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Screenplay Systems Partners With Scriptapalooza to Announce $25,000 Grand Prize Screenwriting Competition

BURBANK, CA, September 13, 2000 – While the new economy has made millions for young dot-com pioneers, fledging writer’s have found the road to success littered with career thwarting obstacles. Last year, the Writer’s Guild of America registered over 30,000 submissions, only a fraction of which will ever be optioned, much less "green lit." Yet, the professional and financial rewards can be staggering for those with the talent and connections to get their material into the right hands. One of the most popular and effective ways is through screenwriting competitions.

This year, Screenplay Systems, the industry’s leading publisher of writing software, has agreed to partner with Scriptapalooza, elevating the position of the three year competition by upping the grand prize kitty to $25,000, an award amount matching the prestigious Nicholls Fellowship. Scriptapalooza’s tremendous efforts to promote the careers of the winners and runner-ups differentiate them from other screenwriting competitions.

"The industry’s barriers are fierce and breaking them unfortunately takes more than just talent," stated Scriptapalooza’s President Mark Andrushko. Several of the competitions winners have found profitable homes. Most recently, the competition’s 2nd place winner, "Falling Over Venus" by Andrea Bailey was optioned by Marc Platt for Universal, with Mary Stuart Masterson attached to direct.

This commitment to writers is shared by Screenplay Systems who have dedicated the last 18 years to improving writers' lives. "Screenplay Systems was founded to foster the creative process and support writers," says the company’s President, Stephen Greenfield, a produced writer who knows all too well about the impenetrable walls around Hollywood. "Scriptapalooza creates opportunities, recognition and exposure for more writers and therefore represents a natural fit for our goals."

Screenplay Systems has been the leading software provider to the entertainment industry since 1982. Since 1990, over 80% of the Academy Awards® nominations and 95% of the Emmy Awards® went to productions that used Screenplay Systems software. Critically praised programs include: Dramatica Pro, Screenwriter 2000, and the recently released StoryView, the first and only software program to allow writers to visually outline and develop their stories using a timeline.

Scriptapalooza Inc. was founded in 1998 by Mark Andrushko, Kelli Bennett, and Genevieve Cibor, with the intention of discovering talented writers and promoting them through the Scriptapalooza Screenwriting Competition. Since then the partners have branched into three more divisions; ScriptapaloozaTV, a television writing competition, Flickapalooza Film Festival, which will make its debut in 2001, and recently Palooza Pictures, a production company.

For Scriptapalooza entry rules and information, writers can visit www.screenplay.com First Prize is $25,000, second prize is $3,000 and third prize is $2,000. Competition runners up will receive a suite of Screenplay Systems award winning software, valued at over $1,000. The 17 remaining finalists will be able to select one of the offered software packages. All writers who enter the competition will receive a $20.00 discount on software purchased directly from screenplay.com

Updated: 09/14/2000

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