Set in Philadelphia
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Announcing an added “Set in Philadelphia” Prize: The Nina Lo Presti Award for the best feature length screenplay or TV Pilot by a female writer, 18 years of age or older, with ties to the Greater Philadelphia region.
The Greater Philadelphia Film Office is proud to announce this brand new $5,000 award, generously sponsored in memory of Nina Lo Presti by her daughter, Laurie Lo Presti and son-in- law, Ron Masciantonio. The Lo Presti Award will be offered as an annually designated award under the “Set in Philadelphia” (SIP) Screenwriting Competition, but we are open for a limited number of submissions NOW for 2020. The following story types will be given strongest consideration:
-Works which focus on strong female protagonists or female heroine which demonstrates moral integrity and civility
-Works which focus on family, especially the relationship between mother and child
-Works which focus on romance
-Works which focus on detective or mystery genre
The Nina Lo Presti prize is now officially open to the first 25 submissions that meet the Guidelines. Eligible scripts, previously submitted to SIP 2020, will be considered. Winners will be announced in the spring, either virtually or with an exciting in-person celebration if health regulations allow.
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Writers do NOT have to be from Philadelphia and scripts do NOT need to be explicitly set in Philadelphia. They just need to be able to be shot in Philadelphia.
“Set in Philadelphia” Screenwriting Competition (SIP), which is presented by the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, is open to all screenwriters, world-wide, who submit a feature length screenplay OR an original TV pilot length screenplay that can be shot in the Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. All genres will be accepted. Scripts will be judged on their overall quality, and the extent to which they project “shootability” in the Greater Philadelphia region. SIP Finalist Judges are high profile Producers, Writers and Actors who have a Philadelphia connection.
The “Set in Philadelphia” Screenwriting Competition (SIP) is proudly presented by the Greater Philadelphia Film Office under its Greater Philadelphia Filmmakers program with awards sponsored by:
- David & Hallee Adelman
- Comcast & NBCUniversal
- Laurie Lo Presti & Ron Masciantonio
- Progressive Change, CDC and West Philadelphia Financial Services Institution
- Derek Freese Film Foundation
Past and Present Incredible Finalist Judges:
Ernie Vecchione - Former SIP Winner!
- Executive Producer/Writer (Sex Ed: The Series)
- Author (Devil’s Catch)
- Has written for HBO and Miramax.
Drew Brown
- Executive Vice President, Production – AMC
Jay Roewe
- HBO Senior Vice President
Jillian Bullock
- Author (Here I Stand)
- Writer-Scripts sold (The Champion Inside, Scar Across My Heart)
- Creator/Producer/Director (Blood, Bruises & Broken Bones)
- Screenwriter/Producer/Director (A Sense of Purpose: Fighting For Our Lives– completed in March 2018, A Cup Full of Crazy- in pre-production)
Beverly Nero
- Producer - (Nobody Nowhere, Deaf Ghost, Two Days and a Bombshell, #Lovelines)
- Co-Producer - (G.B.F.), (The Lowe Men)
- Managing Director of Deaf West Theatre
Patricia Weiser
- Producer (The Best and the Brightest)
Dawn Wolfrom
- Producer (The Perfect Man, Never Again, Bad Hair Day).
- Dawn also serves as an executive with Terence Michael (http://terencemichael.com) and EP on two Award Winning short films (The Boy, Butterflies).
Kim Delaney
- Actress (Chicago Fire, To Appomattox– TV mini series, Army Wives, The O.C. Philly, NYPD Blue)
Josh Cooke
- Actor (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Castlerock, Grace & Frankie, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Younger, Gone, Universal TV, Chicago Justice, Longmire, Elementary, Manhattan, Hail, Caesar!, Love You Man, The Middle)
- Writer/Producer (Issues)
Alexandra Drobac Diagne
- Executive Manager, Lightstorm Entertainment (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Titanic)
- Producer (Sistuhs)
- Post Production Manager (A Time of Destiny)
Mike Jackson
- TV: Executive Producer (Underground, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, Sherman’s Showcase-coming out 2019, Rhythm and Flow- coming out 2019, Sing it On
- Film: Executive Producer (La La Land, Monster, Southside With You, Jingle Jangle-in production)
- Theater: Producer (Jitney and Turn Me Loose)
Alan Gasmer
- Executive Producer (Searcher- Elvis Presley Documentary for HBO, Fahrenheit 451 for HBO-won the Producers’ Guild of America Award for Best Cable Movie, Vikings-season 6, You Me Her)
Terry City
- Executive Producer (The Fix, His Good Will, The Boy)
- Co-Producer (ESPN 30 for 30: Playing For The Mob)
Cayman Grant
- Writer/Director (ESPN 30 for 30: Playing For The Mob, His Good Will, Exile, Butterflies)
- Executive Producer (The Fix)
Elisa Zuritsky
- Co-Executive Producer (Divorce, Smash)
- Ex Producer (Odd Mom Out)
- Producer (Sex in the City)
Alysia Reiner
- Actor (Orange is the New Black, Egg, Better Things, HBO’s The Deuce, How to Get Away With Murder, Equity)
- Producer (Egg, Equity, Backwards)
- Writer (Equity)
Jonathan Maberry
- NY Times bestselling and 5-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author, editor & comic book writer for IDW, Marvel and Dark Horse. Creator of V-Wars (Netflix) and Rot & Ruin (Alcon Entertainment and Line Webtoon).
Sheryl Lee Ralph
- Actor (Fam –CBS Series, MacGyver – CBS Series, One Mississippi- Amazon Series, Claws –TBS Series)
Benefits
On top of the best scripts being reviewed by the incredible jury, the Grand Prize Winners will also receive the following incredible prizes.
The Grand Prize for Best Screenplay, sponsored by AKA Hotel Residences
- $10,000 cash prize
- Notes from Judges
- National Press
TV Prime Time Award, sponsored by Comcast and NBCUniversal
- $5,000 cash prize
- Notes from Judges
- National Press
The Oscar Micheaux Award, sponsored by Progressive Change, CDC and West Philadelphia Financial Services Institution
For the best screenplay penned by a Philadelphia area resident of the African Diaspora
- $2,500 cash prize
- Notes from Judges
- National Press
The Student Award, sponsored by Derek Freese Film Foundation
- $500 Cash Prize
- Notes from Judges
- National Press
The Nina Lo Presti Award for a female screenwriter, over 18, and with ties to the Greater Philadelphia region, sponsored by her daughter Laurie Lo Presti and son-in-law Ron Masciantonio.
- $5,000 cash prize
- Notes from Judges
- National Press
- Synopsis published on www.film.org/sip
Announcements
Rules
At the program's request, Coverfly will automatically remove your title page for you if you include one when submitting to this program.
Rules & Regulations-The Nina Lo Presti Award, for Best Feature Length or TV Pilot script written by a Female Screenwriter who has ties to the Greater Philadelphia region
The Lo Presti Prize winner will be announced along with the Grand, TV Prime Time, Oscar Micheaux and Student Prize winners in the spring. We are ONLY accepting entries for the Lo Presti Award at this time. General submissions are closed. Scripts that were previously submitted for SIP 2020 will be considered for this prize if eligible.
• Screenplay must be able to be produced in the Greater Philadelphia area (Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware or Montgomery counties).
• Female writer must be over 18, have ties (currently reside, previously resided, matriculated, worked) in the Greater Philadelphia region. The closer the ties, the better!
• You can submit any number of scripts but only ONE entry per application.
• Accepted genres include: works which focus on strong female protagonists or female heroine which demonstrates moral integrity and civility, works which focus on family, especially the relationship between mother and child, works which focus on romance, works which focus on mystery or detective stories.
• Feature Length Screenplays must be between 85-130 pages in length and written in standard screenplay format. (12 pt Courier font, simple front and back cover, with pages numbered.)
• TV Pilot Scripts should be half-hour or hour long, single camera pilots, under 70 pages in length written in standard screenplay format. (12 pt. Courier font, simple front and back cover, with pages numbered.)
• A title page, with just the title, must accompany the screenplay. No author identification should appear on this page. Screenplays will be numbered for confidentiality.
• If there is more than one writer, both must meet the criteria and each must sign the release. • Screenplays which are currently in production are ineligible.
• Judges' decisions are final.
• Entrants can receive notification that their submission was received by emailing a request to joan@film.org after March 8th.
• Updates and winners once they are determined can be found at https://film.org/greater-philadelphia filmmakers/sip-screenwriting-competition/
• Screenplays must be electronically time stamped by 11:59PM, March 1, 2021.
Electronic submissions only. Submissions will be processed through the Coverfly platform which will prompt you to include all relevant documents and submission fee. By using our service, you authorize us to use any trusted third-party online and cloud-based services and databases for hosting, managing and/or transmitting your submission file(s). All entrants are encouraged to register their screenplay with the Writers’ Guild of America. www.wga.org.
