Screenplay Contests that accept screenplays adapted from other source material.
Subscribe to the MovieBytes Screenwriting Contest Newsletter for weekly screenplay contest deadline alerts!
Final Deadline: 06/23/2017
Breaking Walls is a contest for thriller screenplays with contacts at established Hollywood literary representation and production companies who have agreed to consider the full winning script and the top finalists' loglines. Well-written thrillers are always an excellent way for writers to show Hollywood pros a combination of commerciality, unique voice, and a clear understanding of effective feature film narrative.
Overall rating: 
Final Deadline: 06/24/2017
To introduce writers to the decision makers of traditional broadcast television, the cable market, and multi-media outlets. Competition winners will have their material read by experienced production companies.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 06/24/2017
To introduce writers to the decision makers in film and multimedia markets. Top script receives $1,000 and ALL competition winners and finalists will earn the chance to have their scripts read by established production companies and agents.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 06/26/2017
The Capital Fund Screenplay Competition, now in its third year of successes, where your scripts are read direct by investors that buy projects and fund films at the studio level domestically and abroad.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 06/28/2017
GRAND PRIZE WINNING EMERGING SCREENWRITER Receives CASH STORY SEMINAR SCHOLARSHIP SCRIPT READS BY INDUSTRY REPS Our goal is to help you, the emerging screenwriter develop as a storyteller, show off your talents to industry, and provide you with a cash prize to help propel you along in your screenwriting career. The new season of the Emerging Screenwriters Screenplay Competition is proud to announce that the Grand Prize Winning screenplay is guaranteed to be read by literary managers and executives! You will also receive an invitation into the ISA Development Program, where the team will work with you to further package and champion your winning script to more industry execs for a full year! 8 writers have signed option agreements or signed with an agency in the past 18 months.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 06/28/2017
To discover original, high-concept feature film ideas and develop the winning material with the writer for studio circulation.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 06/28/2017
To discover original, high-concept TV show ideas and develop the winning material with the writer for circulation network execs and television producers.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 07/01/2017
Whether you’re writing an epic Thriller or contained Horror, our Hollywood judges have produced some of the most successful horror and thriller films of the last decade. Get your screenplay to these judges and launch your career!
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 07/01/2017
The fellowship program was developed to honor dedicated writers and to help further their creative process and skills. Writing in itself is a journey and we would like to facilitate the process by giving the fellows the opportunity to be surrounded by like-minded professionals and individuals. Application Requirements: Completed application and fee.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 07/10/2017
CALL FOR ENTRIES! Shriekfest, the Los Angeles Horror/SciFi Film Festival continues its tradition as Los Angeles' Premier horror film event, presenting an exciting program of films each fall with beautiful Los Angeles as its backdrop. Now, in its 17th year, Shriekfest takes place at the legendary Raleigh Studios, which is the largest independent studio operator in the country.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 07/15/2017
The objective of the Moondance International Film Festival is to inspire, motivate, promote and encourage the best writers & independent filmmakers, from every country in the world, and to inspire a greater understanding about the vital role of the arts in enhancing creativity, community spirit, and the preservation of our cultural heritage.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 07/28/2017
The Slamdance Screenplay Competition is dedicated to discovering and supporting emerging writing talent. We welcome screenplays in every genre, on any topic, from anywhere in the world. A unique feature of the competition is providing constructive feedback for every entrant. In addition to this, we also offer a more intensive coverage service for a supplementary fee.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 07/31/2017
To make Hollywood more accessible than ever before to more aspiring screenwriters, Filmmakers.com is forming strategic alliances with the powers that be... Championing Emerging Artists. FilmMakers International Screenwriting Awards has been in existence since 2000 (formerly known as The Radmin Company / FilmMakers.com Screenplay Contest) and its association with the Radmin Company has been going on since late 2000.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 07/31/2017
To promote and support new talent by creating real and original opportunities.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 07/31/2017
The 1st TV Script Writing Competition is presented by FilmMakers.com . It wasn't that long ago that for a writer to be discovered he or she had to reside in or around Hollywood. The Film Industry is changing rapidly and so are the players as well as the playground. All you need is a break and it starts with you getting your GEM out there. Submit your work to an organization that stood the test of time.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 07/31/2017
Season 2: The FILMMATIC Screenplay Awards were created to locate and expose up-and-coming screenwriters, as well as to empower and educate those talented writers still waiting for their invitation to the mainstream industry. The Filmmatic Screenplay Competiton is open to short and feature-length works, screenplays and pilots. 10 Categorical Winners, 1 Overall Winner, and 100 Finalists will be announced at the conclusion of the competition You've worked hard on your screenplay, and our staff and Judges are excited to read your work.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 08/02/2017
The Table Read My Screenplay Contest is more than just a screenplay contest. It's an experience! The Grand Prize Feature/Pilot Winner will be flown to Chicago during the Chicago International Film Festival. Grand Prize Winner will have their screenplay read by professional actors and workshopped by a director. We cover Hotel & Airfare expenses during the festival.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 08/04/2017
The Action on Film 13th Annual Film Festival celebrates and honors WRITERS of all genres and formats like no other festival does. Now in our 13th year, our Film Festival has garnered a solid reputation as being one of the premier Writing competitions. The AOF has created a solid community of Filmmakers and Writers from around the globe. Always looking to embrace and recognize writers, AOF is on the cutting edge looking to create a vehicle for our writers to be seen and honored.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 08/09/2017
First Mentor Announced: Gary Lucchesi, President of both Lakeshore Entertainment and the Producers Guild of America The ISA Fast Track Fellowship wants to find TWO emerging writers ready to FAST TRACK their screenwriting careers with an accelerated week of meetings in Los Angeles with EIGHT top level executive mentors. Past fellows have been optioned or received representation from Catapult Entertainment Group, The Savage Agency, Indomitable Entertainment, Requiem Entertainment and more.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 08/18/2017
Poe Films proudly sponsors “Burning Love Screenplay Contest” to discover and promote contemporary screenwriters who bring fresh voices and creative storytelling as Edgar Allan Poe brought to his generation. In collaboration with the Poe Foundation, dedicated to honoring Poe's talents and inspiring the next generation of writers, Poe Films is seeking drama and comedy features, shorts and teleplays driven, at least in part, by love in its many forms.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 09/13/2017
Our panel of Hollywood industry professionals is looking for the next great drama and comedy TV pilots for network, cable and online platforms! We will also be accepting web series and non-traditional series pilots.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 09/17/2017
We are delighted to announce the return of our main international competition for Summer 2017. The WriteMovies Summer 2017 Screenwriting Competition is now OPEN! Win $2000 and become our next success story! There’s $2000 available in prize money, plus over $3000 in script development for the 3 winners, and new bonuses and promotion through InkTip (see below!) – we promise to develop and promote them to the top of the international film industry.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 10/15/2017
To discover innovative, marketable, high-concept projects for studio-level development, including feature screenplays, TV material, and media content.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 10/16/2017
Our intention is to help open doors for the aspiring television writer. There are four categories you can submit to, which include 1 hour existing spec scripts, 1/2 hour existing sitcom spec scripts, original pilots, and reality programs. This competition is designed with the TV writer and crossover screenwriter in mind. The participants we have chosen to read the winning scripts are individuals from established production companies.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 11/03/2017
Cinequest voted Best Film Festival by USA Today Readers. Submissions open May 1st, 2017! The Cinequest Screenwriting Competition continues to empower global screenwriters through discovery, recognition and opportunity. Cinequest loves writers, and we welcome you to submit your screenplay or teleplay to our renowned competition.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 11/06/2017
The CineStory Foundation has always believed in helping writers find their voice. We’re entering a world in which the ways to tell stories are limitless. Those stories always begin with a blank page. Our goal with the TV/Digital Series Retreat is to assist writers, whether they long for the collaborative nature of Television or they dream of going out on their own to create their own web series.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 11/30/2017
LIMBO screenplay contest is now open for the second year! This year LIMBO will announce two winners. Submit your screenplay for a chance to win $500 cash and a chance to sell your screenplay to the producers. If your script is already in perfect shape, great! Submit it as is. We are looking for the best writer in the bunch. Enter the LIMBO Script Competition and come out a winner!
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 12/14/2017
Mission: Faith in Film is dedicated to forging a screenwriting competition that will launch the careers of filmmakers focused on adding the element of faith to their films and facilitate established filmmakers in transitioning into making more faith films. Our aim is to build a festival that will introduce faith based films to mass audiences, ultimately, giving them the same multi platform release schedules and revenue streams that traditional studio films and high end independent films enjoy; and to inspire, showcase, support, and develop filmmakers of all faith’s to make great faith based films that leave others touched, moved and inspired; and filmmakers and distributors empowered to make and distribute more faith and family films.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 02/28/2018
Writers judge filmmakers and filmmakers judge writers. It’s that simple! We fund you to collaborate. The winning filmmaker wins up to $25,000 to shoot one of the top 10 scripts. Winning writer receives up to $10,000 for their short script! The writers review films and decide the best filmmaker. The filmmakers read scripts and decide the top 10 scripts.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 05/01/2017 (expired)
Scriptapalooza was founded in 1998 with the goal of helping as many writers as possible through the competition. We have over 90 production companies, agents and managers reading all the entered scripts. (A complete list of participants is on Scriptapalooza's website.) We actively push the Semifinalists, Finalists, Runners-Up and Winners for a full year with the intention of creating opportunities for the writers.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 05/15/2017 (expired)
The Ultimate Runway For over two decades, Austin Film Festival has been catapulting writers into life-changing careers. With one of the most noteworthy competitions among Hollywood tastemakers, AFF consistently yanks newcomers from the isolation of their desks and ushers them into the bustling world of film and television. Whether your dream is to sign a contract, land an agent, learn from an industry icon, or take home the coveted Bronze Typewriter Award, it’s simple: you can’t win if you don’t enter.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 05/20/2017 (expired)
To help launch the careers of undiscovered screenwriters and give unprecedented access to studio-level executives.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
To assist the aspiring screenwriter in realizing his/her dream of becoming a professional screenwriter. To eliminate industry chokepoints that stifle creativity and impede screenplay access to managers,agents & producers.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 05/08/2017 (expired)
To recognize excellence in script writing of shorts and features in a wide variety of genres.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 11/11/2016 (expired)
Open to writers of all levels and backgrounds, the StoryPros International's objective is to recognize, support and promote your work with financial rewards, software and services -- as well as providing an open door to industry professionals with guaranteed reads and promotion to our network of contacts. Past entrants and winners have gone on to representation, options, assignments and sales.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The GOTHAM SCREEN Film Festival and Screenplay Contest will take place Oct 7-10, 2010, in New York City. An opportunity for filmmakers to have their work shown and critically judged in New York, Gotham Screen is looking for fresh voices and perspectives from local, national and international filmmakers. The mission of the festival is to create a positive industry and audience exposure for works that would otherwise not easily get seen.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 05/10/2017 (expired)
To find the best GENRE scripts. Genre scripts are bought and produced more than 10 to 1 over the serious drama, tentpole or quirky scripts that usually win screenplay contests. This contest pits genre scripts only against scripts within their genre, and seeks to identify and promote to the industry the very best in each genre -- in other words, the scripts with the very best chances in the marketplace.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The Garden State Film Festival was founded in 2008 to promote the art of filmmaking on all levels by showcasing a wide variety of film, video and animated works, as well as to provide educational programs in the creative arts to the public by industry leaders. Our goal is to present films of the highest quality in both production value and content.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The Omaha Film Festival celebrates the artistic, educational, and historical importance of motion pictures. It gives independent film artists a platform for sharing their work and creating a dialogue with the community. It introduces audiences to innovative new films and past masterworks of cinema. It promotes the discussion and study of filmmaking.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
BE SCENE - For 4 years now, ACEFEST has been one of the most anticipated annual events on the industry calendar. The American Cinematic Experience goes far beyond film exhibition and into the very most primitive stages of production - writing. The Great American Screenplay Competition is seeking the best writers from coast to coast and it could be you! With an always impressive roster of judges, a growing bundle of rewards and nearly 55,000+ industry players waiting eagerly to see the winner's work, this is your chance to get your script seen!
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 12/10/2016 (expired)
Have you ever asked yourself "How will anyone know how good my screenplay is, if it never made into a film?" Here is your chance to see your screenplay brought to life. The winner in each category will receive a custom certificate or festival plaque. Also, winners are eligible for IMDB credit as this competition is an IMDB qualified event.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 08/01/2016 (expired)
Our objective is to discover and promote quality screenplays of any genre.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
Filmshift is committed to advancing the craft of screenwriting as well as the progress of independent screenwriters themselves through our annual screenplay competition. We offer awards including Final Draft screenwriting software, InkTip access awards, and a variety of awards from Script Pipeline . We accept both feature-length and short film scripts of all genres and styles that tell strong and original stories.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: 06/30/2015 (expired)
To foster excellence in screenwriting that features gay characters, history, or themes important to the gay community, and relevant to our world. Up to four full length finalists and up to six shorts finalists will be named by September 1 annually, and those scripts will be performed as enhanced staged readings at the Hoover-Leppen Theater of the Center on Halsted in Chicago.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
Zed Fest was formed to acknowledge and encourage new independent filmmakers and screenwriters. We noticed that there are a lot of talented and promising filmmakers and screenwriters that tend to get snubbed by other festivals and competitions simply because they are low budget or less polished. We want to give them the recognition that they deserve and try to help them build upon their abilities.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
QuickFilmBudget.com is now accepting short scripts (5 pages or less) that present an effective story with a beginning, middle, and end, which can easily be produced. Screenplays can be any genre or subject. Quick Film Budget will judge each submission based on screenplay, budget and a one page filmmaker's statement. All budgets must be created by QuickFilmBudget.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
To give honest, in depth feedback to writers that they can actually use. Winning writer gets 30% of the entry fees so that they can hopefully produce their film. We offer free advice on how to create a low/no budget feature that can get your script produced, go to film festivals, win awards and get distribution.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The Tulsa International Film Festival is now accepting entries in the screenplay category. We look forward to reading your submissions and seeing what the future holds for the world of film. All genres accepted.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The Ventura Film Festival is a 100% volunteer based organization that raises money and awareness for forest and ocean preservation.
Overall rating:
Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
To passionately deliver industry exposure to the best unknown screenplays each season. (and ship our winner and his screenplay out to Sundance!)
Overall rating:
