MovieBytes - Screenwriting Contests & Markets Online

Creative World Awards

Objective:

Creative World Awards (CWA) is an international screenwriting contest that is well known for having the writer's interest at heart when it comes to development and industry promotion.

Production: New in 2013, CWA also brings an exciting production opportunity to the Grand Prize Winner. This year?s winner will have a short version of their script produced by The MIX, and the film will then get a guaranteed premiere at the Richmond International Film Festival. The writer will receive imdb credit, and the short will be used to help promote the GPW?s feature script.

CWA has built relationships with some of the industry's leading companies such as Lionsgate/Mandate International, GreeneStreet Films, Relativity Media, Crystal Sky, Icon Films & Entertainment, Voltage Pictures, and more - all of which get first looks at the top winners. The competition plays a critical role in connecting emerging talented writers with companies and individuals in the industry looking to develop and produce projects.

Writers have nine different categories to compete in. Please see the CWA website for a descriptive breakdown of each of the main genre categories, which include:

Feature Film Categories:
Action/Adventure
Horror/Thriller/Fantasy
Comedy
Drama/Family

Short Film/Television Categories:
Short Film Scripts
Original TV Sitcom Pilot
Original TV Drama Pilot
Existing � hour Sitcom
Existing 1 hour Drama

Coverage: Known for going beyond the status quo, CWA provides invaluable judge?s feedback and coverage. Interactive features can also be found on the website including blogs, industry resources, and feature interviews with many high profile executives, writers, producers, and directors.

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
$75 (entry only);
$105 (scorecard/brief notes)

Acclaim TV Screenwriting Competition

Objective:
To introduce writers to the decision makers of traditional broadcast television, the cable market, and multi-media outlets. Competition winners will have their material read by experienced producers and agents in L.A. and N.Y.

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
$60

Acclaim Film

Objective:
To introduce writers to the decision makers in film and multimedia markets. Top script receives $1,000 and ALL competition winners, runners-up, and finalists will earn the chance to have their scripts read by established production companies and agents in LA and NY. We strive to provide commentary on each script.

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
$65

Great Gay Screenplay Contest

Objective:

To foster excellence in screenwriting that features gay characters, history, or themes important to the gay community, and relevant to our world. Up to four full length finalists and up to six shorts finalists will be named by September 1, 2012, and those scripts will be performed as staged readings during Gay Screenplay Weekend October 19 to 21, 2012 at the Hoover-Leppen Theater of the Center on Halsted in Chicago. Authors are invited to come to Chicago for up to ten hours of rehearsal with director and cast before the reading. The four full length finalists also receive $400 cash, shorts finalists receive $100. This is an open contest for WGA writers and all others. Multiple entries by the same author will be accepted, providing each is accompanied by separate fee and submission materials.

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
$45

Shoreline Scripts

Objective:

Our aim is to discover new screenwriting talent from around the world.

To put the best feature scripts in the hands of the Producers and Companies that have the means to get them made.

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
�35 ($56 approx)

Slamdance Screenwriting and Teleplay Competition

Objective:

The Slamdance Screenwriting and Teleplay Competition is dedicated to discovering and supporting emerging writing talent. To that end, we are unveiling an exciting new partnership this year with JuntoBox Films who will be awarding a Grand Prize of $10,000 cash and a $50,000 production grant to the winning feature script. JuntoBox Films? goal of producing films and finding writers with innovative and interesting stories is a great fit with what Slamdance strives to achieve.

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. Now in our eighteenth year, we have a history of highlighting talented, independent screenwriters and introducing them to the entertainment industry. All of our readers approach scripts differently, but in general we are looking for originality and promise in a work. As an organization, we strive to foster an independent spirit among new writers and filmmakers. We've established a strong track record through our competition successes and are committed to continuing our pursuit to champion outstanding new work.

Our competition consists of four categories. Awards are given to the top three scripts in each category. In addition to that, JuntoBox Films and Slamdance will present the new Grand Prize for the best feature length screenplay.

Feature
Short
Horror
Original Teleplay/Webisode

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
$70 (Feature/Horror)
$50 (Short)
$60 (Teleplay/Webisode)

Shriekfest Film Festival

Objective:
To honor the overlooked genres of horror/sci-fi. Festival dates: October 3 through 6, 2013.

Deadline:
May 1, 2013 (regular); July 10, 2013 (late)

Entry Fee:
$45 (by May 1, 2013); $55 (by July 10, 2013)

Cynosure Screenwriting Awards

Objective:
The Cynosure Screenwriting Awards seek to expand the scope of mainstream cinema by recognizing and rewarding screenplays in two distinct categories: screenplays which feature compelling female protagonists; and screenplays that showcase diversity (ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, disability, etc.).

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
$70

Table Read My Screenplay Contest

Objective:
2 Grand Prize Winners will win a trip and Producers Badge to the AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL & CONFERENCE and have a Table Reading of your screenplay by Professional Actors! Alvaro Rodriguez to narrate your 'Table Read'.

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
$65

Script Exposure Screenwriting Competition

Objective:

The Script Exposure Screenwriting competition main objective is to find great scripts in any genre and pass them on to working Hollywood professionals, such as: Agents, Managers and Producers. We're about helping the screenwriter get connected. And with a very low entry fee of $20, The Script Exposure Screenwriting competition is the most affordable competition any writer can enter. We offer competitions 4 times a year and we even invite managers/agents and producers the opportunity to view loglines of all submitted scripts. So, if your script isn't one of the winning scripts, you can still receive a read request from a manager/agent or producer.

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
$20.00

Horror Screenplay Contest

Objective:
To promote the horror genre in screenplay form.

Deadline:
July 20, 2013

Entry Fee:
$40.00 US

Reality TV Format Awards

Objective:

WIN PRODUCING DEALS! The Reality TV Format Awards is the television industry's newest platform of recognition designed to reward and discover the greatest new original formats and concepts for reality TV programming. Writers & Creators may submit any original reality-based television concept or format for entry in the Reality TV Format Awards online. Elimination Series, Game/Challenge Series, Docu-Style Series, Adventures Series, Travel Series, Cooking Show, Relationship Series, and any other variation of genre, subject or format in the spectrum of reality-based TV are acceptable.

Formats will be judged based on the following three factors; Entertainment Value, Viability in the Marketplace, & Originality of Subject or Format. The Top 20 Finalists will be announced 2 weeks prior to selection of our Winner. Our industry partners will then make review of the Final Formats, along with our determinations to select the Grand Prize Winner. A paid Option Deal with a production company will be awarded to our winner for their negotiation, along with cash and additional unique prizes awarded to our finalists.

News of our Winner and Finalists will be published at the website, along with industry-wide news distribution to more than 2,000 TV Industry Professionals (Producers, Network Executives, and Agents) via direct email. Prizes will be distributed, and exclusive promotion of the Winner & Finalists with their respective formats will be made to our Production Company partners for their consideration of purchase. Producing Deals (Option Deal Proposals) will be given to our finalists and winners. Please visit our "Awards" page for details on the Deals, and updates to our expanding Prize list.

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
$35

All Sports Los Angeles Film Festival

Objective:
We're here to promote the art of screenwriting and filmmaking in the world of sports and competition.

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
$75

Final Draft, Inc. Big Break International Screenwriting Contest

Objective:

Big Break is an annual, international feature and television screenwriting contest designed to launch the careers of aspiring writers. Big Break rewards screenwriters with over $80,000 in cash and prizes, including a trip to Los Angeles and A-list executive meetings. Winners and finalists alike have had their screenplays optioned and produced and have secured high-profile representation as well as lucrative writing deals.

Since its inception in 1999, Big Break has awarded screenwriters with over $390,000 in cash and prizes and invaluable industry exposure. A panel of notable industry professionals conducts the final judging.

Our objective is to discover talented screenwriters and help them find success in today?s filmmaking market.

Our 2010 third-place winner's script Bethlehem in currently in production at Universal Studios and he just sold a pitch to Disney: http://bit.ly/ZfvMpQ

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
$65

FilmMakers International Screenwriting Awards

Objective:

To make Hollywood more accessible than ever before to more aspiring screenwriters Filmmakers.com is forming strategic alliances with the powers that be... Championing Emerging Artists.

FilmMakers International Screenwriting Awards has been in existence since 2000 (formerly known as The Radmin Company / FilmMakers.com Screenplay Contest) and its association with the Radmin Co has been going on since 2000.

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
$55

Moondance International Film Festival

Objective:
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. Moondance also promotes & rewards work which depicts women & girls in a positive light, &/or has lead roles for women actors over 40. We strongly encourage films, TV movies & pilots & written works which show viable alternatives to gratuitous violence & that depict non-violent conflict resolution, which we actively promote within the international film community.

Deadline:
July 31, 2012

Entry Fee:
$55- $100 (see web site for details)

Chicago Screenwriters Network

Objective:
To introduce Midwestern screenwriters to Hollywood production companies and representatives.

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
$55 (CSN Members)
$65 (non-members)

Brownfish Short Film Festival NYC

Objective:

From page to production, from production to profession, the Brownfish Short Film Festival NYC (BSFFNYC) is dedicated to helping filmmakers get their films seen, distributed and grow their career paths by showcasing short films under 20 minutes competing for cash awards in the categories: Comedy, Drama, Documentary and Animation.

The BSFFNYC presents a Short Screenplay Competition where short screenplays 15 pages and under have staged reading and compete for cash awards in the categories of Comedy and Drama.

Along with film screenings and screenplay readings, seminars and workshops with industry professionals provide emerging filmmakers and screenwriters with the information and advice needed to take their projects and careers to the next level.

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
$45

The Broad Humor Film Festival

Objective:
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.

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
$60

Hollywood Screenplay Contest

Objective:

Our aim, quite simply, is to discover and recognize the brightest new talent and original voices in storytelling from around the world. We identify emerging talent and place top new writers firmly on the industry's radar directly in the heart of the motion picture capital of the world.

Deadline:
January 10, 2013 (earlybird); April 15, 2013(regular); June 15, 2013 (late); August 10, 2013 (extended)

Entry Fee:
$30 (by January 10, 2013); $35 (by April 15, 2013); $40 (by June 15, 2013); $45 (by August 10, 2013)

The Just Effing Entertain Me Screenwriting Competition

Objective:

Now in its 6th year, The Just Effing Entertain Me Screenwriting Competition?s grand prize winners get flown to Los Angeles, where they receive three nights free accommodation, spending money, a whirlwind of industry meetings, connections and read requests AND lunch with an A-list writer.

Last year's Grand Prize winner, Matthew Morgan had lunch with Sheldon Turner (Up in the Air, Xmen: First Class) and signed with ICM less than six weeks after winning!

Winning is only the beginning! Unexpected extra prizes and introductions are what we are all about ? because that?s how we roll.

That?s why our tag line is Live the Dream. Because you really will have a Hollywood experience like none other. One that might just open some doors for you. This year that lucky person could be YOU.

Writers with exponentially higher chances of winning the JFEME competition:

Write scripts with unique, compelling premises that we have not seen before.
Write scripts that are universal, marketable and have a specific audience in mind.
Write clean, uncluttered pages that move quickly.
Understand structure well and use it to escalate stakes and character development on every page.
Have fun on every page, writing cinematic moments and memorable set pieces.
Just effing entertain our judges with a good story, well told.

Deadline:

Entry Fee:
$70