ScreamCraft Horror Script Contest

Rules

RULES

• Submissions are accepted via electronic submission on this website only, between February 14th, 2014 and June 1st, 2014.
• Entry fee for each screenplay is $29 until the early deadline on April 15th, and then $49 until final deadline on June 1st.
• There is no limit to the number of projects you may submit.
• Please include your name and contact info on the title page.
• Entries must be received on or before the deadlines and submission fee payment must be made in full at time of the submission.  All entry fees are non-refundable.
• All submitted material must be original, and all rights must be wholly owned by the writer(s).
• Material must be submitted by the writer. Material written by writing teams must be submitted by one of the writers, with consent of the other(s).
• If a writing team is chosen as a winner, prizes will be given to the person who submits the project. Each team is responsible for dividing or sharing the prize money.
• Substitutions of either corrected pages or new drafts of the entered material are not allowed. Please be careful to enter the correct screenplay and double check for typographical errors.
• It is recommended (but not required) that original material be registered with the WGA or The Library of Congress before submitting to any competition.
• All ownership and rights to the scripts submitted to this contest remains with the original rights holders. 

ELIGIBILITY

• All writers 18 years of age or older are eligible. However, a writer who has earned more than $50,000 (or equivalent currency) from professional writing services for film or TV in the preceding year is not. (Contest winnings not included.)
• All persons from anywhere in the world are eligible; however the material submitted must be in English.
• All material submitted to other competitions or contests are eligible.
• There are no requirements as to when the material was written.
• The material submitted must not be encumbered by any obligation to, or option held by, a third party prior to entering the competition.
• Any submitted work that becomes optioned, published, produced or purchased between the time of submission and the end of the judging period will no longer be eligible.
• Material should be submitted in its proper format, font, spacing and margins.
• Adaptations are ineligible unless the underlying rights are owned by the writer or the work is in the public domain.
• Feature Screenplays longer than 140 pages will not be eligible.
• All material must be submitted as a PDF or it will not be eligible.

The judging panel, selected by ScreenCraft or its representatives in its sole discretion, will include one screenplay development professional from each of these three studios or their subsidiaries: Paramount, Sony and Lionsgate, however these studios are in no way official sponsors or endorsers of this contest. 

The top 10 finalists will be chosen based on the following criteria: (i) originality; (ii) visual inventiveness; (iii) story; and (iv) overall impression.  The top 10 finalists will be notified by email and may be contacted by interested industry representatives, such as managers, agents or producers. 

Entrants may be required to submit further information to assist in the judges’ verification of eligibility.  Any entrant may be deemed ineligible at the sole discretion of ScreenCraft. 

The selected 2 winners will be notified by e-mail on or about July 1st, 2014. Finalists may be required to sign and return within five (5) business days of receipt a notarized Affidavit of Eligibility and a Release and Indemnification and any other documents that ScreenCraft or any other partner may require before receiving prize payment.  Failure to respond to the initial notification within ten (10) days or return of notification will result in disqualification. 

We reserve the right to amend these rules at any time.

FAQs