ScreenCraft Short Screenplay Contest

Rules

• Submissions are accepted via electronic submission on this website only, between January 19th, 2015 and April 6th, 2015.
• Entry fee for each short screenplay is $19 until the early deadline on February 10th, and then $29 until final deadline on April 6th, 2015.
• Short scripts must be no shorter than 5 pages and no longer than 35 pages.
• There is no limit to the number of projects you may submit.
• 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.
• 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 screenwriting in the preceding two years is not eligible. (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 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.
• Short screenplays longer than 35 pages will not be eligible.
• 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 5 finalists will be chosen based on the following criteria: (i) originality; (ii) story; (iii) characterization; (iv) visual inventiveness; and (v) overall impression. The top 5 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 May 1st, 2015. 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

None added. Contact contest admin for details.