.

Robert hopes to bring The Ashtray to the screen as a short film. He is considering directing it himself and is interested in connecting with producers and potential creative collaborators who respond to its humor and heart.

Robert Pierosh is a writer and artist whose work blends dark humor, queerness, and emotional truth. His plays, essays, and screenwriting explore identity and memory through offbeat characters and quietly defiant moments, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times. He finds comedy in the uncomfortable and meaning in the mess—usually while trying to sleep.