A list of categorized screenplay contests, ranked and sorted by screenwriters. Find the best contest for your screenplay or television script.
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Final Deadline: 01/22/2020
The First 10 Pages Script Competition recognizes and showcases exceptional feature and television writing in all genres.
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Final Deadline: 01/31/2020
Working with top industry mentors, annual four-day intensive lab is designed to help participants develop film and TV projects in an intensive and supportive environment. You will learn skills and be exposed to opportunities to get your work made and seen. The four-day lab is enrolled through competitive application process. All other elements of Stowe Story Labs programming (writers' retreats, ongoing mentoring, market experiences, fiscal agency) are available by invitation only.
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Final Deadline: 02/06/2020
We love New York and we love film! We especially loves films shot, set, about, or written and produced and starring New Yorkers! And by New Yorker, we mean New Yorkers from the State, the City, and around the world. Even New Yorkers who haven’t made it here yet. We love you all. (And no, you don’t have to be from here to submit your scripts). We are a passionate group of artists who care deeply about nurturing, developing, and furthering the careers of the next generation of New York City filmmakers and screenwriters from the U.
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Final Deadline: 02/09/2020
Our celebration of great writing continues with our latest genre prize. After the great success of our Sci-Fi and Fantasy and Horror competitions, we are proud to announce the first ever WriteMovies Romance and Comedy Award! Do you like to make people laugh with great comedy? Are you a fan of stories about enduring love and relationships? Or do you like to blend the two into that most classic of genres, the rom-com? Then this is the contest for you! The WriteMovies Romance and Comedy Award is here to celebrate scripts that lift our spirits through laughter or inspire us with passionate love – or a bit of both! We’ll be accepting scripts in the genres of both comedy and romance, plus the crossover genre of the romantic-comedy.
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Final Deadline: 02/29/2020
The Houston Comedy Film Festival opened for submissions in 2008 and we had our first event in 2009. We are looking for a diverse palette of comedy screenplays with the following categories. 1-40 pages is considered a short and 41-150 pages is considered a feature in our world. 1) Comedy Short & Comedy Features 2) Dark Comedy Short & Dark Comedy Feature 3) Comedy TV Episode, Sitcom, or Webisode: Short & Feature (commonly called a Teleplay) 4) Romantic Comedy Short and Romantic Comedy Feature 80% of the submissions go to the Comedy Short & Feature Categories, which are the most competitive.
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Final Deadline: 02/29/2020
The Austin Comedy Short Film Festival held our first event in 2015. This event has been bi-annual since the beginning. We are looking for a diverse palette of comedy screenplays with the following categories. 1-40 pages is considered a short and 41-150 pages is considered a feature in our world. 1) Comedy Short & Comedy Features Screenplays 2) Dark Comedy Short & Dark Comedy Feature Screenplays 3) Comedy TV Episode, Sitcom, or Webisode: Short & Feature (commonly called a Teleplay) 4) Romantic Comedy Short and Romantic Comedy Feature Screenplays 80% of the submissions go to the Comedy Short & Feature Categories, which are the most competitive.
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Final Deadline: 02/29/2020
Perhaps no other medium of entertainment liberates the writer’s imagination more than animation. From wildly experimental 2D animation, to photo-realistic 3D animation, and everything in between, the medium of animation can allow for many kinds of inventive, visual storytelling. Whether you’re writing an animated family feature, a serious animated series for adults, or a kids TV show, we’re honoring three categories in this annual competition!
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Final Deadline: 03/01/2020
WriteMovies has been helping writers succeed since 1999. We are currently accepting entries to our Winter 2020 Screenwriting Contest! Grand Prize: $2000 A year of free script development worth up to $3200 Guaranteed pitching to industry Exclusive prizes from InkTip Get free entry to the contest when you commission a script report, with Judging Feedback from just $89 Through our exclusive arrangement with TALENTSCOUT INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT (TSIM) we can guarantee the contest winner representation.
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Final Deadline: 03/08/2020
The International Horror Hotel fosters creativity within genre writers and filmmakers, providing a platform for them to share their work and gain recognition. Our main focus is in connecting those working within the horror (and sub-genre) community, helping them to expand their network and gain contacts to strengthen their work. The 2020 festival will be held June 11th-14th at Mentor Holiday Inn - 20 minutes from downtown Cleveland (OH).
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Final Deadline: 03/11/2020
Whether you’re writing feature comedy screenplays or 30-60 minute teleplays, we want you to bring the funny! This year, we will again be flying our winner out to Los Angeles for face-to-face meetings. Further, other winning writers will have online meetings with executives and all finalists will have their loglines exposed to a list of hundreds of executives for the possibility of having their scripts requested.
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Final Deadline: 03/15/2020
The Scriptation Showcase is officially open for submissions! Emerging writers can now enter their best screenplay, teleplay, or short. The Scriptation Showcase is the screenwriting competition that circulates winners’ scripts to the directors, showrunners, and producers behind your favorite movies and TV shows. Why submit to the Scriptation Showcase? UNPRECENDENTED EXPOSURE Never before has a screenwriting competition made your script so accessible to working industry professionals.
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Final Deadline: 03/19/2020
The Crime List recognizes an exceptional film, script or book that features a crime story (murder, organized crime, gangsters, fraud / corruption, missing / kidnapped, revenge, heist, etc.)
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Final Deadline: 03/19/2020
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.
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Final Deadline: 03/19/2020
We are a team of artists that want nothing more than to support the next generation of filmmakers and screenwriters from around the world. Specifically, those storytellers that passionate about telling stories about black communities in the U.S. and abroad, from inner city Atlanta, LA, New York, Oakland, Detroit, Chicago, and Milwaukee to Africa, Brazil, and the Caribbean, to Wall Street and the streets of London to the NBA.
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Final Deadline: 03/30/2020
FIRST 15 - FEATURE & TV PILOT The FIRST 15 is a unique competition where your script will only be judged based upon your opening FIRST 15 pages. As a “Thank You” to everyone for your support during our first two years we are giving anyone who applies on Filmfreeway FREE ENTRY for the FIRST 15 Days of the competition. The FIRST 15 is a great way to kick off the New Year and jump-start your writing to prepare your script for all the upcoming top tier competitions, writers programs and residency applications.
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Final Deadline: 03/31/2020
Creative World Awards (CWA) is an international screenwriting contest that is well known for having the writer's interest at heart when it comes to development and industry promotion. Production: CWA brings an exciting production opportunity to the Grand Prize Winner. This year’s winner will have the options of a short version of their script being produced by The MIX, and the film will then get a guaranteed premiere at the Richmond International Film Festival.
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Final Deadline: 03/31/2020
Whether you’re writing a contained science fiction drama or an epic fantasy saga, we want to read your TV, feature film or short scripts. The jury is out of this world — with judges who love sci-fi and fantasy — from top companies including MGM TELEVISION, CIRCLE OF CONFUSION, APA and 21 LAPS! Don’t miss the industry’s #1 sci-fi & fantasy screenwriting competition.
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Final Deadline: 03/31/2020
The Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship competition was created to locate, expose and nurture up-and-coming screenwriters who have yet to receive their invitation to the mainstream industry. The competition is proudly sponsored by InkTip, The Script Coverage Co., and Filmmatic, and is open to all screenplays and pilots.
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Final Deadline: 03/31/2020
The Portland Comedy Film Festival, ranked in the Top 100 on FilmFreeway, is a unique forum for international independent comedy filmmakers to showcase their comedy films in Portland, Oregon. The Portland Comedy Film Festival is a bi-annual event, searching for funny and engaging films and screenplays to entertain a comedy loving audience.
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Final Deadline: 03/31/2020
The Austin After Dark Film Festival screens at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Lakeline in Austin, Texas. This event will focus on films that are created for a mature audience. Enjoy a great slate of films in large cushioned seating, a massive theater screen, with access to 50 beers on tap and full restaurant while you watch films. Austin is a great independent film town and this event will be a lot of fun as well as a great opportunity to network with filmmakers and screenwriters.
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Final Deadline: 03/31/2020
The 14th annual Dallas International Film Festival, powered by Capital One, is the largest in North Texas, committed to providing leadership in screen education and the recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film, television, screenwriting and digital media. Through the 2020 "Broaden Your Horizons" screenwriting competition, presented by Event Horizon Films, DIFF offers writers the opportunity to submit scripts for feature films, television pilots and short films, which will be reviewed by readers at top Hollywood talent agencies and management companies, such as: Abrams Artists Agency WME United Talent Agency Gersh Agency Innovative Artists Circle of Confusion Buschwald DIFF's all-star lineup of judges includes: Ken Estin, 3-time Emmy winning screenwriter and producer (Taxi, Cheers, The Tracey Ullman Show, Beverly Hills Cop) Teresa Cheng, animation producer and production manager (Shrek Forever After, Madagascar, Batman & Robin, True Lies) Lisa Furfine, CEO of the Furfine Network, connecting sports and entertainment industry professionals (The New Celebrity Apprentice, SportsTravel magazine) Johnathan Brownlee, director, producer, writer, actor and executive director for DIFF (Three Days In August, The Standoff at Sparrow Creek, Decoding Annie Parker)
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Final Deadline: 04/03/2020
Honoring Stories Worth Telling. All Ages, All Cultures, All written formats. The rationale behind the festival is clear. New media continues to show its lasting power and potential to evolve - there is scope for truly groundbreaking and compelling work in the world of storytelling. The festival is designed to both discover and cultivate highly creative work from emerging and seasoned content creators.
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Final Deadline: 04/10/2020
New York International Screenplay Awards is an international screenplay competition for screenwriters who aspire to connect with the USA industry workers and explore the US markets. NYISA winners will be connected to the US film industry by InkTip Magazine, iPitch. tv, and Script Mailer. They’ll be registered for free at CreatersVault, and will receive free screenwriting courses from Script Reader Pro, plus, detailed analysis and free consultations by Coverage Ink… And much more! NYISA’s valued jury members are industry professionals such as Producers, Script Doctors, Directors, Actors and Screenwriters.
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Final Deadline: 04/13/2020
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.
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Final Deadline: 04/13/2020
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.
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Final Deadline: 04/14/2020
Seattle's burgeoning independent film community is home to artists, actors, writers, directors, producers, singers, dancers, musicians, storytellers, filmmakers, and multi-hyphenates of all shapes and sizes. People from all walks of life, from all over the world, call our city home. They come hear to learn, hone, and practice their craft. Unlike other major hubs, that are only interested in established talent, artists know they can come to Seattle and grow into their greatness.
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Final Deadline: 04/14/2020
Hollywood is where people have come to make it in the industry since the birth of the entertainment industry. We are not just the home of actors, writers, directors, and producers of all shapes and sizes, we are the home of the industry itself. Everyone who’s anyone has a presence here or wish they did. People from all walks of life, from all over the world, come here to make it.
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Final Deadline: 04/20/2020
The PAGE Awards competition was established in the fall of 2003 by an alliance of Hollywood producers, agents, and development execs. Our goal: to discover the most exciting new scripts by up-and-coming writers from across the country and around the world. And due to the success of our winning writers, the PAGE Awards competition has rapidly become one of the most important sources for new screenwriting talent within the Hollywood community and worldwide.
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Final Deadline: 04/22/2020
The True Story Screenplay Competition recognizes and showcases feature screenplays and television scripts based on, or inspired by, true stories.
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Final Deadline: 04/24/2020
The SENE Film Festival Screenplay Competition seeks to encourage, recognize and promote talented screenwriters.
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Final Deadline: 04/27/2020
We are looking to find the next generation of Sorkins, Rhimes, Gilligans, & Lorres by shining a spotlight on new, fresh voices writing for television. And we've enlisted a great industry judging panel from the TV world to help us. THE INDUSTRY PANEL Berry Welsh - SVP, Production & Development - Tribeca Film Tyler Knell - Manager of Development - Circle of Confusion Television Studios Peter Dealbert - Lit Manager - Pacific View Management Jeff Portnoy - Lit Manager - Bellevue Productions Dustin Davis - Head of Comedy - Youtube Originals Amanda Krentzman - International Originals - Netflix Jillian Apfelbaum - EVP, Content - Village Roadshow Entertainment Group Ryan Cunningham - Lit Manager - Anonymous Content Chris Mills - Lit Manager - Magnet Management Justin Killion - Head of Premium Programming & Development - COMPLEX Carly Kahane - Vice-President - Topple Productions Mike Goldberg - TV Lit Agent - APA A.
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Final Deadline: 04/30/2020
Whether you have a romantic comedy or an action-comedy blockbuster, we want to read your script. Big or small, our jury is looking for smart scripts with strong command of the craft, lots of heart and unique comedic voices. All entries are eligible for optional feedback from a studio-trained professional reader.
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Final Deadline: 04/30/2020
In 2010, Executive Director Cathleen Young created NEW VOICES with the vision of discovering, developing and launching a new generation of talented writers under the mentorship of Hollywood showrunners and studio partners. MENTORS INCLUDE: Alan Ball, Jenny Bicks, Janine Sherman Barrois, Matt Carlson, Carter Covington, Liz Craft, Sarah Fain, Tom Fontana, Gary Glasberg, Gary David Goldberg, Marc Guggenheim, Hart Hanson, Chris Harris, Felicia Henderson, David Hudgins, Jason Katims, Jay Kogen, Bill Lawrence, Ali LeRoi, Melanie Marnich, Nancy Pimental, Rashad Raisani, David Shore, Robin Swicord, Pam Veasey, Ben Watkins, and David Zuckerman.
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Final Deadline: 05/15/2020
The Ultimate Runway Now in our 27th year, the Austin Film Festival has been catapulting writers into life-changing careers for over two decades. 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.
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Final Deadline: 05/15/2020
To recognize excellence in screenwriting of shorts and features in a wide variety of genres.
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Final Deadline: 05/15/2020
The Holly Weird Film Festival (HWFF), founded by Festival Director Jack Truman, celebrates independent films of all genres that feature a distinct vision, a unique voice, or an avant-garde challenge to what is expected or accepted. HWFF provides a venue for narrative, documentary, experimental and avant-garde film and video. Holly Weird is dedicated to celebrating all types of creativity from the worldwide independent film community.
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Final Deadline: 05/19/2020
The Diversity Film & Script Showcase recognizes and showcases screenplays featuring an Under Represented Lead Character OR Filmmaker (Writer or Co-Writer, or Director, or Producer).
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Final Deadline: 05/22/2020
HollyShorts Film Festival (HSFF) is an annual Academy Qualifying short film festival showcasing the best and brightest short films and short screenplays from around the globe. The festival showcases the top short films produced 40 minutes or less and is looking for the best short screenplays 30 pages or less.
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Final Deadline: 05/31/2020
Whether you have a simple screenplay or a film that’s already in production, we want to consider it for our grant program. We consider a range of projects, from standalone screenplays, to fully packaged projects seeking finishing funds. If your aspirations are solely to become a produced screenwriter, you can rely on ScreenCraft and BondIt to package the winning script with a talented director and in-house production resources with up to $30,000 in cash financing, judged on a case-by-case basis, depending on each project’s budget and needs as determined by our internal jury of industry professionals.
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Final Deadline: 05/31/2020
While it’s no secret that Hollywood loves remakes, sequels and spinoffs, it’s perhaps lesser known that Hollywood loves movies based on free intellectual property in the public domain, such as folk tales, fairy tales, mythology and books and plays published before 1923. For example, folk tales, mythology, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Sherlock Holmes, Charles Dickens, famous historical figures – and the list goes on.
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Final Deadline: 06/01/2020
Circa Historical Screenplay Competition will award the "Best Historical Screenplays" in three categories: Feature Screenplay (Top Prize - $2000), TV Pilot (Top Prize - $1500) and Short Screenplay (Top Prize - $1000).
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Final Deadline: 06/15/2020
The Capital Fund Screenplay Competition, now in its fifth year of successes, where your scripts are read direct by investors that buy projects and fund films at the studio level domestically and abroad. Our entrants have been optioned and sold at AFM, Cannes, Berlin, Toronto and Shanghai Film Markets. A Different Screenplay Contest Congratulations to the 2018 Winners at Universal 2019 Competition opens September 30, 2018.
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Final Deadline: 06/23/2020
The ONLY screenplay competition focused exclusively on adapted material. The Adapted Screenplay Competition recognizes and showcases adapted feature and television scripts in ALL genres.
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Final Deadline: 06/24/2020
We have teamed up with several creative partners looking for Features and TV Pilots with unique voices and original stories. Our goal with this contest is to discover great writers then connect their authentic stories to those creative partners, and we are looking for the best writing in all of these genres: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family/Holiday, Mystery/Crime, Historical/Biopic, Horror/Thriller, Sci-Fi/ Fantasy, Western and Young Adult (YA).
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Final Deadline: 06/26/2020
The Nashville Film Festival Screenwriting Competition leverages one of the oldest and largest film festivals in the U.S. Each year, NashFilm draws hundreds of filmmakers, musicians and industry to ten days of films, panels, red carpet events, live music showcases and parties. NashFilm is an Academy® Award Qualifying Festival in three short film categories.
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Final Deadline: 06/30/2020
Our Hollywood judges love good horror movies – and they’re looking for the next fresh voices in horror screenwriting.
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Final Deadline: 06/30/2020
It’s a fact that rewriting your screenplay or television pilot is an absolutely essential part of the successful process of perfecting story, character, structure, tone and theme. It’s from that reality that The Finish Line Script Competition was created. The Finish Line redefines the screenwriting competition, embracing the rewrite as an essential component in any successful screenplay, and incentivizing every entrant to dig deeper, find their best draft, and win.
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Final Deadline: 07/26/2020
The Scriptation Showcase is officially open for submissions! Emerging writers can now enter their best screenplay, teleplay, or short. The Scriptation Showcase is the screenwriting competition that circulates winners’ scripts to the directors, showrunners, and producers behind your favorite movies and TV shows. Why submit to the Scriptation Showcase? UNPRECENDENTED EXPOSURE Never before has a screenwriting competition made your script so accessible to working industry professionals.
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Final Deadline: 07/31/2020
Awards Ceremony at a Film Festival! Screenplay Festival winners get that rarest of experiences for a writer; applause from an audience. Our winners get to come out from behind the keyboard and be celebrated! Now Accepting Television Scripts! The writers spoke, and we listened. We have now added four categories to our contest for television scripts.
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Final Deadline: 07/31/2020
Feature film dramas drive deep into the heart of what it means to be human, expressing universal themes with nuanced complexity. Our judges are looking for great stories with original voices and honest emotion. This competition celebrates great dramatic film writing. Whether you’re writing a sweeping period drama or a contained relationship movie, we want to read your script! All entries are eligible for optional feedback from a studio-trained professional reader (highly recommended).
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