ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship

Rules

RULES:

Submissions are accepted via electronic submission on this website only, between October 10th, 2017 and March 1st, 2018.

The application fee for each TV or feature film screenplay is $49 until the early deadline on November 11th, and then $69 until regular deadline on January 31st 2018, and then $79 until the final deadline on March 1st, 2018.

There is no limit to the number of projects you may submit.

If you advance to the semi-final round of consideration, you’ll be asked to submit a cover letter in which you can include a bit more information about yourself and your project(s).
Quarter-finalists will be announced on or before April 18th, 2018. Semifinalists will be announced on or before May 5th, 2018. Finalists and winners will be announced on or before June 8th, 2018.

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). All writers must be credited on title page.

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 proofread your script very carefully before submitting.

It is recommended that original material be registered with the WGA or The Library of Congress before submitting to any competition, however we do not require registration.
All ownership and rights to the scripts submitted to this contest remains with the original rights holders.

ELIGIBILITY:

All writers at least 18 years of age 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 primarily 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 standard screenplay format, font, spacing and margin.
Adaptations are ineligible unless the underlying rights are owned by the writer or the work is in the public domain.

The recommended length for feature film scripts is 100-120 pages. Scripts over 120 pages will be accepted, but there is a small page overage charge to compensate the judges for the extra time invested in reading longer scripts.

Feature screenplays must be between 75 and 140 pages.

Comedy TV pilot scripts should be between 25 and 40 pages. Drama TV pilot scripts should be between 45 and 65 pages.

All material must be submitted electronically 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 studios and production companies listed on this year’s jury, however these studios and companies are in no way official sponsors or endorsers of this contest. The top finalists will be chosen based on the following criteria: (i) originality; (ii) story; (iii) characterization; (iv) visual inventiveness; and (v) 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. Quarter-finalist, semifinalist, and winner announcements will begin 8 weeks after the final deadline. Finalists may be required to sign and return within seven (7) 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

Q: Does the title page need to be blank? 

 A: No, name and title are fine for this contest. 

Q: Can I submit from another country?

A: Yes.

Q: May I submit a spec episode of a TV show?

A: No, we require all rights to underlying content to be owned by the writer.