Screenplay contests offered in conjuntion with film festivals.
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Final Deadline: 04/24/2020
The SENE Film Festival Screenplay Competition seeks to encourage, recognize and promote talented screenwriters.
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Final Deadline: 04/27/2020
The purpose of the Big Apple Film Festival Short Script Competition is to discover an engaging, innovative and purposeful scripts to support and promote to film industry professionals.
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Final Deadline: 05/15/2020
The Ultimate Runway Now in our 27th year, the Austin Film Festival has been catapulting writers into life-changing careers for over two decades. Whether your dream is to sign a contract, land an agent, learn from an industry icon, or take home the coveted Bronze Typewriter Award, it’s simple: you can’t win if you don’t enter.
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Final Deadline: 05/15/2020
To recognize excellence in screenwriting of shorts and features in a wide variety of genres.
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Final Deadline: 05/15/2020
As Austin Film Festival continues to grow and expand, our vision also widens with the addition of new avenues for storytellers. In 2017 we introduced the inaugural Playwriting Competition. It is open to full-length stage plays and gives playwrights a chance to explore our film and television conference. It will also allow film professionals to discover storytellers who have mastered the art and craft of stage drama.
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Final Deadline: 05/15/2020
The Holly Weird Film Festival (HWFF), founded by Festival Director Jack Truman, celebrates independent films of all genres that feature a distinct vision, a unique voice, or an avant-garde challenge to what is expected or accepted. HWFF provides a venue for narrative, documentary, experimental and avant-garde film and video. Holly Weird is dedicated to celebrating all types of creativity from the worldwide independent film community.
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Final Deadline: 05/19/2020
The Diversity Film & Script Showcase recognizes and showcases screenplays featuring an Under Represented Lead Character OR Filmmaker (Writer or Co-Writer, or Director, or Producer).
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Final Deadline: 05/22/2020
HollyShorts Film Festival (HSFF) is an annual Academy Qualifying short film festival showcasing the best and brightest short films and short screenplays from around the globe. The festival showcases the top short films produced 40 minutes or less and is looking for the best short screenplays 30 pages or less.
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Final Deadline: 05/28/2020
Near Nazareth Festival ( NNF ) invites all film lovers to partake in our celebration. Near Nazareth Festival hospitably opens its doors to filmmakers. Festival participants from around the world will show their works. We believe that the best place for them to present their work - is Near Nazareth Festival. Our festival - NNF - is the first of its kind.
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Final Deadline: 06/15/2020
Screamfest was formed in order to give filmmakers and writers in the horror/sci-fi genres a venue to have their work showcased to people in the industry. We are very proud that the majority of the films showcased now have distribution. Writers have garnered representation due to the festival.
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Final Deadline: 06/26/2020
The Nashville Film Festival Screenwriting Competition leverages one of the oldest and largest film festivals in the U.S. Each year, NashFilm draws hundreds of filmmakers, musicians and industry to ten days of films, panels, red carpet events, live music showcases and parties. NashFilm is an Academy® Award Qualifying Festival in three short film categories.
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Final Deadline: 06/26/2020
GenreBlast is an international independent genre film festival coming to you from the awesome Alamo Drafthouse Winchester in beautiful Winchester, VA! GB5 will happen LABOR DAY WEEKEND - 9/3-9/6 2020 and will feature the best of truly independent films from around the world - specializing in action, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, martial arts, grindhouse, exploitation, Korean thrillers, Japanese gangster flicks, Chinese action movies, French horror, midnight movies, shoestring budget weird cinema, and everything under the sun! We really welcome all genres of interesting, original, exciting and daring moviemaking! All countries and walks of life are welcome here! We also have a fantastic screenplay contest that is growing larger every year! Our discussion panels at GenreBlast have been a big hit and we're bringing them back for GB5! Raw, uncensored real talk about indie filmmaking, gender bias, distribution, criticism, and much more will come your way from the mouths of some of the best indie talent out there! After-parties, lively conversation, networking galore, TONS of movies, informative Q&A's and the chance to make new lifelong industry friends - all nestled in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley hamlet of Winchester, VA! Your movie will be shown in front of a lively, enthusiastic crowd of cinephiles and industry peers that don't walk around with their heads up their asses 24/7! What a refreshing way to attend a film fest! Come Labor Day Weekend, you'll wish you were at GenreBlast!
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Final Deadline: 07/01/2020
Short Com is delighted to announce its first ever script competition. Having screened some of the funniest short comedy films for several years by emerging comedy film-making talent to audiences and industry alike, we are now looking to unearth comedic writing talent to help kick-start their writing career. What Are We Looking For? It’s one thing to be able to write funny ideas but can you also write a story within 22-30 pages and have characters that stand-out in a world that we’d want to come back and see in the next episode? Whether your idea uses a single-camera setup or is the more adventurous multi-camera format, we’re looking for solid sitcom ideas, great writing, and plenty of humour that shows wide audience appeal.
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Final Deadline: 07/10/2020
CALL FOR ENTRIES! Shriekfest, the Los Angeles Horror/SciFi Film Festival continues its tradition as Los Angeles' Premier horror film event, presenting an exciting program of films each fall with beautiful Los Angeles as its backdrop. Now, in its 20th year, Shriekfest takes place at the legendary Raleigh Studios, which is the largest independent studio operator in the country.
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Final Deadline: 07/27/2020
The Slamdance Screenplay Competition is dedicated to discovering and supporting emerging writing talent. We welcome screenplays in every genre, on any topic, from anywhere in the world. A unique feature of the competition is providing constructive feedback for every entrant. In addition to this, we also offer a more intensive coverage service for a supplementary fee.
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Final Deadline: 07/28/2020
Film is a unique medium, and the New Renaissance Film Festival’s mission is to support and champion the best upcoming filmmakers and screenwriters in this new era, to fulfill their dream in telling their stories. We focus on the ARTIST, on the STORY and on building an international COMMUNITY of inspiring storytellers. We are not interested in following current fashions or politically motivated content.
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Final Deadline: 07/31/2020
Awards Ceremony at a Film Festival! Screenplay Festival winners get that rarest of experiences for a writer; applause from an audience. Our winners get to come out from behind the keyboard and be celebrated! Now Accepting Television Scripts! The writers spoke, and we listened. We have now added four categories to our contest for television scripts.
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Final Deadline: 08/15/2020
Founded by longtime residents and movie veterans alike, the Sherman Oaks Film Festival looks to showcase the best undiscovered movies in the heart of Los Angeles. The neighborhood that was home the mall in Fast Times At Ridgemont High deserves a world class film festival! The Sherman Oaks Film Festival has a category for unproduced screenplays of any length, feature or short or in between.
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Final Deadline: 08/30/2020
The screenplay award is organized and promoted by the RIFF. The intent is to offer new filmmakers a concrete opportunity to grow professionally by developing their films, and making them accessible to the public.
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Final Deadline: 08/31/2020
Introducing Season 2 / 2020 of “Your Script Produced!” International Film / TV / Short Film Screenwriting Competition sponsored by Doval Bacall Films. The sponsor will fully finance, develop, package and produce the Grand Prize Winning Feature Script for $250,000.00. We've raised the stakes! Season 2 will accept Features, TV Scripts, AND SHORT FILM SCRIPTS! Winners will be promoted in the Variety Magazine and/or THR! Grand Prize winners can direct their own script! (Feature grand prize winner must have valid experience and approved by our sponsor.
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Final Deadline: 09/20/2020
We like "quirky" scifi and fantasy characters including monsters, aliens, space invaders, body snatchers and zombies. We like space-related fantasies along the lines of Gravity (2013) and Daniel Espinosa's Life (2017). We like SciFi Thrillers like The Thirteenth Floor (1999). We would love to showcase your expose similar to Peter Hyams' Capricorn One, a 1977 government conspiracy thriller film about a Mars landing hoax.
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Final Deadline: 10/25/2020
The Chandler International Film Festival (CIFF) began in 2016 with a simple idea to share international films in a local setting. CIFF is proudly located in Chandler, Arizona and is one of the fastest-growing film festivals in Arizona. The festival is dedicated to uniting the community through the film.
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Final Deadline: 10/31/2020
LA LIVE FILM FESTIVAL's mission is to provide a festival where filmmakers are treated with respect and given opportunities that empower the filmmaker’s career while being showcased at the most prestigious location in Los Angeles, Regal Cinemas at LA LIVE. We strive to do things differently than other festivals and part of how we do this is the way we market the selected films.
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Final Deadline: 01/07/2019 (expired)
The Nantucket Film Festival - unique in its dedication to supporting and promoting the art of screenwriting - launched the Showtime Tony Cox Screenplay Competition in 1996. The Festival's screenwriting focus was inspired by Nantucket's rich history as a writer's retreat and is one of the main reasons for the event's distinction as an important cultural institution.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
IFFF builds a peaceful global family through the discovery and sharing of quality stories by emerging artists and productions companies.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
Contest founded in 1988 to provide an opportunity to compete with talent from around the world. The 42nd Annual WorldFest offers Cash Awards, Special Screenplay Master Classes, significant mentoring and project development opportunities during the ten-day festival. More than 550 international filmmakers and writers attend each year. All Remi Nominees receive VIP Gold All Access Passes to the Festival and the Master Classes (A $800 value).
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
Personal coverage and feedback from programmers and readers on your screenplay will be available to every screenplay entrant. Cash prizes are awarded in each of three categories: Best Screenplay, Best Voice of Color Screenplay (written by or about people of color), and Best Northcoast Screenplay (set in or about northern Ohio).
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
We champion the struggling independent Auteur who literally does it all or who gathers a close team who contributes what's needed to get their movie make. By having in attendance, mediamakers from all across the U.S. and Canada and by bringing in experienced and award winning directors, screenwriters, actors, cinematographers and stunt professionals to conduct workshops and discussion groups, thus sharing their knowledge, we are paving the way for an independent movie explosion in Oklahoma.
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Final Deadline: 07/31/2019 (expired)
To make Hollywood more accessible than ever before to more aspiring global screenwriters, Filmmakers is forming strategic alliances with the powers that be in Film and TV Script Writing; who are in search of top Screenplays & Writers... Filmmakers Championing Emerging Artists. FilmMakers International Screenwriting Awards has been in existence since 2000 (formerly known as The Radmin Company / FilmMakers.
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Final Deadline: 08/30/2019 (expired)
The objective of the Moondance International Film Festival is to inspire, motivate, promote and encourage the best writers & independent filmmakers, from every country in the world, and to inspire a greater understanding about the vital role of the arts in enhancing creativity, community spirit, and the preservation of our cultural heritage.
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Final Deadline: 07/15/2019 (expired)
To discover and honor the new voices of independent film. Screenplays will be judged on creativity, innovation, vision, originality and the use of language. The key element is that of communication and how it complements and is transformed by the language of film.
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Final Deadline: 07/30/2019 (expired)
To promote and support new talent by creating real and original opportunities. To make Hollywood more accessible than ever before to more aspiring screenwriters, American Gem Short Script Writing Contest: presented by Filmmakers Magazine and Write Brothers, is forming strategic alliances with the powers that be in Film, TV and Literary Publishing.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
This festival is designed to promote Independent Media and Writing. Awards for Film, Video, Audio, Scriptwriting, Outdoor Journalism and Videos made on a Macintosh Computer. Categories include, Animation, Feature, Drama, Narrative, Experimental, Commercial, Documentary, and Outdoor Subjects.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The Great Lakes Scriptwriting Competition is now accepting entries of short and feature length screenplays, stage plays, and teleplays. The annual scriptwriting competition is a way for new and veteran scriptwriters to possibly get the break they need. Each year numerous agencies contact us about our winning scripts.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
This contest is restricted to new writers residing in New England and the Canadian Maritimes. It's objective is to identify local talent, and expose it to a broader market.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
After several years of hiatus we are proud to bring back LA Shorts screenplay competition. Finalists are invited to attend a table reading of the script for a live audience during LA Shorts Fest. The readings are performed by professional actors and actresses in front of an audience, who will vote on their favorites. These votes, along with the scores of the readers, determine the winner.
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Final Deadline: 11/01/2019 (expired)
Cinequest voted Best Film Festival by USA Today Readers. Cinequest voted Best Film Festival by USA Today Readers. The Cinequest Screenplay Competition empowers global screenwriters through discovery, recognition, and opportunity. Cinequest loves writers, and we welcome you to submit your screenplay or teleplay to our renowned competition.
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Final Deadline: 12/17/2018 (expired)
We want to see the best short screenplays from around the globe.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The mission of the Screenwriter's Challenge is to discover and support a new wave of talented storytellers from around the world. The Challenge is organized by NYC Midnight Movie Making Madness, LLC. NYC Midnight aims to provide the prizes and exposure necessary for writers to take their next big step towards writing professionally.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
To bring awareness of the craft of screenwriting to the Midwest.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The Female Eye Film Festival was established in Toronto in 2001. The 1st annual FeFF Script Development Program (open to men) took place in 2003. This two tier program is comprised of the Good To Go and Script Reading Series. Scripts get optioned for development annually and the FeFF offers awards for best screenplays in the following categories: Best Feature, Best Fresh Voice, Best Low Budget Feature, Crowd Pleaser and Best Teleplay.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
The Eerie Horror Screenplay Competition offers beginning, aspiring and veteran screenwriters in the horror genre a chance to have their work recognized by people in the industry and beyond and to provide recognition and exposure for screenwriters in the horror, science fiction and suspense genres. The finalists and top 3 winning screenplays will be announced on all Eerie Horror Film Festival websites and winner's information will be forwarded to industry professionals for consideration.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
To showcase independent screenplays and laud those who work independently to create the blueprints for our independent films; to seek out screenplays which appeal to the filmmakers and audiences that frequent the Woods Hole Film Festival: to present a reading of a winning screenplay to the WHFF audience and allow the screenwriter to hear their words made real and receive feedback from an audience, actors, and filmmakers.
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Final Deadline: 12/17/2018 (expired)
To discover the best un-produced short screenplays by talented writers and present their work to LEADING INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
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: Contact contest for deadline info.
BIFF Screenplay to Production Contest (BIFF SPC) offers an opportunity for under-represented screenwriters and filmmakers to produce a film entirely from Pre-Production, Production, Post-Production to a completed finished project on 4K Definition Format only. Selected Projects may be produced anywhere in the United States.
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Final Deadline: Contact contest for deadline info.
This festival is the first of its kind to put the spotlight on film comedies by women. Its goals are to raise the profile of female-generated humor, to give recognition and support to the women making it, and to be a locus of networking and community building.
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Final Deadline: 01/24/2020 (expired)
Winning screenplays recommended to leading Hollywood producers! The Colorado Film Institute launched the Vail Film Festival Screenplay Competition in order to find and foster the next generation of the film world's most innovative and creative screenwriters. With the realization that every great film needs a great story, the festival is dedicated to supporting talented screenwriters by utilizing the resources of the Vail Film Festival to foster the winning screenwriters through networking opportunities, and film industry access.
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Final Deadline: 07/01/2019 (expired)
The Action on Film 15th Annual Film Festival celebrates and honors WRITERS of all genres and formats like no other festival does. $2000 in CASH PRIZES for TOP Winners. Now in our 15th year, our Film Festival has garnered a solid reputation as being one of the premier Writing competitions. The AOF MegaFest has created a solid community of Filmmakers and Writers from around the globe.
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Final Deadline: 11/14/2019 (expired)
We are looking for innovative and compelling storytelling, for characters that surprise and challenge you, for words that pop off the page, and for narratives that twist and turn like a country back road. This year we’re accepting both feature scripts and pilot scripts; you’re more than welcome to submit in both categories.
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