News

MovieBytes Headlines

WeTV Names Contest Semifinalists

Semifinalists have been announced for the 2016 WeTV Scriptwriting Competition.

Contest of Contest Winners Announces Results

Leach Of Liverpool by Robin Christian has been named the winner of the 2016 Contest of Contest Winners Screenwriting Competition.

Scriptapalooza Fellowship Names Mentors

The 2nd Annual Scriptapalooza Fellowship (deadline September 30th) has announced their 6 mentors.

PAGE Names Contest Finalists

After four rounds of competition, the Judges of the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards have now announced the scripts that have advanced to the Final Round of competition — the top 10 scripts in each of the contest’s 10 genre categories.

Austin Names Semifinalists

The Austin Film Festival has named their 2016 Screenplay Competition Semifinalists, representing the top 1% of all submissions. The scripts were chosen from a record field of 9,100 individual scripts. Finalists will be revealed by early October and the winners will be announced during this year's Conference at the Awards Luncheon on Saturday, October 15 at the historic Austin Club.

Academy Announces Nicholl Fellowships Shortlist

Eleven individual screenwriters and one writing team have been shortlisted for the 2016 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. The Academy Nicholl Fellowships Committee will meet later this month to select up to five winners to receive year-long fellowships. A total of 6,915 scripts were submitted for this year’s competition.

WILDSound Names August Contest Winners

Watch the winning screenplay readings performed by professional actors at the festival in August 2016. 16 winning screenplays!

Creative World Awards Names 2016 Contest Winners

The Last Book Store, by Colette Freedman and Brooke Purdy, has been named the Grand Prize Winner of the 2016 Creative World Awards.

Scriptapalooza Names $10,000 Contest Winner

Aaron Brophy's Battle has been named the $10,000 Grand Prize Winner of the Scriptapalooza Screenwriting Competition.

Scriptapalooza TV Names Contest Winners

Scriptapalooza has named their latest Pilot, Sitcom, 1-Hour, and Reality TV Contest Winners.

Finish Line Script Competition Names Semifinalists

Semifinalists have been announced for the 2016 Finish Line Script Competition.

Extreme Screenplay Names Semifinalists

The Extreme Screenplay Competition has named their 2016 Contest semifinalists.

WeTV Names Quarterfinalists

Quarterfinalists have been announced for the WeTV Television Writing Competition. One hundred scripts made the cut

Scriptapalooza Names Finalists

Scriptapalooza has announced their Top 30 finalists for 2016.

CineStory Names Fellowship Winner

The CineStory Foundation has named Amyn Kaderali as their 2016 Feature Fellowship winner. His winning script is CHOKORA, a powerful story about a bright Kenyan boy who must join a gang of "Chokora" (street kids) in order to survive on Nairobi's mean streets.

Page Names Semifinalists

Semifinalists have been announced for The Page International Screenwriting Awards, representing the top 25 scripts in each of the contest’s 10 genre categories.

CWA Names Semifinalists

Screenplay Search Names Contest Winner

The Eyes of Blind Tom, by Matt H. Mayes, has been named the winner of the latest Screenplay Search Screenwriting Competition.

Acclaim TV Names Pilot and Spec Contest Winners

Acclaim TV has named their Pilot and Spec Contest Winners scripts for Spring/Summer, 2016.

Acclaim Names Spring/Summer 2016 Film Script Winners

Blood Trigger by Ron Podell has been named the winner of the 2016 Acclaim Film Script Competition.

Scriptapalooza Names Short Script Winners

Found Dead by Simon Lystral has been named the winner of the 2016 Scriptapalooza Short Screenplay Competition.

CWA Names Quarterfinalists

Launch Pad Names Top 25 Pilots

The Launch Pad TV Writing Competition has named their top 10 finalists for 2016. Top 10 Finalists this year include six dramas, and four comedies brought to us by nine female writers, four male writers, and three writing teams overall.

Scriptapalooza Names Semifinalists

Semifinalists have been announced for the 2016 Scriptapalooza Screenwriting Competition.

WildSound Names July, 2016 Feature Screenplay Winners

WildSound Names July, 2016 Short Screenplay Winners

WildSound Names July, 2016 TV Screenplay Winners

WildSound Names July, 2016 1st Scene Screenplay Selections

Script Pipeline Names Screenplay and TV Contest Winners

The winners and runners-up of the 2016 Script Pipeline Screenwriting and TV Writing Competitions were announced Saturday, July 23rd and awarded over $35,000. The private event in Los Angeles connected top industry execs and the finalists, as well as other recent Script Pipeline writers.

Scriptapalooza Names Quarterfinalists

Scriptapalooza has named their 2016 Screenplay Contest Quarterfinalists.

CineStory Names 2016 Finalists

Finalists have been announced for the 2016 CineStory Fellowship.

Launch Pad Names Top 25 TV Pilots

The Launch Pad TV Writing Competition has named their top 25 finalists for 2016. This year’s Top 25 is made up of 13 dramas and 12 comedies, written by 10 men and 19 women (including 4 writing teams) who hail from the U.S., Canada and Scotland, and collectively deliver stories filled with hope, despair, engagements, deaths, aliens, sociopaths, fairytales, sci-fis, vampires, empresses, high school, adulthood, ice-skating, baseball and believe it or not ... curling.

TrackingB Names TV Contest Winner

Jackass Flats, by Matt Ferrone & Stacia Black, has been named the winner of the TrackingB Original TV Pilot Contest.

What Does Jarrod Murray Look for in a Pitch?

We caught up with Literary Manager Jarrod Murray, who will be accepting pitches from MovieBytes readers this Sunday, to find out what he looks for in an effective pitch.

Lit Manager Conrad Sun offers Story Engine Webinar

Conrad Sun, who'll be accepting pitches via the MovieBytes partnership with Roadmap Writers on Sunday, July 24th , is offering a free recorded Story Engine webinar. Mr. Sun, manager from Meridian Artists and owner of www.filmescape.com, will be breaking down what a story engine is and how you can make sure your engine is golden. He will be going over story engines for Walking Dead, Friday Night Lights, Orange is the New Black, Back to the Future and Tootsie.

Page Names Quarterfinalists

Quarterfinalists have been announced for The Page International Screenwriting Awards, representing the top 10% of all entries in this year's contest.

Scriptapalooza Fellowship Announces 2016 Recipient

The Scriptapalooza Fellowship program has announced their 2016 Fellowship recipient, Inger Dietrichs. Her script is called Audnvin and she was awarded a five-day screenwriting retreat in Costa Rica with Award-Winning Screenwriter Jacob Krueger.

CineStory Names 2016 Semifinalists

Semifinalists have been announced for the 2016 CineStory Screenwriting Fellowship. Each semifinalist is in the running for the grand prize of the CineStory Fellowship, and is invited to the CineStory Retreat taking place in Idyllwild, CA, from October 15th-October 18th, 2016.

Shore Scripts Names Short Film Fund Winner

LIFT, by Claire Fowler, about a Muslim Uber driver who make an unexpected connection when she picks up her polar opposite, has been named the Shore Scripts Short Film Fund Winner.

Shore Scripts Names Short Film Fund Finalists

Shore Scripts has named 13 finalists for their first-ever Short Film Fund.

Script Pipeline Names 2016 Quarterfinalists

Quarterfinalists have been announced for the 2016 Script Pipeline Screenwriting Competition. Semifinalists will be announced on June 24th.

Diverse Voices Names Contest Finalists

Diverse Voices, presented by WeScreenplay and focused on promoting and encouraging diverse voices and stories, has named their Screenplay Contest Finalists for 2016.

WildSound Names Feature Screenplay Winner for June, 2016

WildSound Names TV Winners for June, 2016

WildSound Names June, 2016 Short Screenplay Winners

Pitching Tips from Panay Films' Jared Iacino

Jared Iacino, who will be accepting online pitches on June 25th through the MovieBytes partnership with Roadmap Writers, is the Vice President of Film and Television Development at Panay Films, a film and television production company whose credits include Wedding Crashers (2005), starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, Van Wilder (2002) starring Ryan Reynolds, and Serendipity (2001), starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale.

Free Webinar with Odd Lot Entertainment's Aldo Chang

Odd Lot Entertainment's Aldo Chang, available to hear pitches through MovieBytes partnership with Roadmap Writers, will be hosting a free webinar this Sunday, June 12th, entitled Tips on Writing a Compelling Thriller.

CineStory Names 2016 Quarterfinalists

Quarterfinalists have been announced for the 2016 CineStory Screenwriting Awards.

WildSound TV Names May Contest Winners

WildSound Names Winning Features for May, 2016

ScreenCraft Names Fellowship Winners

ScreenCraft has announced the recipients of their 3rd annual ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship. Presented by Final Draft, the fellowship is designed to advance the careers of talented screenwriters through ongoing consultation and introductions to key entertainment executives and talent representatives.

Writers and Filmmakers Competition Names Winning Script

Filmmaker Shekhar Bassi, named the winner of the Writers and Filmmakers Competition for his film, "NO LOVE LOST", has selected The Invention, by Dennis Hennessey, as the winning screenplay.

WeScreenplay Announces Diverse Voices Semifinalists

WeScreenplay has announced the Semifinalists for their Diverse Voices Screenplay Competition, which raised $1,437 for the Books for Kids Foundation.

Cinequest Names Contest Winners

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).

Screenplay Search Names Contest Winner

Gap Year, by Caroline K. Hill, has been named the winner of the Screenplay Search Screenwriting Competition.

Scriptapalooza Winner in Theaters

Scriptapalooza's 2006 Grand Prize Winning screenplay, "Can't Live With 'Em" has been produced under the title "Love Addict", and will be released in theaters in 10 U.S. cities on Friday, May 13.

Writers and Filmmakers Names Top Films and Scripts

Filmmaker Shekhar Bassi has been named the winner of the Writers and Filmmakers Competition for his film, "NO LOVE LOST", and will now select the top script from top 10 screenplay submissions.

Interview with 1st TV Contest Winner Chuck Griffith

An alumnus of Columbia University, where he received his B.A. and M.A., Chuck Griffith studied television directing on the set of HBO's "Six Feet Under" with director Kathy Bates, and the single camera sitcom "Undeclared" on FOX with director Greg Mottola. Chuck also served as a producer for MTV's popular award-winning reality series, "Made" in 2007 and 2008.

“Making it” Means Making Magic

I don't know why you got into the business of writing, of grasping at words to explain the images in your brain, and editing within an inch of your life. For most, it's a kind of call, a transcendent purpose. Otherwise, who would chose to subject themselves to continual criticism, knowing their project will always need more work and never feel up to par? Not to mention the constant struggle to "make it" without anyone really defining what "making it" means, beyond an agent and a job on a show. (And once you get that, there's a whole bevy of problems beyond the wall.)

WILDsound Names April, 2016 Feature Screenplay Winners

WILDSound has announced its 3 Feature Screenplay Winners for April 2016.

Scriptapalooza Semifinalist Has Screenplay Optioned

Scriptapalooza Semifinalist Richard Willett, who wrote the 2015 runner-up screenplay THE FLID SHOW, has had his script 9/10 optioned by producer David Kassin Fried.

Fresh Voices Names Screenplay Competition and Spotlight Award Winners

City In The Sun by Nadeem Rajwani has been named the Grand Prize Winner of the 2015-16 Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition.

Aura Names 2015 Contest Winners

The AURA Screenwriter Awards has announced the winners of the 2015 competition in the Feature Screenplay, Original TV Pilot, and Short Screenplay categories.

Acclaim Names Fall/Winter 2015 Screenplay Winners

MENAGERIE, by Diana Mitchell & Linda Mitchell, has been named the winner of the 2015 Fall/Winter Acclaim Screenwriting Competition.

Acclaim Names Fall/Winter TV Winners

Winners for the Acclaim TV Fall/Winter Script Writing Competition have been announced.

FilmMakers.com Names Feature Script Finalists

FilmMakers.com has named the finalists for the 14th Annual Filmmakers International Screenwriting Awards.

1st TV Script Writing Competition Announces Winners

Filmmakers.com has announced the winners of the 1st TV Script Writing Competition.

PAGE Award Winner's Movie Premieres

Ginia Desmond's feature film LUCKY U RANCH, based on her PAGE Award-winning short film script GROWING PAINS, will premiere at the Phoenix Film Festival on Saturday, April 9.

Set in 1953, LUCKY U RANCH is the story of 11-year-old Junior McCaully, who's ready to call it quits. Chubby, bullied, and stuck at a dead-end Arizona trailer court with his hardworking mom, nothing prepares him for the arrival of Melissa, a sophisticated Hollywood girl who changes everything. Directed by Steve Anderson and produced by Ginia Desmond and Douglas Raine, the movie features Trevor Robins, Donovan Droege, Harris Kendall, and Michael A. Candela in the starring roles. It was filmed on location in Tucson, Arizona.

BlueCat Screenplay Competition Announces 2016 Winners

Oreathia C. Smith's screenplay, MONA. RICHY. ROBBY. AND RAY, has been selected as the winner of the 2016 BlueCat Screenplay Competition. Smith's script was selected from 4,523 submissions and will be awarded a $15,000 cash prize. Smith received an MFA in Writing at USC in 2011.

BlueCat Announces Feature Contest Winner

Mona. Richy. Robby. And Ray. by Declan Holliman has been named the $15,000 Grand Prize Winner of the 2016 BlueCat Screenwriting Competition.

Emerging Screenwriters Names Shoot Your Short Competition Winner

Going Home by Nir Shelter has been named the Grand Prize Winner of the Emerging Screenwriters Shoot Your Short Competition.

Scriptapalooza TV Producer requests

Scriptapalooza has announced a list of companies requesting TV contest winners.

BlueCat Names Short Screenplay Contest Winner

Apart by Elizabeth Capot has been named the 2016 BlueCat Short Screenplay Contest Winner.

WILDsound Announces its March 2016 Feature, TV, and Short Screenplay Winners

Fan Fiction Contest Names March Winner

The Fan Fiction Screenplay Festival has named MAGNUM P.I.: Chrysanthemum by Lew Ritter as their March, 2016 Contest Winner.

Script Pipeline Names First Look Winners

Script Pipeline has announced the winners and finalists of their 2015 First Look Project, a genre-specific competition searching for studio-level material and original TV pilots.

Fresh Voices Names Finalists

Fresh Voices has announced their 2015-16 Screenplay Competition Finalists and Spotlight Award Nominees.

BlueCat Names International Award Winners

BlueCat has announced their International Screenplay Awards for 2016.

American Gem Names Contest Winners

American Gem and Write Brothers have announced All Tapped Out by Sean Corrigan as the Grand Prize Winner of the 11th Annual American Gem Short Script and Literary Festival.

PAGE Award Winners Writing for TV

Over the past decade, The PAGE International Screenwriting Awards contest has helped launch the careers of dozens of successful screenwriters, many of whom are now writing top TV series.

CineStory Names First TV/Digital Fellowship Winner

L.M. Harter has been named the first-ever Cinestory TV/Digital Fellowship winner.

Austin Fest & Nicholl Fellowships Present Launching Your Writing Career

Austin Film Festival, in partnership with the Academy Education and Nicholl Fellowships Programs, will present a series of panels dedicated to LAUNCHING YOUR WRITING CAREER. The event will take place on Saturday, March 26 from 12:30pm - 5:30pm at the Linwood Dunn Theatre in Hollywood.

BlueCat Names Feature Screenplay Finalists

BlueCat has announced the five finalists for their 2016 Screenwriting Competition. The Winner will receive $15,000 and the other four Finalists will receive $2500.

Dear MovieBytes:
Can I use INT./EXT. for my action scenes?

Dear MovieBytes:

A master scene in an action movie may have many quick twists and turns. Example: A car chase. You have a car, a driver, and a road. But if your headings bounce from INT to EXT to CAR, to Road a dozen times in one page, the spec script looks discombobulated. Can you use EXT. / INT. to cover both the external movement of the car and the internal movement of the driver?

BlueCat Names Special Award Finalists

BlueCat has named the 2016 finalists for the Joplin, Cordelia, and Roshan Awards.

BlueCat Names Short Screenplay Finalists

BlueCat has named their Short Screenplay Finalists for 2016. The Winner -to be announce March 28th - will receive $10,000, and the three Finalists receiving $2000 each.

BlueCat Names Semifinalists

BlueCat has named their 2016 semifinalists, representing the top 78 scripts from a total of 4,523 submissions. The 2016 Feature Screenplay Winner will receive a $15,000 USD cash prize. Four Finalists will receive $2,500 each.

WILDSound Names 1st Scene Contest Winners for March

Filmmakers Names 1st TV Script Finalists

FilmMakers has named the finalists of their 1st Annual 1st TV Script Writing Competition.

Scriptapalooza Posts Video Interviews with TV Winners

Scriptapalooza has posted video interviews with their TV winners Sophia Loomis, Brandon Windsor, and Blair Donahue.

WeScreenplay Names Grand Prize Winner

Giving Up the Ghost by Jessica DiGiancito has been named the Grand Prize Winner of the 2015 WeScreenplay Competition. The script is about a pair of estranged siblings with the ability to talk to the dead who are forced to face a dark family secret when they return home to save an innocent boy from a demonic force.

Industry Insider T.V. Contest Names Round 3 Winner

Anonymous Content has selected Dawn Fields Wise as the winner of The Writers Store Industry Insider T.V. Writing Contest for her pilot Gate City.

Industry Insider Names Round 12 Winner

The Writers Store has named S.K. Valenzuela's Render as the winner of the 12th round of The Industry Insider Screenwriting Contest.

Fresh Voices Names Semifinalists

The Fresh Voices Screenwriting Competition has announced their semifinalists for 2015.

Tips on Contest Entry: Big Break TV Winner Eric Buchman Shares Lessons from the World of Script Coordinators

Meet Eric Buchman. By day, he's the script coordinator for the hit NBC show Blindspot, starring Jaimie Alexander and Sullivan Stapleton. By night however, Buckman is the writer of his own show called 45 Wall and dreams of one day hiring his own script coordinator.

CineStory Names TV & Digital Contest Winners

CineStory has named first TV contest winners in all categories: Original Comedy, Original Drama, Spec Comedy, Spec Drama, and Digital.

Story Planner Offers Writing Plans Online

Story Planner aims to be the home for story planning online. The new website offers online tools for every aspect of screenplay preparation, from recording new ideas to crafting story structure, developing character outlines, creating log lines and synopsis, or planning scenes. Story Planner gives writers the opportunity to save their notes in project files, and prepare the groundwork for writing their novel, short story or screenplay.

Scriptapalooza TV Names Contest Winners

First, second, and third place winners have been announced in all categories for the October 15th, 2015 deadlined Scriptapalooza TV Competition.

WILDSound Names 1st Scene Winners for February

Interview with ISA Fast Track Fellow David Baugnon

49-year-old David Baugnon grew up in New Orleans, and graduated from Loyola University there as a Communications major. He spent 4 years teaching in Kobe and Osaka, Japan, after college and then moved to New York in 1997. where he makes his living writing, mentoring and teaching screenwriting. He was recently named an International Screenwriters Association Fast Track Fellow for his script, The Messiah Project.