A list of all screenplay contests, rated by screenwriters and sorted by deadline. Find the best contest for your screenplay or television script.
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Final Deadline: 04/16/2018 (expired)
A division of the Sidewalk Film Festival started in 2004, Sidewrite’s mission is to discover and reward talented screenwriters in Alabama and around the world. The short screenplay competition aims to foster community amongst emerging writers and reinforce cinematic artistry locally. Sidewrite allows passionate writers to enhance their craft and receive recognition for their work and creativity.
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Final Deadline: 04/07/2018 (expired)
The mission of the "I See You Awards(tm) is to recognize and honor low budget independent filmmakers. The I See You Awards fill a niche and create a platform for recognizing independent filmmakers that is currently missing in mainstream Hollywood.
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Final Deadline: 03/31/2018 (expired)
A free competition open to members of the Reddit Screenwriting Community.
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Final Deadline: 03/28/2018 (expired)
The 2018 New York Television Festival is moving to July -- submit to the NYTVF for the chance to engage with more TV execs, buyers, agents, managers, and decision-makers than any other Festival! Submit your independently produced pilot or script for the opportunity to become an Official Artist next summer. Check out 2018 submission deadlines below.
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Final Deadline: 03/26/2018 (expired)
Crime/Mystery Film and Writing Festival offers screenwriters at all levels the fantastic opportunity to hear their stories read aloud using TOP PROFESSIONAL ACTORS .
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Final Deadline: 03/15/2018 (expired)
We are looking for standout screenplays by women. The competition awards the writer who pushes the boundaries of cinema with her original, nuanced characters and dynamic storytelling and dialogue. There are no limitations on content or genre. The main character does not have to be female, but the screenwriter does. Cash awards, as well as a Skype pitch with an executive and pitch preparation for the winning entry.
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Final Deadline: 02/28/2018 (expired)
One screenplay and up to ten short films will win $500 each! As filmmakers, we know that outside of the film festival circuit, most shorts will die a lonely death in the bowels of the interwebs. So to help amazing shorts get the audience they deserve, we’re creating "Grave Intentions: An Anthology of Chills, Thrills, and Kills." And your film could be a part of it! If your short would be at home on The Twilight Zone, Tales From the Crypt, The Outer Limits, or Creep Show, we want to see it.
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Final Deadline: 02/27/2018 (expired)
The TV ONE SCREENPLAY COMPETITION 2018 is meant to encourage and promote the production of creative, contemporary, engaging and relatable screenplays that can be turned into original movies for television. The competition is meant to: Encourage filmmakers to offer a fresh perspective and submit contemporary stories with a focus on the American black cultural experience with wide audience appeal.
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Final Deadline: 02/02/2018 (expired)
The Poe Contest mission is to recognize and reward fresh voices and creative storytelling, and to assist writers in their quest to obtain representation and produce their work.
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Final Deadline: 01/19/2018 (expired)
The IndieFEST Film Awards are unique in the industry. Attracting both powerhouse industry veterans as well as talented new filmmakers it is an exceptional, truly international awards competition, not a traditional film festival – which allows filmmakers from around the world to enter their films in this prestigious competition. The IndieFEST is about helping industry professionals who create fresh, standout entertainment achieve the publicity and credibility they deserve.
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Final Deadline: 12/31/2017 (expired)
Due to overwhelming demand, we're opening our competition to Television Pilots as well as feature scripts this year! CrowdSource Studios Script Competition was created by professional screenwriters, actors, directors & producers to give unknown screenwriters a real, fair opportunity to be discovered & have your script or pilot produced! Most script competitions offer prizes including publicity, connections & merchandise.
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Final Deadline: 12/16/2017 (expired)
Our jury is looking for short stories (not screenplays) with special cinematic potential. Whether you’re writing flash fiction or a novella, we want to read your story! The grand prize winner will receive $1,000 and personal introductions to literary agents, managers, producers and publishers. The top 5 finalists will be read by our network of over 40 literary and entertainment industry professionals.
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Final Deadline: 11/30/2017 (expired)
LIMBO screenplay contest is now open for the second year! This year LIMBO will announce two winners. Submit your screenplay for a chance to win $500 cash and a chance to sell your screenplay to the producers. If your script is already in perfect shape, great! Submit it as is. We are looking for the best writer in the bunch. Enter the LIMBO Script Competition and come out a winner!
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Final Deadline: 11/03/2017 (expired)
Every great film or series starts with a great script. We want to read yours, and help you succeed. PRIZES: Our winning screenplay will be chosen by professional story analyst Dan Calvisi and will receive laurels and a digital certificate. But that's just the beginning! You'll also get an hour-long video consultation with Dan and free downloads of his e-books: ‘Story Maps: How to Write a GREAT Screenplay,’ ‘Story Maps: TV Drama,’ ‘Story Maps: 12 Great Screenplays’, and ‘Story Maps: The Films of Christopher Nolan.
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Final Deadline: 10/22/2017 (expired)
21st Century Fox Inclusion is excited to announce the launch of the 2018 Fox Writers Lab (“FWL”). Applications are open September 25th, and will close on October 22nd or once Fox has received 750 complete applications (whichever comes first). The Fox Writers Lab is a highly selective initiative designed to nurture experienced writers who have diverse voices, backgrounds, and life experiences.
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Final Deadline: 10/15/2017 (expired)
Become part of the most important screenwriting celebration of the year! National Screenwriters Day is on a search for screenwriters that are ready to join the Industry. The top 3 winners of the NSD Competition will be announced as #NationalScreenwritersDay is trending on Twitter on January 5th! Over $15,000 in prizes, with publicity and mentoring for the winners!
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Final Deadline: 10/03/2017 (expired)
We are a a collective of producers, writers and union crew members who wish to see more content written by or about those under represented in American Cinema. The Little Screenwriters Competition was started by International Cinematography Union crew member Ms. Nubia Rahim. We are the industry. This is nepotism at its best. Our judges consist of industry executives, SAG actors and crew members.
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Final Deadline: 09/30/2017 (expired)
Hammond House Publishing are pleased to announce the launch of our first script writing competition providing opportunities for the winner and shortlisted entrants to work with industry professionals in bringing their script to life.
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Final Deadline: 09/16/2017 (expired)
Wayward was born and raised in LA – join us for our flagship event in autumn 2017. Expect cross-genre film screenings, competition screenings, live music and performance, roundtables, education sessions, and plenty of networking sessions so fun they feel more like a party. Step into the future of film. Step outside the box. We are dedicated to providing a platform for “outside the box” storytelling, with an emphasis on diversity and inclusivity.
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Final Deadline: 08/31/2017 (expired)
Film Daily is looking for the voices of the new generation. Each month, we launch a new opportunity in a genre for talented screenwriters to win, and are delighted to announce our first competition. Your work will be judged by a panel of over 20 industry professionals. Each screenplay entered gains valuable script coverage. The winners also receive: Professional screenwriting software from our sponsors 1 hour facetime with industry professionals to help kickstart your career An invitation to a special awards event within their region Our screenwriting prize is awarded for comedy, horror, sci-fi, and drama scripts, shorts, and pilots.
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Final Deadline: 08/30/2017 (expired)
The EIFA (European Independent Film Award) is an annual awards competition dedicated to celebrate independent films from all around the world.
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Final Deadline: 08/18/2017 (expired)
Poe Films proudly sponsors “Burning Love Screenplay Contest” to discover and promote contemporary screenwriters who bring fresh voices and creative storytelling as Edgar Allan Poe brought to his generation. In collaboration with the Poe Foundation, dedicated to honoring Poe's talents and inspiring the next generation of writers, Poe Films is seeking drama and comedy features, shorts and teleplays driven, at least in part, by love in its many forms.
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Final Deadline: 07/30/2017 (expired)
The Contest Of Contest Winners joined the 2016 Sunscreen Film Festival (Florida/Los Angeles) to bring increased visibility and networking opportunities to winners! And this year 2017 the festivals and the contest will be putting writers with filmmakers in new ways!! There are hundreds of screenwriting competitions, but which screenplay from among the winners of all of these quality competitions is the best of the best? The Contest of Contest Winners (CCW) answers that question and shines the spotlight on many accomplished, award-winning screenplays in what amounts to a definitive last review of the elite.
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Final Deadline: 07/28/2017 (expired)
Founders Brenda and Marc Lhormer envisioned a Fall film festival that would exhibit the year’s best new independent films and likely Oscar and Golden Globe awards contenders, while simultaneously leveraging Napa Valley’s outstanding food, wine and hospitality to deliver an unparalleled immersive and transformative festival experience. They also envisioned a cultural arts organization that would support the art of cinematic storytelling while also providing educational and career opportunities for local students.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
We are a competitive festival for new, undistributed films and original screenplays.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The Eurocinema Film Festival celebrates the best that cinema has to offer. Showcasing films from established masters and emerging storytellers, the Festival welcomes films from around the world.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The main goal of Cinema New York City is to present the most exciting and inspiring new works on film being made today. And equally, to promote an understanding and appreciation of the world through moving pictures.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The purpose of this annual writing contest, named in honor of Willamette Writer's founder, Kay Snow, is to help writers reach professional goals in writing. Kay Snow Screenplay Writing contest is one of seven Kay Snow categories to support a broad array of writers and to encourage student writers.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The Alaska International Film Awards is an independent film competition that aims to recognize the best and brightest new work in international cinema and highlight Alaska's important role in the international film community. Awards are presented to independent filmmakers from around the globe who produce original and compelling films and screenplays in several competition categories.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The Hollywood Film Competition is an international awards organization and accepts submissions from all around the world.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The Access Screenplay Contest was founded with the express goal of discovering new talent and connecting those emerging writers with Industry decision makers. We are seeking unproduced material from writers across the globe in the following categories: feature film, television pilot, web series, and short film. Our team is well versed in the discovery process.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
To provide a forum for Virigina screenwriters and promote the future of filmmaking in Virginia.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
To strengthen mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of the world.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
Movie Skits is Crowdsourced Skit and Sketch Entertainment. We’re running this contest to encourage talented aspiring script writers to share their short form scripts for skits with the growing Movie Skits community of mobile filmmakers to use for their video skit productions. Scriptwriters who publish their written scripts for skits to Movie Skits keep the copyright to their work, but are agreeing to allow the Movie Skits community to rate and comment on them, and to allow mobile filmmakers to use the scripts for their video skit productions, as long as they post their video skit creation back to Movie Skits next to the script and give the author credit.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
Exclusively for shorts, the goal of Artists Alliance Short Screenplay Contest is to recognize and reward the screenwriter, independent filmmaker, or ambitious writer-director who creates an exceptional artistic and innovative short screenplay. The Grand Prize Winner of the 2017 Artists Alliance Short Screenplay Contest will choose between two prize packages: the Screenwriter of the Year ScriptFest Getaway Package: A 3 day trip to Los Angeles to mingle with writers and meet with executives at the 2017 ScriptFest, or the Filmmaker Production Gear Package: A two week free rental of all the production gear you need! Any short screenplay 20 pages or less is welcome, the more original the better! We strive to find and reward the “outside the mainstream” content, and we are open to all genres and styles.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
CREATE ORIGINAL & BOLD MOVIES IN MAINE The Maine Film Initiative exists to generate and reward bold original screen-writing; to highlight Maine as a low budget film-making destination; and to support Maine film artists by investing directly in paying productions. OUR BIG IDEA: A SCREENWRITING CONTEST THAT WILL MAKE YOUR FILM YOU GIVE US STORIES.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
With so few spots available at the bigger film festivals, independent filmmakers struggle to get noticed. After all the hard work of making a movie, there's nothing like seeing it on the big screen. Sunset Film Festival seeks hidden gems bigger fests often overlook. Sunset Film Festival programmers are looking for visionary filmmakers with fresh voices to share with an audience hungry for independent film.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
SIFF is a live film festival, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. We are happy to announce that next year the festival will take place in Moscow, Russian Federation. The festival runs in 4 quarters. The Official Selections, Nominations and Winners will be announced at the end of each quarter on our website. The bests of quarterly competitions are selected for LIVE SCREENING, we organize each year in Berlin or Moscow.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The Cannes Screenplay Contest presents a top-level screenwriting competition for aspiring newcomers and seasoned veterans alike seeking to be read, recognized and rewarded for their storytelling talent. This dedicated scriptwriting contest is a rare opportunity for screenwriters to submit their work to be read, judged, and critiqued solely on their ability to captivate and entertain through the written word.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The Utah Film Awards competition and film market recognizes the best films, series, and commercials at this red carpet event. The event is judged by film distributors worldwide that are looking to acquire new films.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
Poinciana showcases the blossoming film, music and art culture of the Cayman Islands. Our small and beautiful country is a global hub, and so international submissions are integral to our festival. Poinciana aims to be the premiere festival in the Caribbean.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival (TINFF) invites you to come celebrate true diversity that brings Hollywood/ Bollywood/ Nollywood and International films and filmmakers to the beautiful city of Toronto. TINFF’s objective is to be a leading film festival in Toronto that celebrates diversity in our beautiful city. TINFF’s main focus is to advance creative, independent film direction through diversity, innovation and uniqueness by capturing the series of movements and experiences in a single film.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
ScriptFest and the Great American PitchFest were created by writers, for writers – just like you. The event started in Canada with the first Great Canadian PitchFest in 2003. Thirteen years later, the event has expanded to Los Angeles, California and London, England. The event has helped thousands of writers from around the globe to connect with industry decision makers.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
Have you ever asked yourself "How will anyone know how good my screenplay is, if it never made into a film?" Here is your chance to see your screenplay brought to life. The winner in each category will receive a custom certificate or festival plaque. Also, winners are eligible for IMDB credit as this competition is an IMDB qualified event.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
To highlight the work of screenwriters with a connection to Northern New York, work that is set in Northern New York, or that could use Northern New York as a filming location.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
Cinema World Fest Awards seeks out the best in independent films, both amateur and professional, believing you don't have to have a Hollywood budget to make a great movie. We’re a quarterly festival that showcases films and screenplays of all genres, short and long.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
Stage 32 has partnered with St. Petersburg/Clearwater Film Commission to turn your short screenplay into a produced short film that will screen at 3 festivals. The amazing team at St. Petersburg/Clearwater Film Commission are providing a $20,000 production grant to one lucky winner who will have the opportunity of a lifetime! The winning writer and director will be flown to Florida, cast & crew the film using Stage 32, be mentored on set by Sundance director JT Mollner and have the entire production professionally managed by production company Digital Caviar.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The Fastest Growing ACTION/ADVENTURE Festival and Contest in the World today!
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
Headline International Film Festival (HIFF) is a North American festival which aims to advance and shine the spotlight on true independent cinema and the creativity of all the artists, storytellers and collaborators worldwide.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
Cinema is your passion? You've written a short film script that tells a meaningful and touching story with a few characters in plain settings? You can restrict yourself to the essentials? You want to see your ideas in a movie at last? Congratulations: You’ve just found the right opportunity!
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