American Zoetrope Screenplay Contest
American Zoetrope

Contact
916 Kearny Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-788-7500 (voice)
415-989-7910 (fax)
Web:
Click here
Email:
contests@zoetrope.com
Contact: Manjula Martin
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(3.5/5.0) |
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(3.1/5.0) |
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(2.4/5.0) |
| Signficance: |
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(3.6/5.0) |
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Have you entered?
Submit a Report card
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Categories
Objective
The mission of the American Zoetrope Screenplay Competition is to find and promote new and innovative voices in cinema. The competition considers feature-length film scripts, as well as pilot scripts for television/streaming services. Every script is read closely by a select handful of professional readers, and American Zoetrope staff and the guest judge choose a winner from among the ten finalists.
Deadline/Entry Fees
| Deadline | Date Days till: |
Entry Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Early | July 15, 2026 36 |
$40 |
| Final | September 9, 2026 92 |
$50 |
Notification: One winning script and nine finalists will be announced on February 8, 2027. Semi- and quarterfinalists will be announced at the same time.
Eligibility
18 years or older. No earnings greater than $50,000 in the prior calendar year. See website for details.Rules
Please see website.Awards
The winner receives a grand prize of $5,000.
The winner and nine finalists are considered for representation by the agencies CAA, Circle of Confusion, Energy Entertainment, Exile Entertainment, the Gersh Agency, ICM, Oasis Media Group, the Radmin Company, UTA, and William Morris Endeavor. Their scripts will be considered for option and development by the production companies American Zoetrope, Anonymous Content, Array, Cats & Dogs Productions, Double Hope Films, Fox Searchlight, Groundswell Productions, Icon Films, IFC Films, Jean Doumanian Productions, Lionsgate, LIT Entertainment Group, Lleju Productions, Netflix, Number 9 Films, Oasis Media Group, Pretty Pictures Productions, Roserock Films, Sony Pictures Classics, Verisimilitude, and Working Title Films.
American Zoetrope

Contact
916 Kearny Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-788-7500 (voice)
415-989-7910 (fax)
Web:
Click here
Email:
contests@zoetrope.com
Contact: Manjula Martin
Report Card |
||
| Overall: |
|
(3.5/5.0) |
| Professionalism: |
|
(3.1/5.0) |
| Feedback: |
|
(2.4/5.0) |
| Signficance: |
|
(3.6/5.0) |
| Report Cards: |
|
|
|
Have you entered?
Submit a Report card
|
||
Categories
Contest Comments
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American Zoetrope Screenplay Contest

Contact
916 Kearny Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-788-7500 (voice)
415-989-7910 (fax)
Web:
Click here
Email:
contests@zoetrope.com
Contact: Manjula Martin
Report Card |
||
| Overall: |
|
(3.5/5.0) |
| Professionalism: |
|
(3.1/5.0) |
| Feedback: |
|
(2.4/5.0) |
| Signficance: |
|
(3.6/5.0) |
| Report Cards: |
|
|
|
Have you entered?
Submit a Report card
|
||
Categories
Contest News
America Zoetrope Announces Contest Winners
From 2,500 entries, judge Gus Van Sant and the America Zoetrope staff honored the following screenplays:
Grand Prize-Winner
MIDLAND by KELLY PATRICK STEPHENSON
Top Ten Finalists
Stumblebum by John Charles Chase
Original Cyn by Robert W. Hazel
A Gentleman's Game by Mandel Holland
Salamanca by Arzhang Kamarei
The Last Marine by Paul Ian Johnson
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by Dane Edward McCauley
Princip by Aleksandar Pajcin
The Machine by Mark Alan Patton
Temporary, Instead by Jason Michael Vetrano
Whistler's Ridge by Cynthia Webb
The Grand Prize-Winner receives $5,000 and his screenplay, along with those of the Top Ten Finalists, will be considered for film option and development by American Zoetrope, Samuel Goldwyn Films, Fox Searchlight, Sony Pictures Classics, IFC Entertainment, Paramount Classics, Icon Pictures, Working Title, Antidote Films, Bull's Eye Entertainment, C/W Productions, Exile Entertainment, Film Colony, The Film Department, First Look, Fortis Film, Frelaine, Greenestreet Films, Hart Sharp Entertainment, Matinee Pictures, Michael London Productions, Number 9 Films, Phoenix Pictures, Pretty Pictures, The Schiff Company, This Is That, Roserock Films, Benderspink, Room 9 Entertainment, and Ziskin Productions.
Those writers will be considered for representation by ICM, UTA, Paradigm, William Morris Independent, The Gersh Agency, CAA, and The Firm.
Updated: 02/02/2007
American Zoetrope Screenplay Contest

Contact
916 Kearny Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-788-7500 (voice)
415-989-7910 (fax)
Web:
Click here
Email:
contests@zoetrope.com
Contact: Manjula Martin
Report Card |
||
| Overall: |
|
(3.5/5.0) |
| Professionalism: |
|
(3.1/5.0) |
| Feedback: |
|
(2.4/5.0) |
| Signficance: |
|
(3.6/5.0) |
| Report Cards: |
|
|
|
Have you entered?
Submit a Report card
|
||
Categories
Submit Report Card
You must login to read or submit report cards.
First-time user? Register now to receive FREE email contest updates, news, results, deadline reminders and more. Rest assured, information submitted here is held in strict confidence. MovieBytes never sells or in any way distributes email names or addresses. We promise!
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