HollywoodIQ:

Interview with 2020 Creative World Award Winner Ross L. Mayberry

Updated: 01/09/2021

Ross L. Mayberry is a Clinical Psychologist in Seattle whose pirate tale Sailing Off the Edge of the World was named the Grand Prize Winner of the 2020 Creative World Awards Screenwriting Competition.

Upcoming Contest Deadlines

Screenwriting Contest News

Dumbo Film Fest Names Screenwriting Quarterfinalists

The Dumbo Film Festival in Brooklyn announced today the quarterfinalists for its 2020 Screenplay Competition, presented by Event Horizon Films. Each script was reviewed by working industry professionals at top rep agencies (ICM Partners, A3 Artists Agency, Gersh, etc.) and graded based on strength of plot, characterization, format, originality, style, dialogue, pacing and current market potential. Semifinalists will be announced January 16th. [Updated: 01/05/2021]

Which Screenplay Contests Should You Enter in 2021?

Screenwriting contests are not a one-size-fits-all affair. While there are obvious benefits to winning a huge and prestigious competition like the Nicholl Fellowships, smaller contests can be just as valuable if they hook you up with a judge who wants to option your screenplay, or a manager who wants to represent your work. Check out our annual round-up of some of the best competitions available in 2021. [Updated: 01/05/2021]

StoryPros International Names Contest Winners

Katterina Powers' Dog of War has been named the Grand Prize Winner of the 14th Annual StoryPros International Screenwriting Competition. [Updated: 12/16/2020]

Shore Scripts Names Film Fund Winners

Shore Scripts has announced Two Bears, by Anthony Florez, as the winner of their 2020 Short Film Fund Competition. [Updated: 12/14/2020]

Golden Script Competition Announces Partnership with Emmy-Nominated Writer

The Golden Script Competition has announced a partnership with Jessica Sharzer, a three-time Emmy-nominated screenwriter, for the 2021 competition. Jessica Sharzer will read the 2021 winning TV pilot script as well as hold a 1-hour one-on-one masterclass with the winning writer via video call in July 2021. [Updated: 12/12/2020]

WinningScripts: Hollywood's Best Unproduced Screenplays

Writers: Promote your screenplays with a subscription to WinningScripts Pro!

Best Action-Adventure Scripts

Best Sci-Fi Scripts

Best Fantasy Scripts

HollywoodIQ

News, opinions, interviews and more from Hollywood and the screenwriting contest scene.

Interview with 2020 Creative World Award Winner Ross L. Mayberry

Ross L. Mayberry is a Clinical Psychologist in Seattle whose pirate tale Sailing Off the Edge of the World was named the Grand Prize Winner of the 2020 Creative World Awards Screenwriting Competition.
Interview with Author/Screenwriter Michael Weinreb

Michael Weinreb studied journalism at Penn State, and creative writing at Boston University, and published a book of short stories and several books of non-fiction before trying his hand at screenwriting with The Big D, a sports drama based loosely on the SMU football scandal of the 1980s.
Interview with Screenwriters Carlo and Erin Carere

Carlo and Erin Carere are partners in life and in writing. Carlo was born in Naples, and published several novels in Italy before turning his attention to screenwriting. Minneapolis native Erin, meanwhile, was a playwright and singer-songwriter. The couple have been writing together since 2014, and their sci-fi TV pilot Dark Horizons has scored more than a dozen contest placements from some of the best-rated contests on MovieBytes.
Interview with StoryPros Comedy Category Winner Thomas Leupp

Comedy writer Thomas Leupp was born and raised in Los Angeles, and his sports comedy Tres Banditos was the comedy category winner of the 2019 StoryPros Awards, and a runner-up for the 2019 Inroads Fellowship.
Interview with 2020 Fresh Voices Horror Division Winner Harry Aspinwall

Harry Aspinwall is a writer and actor who grew up in Scotland, but has been living the U.S. - currently Brooklyn - since he was 16. His historical horror script Henrietta was the First Place Winner of the Horror Division of the 2020 Fresh Voices Screenwriting Competition.
Interview with 2019 Shore Scripts Short Film Fund Winner James Gould-Bourn

James Gould-Bourne, winner of the 2019 Shore Scripts Short Film Fund Competition, is originally from Manchester, England, but now lives with his wife in Malaysia after four years of living in Lithuania. His debut novel, Bear Necessity, will be published in U.S. on August 4, 2020.
Interview with 2019 Creative World Award
Winner Taylor Hopkins

Taylor Hopkins was the Grand Prize Winner of the 2019 Creative World Awards for his screenplay, Stagecoach Mary, a true story about a hard-drinking, cigar smoking black woman in Montana in 1885, who uses her six shooter and tough as nails attitude to defend a convent of nuns from the perils of the Wild West.
Interview with 2018 CineStory Second Place Winner Avishai Weinberger

CineStory Co-Executive Director Carlo Martinelli catches up with the 2018 CineStory Fellowship second place winner, Avishai Weinberger.