Contests that accept tv sitcoms, hour-long dramas, Movies of the Week, reality programs, or other tv scripts.
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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
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.
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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: 04/30/2020
Wassup, fellow scribes? We have a really fun little joint in store for you. Since we're all locked down anyway, we might as well use the time productively, right? So we came up with the CI 30-Day Challenge to empower and motivate us all. How would you like to have a brand-spankin'-new piece of material by the end of April -- and give your creative batteries a 10,000-volt jolt in the process? And maybe even win some cash and prizes in the process? We thought you might.
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Final Deadline: 05/01/2020
The focus of this eight month program is on opening doors: providing opportunities to build relationships with network executives and show runners; to support new and emerging writers in their efforts to improve their craft; and to develop the interpersonal skills necessary to break in and succeed. The Writers Mentoring Program is not employment and there is no monetary compensation.
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Final Deadline: 05/08/2020
Launch Pad Competitions have led to more signings, success stories and careers than any other screenwriting competition. With more than 450 writers signed, 165 projects set up, 70 writers staffed and 180 appearances on annual best-of lists, The Launch Pad Competition has firmly established itself as the premier hub for Hollywood to discover fresh voices, new ideas, and talented writers.
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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: 05/25/2020
Currently, one of the most sought after genres in Hollywood! Most of our writers launched their careers with genre scripts and hopefully you can too. This is brand new competition for Page Turner which means that this is a great opportunity for writers to test their material, compete at a more intimate level where you will have a more thorough read as opposed to other competitions where you are competing against thousands and thousands of others across multiple genres.
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Final Deadline: 05/31/2020
For over 30 years, the Warner Bros. Television Writers’ Workshop has been the premier writing program for new writers looking to start and further their career in the world of television. The list of graduates who have gone on to do great things is long: Terrance Winter (Boardwalk Empire), Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives), Greg Garcia (My Name Is Earl) and Felicia Henderson (Soul Food) to name a few.
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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
Writers on the Verge is a 12-week program focused on polishing writers and readying them for a staff writer position on a television series. We are looking for writers who are “almost there” but need that final bit of preparation with their writing and personal presentation skills. We particularly encourage writers of diverse backgrounds to apply.
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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: 06/01/2020
PAGE-TURNER: page–turn·er A script so compelling or exciting that the reader is unable to put it down. And that's exactly what the PAGE-TURNER Screenplay Competition is looking for. The 3rd ANNUAL FEATURE & TV PILOT COMPETITION is designed with the writer in mind.
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Final Deadline: 06/14/2020
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 Studio Coverage from just $99 Since 1999, WriteMovies’ screenwriting contests guarantee to develop our winners’ projects at our own expense and pitch them to producers with the power to make them happen.
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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: 06/26/2020
GenreBlast is an international independent genre film festival coming to you from the awesome Alamo Drafthouse Winchester in beautiful Winchester, VA! GB5 will happen LABOR DAY WEEKEND - 9/3-9/6 2020 and will feature the best of truly independent films from around the world - specializing in action, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, martial arts, grindhouse, exploitation, Korean thrillers, Japanese gangster flicks, Chinese action movies, French horror, midnight movies, shoestring budget weird cinema, and everything under the sun! We really welcome all genres of interesting, original, exciting and daring moviemaking! All countries and walks of life are welcome here! We also have a fantastic screenplay contest that is growing larger every year! Our discussion panels at GenreBlast have been a big hit and we're bringing them back for GB5! Raw, uncensored real talk about indie filmmaking, gender bias, distribution, criticism, and much more will come your way from the mouths of some of the best indie talent out there! After-parties, lively conversation, networking galore, TONS of movies, informative Q&A's and the chance to make new lifelong industry friends - all nestled in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley hamlet of Winchester, VA! Your movie will be shown in front of a lively, enthusiastic crowd of cinephiles and industry peers that don't walk around with their heads up their asses 24/7! What a refreshing way to attend a film fest! Come Labor Day Weekend, you'll wish you were at GenreBlast!
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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: 06/30/2020
The Script Lab and Coverfly are offering this FREE screenplay competition to help open talent-discovery to anyone and everyone, regardless of financial ability. This contest is open to feature, TV and short screenplays. Scripts must be in English and formatted with industry-standard screenwriting software. Only one entry per writer. Multiple submissions will be automatically eliminated.
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Final Deadline: 07/01/2020
Short Com is delighted to announce its first ever script competition. Having screened some of the funniest short comedy films for several years by emerging comedy film-making talent to audiences and industry alike, we are now looking to unearth comedic writing talent to help kick-start their writing career. What Are We Looking For? It’s one thing to be able to write funny ideas but can you also write a story within 22-30 pages and have characters that stand-out in a world that we’d want to come back and see in the next episode? Whether your idea uses a single-camera setup or is the more adventurous multi-camera format, we’re looking for solid sitcom ideas, great writing, and plenty of humour that shows wide audience appeal.
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Final Deadline: 07/20/2020
The NHMC Television Scriptwriter’s Program is designed to familiarize participants with the format, characters and storyline structure of specific shows that are currently on the air. The five-week, *total immersion workshop is mentored and guided by former NBC V.P of Script Development, Geoff Harris and is conducted in Sherman Oaks, CA. A total of 10 writers are accepted nationwide from an established network of non-profit agencies, schools, universities, guilds and media organizations.
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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: 07/27/2020
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.
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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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Final Deadline: 08/01/2020
Nickelodeon's Writing Program offers aspiring television writers from around the globe, with diverse backgrounds and experiences, the opportunity to hone their skills while writing for our live action and animated shows. Participants will have hands-on interaction with executives writing spec scripts and pitching story ideas. The Program's General Track, developed to broaden Nickelodeon’s outreach efforts, provides a salaried position for up to one year (for Domestic writers) and up to six months (for International writers).
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Final Deadline: 08/15/2020
Our Director of the Screenplay Competition is a working writer himself. We carefully select our Judges and try to assist the screenplay winners in their journey to sell their manuscripts. Exposure is half the battle. Our priority has always been the writer. Read our reviews on FilmFreeway and you'll see what past writers and filmmakers think of our competition.
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Final Deadline: 08/15/2020
Founded by longtime residents and movie veterans alike, the Sherman Oaks Film Festival looks to showcase the best undiscovered movies in the heart of Los Angeles. The neighborhood that was home the mall in Fast Times At Ridgemont High deserves a world class film festival! The Sherman Oaks Film Festival has a category for unproduced screenplays of any length, feature or short or in between.
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Final Deadline: 08/31/2020
OUR FOCUS IS TO DISCOVER THE BEST NEW SCREENWRITING TALENT FROM AROUND THE WORLD How do we do that? 14 Emmy & Golden Globe Winning Judges will read the final round of submissions. 120+ Production Companies, Agents & Managers are signed up to read each year’s best scripts. 70+ Directors are on our roster to read the best Feature screenplays.
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Final Deadline: 08/31/2020
Introducing Season 2 / 2020 of “Your Script Produced!” International Film / TV / Short Film Screenwriting Competition sponsored by Doval Bacall Films. The sponsor will fully finance, develop, package and produce the Grand Prize Winning Feature Script for $250,000.00. We've raised the stakes! Season 2 will accept Features, TV Scripts, AND SHORT FILM SCRIPTS! Winners will be promoted in the Variety Magazine and/or THR! Grand Prize winners can direct their own script! (Feature grand prize winner must have valid experience and approved by our sponsor.
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Final Deadline: 09/17/2020
The Australian International Screenwriting Awards (AISA) is a screenwriting competition committed to the discerning selection, recognition, and professional growth of emerging screenwriters from all over the world. Australia, our home base, is a perfect merging of great cities and abundant nature. From big waves and rainforests to mountains and the massive outback.
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Final Deadline: 09/30/2020
Our panel of Hollywood industry professionals is looking for the next great drama and comedy TV pilots with Series Bibles for network, cable and online platforms! Accepting web series, short-form, and non-traditional series pilots as well. 3 winners will receive cash awards and introductions to industry professionals!
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Final Deadline: 10/31/2020
The action genre is the one genre that producers and literary managers have recently requested the most, and which we have the least. So this could be one of our most successful competitions! Our jury is looking for emerging voices in the action movie genre. Whether you have a big-budget, tentpole family adventure movie, or a taut, low-budget action film, we want to read your script.
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