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Launch Pad
Launch Pad Feature Competition
2022
Coverfly-exclusive
Reads in Coverfly
Active Since 2013
The Launch Pad Feature competition prioritizes exclusive partnerships and mentorship opportunities including a Grand Prize Partnership with Gran Via Productions, Development opportunities and more!
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About

This year's Launch Pad Feature Competition welcomes an impressive industry jury of top Hollywood professionals, including reps from Verve, Bellevue, and Paradigm, as well as executives from Apatow Productions and Blumhouse

We're also excited to welcome A-list writers Zach Dean (THE TOMORROW WAR) and David Rabinowitz (Oscar-winning writer of BLACKkKLANSMAN) as mentors for our Mentorship Program Add-on Prize!

Over the past decade, the Launch Pad Competitions have led to more signings, success stories and careers than any other screenwriting competition. We advocate for all of our Top 100 finalists, working with them to share their work with the right industry members to advance their career. 

We strive to provide as many avenues towards success as possible, through exclusive mentorship and partnership opportunities to give writers an extra leg up.    

No competition will do more to help all of their finalists take the next steps in their careers, and no competition has had as much success in helping writers break into the industry. Enter now for a chance to join this tradition of Launch Pad success. 

What the industry is saying:

“The numbers speak for themselves. Beyond the massive amount of writers who have landed reps from Launch Pad, no other has led to more sales and bidding wars in existence. And beyond that, the success isn’t just here, but these scripts have landed on every major end of year list. This place starts careers!”

- Brooklyn Weaver, Manager & Producer, Energy Entertainment

“Writers are an integral part of my team and without them I would not be able to do my job, so to be able to work with Launch Pad and provide a new and innovative way for them to get their work out in the world is truly exciting.”

- Ridley Scott, RAISED BY WOLVES, THE MARTIAN, GLADIATOR

Benefits

JURY

JESSICA ZOU
Motion Picture Literary Coordinator, Verve

Born and raised in China, Jessica holds a Masters in Communication Management from USC. During school years, she interned at Legendary and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment. She soon started in the mailroom at UTA, moving on to assist agents in the Motion Picture Literary department who represent writers, directors, and producers. She also focuses on finding diverse voices and bridging different cultures within Hollywood. Early in 2020, Jessica joined Verve where she continues to work in MP Lit as a coordinator.

WILSON RUBINOFF
Literary Agent, Paradigm

Rubinoff is a literary agent representing writers and directors. He came to Paradigm in 2017 as an intern and later held positions in the mailroom, and as contract administrator and coordinator in the television literary department.

CASEY HODGKINSON
TV Development, Apatow Productions

Casey Hodgkinson is a Creative Executive at Apatow Productions, where she develops projects for both film and TV. She started her career in representation, most notably at 3 Arts Entertainment, where she worked closely with some of the top comedic talent in the world. She holds a BA in Cinema and Television Arts from Cal State Northridge.

HALEY PIGMAN
Manager of Creative Development, Blumhouse

Haley is the Manager of Creative Development at Blumhouse Productions, working across an array of genre features from development through production which include upcoming titles THE BLACK PHONE, THEY/THEM and HALLOWEEN ENDS. She started in the industry as an Agent Trainee at Paradigm Talent Agency before moving into Development at Legendary Entertainment. Haley has a passion for storytelling and her ambition is to amplify provocative, entertaining stories that make cultural waves.

ZACK ZUCKER
Manager, Bellevue

Zack Zucker is a Literary Manager at Bellevue Productions. Prior to joining Bellevue, Zack worked at Google, United Talent Agency, and Twentieth Century Fox. He also produced independently. On the feature side, his clients have placed #1 on the 2020 and 2021 Black Lists, won the Nicholl Fellowship, and had films premiere at Sundance, TIFF, and Tribeca. On the TV side, his clients have written on such series as FBI: International, How We Roll, Black Lightning, AJ & the Queen, & Flatbush Misdemeanors. As a producer, his feature, THE NOVICE, premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won multiple awards including Best US Narrative. The film went on to sell to IFC Films and was nominated for five Indie Spirit Awards, including Best Feature. Zack attained a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Southern California's Peter Stark Producing Program and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan.

SOPHIA KALIN
Creative Executive, Bold Films

Sophia was born and raised in California, so her only options were the film industry, tech, or the film industry. She didn’t take to coding so Sophia headed to film school to study directing. After directing a swath of short films and music videos, she made her way into producing. After graduation, Sophia threw herself into the talent agency trenches before landing as the Creative Executive at Bold Films, the production company behind DRIVE, WHIPLASH, NIGHTCRAWLER and THE GUILTY. Independently, Sophia produces under banner The Kalin Company. She just wrapped on her first film titled DADDY, that's currently in talks for distribution.

DERRICK EPPICH
Empirical Evidence, Manager

Born in Detroit, raised in Phoenix and a former fashion professional in New York & Europe, Derrick Eppich has an eclectic background combined with great experience in the film and entertainment industry. Currently, he focuses on character driven genre and prestige storytelling with fresh new voices and emerging filmmakers that best capture the independent spirit and heart. Before starting Empirical Evidence, he worked at The Gotham Group, Lee Stobby Entertainment, and Energy Entertainment. Empirical Evidence reps creatives in the TV, Film, Theatre, and Podcast space in various stages of their careers.

JASON LUBIN
First Story Entertainment, Manager/Producer

Jason Lubin is a manager-producer and the principal at First Story Entertainment, which he founded in 2018. The lit management company represents a diverse roster of talented writers and directors with fresh voices in all genres for Film and TV. The company’s clients have been staffed on shows on multiple networks including Showtime, CW, Apple+ and Netflix and have sold series to Disney and HBO Max. In the feature space, First Story clients have written films starring Robert De Niro and John Malkovich and sold specs to Searchlight Pictures. Prior to starting First Story, Jason was a seasoned development executive. He worked as the Head of Production & Development at Lynda Obst Productions, a Sony based production company, and for seven and a half years at Lionsgate, where he rose to Story Editor in the Motion Picture Group and served as the junior creative executive on multiple feature projects. 

ALEX BARNES
Cavalry Media, Director of Development

Alex is Director of Development at Dana Brunetti's Cavalry Media working across film, TV and podcast. Prior to Cavalry Alex worked at Relativity Media and Trigger Street Productions. His career started in Australia producing and directing public broadcast documentaries, music videos, commercials and films. He was one of the producers on the iconic Australian anthology feature film, Tim Winton's THE TURNING.

MELISSA RICKARD
H2L, VP of Television

Melissa Rickard began her career at HBO, where she spent six years in both HBO Films & Cinemax Originals, working on projects such as WARRIOR, BANSHEE, and THE KNICK. Prior to joining H2L, Melissa served as a Creative Executive at Brad Weston’s Makeready where she helped develop the film & television slate. Raised in three different countries and five different states, Melissa views material through a global lens, and endeavors to harness the power of storytelling to create emotional connections to cultures other than one’s own.

EVAN BATES
Baha Productions, VP of Development & Production

Evan is the Vice President of Development & Production at Baha Productions. Before joining Baha Productions, Evan worked with Academy Award winning filmmaker Oliver Stone and served as an Associate Producer on the film SAVAGES which starred Blake Lively, Taylor Kitsch, Salma Hayek, Benicio del Toro, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

ROBIN BUDD
Viewfinder Management, Principal/Manager

Robin Budd launched Viewfinder Management in 2012 as an extension of her passion for working with writers and directors in film, television and theatre. Capitalizing on her experience as a producer and development executive, Viewfinder Management provides creative and strategic career support in the realization of its clients’ artistic vision. Robin's clients have written for shows that include Netflix's The Witcher, Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, Freeform's Motherland: Fort Salem, HBO's Watchmen, FX's Atlanta and others.

TIFFANY BOYLE
Ramo Law PC, President

For more than 10 years, Tiffany Boyle has leveraged her business-oriented sales and packaging skills to bring hundreds of films and documentaries to fruition. Through her critical review of content and strategic use of Ramo Law resources, Tiffany creates successful content packaging that bridges the needs of both client and industry demands. Tiffany connects filmmakers with producers, co-producers, executive producers, co-finance partners, distributors, agencies and other industry representatives. She has brought in financing or leading sales on films such as Paul Schrader's THE CARD COUNTER and romantic crime thriller DIE IN A GUNFIGHT; she led the sales and packaging for DEMBANGER (SXSW 2020) and ONE OF THESE DAYS (Berlin 2020); and she recently Executive Produced “LINE OF DUTY” starring Aaron Eckhart.

PRIZES

Grand Prize | Top 3 Winners
Everything the Top 10 receive, plus…
Each of the competition winners will be invited to an exclusive yearly virtual event where they will get the chance to meet with and pitch industry professionals from management companies, agencies and production companies in a 1:1 setting. Past participants included MGM, Scott Free, Verve, Bellevue, Lit Entertainment, WME, and more.

Top 10
Everything the Top 50 receive, plus…
- Your work will be read, reviewed and voted on by our esteemed Judges.
- One free entry to any future Launch Pad Competition of your choosing.

Top 50
Everything the Top 100 receive, plus…
- One year free membership to the Tracking Board.

Top 100
- Your project and writer profile will be shared and marketed to our extensive industry networks.

ADD-ON PRIZES

Mentorship Program
Writers will be selected by one of our competition mentors to participate in our Launch Pad Feature Mentorship Program. This year's mentors include Academy-Award winning screenwriter David Rabinowitz, and THE TOMORROW WAR screenwriter Zach DeanTo qualify for this prize, entrants must have selected the “Mentorship Program” add-on when submitting their project.

Guaranteed Development Prize
A minimum of 1 project will be selected by Development Prize partner Citizen Skull, who will select one project from the Launch Pad Feature competition to develop with the writer(s). To qualify for this prize, entrants must have selected the “Guaranteed Development” add-on when submitting their project.

Citizen Skull is a production and management company that specializes in developing and producing documentaries, television, features, animation, and digital content dedicated to compelling narratives. Their projects have premiered with HBO, Netflix, Sundance, National Geographic, Slamdance, TIFF, NYFF, and more. On the management side, Citizen Skull represents writers staffed on major network shows, and creators with content on a plethora of outlets and development deals at ABC, SONY, and various streamers.

Guaranteed Signing Prize
A minimum of 1 writer will be selected for representation by manager and producer, Nick Leicht of Bright Leicht Content. To qualify for this prize, entrants must have selected the “Guaranteed Signing” add-on when submitting their project.

Nick Leicht is a producer, talent and literary manager with several feature films and series currently in development. He is the CEO of management production company Bright Leicht Content, formerly Elixir Entertainment, which he founded in 2017. He specializes in motion picture and television packaging, producing and talent representation, guiding the careers of actors, writers, directors and producers.

Note: Add-on prizes are not decided upon by placement in the competition. Regardless of whether the project entered makes any finalist round, your project will still be in contention for this prize until the competition ends.

Writer Success

2024 Top 100s on Coverfly

See Other Placements

Announcements

Mar 31st
Top 100s
Apr 14th
Top 50s
Apr 28th
Top 10s
May 19th
Top Dramas
May 19th
Top Comedies
May 19th
Mentorship Selections
May 19th
Guaranteed Signing Selections
May 19th
Overall 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.

  1. All scripts MUST BE submitted as a PDF.
  2. All feature scripts must be under 120 pages (any script with more than 120 pages will be charged an additional $1 per page) 
  3. Do not submit any form of pitch document with your feature script.
  4. Do not include any identifying information (name, address, etc) on any page of your submission EXCEPT for the Title Page, which will be removed before sharing with readers to preserve anonymity. As such, the Title Page can include any information you would like. 
  5. Scripts with multiple writers are allowed (however, all entry fees must be paid under one account and all prizes to be shared among writing partners).
  6. All submissions must be the sole property of the writer(s). Any submissions of existing characters and or stories not in the public domain, as well as any intellectual property that the writer does not own will be disqualified.
  7. Features with a prior option are allowed, but at the time of submission and for the duration of the contest, must remain exclusively the writer’s property.
  8. The only scripts not allowed to be entered are those which have already sold, been produced, have previously earned our “TB Recommends” or “Launch Pad Recommends” honors, or received a top 50 placement in a previous Launch Pad competition, regardless of format.
  9. The Launch Pad uses Coverfly to manage our submissions and reads. Updated drafts accepted through the Coverfly website only.
  10. The Launch Pad and all judges/readers will utilize whatever criteria they deem appropriate in deciding a winner.
  11. All scripts will remain the property of the writer(s) throughout the contest (at no point will anyone from the judges panel, or Launch Pad ever attach themselves to your work without your consent).
  12. Entrants may be contacted as a result of the contest by Launch Pad, its partners, the judging panel or other industry professionals in regards to representation, production, sale and/or option of the entered work.
  13. Entrants are under no obligation to sell their work or otherwise attach themselves to representation in any form – this includes the guaranteed development and guaranteed signing add ons.
  14. General script entries will not receive feedback, however, you can opt to upgrade and receive feedback on your script submission.
  15. The contest is open to entrants who will be 18 or older at the time of the winners announcement. It is an international contest and open to entrants worldwide.
  16. The Launch Pad reserves the right, at our sole discretion, to change or modify these terms at any time without notice.
  17. By entering this competition, you agree to receive periodic emails from The Launch Pad and The Tracking Board. You may unsubscribe to these at any time.
  18. All entrants understand and agree to allow Launch Pad to post details on their script (title, writer’s name, logline, genre, and competition details) as well as regarding the writer (biography, picture) to their site, or sister site to help promote the entrants’ work.
  19. By entering the competition, entrants are acknowledging their eligibility for the competition. The vast majority of entrants enter in good faith, and validating everyone at the entry stage would be inefficient and take away from efforts reading and finding the best scripts. Therefore, we check eligibility at the Top 100 Finalist stage, which allows us to confirm eligibility prior to winner selection. If an issue comes to our attention earlier, we will address eligibility issues in earlier rounds on a case-by-case basis.
  20. All purchases and submissions are final. No refunds will be issued.
  21. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.
  22. Except where prohibited by law, participation in the contest constitutes each entrant’s consent to LaunchPad and its agents’ and contest sponsor’s use of entrants’ names, likenesses, photographs, and/or personal information for promotional purposes in any media, worldwide, without further payment or consideration. All uses of a entrants’ information are in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
  23. You agree to release and hold harmless LaunchPad, its subsidiary, parent and affiliated companies, prize contributors, judges, readers, sponsors, and any other organizations responsible for administering, advertising, or promoting the competition, and every one of their respective members, directors, employees, agents and representatives (collectively, the “Released Parties”) past and present from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liability, including but not limited to damages and negligence to property and persons, including but not limited to invasion of privacy, defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, copyright, infringement of trademark or other intellectual property rights relating to a participant’s entry, participation in the competition and/or acceptance or use or misuse of prize; provided however, that such release will not apply to any commercial exploitation of the script by a Released Party in violation of your rights under applicable copyright law; and (c) indemnify, defend and hold harmless the LaunchPad and its sponsors, agents, and employees from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorneys fees) relating to an entrant’s participation in the competition and/or entrant’s use or misuse of Prize.