A screenplay based on Ashland High School students, written by a 2000 graduate, is in the semifinals of a national online contest, where it has a one-in-10 chance of being made into a feature film.

Earlier this year Max Doty, 27, entered his screenplay — a coming-of-age tale about two brothers — in the contest, sponsored by the online movie rental company Netflix.

The screenplay, adapted with the help of Doty's friend Phil Flores from an unpublished novel Doty wrote, was chosen as one of the top 10 screenplays, out of the 2,000 submitted.

In May, Doty and Flores, who met while undergrads at Stanford University, were given three weeks to film a trailer for the movie, tentatively titled "Touchback," a football term. The trailer is now online at www.NetflixFindYourVoice.com.

Through July 5, people can log on to the site and vote for their favorite trailers, using a five-star rating system. At the end of the voting period, movie industry executives and actors will read the screenplays corresponding to the five highest-rated trailers and will pick one to receive a $350,000 funding package to allow the screenplay to be made into a feature film.

Although Doty's screenplay is set entirely in Ashland, Flores, who studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California, filmed the trailer in the desert outside Los Angeles, because of limited funding. However, if the screenplay is made into a film, Doty hopes to shoot it at Ashland High School and elsewhere in town, he said.

"It was inspired by these events I had always imagined taking place in Ashland. When I write, or when anyone writes, you have kind of like this reservoir of places where you can set things, and, because I grew up in this place and know it really well, I decided to set it here," said Doty, who lives in San Francisco, where he works as the head writer for Electronic Arts, a company that creates computer games.

The trailer, however, is recommended only for mature audiences, because it contains sexual references, Doty said.

The screenplay tells the story of two brothers, one a freshman at Jefferson High School — "parallel to Ashland High School" — and the other a senior, he said. The older brother and his friends, all football players, design a contest to see who can have sex with the most freshman girls, Doty said. The younger brother, who is friends with many of the girls, is appalled and begins to learn what it means to grow up — and to stand up for himself and others.

"Basically a lot of the movie is about hesitation and not taking a chance and doing something," Doty said. "The younger brother is sort of watching as all this goes down and not doing anything to stop it."

The story is loosely based on a rumor Doty heard in high school about a similar contest that had occurred in Ashland, several grades ahead of his. While he believes it's likely the contest was actually held at the school sometime in the '90s, there's no way to know for sure, he said.

"There's a lot of lore from Ashland High School that has sort of made it in to the screenplay," he said.

Regardless of whether it's true or not, the rumor got Doty thinking and about three years after graduating from high school, he began working on "The Longhorns," the novel his screenplay is based on.

Doty's mother, Jennifer Egan, a child development specialist at Helman Elementary School, said she thinks Doty's success is due in part to the education he received at Ashland public schools.

"He's very lucky to be from Ashland," she said. "And I'm so proud of him for following his dream."

Although it may not seem as though he is presenting Ashland High School in the best light, Doty said he's thankful he graduated from the school.

"I had a lot of wonderful English teachers at Ashland High School," he said. "For my senior project at Ashland High School, I wrote a screenplay, which wasn't that good but it was a nice start."

Contact staff writer Hannah Guzik at 482-3456 ext. 226 or hguzik@dailytidings.com.