Oct 17, 2015
Nov 14, 2015
Dec 12, 2015
Dec 19, 2015
Welcome to the 2015 Courier Awards! Our mission is to discover new screenwriting talent and emerging filmmakers. The Courier Awards is a green and paperless competition, accepting online submissions and screeners. We invite you to enter the 2015 Courier Awards competition!
Feature Screenplays
First, Second, and Third Place
Official Finalists
Original Television Pilots
First, Second, and Third Place
Official Finalists
Television Specs
First, Second, and Third Place
Official Finalists
Short Screenplays/Web Series
First, Second, and Third Place
Official Finalists
Screenwriters and filmmakers of submitted material must be 18 years of age or older. Effective as of the date of submission, each writer or writing team or filmmaker may not have earned more than $75,000 or the foreign equivalent (jointly or individually) for work as a screenwriter and/or fictional television writer or filmmaker.
Screenplays submitted to the competition must NOT have been previously optioned, purchased, or produced at the time of entry.
Screenplays or short films submitted to the competition must not have received awards from other competitions over $25,000 at the time of entry.
Screenwriters or filmmakers who have had previous feature screenplays or feature films produced and distributed by non-independent means are ineligible.
All judging decisions are final and may not be disputed.
Courier Awards and its administrators may not be held responsible for any errors or omissions during the judging process.
To enter the Courier Awards, you must agree to its Terms and Conditions.
Screenplays and short films must have the appropriate life story rights and/or copyright clearances, if applicable. Entry fees will not be returned or adjusted.
In the event a winning screenplay or short film has multiple writers or filmmakers, the cash prize will be sent to the contact person listed at the time of submission. It is the responsibility of the contact person to divide and distribute the cash prize with the other writers or filmmakers.
Cash prizes will be paid via PayPal.
Members and employees of Courier Awards and their immediate families are not eligible, nor are any competition judges and their immediate families.
Entries must be transmitted electronically on or before midnight Pacific Standard Time on the deadline in order to qualify for that entry rate. Any submissions transmitted after the Final Deadline will be disqualified.
Submit a PDF (under 5 MB) of your screenplay. The competition does not accept any other file type. Hard copy submissions are not accepted.
We do not accept Final Draft (.fdx or .fdr), Word (.doc or .docx), Movie Magic, or any other formats.
Do not put your name or any other identifying information on the title page or on any other page. Our judging process is anonymous. Short films may contain credits.
The title page should only have the title of the screenplay; otherwise, writers' names will be blacked out.
Screenplays must be in English, formatted in 12-point courier font.
Please do not manipulate the screenplay formatting to meet the required page count. As a standard rule, 1.5” left, 1” right and 1” top and bottom dimensions are acceptable.
Screenplays with manipulated formatting will be disqualified. Entry fees will not be returned or adjusted.
Pages must be numbered. Before you submit your script, please check to make sure there are no missing or duplicated pages.
Courier Awards is not responsible for screenplays stolen or lost in transit. Courier Awards is not responsible for broken links or incorrect URLs to online screeners.
Under no circumstances will substitutions of either corrected pages or new drafts be accepted once you have submitted your entry.
Submitted material will not be returned. Entry fees will not be returned under any circumstances.
It is recommended that you register your script or short film with the U.S. Copyright Office.
Writers who reside in countries other than the United States are welcome to enter the contest; however, all scripts must be submitted in English and entry fees must be paid in U.S. dollars. Entry in the competition is void where prohibited by law.
Screenplay Judging Criteria
STORY
The creation of an emotionally satisfying and compelling story that is written in a well structured and properly formatted screenplay.
CHARACTER
The development of characters through dialogue and behavior that is believable and multi-dimensional.
CONFLICT
The use of dramatic and/or comedic conflict to move the story forward and maintain reader interest.
ACTION LINES
The use of description to enhance the story without using novelization to provide expository information.
