San Jose, CA 95113
(408) 638-0644 (voice)
Web:
Click here
Email: screenplay@cinequest.org
Contact: Antonea Colon, Screenwriting Competition Coordinator
Report Card |
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(4.4/5.0) |
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(4.1/5.0) |
| Feedback: |
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(4.3/5.0) |
| Signficance: |
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(4.2/5.0) |
| Report Cards: |
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Have you entered?
Please submit a Report card.
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Cinequest voted Best Film Festival by USA Today Readers.
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. The Top 10 Finalists receive many empowering benefits including: All Access passes to the Cinequest Film & VR Festival and the exclusive Writers Celebration, plus exposure to leading industry players and inspiring luminaries.
Finalists are presented alongside high profile Maverick Spirit awardees like: J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, Chuck Palahniuk, Neil Gaiman, Philip Kaufman, Michael Arndt, Diablo Cody, Dennis Lehane, Jason Reitman and more at the highly anticipated Writers Celebration during the Cinequest Film & VR Festival.
WRITERS CELEBRATION
Celebrating the Screenplay Competition’s Top 10 Finalists, the electrifying Writers Celebration occurs during the Cinequest Film & VR Festival (February 27 - March 11, 2018) and includes opportunities for writers to connect with producers and enhance their careers, networks and opportunities. Writers Celebration events will include:
FEATURES
A $5000 cash prize will be presented to the winning feature-length script. Finalists will also get their scripts read by industry professionals. Previous industry readers have included: ICM Partners, Lions Gate Films, Happy Madison Productions, Entertainment One, XYZ Films, First Light Films, Lupovitz Productions, Echo Lake Entertainment, Verve, and Popular Films.
“After the Cinequest Writers Celebration, an angel investor has swooped in and offered to finance my film. WorkingMan will begin immediate pre-production and will be shot next winter/early spring. Thanks so much to everyone at Cinequest for opening doors to filmmakers and artists everywhere!” -- Robert Jury, Feature Finalist, WorkingMan
SHORTS
Our short-film script category continues to attract a diverse international pool with a $1000 cash prize and future screening opportunity at Cinequest Film & VR Festival for the winning script.
“We had an incredible time at the festival, and are very much still in complete awe of the amazing response to the film…pretty much everything you'd ever want as a filmmaker. It was a very surreal experience.”-- Travis Neufeld, Shorts Winner, Tinwife (premiered at Cinequest in 2017)
TELEPLAYS (60 minutes)
A $1000 cash prize will be presented to the winning 60 minute teleplay. Finalists will also get their teleplay read by experts from companies like FX Network, ABC Signature Studios, and PBS.
"I was thrilled when Cinequest selected my pilot script as a finalist for the teleplay competition. Writers need all the support they can get and Cinequest gave it in abundance. Not only at the festival, with conferences and events for the writers, but long afterwards, when you’re back at the desk and find an email from one of the devoted people at Cinequest in your box. When they get behind you, they stay behind you and continue to do everything they can to help push your project forward." -- Matthew Dixon, Teleplay Finalist, The Glass Hotel (optioned by HBO in 2016)
TELEPLAYS (30 minutes)
Our 30 minute teleplay category offers writers a chance to showcase what could be the next hit series on TV! $1000 cash prize to the winner.
“I loved the artist/writer events. It was a pleasure getting to speak with other finalists— writers who are so very creative, talented and diverse in outlook…The importance of Cinequest is that it brings us together, not despite our crazy aspirations as artists, but because of them... and best of all, their encouragement stokes the fire to keep us going.” -- Ada Lee Halofsky, Teleplay Winner, Throwing Shade
| Deadline | Date | Entry Fee | Days till Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Bird | July 13, 2018 | $45 Features; $30 Short; $35 Teleplay (60min); $30 Teleplay (30min) |
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| Regular | September 21, 2018 | $55 Features; $35 Short; $40 Teleplay (60min); $35 Teleplay (30min) |
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| Late | October 12, 2018 | $60 features; $50 Short; $55 Teleplay (60min); $50 Teleplay (30min) |
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| Extended | November 2, 2018 | $65 Features; $55 Shorts; $60 Teleplay (60min); $55 Teleplay (30min) |
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Submissions open May 1st, 2017! Submissions are accepted via www.cinequest.org and Withoutabox.com
WinningScripts Pro $5 Off Coupon
Notification: Finalists will be notified December 2017. Winners revealed at Writers Celebration during Cinequest Film Festival, February 27-March 11, 2018.
FEEDBACK & NOTIFICATIONS
All contestants will receive 2-3 lines of generalized feedback for improvement on their script. Full script coverage services are not available at this time.
Writers will be notified on their status in the competition via the email address provided at time of registration. Please include screenplay@cinequest.org in your contact lists to receive these notifications. See below for selection process:
San Jose, CA 95113
(408) 638-0644 (voice)
Web:
Click here
Email: screenplay@cinequest.org
Contact: Antonea Colon, Screenwriting Competition Coordinator
Report Card |
||
| Overall: |
|
(4.4/5.0) |
| Professionalism: |
|
(4.1/5.0) |
| Feedback: |
|
(4.3/5.0) |
| Signficance: |
|
(4.2/5.0) |
| Report Cards: |
|
|
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Have you entered?
Please submit a Report card.
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San Jose, CA 95113
(408) 638-0644 (voice)
Web:
Click here
Email: screenplay@cinequest.org
Contact: Antonea Colon, Screenwriting Competition Coordinator
Report Card |
||
| Overall: |
|
(4.4/5.0) |
| Professionalism: |
|
(4.1/5.0) |
| Feedback: |
|
(4.3/5.0) |
| Signficance: |
|
(4.2/5.0) |
| Report Cards: |
|
|
|
Have you entered?
Please submit a Report card.
|
||
Rubbish by John Dilley & Seth Corr has been named the Feature Screenplay Winner of the 2017 Cinequest Screenwriting Competition.
Wheelman by Jeremy Rush has been named the Feature Script Winner of the Cinequest Screenwriting Competition. Shiva by Vishnu Sekar won the Short Script Competition, and the TV Script Winners were Brooklyn Bus by RJ Marx (60-minutes) and Patient by M. Rowan Meyer (30-minutes).
Saint Chloe by Stacie Shellner (Feature), The Yard by Eugenie Carabatsoshas (Short), and Awareness by Sean Corrigan (Teleplay) have been named the winners of the Cinequest Screenwriting Competition for 2014-2015.
Breathe has been named the winner of the 2014 CineQuest Film Festival Screenplay Competition. Travis Neufeld's The Tinwife was the winner of the Short Screenplay Competition.
Cinequest has announce that The Imperfect Cell, Mister Dunbury’s Exotic Lunatic Caravan, and Marcus were the winners of the Cinequest 14 Screenwriting Competition.
San Jose, CA 95113
(408) 638-0644 (voice)
Web:
Click here
Email: screenplay@cinequest.org
Contact: Antonea Colon, Screenwriting Competition Coordinator
Report Card |
||
| Overall: |
|
(4.4/5.0) |
| Professionalism: |
|
(4.1/5.0) |
| Feedback: |
|
(4.3/5.0) |
| Signficance: |
|
(4.2/5.0) |
| Report Cards: |
|
|
|
Have you entered?
Please submit a Report card.
|
||
An interview with screenwriter M. Rowan Meyer regarding the Cinequest Writing Competition.
A: "Patient" is a half hour dark comedy about Adrian Irons, a razor-witted, bisexual, self-destructive standardized patient at a NYC teaching hospital. He has the unique ability to recreate the symptoms of any disease, which he uses to help train med students and new doctors. Chaos ensues, however, when the symptoms start to stick.
Q: What made you enter this particular contest? Have you entered any other contests with this script? If so, how did you do?A: I found this contest through Withoutabox while I was searching for contests that accept teleplays. I've entered about 20. Still waiting to hear back from most with later deadlines, but I was just named a finalist for the Screencraft Screenwriting Fellowship, and am currently a semi-finalist for the SeriesFest Teleplay Competition.
Q: Were you satisfied with the administration of the contest? Did they meet their deadlines? Did you receive all the awards that were promised?A: Cinequest, and Antonea Colon in particular, were great. Everything went smoothly and they couldn't have been nicer or more accommodating.
Q: How long did it take you to write the script? Did you write an outline beforehand? How many drafts did you write?A: I wrote the first draft in two days. There was no outline, just an idea. The stars aligned for this project, and it just happened to come at a particularly creative time. I made several big changes in later rewrites over the next year.
Q: What kind of software did you use to write the script, if any? What other kinds of writing software do you use?A: I use Celtx.
Q: Do you write every day? How many hours per day?A: I ideally like to write for an hour every day, but if I'm not feeling inspired I will at least write for 10 minutes. As long as I can get one solid line, plot point, or transition, that's enough sometimes.
Q: Do you ever get writer's block? If so, how do you deal with that?A: I absolutely get writer's block. The best thing to do is not stress about it. Just keep going, no matter how slowly. Or work on something else, as long as it serves your creativity.
Q: What's your background? Have you written any other screenplays or television scripts?A: I have a MFA in Acting from Rutgers University. I've written 6 episodes for "Patient" thus far, a spec script for "Brooklyn Nine-Nine", and many short comedic films. I also a few plays that occasionally get produced, and a novel.
Q: Do you live in Los Angeles? If not, do you have any plans to move there?A: I live in New York. I'd be happy to move to LA, but only if I have something solid lined up.
Q: What's next? Are you working on a new script?A: I'm currently writing a feature, a short film, two new sketches, and a new pilot. I know it sounds like I have too many projects up in the air, but very happy to say I actually work on all of them pretty regularly.
