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Emerging Screenwriters
Emerging Screenwriters Screenplay Competition
2020
Active Since 2010
We’re searching for the most authentic and unique features and pilots in all genre categories.
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About

ACTION / ADVENTURE
COMEDY
DRAMA
HISTORICAL / BIO
HORROR / THRILLER
MYSTERY / CRIME
SCIFI / FANTASY


We’re searching for emerging screenwriters with exceptional screenplays in the seven genre categories above. Each Genre Winner will receive $2500 cash. Of the seven scripts selected, one of you will go on to win the Grand Prize, receive an additional $7500 and be accepted onto the ISA Development Slate, where the Career Development team will work with you for a minimum of one year to get you and your script in front of top producers, literary reps and other industry executives from companies like Lakeshore Entertainment, Gidden Media, ICM, and others.

Top 7 Scripts (Genre Winners) Will Be Read by Top Agents, Managers & Producers
Past readers have included execs from Crash, Million Dollar Baby, Revek Entertainment, Good Fear FiIm + Management, Schemers Entertainment, Continuance Pictures and Vandal Entertainment

Benefits

 PRIZES

Grand Prize Winner 
(Selected from 7 Genre Award Winners)

$7500 Cash ($10,000 Total Including Genre Award Winnings)
- Invitation onto the ISA Development Slate, where the team will work with you to further package and champion your winning script to more industry execs for a full year. Over 60 scripts from Development Slate writers have been produced or optioned.
- 1 Year ISAConnect with access to Writing Gigs and Industry Pros
- All Additional Category Prizes

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Genre Award Winners
(7 Winners Selected from 7 Genre Categories)

$2500 Cash Each
- Genre Winner's Scripts Will Be Read by Top Agents, Managers & Producers
ISA Development Slate Consideration 
ISA Development Slate Evaluation (for a New Script)
- 12 Months ISAConnect with access to Writing Gigs and Industry Pros
- All Prizes from Finalists

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Finalists (Top 10 of Each Genre)
- Live Online Class with Max Timm "The Craft: From Concept to Character"
- 6 months ISAConnect with access to Writing Gigs and Industry Pros
ISA Logline Review

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Semi-Finalists 
- 3 months ISAConnect with access to Writing Gigs and Industry Pros
- Digital Copy of "(Not Just) Another Book on the Craft of Screenwriting"


Writer Success

2024 Finalists on Coverfly

See Other Placements

Announcements

Dec 15th
Finalists
Dec 29th
Winners
Dec 29th
Grand Prize Winners

Rules

At the program's request, Coverfly will automatically remove your title page for you if you include one when submitting to this program.

  • All writers from all countries are welcome to enter the competition; however, all scripts must be submitted in English, and entry fees must be paid in U.S. dollars.
  • Grand Prize Winners and their screenplays are ineligible to enter into any future contest season.
  • If screenwriters receive 2nd – 6th place awards 3 times with 3 different screenplays the writer will no longer be eligible to submit.
  • Scripts must be the original work of the author(s) and may not be encumbered by any third party.
  • Scripts that have been sold, produced for a profit, or are currently under option are not eligible.
  • Novels, short stories, stage plays, treatments, synopses, reality show concepts, and/or spec scripts for existing TV series are not eligible. Your script must be an original screenplay or teleplay.
  • Screenplays adapted from your own self-published books, plays, or other source material are eligible if you have retained all rights to your work.
  • Adaptations from other works are permissible provided you have the writer’s written permission to adapt the work.
  • Adaptations of works in the public domain are permissible.
  • Collaborative work is eligible; the writers are responsible for the distribution of the competition prize(s).
  • Those that receive a free script feedback are not eligible to receive a free resubmission, which may come as an option with purchased script analyses or unless otherwise stated in a promotion.
  • The writer understands that a script feedback can take up to 90-days turn-around time and may not be received before the end of the contest.
  • You may submit your entry and payment online only. We’re GREEN!
  • Promotions must be used at the time of submission and will not be added to previous submissions.
  • Multiple entries are permissible and get a discount.
  • Once a script has been entered into the competition, we will only accept substitutions of new drafts or corrected pages if you contact us within 24 hours. After that, under no circumstances will we accept changes. If you wish to submit a revised draft of your script, you must enter it as a new submission and pay the appropriate entry fee.
  • Writers under the age of 18 years old must have parent or legal guardian’s permission to participate.
  • Competition applicants must accept without reservation the decisions rendered by the judges.
  • Writer understands that it is his/her sole responsibility to register Material with the U.S. Copyright Office and/or with the Writer’s Guild of America or the appropriate agency in his/her country.
  • Payments to be accepted via Paypal or through registrations on the ISA website. All major credit cards accepted.
  • By entering this competition, and in the event you are declared a finalist, you understand and accept that Emerging
  • Screenwriters and the ISA will be free to use your name and likeness for advertising or promotional purposes without additional consideration.
  • Contestants are under no obligation to participate therein.
  • Contestants may submit their screenplay to any other person, competition, producer, agent, publisher, and/or organization and will retain all rights to their screenplay.
  • No agreement for compensation, other than the prizes, has been implied.
  • Prizes may be distributed in the rate of 1 package per person based on the highest placement and not per winning screenplay, depending on the request of the sponsor.
  • The cash prizes will be distributed over 3 months from the date of the final announcement.
  • ISAConnect Membership prizes expire after 90 days and cannot be combined with a current free ISAConnect membership.
  • Decisions of the Judges are final and may not be disputed. The Judges will adhere to our competition guidelines; however, the competition and its administrators may not be held responsible for any errors or omissions on the part of the Judges.
  • Length requirements are as follows: 1). Full-Length Features: 80-120 pages. 2). TV Pilots: Up to 70 pages.
  • If you order a script feedback you may be charged separately $1 for each page over 120 pages, or the reader may only read the first 120 pages.
  • Please do not enclose synopses, casting suggestions, letters, resumes or photos with your submission. They will not be forwarded to the Judges. However, if you’re submitting a TV Pilot you may include standard supplementary materials, such as lists of recurring characters and future episodes. Email them to: Submissions@EmergingScreenwriters.com.
  • You understand that your logline and screenplay will be reviewed by our staff and/or our panel of Industry Judges for evaluation.
  • You also understand that any one of the staff or judges may have been or may be exploring ideas similar to yours, and you hereby waive any claim that the Emerging Screenwriters Screenplay Competition, its staff or judges may have misappropriated any ideas or portions of your submission logline or screenplay.
  • The writer understands and accepts without reservation that he/she is an independent contractor and that Competition
  • Administrators are not responsible for withholding any taxes or payments to any government agency, at any level, be it state, local or federal.
  • To enter the Emerging Screenwriters Screenplay Competition you must agree to the Rules.
  • For more inquiries, please email us at Info@EmergingScreenwriters.com