Desmond Sargeant, a grade 12 student at Heart Lake Secondary School in Brampton, has received an award for best original screenplay from the Toronto International Teen Movie Festival. Sargeant received his award at a ceremony held at Ontario Place.

"His teachers describe Desmond as a very talented artist and writer, and the whole school is very proud of his accomplishment," says Scott Moreash, principal at Heart Lake.

Sargeant received the award for his 110-paged screenplay Suicide Six. This work is based on the award-winning film The Dirty Dozen and gives a science-fiction slant to the famous film.

"I have always been interested in writing for the screen, and my classes at Heart Lake in art and drama inspired me to write this screenplay. Two of my teachers encouraged me to take such a big step by submitting the screenplay to the competition, and I'm thrilled to have won this award," says Sargeant.

The 18-year-old student is not new to the world of awards. Suicide Six has also received the Bronze Horse Award from the Calgary Independent Film Festival and a screenplay award from the Florida Film Circle. Sargeant is currently working on his next screenplay entitled Vodka and Tequila and hopes to pursue film studies at the college level in September.

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Media Contact: Scott Moreash, Principal, Heart Lake Secondary School, 905-840-2328