The Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards

Objective

Deadline/Entry Fees

Seasonal (Spring-Summer-Fall-Winter)

Entry fee: $50-119

WinningScripts Pro $20 Off Coupon

Notification: Seasonal. 15 days following close of submissions

Rules

• Screenplay contest material submitted to The Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards is accepted via electronic submission only.?
• Submissions must be in PDF file format, the title ONLY indicated in the PDF file name. Submissions as Final Draft or Movie Magic Screenwriter files will not be read, scored, or judged.
• All prize monies will be paid to winners via Paypal only. No other payment options (check, bank transfers, money orders, etc.) are available. All prize money recipients must submit valid tax ID (W9 or W8BEN) prior to payment posting.
• There is no limit to the number of screenplay, teleplay, or short film scripts you may submit. Submitted script material must be received by midnight of each monthly deadline date and submission fee payment must accompany your material.
• All entry fees are non-refundable; submissions in any file format other than PDF will be disqualified with no refund.
• Page count limitations: Short Film Scripts = 30pp Television Scripts = 70pp Feature Screenplays = 125pp Entries exceeding those page limits will incur a 20% reading fee surcharge.
• All material submitted to these screenplay contests must be original, and all rights must be wholly owned by the writer(s).
• Screenplays and scripts must be submitted by the credited writer. Screenplays and scripts written by writing teams must be submitted by one of the writers, with consent of the other(s).
• All writers must be credited on title page.
• If a screenwriting team is chosen as a winner, prizes will be given to the screenwriter submitting the project. Each team is responsible for dividing or sharing the prize money, with no direction from The Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards Contest administrators, staff, or judges.
• Once submitted, material is promptly assigned to analysts and judges and reading/scoring begins. Revisions, rewrites, addenda, or substitutions of either corrected pages or new drafts of the entered screenplay or script material require a separate entry.
• Multiple entries are accepted. Submitting the same script pages for different levels of analysis is fine. In all cases, each entry or request for varying levels of analysis must be entered individually. When multiple levels of analysis are NOT entered individually, only the highest level of analysis will be provided with no refunds for other analysis services.
• By using our service, you authorize us to use any trusted third-party online and cloud-based services and databases for hosting, managing and/or transmitting your submission file(s), including FilmFreeway.
• All copyright, ownership and derivative rights to the material submitted to The Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards contest(s) remains with the original rights holders and/or author.
• By submitting material to the contest, writer gives contest administrators permission to promote the work and the writer to third parties, including professional literary managers and agents at their sole discretion.
• Plagiarized or non-original written materials will be disqualified.
• All scores are final and purely at the discretion of the Senior Judging Panel.
• Once announced and delivered, all prize package items are the responsibility of the recipient.

Eligibility:

• All screenwriters, without regard to professional or amateur status, age, gender, race, ethnicity, country of origin, native language, political orientation, or sexual preference are eligible.
• The screenplay, television script, or short film script material submitted must be in English.
• All screenplay, television script, or short film script material submitted to other competitions or contests is eligible.
• There are no limitations or restrictions as to date of authorship of submitted screenplay, television script, or short film materials.
• The screenplay, television script, or short film script material submitted must not be encumbered by any obligation to, or option held by, any third party prior to entering the screenplay competition.
• Screenplay, television script, or short film script material should be submitted in standard screenplay format, font, spacing and margin.
• No limitations regarding title page content. Title and name of screenwriter and contact information on cover page is recommended.

The Santa Barbara International Awards senior judging panel includes working entertainment industry professionals; third party companies, organizations, studios, agencies, or management professionals with which they are affiliated are not sponsors of this contest nor are they responsible for its policies, procedures, systems, or operations. Winner announcements will be made within a reasonable period of time following the conclusion of each quarterly submission deadline. While judges and administrators are dedicated to the anonymity of submitting writers and work to maintain the highest levels of fairness throughout the reading and judging process, there is no guarantee whatsoever as to the scoring, outcome, or publicity of any submission. We reserve the right to amend contest rules at any time.

COPYRIGHT AND OWNERSHIP

Neither The Santa Barbara International Awards LLC nor any other partner, employee or agent associated with these competitions claim any ownership in any original material submitted to us. All ownership and rights to the material submitted remain with the writer claiming authorship of the scripted material. Writer assumes all copyright liability and duties to protect same at any given time.

PUBLICITY

Submission of written materials establishes each writer's consent to The Santa Barbara International Awards to the use of entrants’ names, likenesses, photographs, and/or personal information for promotional purposes. We will honor any request to keep the identity of any writer private upon written request.

REFUND POLICY

Once a script is submitted, administrative processes commence; therefore all fees submitted are non-refundable.

SUBMISSION CONDITIONS AND RELEASE

Writers submitting to The Santa Barbara International Awards agree to release and hold harmless The Santa Barbara International Awards LLC, its subsidiary, parent and affiliated companies, judges, screenplay readers, sponsors, and any other organizations responsible for administering, advertising or promoting your submission of material, against any and all claims, expenses, and liability, and to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the The Santa Barbara International Awards and its owners, agents, and employees from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities. SUBMISSION OF MATERIAL IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED or restricted by any Federal, State or Local law. Voided submission fees will be refunded.

Awards

Feature Screenplay (all genres)

• $500 Cash Prize
• Santa Barbara Lunch & Script Meeting with Senior Judge
• Engraved Winner's Trophy
• Written Studio-grade analysis
• Free InkTip Listing & Promotion
• Free Listing at SellingYourScreenplay.com
• Free listing at MovieBytes.com
• Forwarding to leading Hollywood Literary Managers

TV Script (pilot or episode)

• $250 Cash Prize
• Virtual Script Meeting with Senior Judge
• Engraved Winner's Trophy
• Written Studio-grade analysis
• Free InkTip Listing & Promotion
• Free Listing at SellingYourScreenplay.com
• Free listing at MovieBytes.com
• Forwarding to leading Hollywood Literary Managers

Short Film Script

• $150 Cash Prize
• Virtual Script Meeting with Senior Judge
• Written Studio-grade analysis
• Free MovieBytes.com listing