Dec 20, 2019
Jan 20, 2020
Mar 15, 2020
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. The Top 10 Finalists receive many empowering benefits including: passes to the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival and the exclusive Writers Celebration, plus exposure to leading industry players and inspiring luminaries.
Finalists are presented alongside high profile Maverick Spirit awardees like: J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, Chuck Palahniuk, Neil Gaiman, Philip Kaufman, Michael Arndt, Diablo Cody, Dennis Lehane, Jason Reitman and more at the highly anticipated Writers Celebration during the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival.
Finalists will be honored during the Cinequest Writers Celebration, a day filled with a dynamic collection of Writer Meet Producer events, Business of Writing forums, Pitch Training, VIP Writers Lunch, and an awards ceremony announcing the winners of the competition.
"It's a perfect film festival in a glorious place." — Neil Gaiman, Cinequest Maverick Spirit Award Recipient
Top 50 and Top 10 Notified in December 2019.
Top 10 Finalists listed on Website January 22nd, 2020.
Top 3 and Winners Announced in March 2020 at Script to Screen Event and in the Festival Awards Press Release.
Feature-Length Winner
Short Film Winner
Teleplays (60 minute) Winner
Teleplays (30 minute) Winner
Top Three Finalists (Feature, Short, Teleplays):
Top Ten Finalists (Feature, Short, Teleplays):
Contestants will receive 3 lines of consolidated reader feedback on their script if requested.
Writers will be notified on their status in the competition via the email address provided at time of registration. Please include screenplay@cinequest.org in your contact lists to receive these notifications. See below for selection process:
• Top 50 and Top 10 notified in December 2019.
• Top 10 Finalists listed on Website end of January, 2020.
• Top 3 and Winners Announced in the March 2020 Festival Awards Press Release.
SCRIPT FORMAT
All genres accepted. Especially seeking drama, comedy, thriller/mystery, action, drama, sci-fi, action, bio-pic, rom-com, horror, and highly original material.
Script must be submitted in English and must be properly formatted according to industry standards.
Length (not including title page):
• Feature-Length Scripts must be between 70 -125 pages
• Short Film Scripts must be 40 pages or fewer
• Teleplays (60 minute) must be between 45-70 pages
• Teleplays (30 minute) must be 45 pages or fewer
Only PDFs will be accepted for submission. Printed scripts are not accepted.
Script must be properly formatted according to industry standards.
Please include ONLY your script’s title on the cover page so that readers may remain unbiased in their decisions. Your FilmFreeway tracking number will automatically be assigned to your uploaded script.
Maintain your full contact information in your FilmFreeway registration. Do not include any contact information on your submitted script.
RESTRICTIONS
Once the entry is received no rewritten/corrected pages will be accepted.
Submission fees are collected by FilmFreeway. Cinequest does not accept payment by cash, check, or money order. There is no entry fee refund for any scripts submitted.
Winning scripts by more than one writer will have the prize split evenly between members of the writing team.
Any script that becomes purchased, optioned, goes into production, or is produced before the final Jury decision on February 19, 2020, will be eliminated from the competition with no entry fee refund. Scripts written as adaptations of other works must have secured rights before being submitted.
