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Let's Make It!
LET'S MAKE IT! Screenwriting Contest
2023-2024
Active Since 2016
LET’S MAKE IT! is a screenwriting contest where the winning screenplay is turned into a movie.
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About

LET’S MAKE IT! is a screenwriting contest where the winning screenplay is turned into a movie.

CONTEST DESCRIPTION
Have you ever dreamed of seeing your screenplay produced? We know that feeling all too well, which is why we created this festival to give talented screenwriters like you the chance to turn your words into a film.

We understand the challenges and frustrations that come with trying to break into the industry, which is why we're offering the biggest prize in the industry: the winning screenplay will be turned into a real movie by our production company, mc² film, and showcased at film festivals all over the world.

Our team has a wealth of experience in the industry, with our short and feature films having been accepted, screened, and awarded at over 100 film festivals in countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Germany, Romania, Cyprus, Canada, Bulgaria, Austria, Australia, and beyond. We're passionate about bringing your stories to life on the big screen and giving them the exposure they deserve.

So whether you're a seasoned screenwriter or a newcomer with a fresh perspective, we invite you to submit your screenplay and join us on this exciting journey. Let's work together to create something truly special and make your dreams a reality!

CONTEST HISTORY
The LET'S MAKE IT! Screenwriting Contest was founded in 2016 by Alin Boeru, George Gänaeaard, Valentin Paduraru, and Vlad Ghinea. In 2018, George Gänaeaard and Horia Cucuta took over management of the festival, which has since become a platform for aspiring screenwriters to have their work produced as films, webseries pilots, sitcom pilots, or animated shorts.

The festival has a successful track record of producing winning screenplays, with each edition's winner being turned into a film or pilot:
8️⃣ - The eight edition winner is THE EGG OF DISCORD, written by Alex Gheorghitanu, which we will be turning into a short film in 2023-2024!
7️⃣ - The sevents edition winner is THE LAST TO STAND, written by Matthew Michael Morrison, which we will be turning into a webseries pilot in 2023-2024!
6️⃣ - The sixth edition winner is POWERLESS, written by Kevin Dawson, which we will be turning into a feature film in 2023-2024!
5️⃣ - The fifth edition production award was won by OLD FOLKS, written by Corbin Eaton & Martin Hasler, which we will be turning into a sitcom pilot in 2023-2024!
4️⃣ - The fourth edition production award went to THE OTHER SIDE OF CURIOSITY, written by Casey Hagaman, which became a film in March 2022.
More info here: https://filmfreeway.com/tosoc2022
3️⃣.1️⃣ - The third edition winner was KNOW THY PARTNER, written by Paul Weidknecht, and the screenplay became a film in March 2022.
More info here: https://filmfreeway.com/ktp2022
3️⃣.2️⃣ - During the third edition we also discovered THE MANNEQUIN, a screenplay written by Babak Shahidi. We've loved it so much that we decided to start working on it as well, producing a 2D animated film. The rewritten screenplay we've worked on just won the Best Screenplay Award at ABIFF Film Festival and a financing from the Romanian Film Centre (CNC). We will be turning it into a short film in 2023-2024!
2️⃣.1️⃣ - AMERICA, written by Ron Riekki, won the second edition and became a film in February 2019. It also became our most successful project, being accepted at 54 film festivals in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Romania, Italy, Greece, Germany, Cyprus, Canada, Bulgaria, Austria and many more, placing as semi-finalist and finalist numerous times and winning 10 awards.
More info here: https://filmfreeway.com/america2019
2️⃣.2️⃣ - Having had such an amazing collaboration with Ron, we've also produced a second screenplay of his, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TEETH!, a stop motion animated film. The film was finished in July 2020 and is in a real contest with AMERICA, having been already selected in 43 film festivals, all over the world, winning 8 awards in United States, Romania, Columbia, Iran and Poland.
More info here: https://filmfreeway.com/tyfyt2020
1️⃣ - The first edition winner was MOTHERS, written by Luke Anthony Walker, a film which was finished in April 2020. The film has already been accepted at 20 festivals in Taiwan, UK, Romania, USA, Italy, Mexico, India, Belarus, Greece, France, Canada and South Africa and has won Best International Horror Short at Luna Lumen Film Festival in Columbus, OH, United States.
More info here: https://filmfreeway.com/mothers2020

CONTEST LEGACY
The primary objective of LET'S MAKE IT! Screenwriting Contest is to provide an opportunity for at least one aspiring screenwriter to see their screenplay transformed into a movie, moving beyond the written word and onto the big screen. This is our way of giving back to the industry and ensuring that the struggles we encountered when starting our own careers do not continue to persist.
In addition to this, we strive to identify and nurture strong, distinctive voices by offering candid and constructive feedback to improve the quality of their screenplays. This is a key aspect of all our projects, and one that we deeply value and prioritize.

⚠️ Please note! ⚠️
The GRAND WINNER will be offered to have the screenplay produced before the end of 2025.
We're only accepting screenplays in English or Romanian.
We are now offering feedback files year-round. To receive them, please submit under the "feedback files" or "feedback meeting" categories. Category Winners and Rising Start Award Winners will also receive feedback files. But we can't offer feedback letters to the rest of the submissions.

Benefits

Step 1: 9 Category Winners
9 CATEGORY WINNERS, one for every category, will be selected and offered two pages of written analysis from at least two of our readers.
They will also receive cash prizes in the TOTAL of $1500 (offered based on the number of submissions for every category from the previous edition):
$600 - Best Feature Film Screenplay (60+ pages)
$300 - Best Short Film Screenplay (Festival de Cannes length, 6-15 pages)
$150 - Best Short Film Screenplay (16-30 pages)
$100 - Best One-Hour Drama Screenplay (46-75 pages)
$100 - Best Sitcom Screenplay (21-45 pages)
$100 - Best Short-Short Film Screenplay (2-5 pages)
$50 - Best Medium-Length Film Screenplay (31-60 pages)
$50 - Best Webseries Screenplay (20 pages and under)
$50 - Best Micro-Short Film Screenplay (1 page and under)
They are also contest finalists and will run for the Grand Winner award.

Step 2: The Grand Winner
The Let’s Make It! GRAND WINNER, selected from the 9 Category Winners, will be offered to have their screenplay produced by the mc² film production company, before the end of 2025.
They will also receive two pages of written analysis from at least three of our readers.

Step 3: 10 Rising Star awards
We will randomly select 1 winner (using www.random.org/integers) from all the remaining screenplays that didn't win any prizes and offer to the writer(s) one online meeting of 1 hour, with producers&directors George ve Gänæaard (www.imdb.com/name/nm5568925) and Horia Cucuta (www.imdb.com/name/nm8364557). The chat will contain feedback on the screenplay submitted, but they can also talk about the industry, or reply to any questions the writer(s) want to ask.
We will randomly select 9 winners (using www.random.org/integers) from all the remaining screenplays that didn't win any prizes and offer them one feedback letter each.

2023-2024 Silver Nib Winners on Coverfly

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Announcements

Oct 18th
Rising Star Award Winners
Oct 25th
Grand Winners

Rules

1) All submitted material must be original, and the sole property of the applicant(s) at the time of submitting.
2) Adaptations are ineligible unless the underlying rights are owned, or the work is in the public domain.
3) Entries must be received on or before the deadlines and payment made in full at time of the submission.
4) All ages are eligible, from any country of the world and there is no limit to the number of materials you may submit.
5) All entries must be in English or Romanian.
6) All entries must be uploaded in PDF format and written in the industry standard format (Courier 12 pt font).
7) It is recommended that original material be registered with the WGA or The Library of Congress before submitting to any competition.
8) Screenplays submitted to regular categories will not be receiving any letters of feedback.
9) Will we be sending all the feedback files before March 31st, 2025.
10) There will be selected 9 CATEGORY WINNERS, one for every category.
11) There will be cash prizes in the total of $1500 for the 9 Category Winners, as mentioned in the Awards & Prizes section.
12) The 9 Category Winners will receive two pages of written analysis from at least two of our readers, before March 31st, 2025.
13) The Let’s Make It! GRAND WINNER, selected from the 9 Category Winners, will be offered to have their screenplay produced by the MC PATRAT FILM production company.
14) At no point will MC PATRAT FILM own the rights to the screenplay. It will forever remain the propriery of the writer(s) submitting it. To allow us to make it, they will sign a release form, giving us the legal rights to make the film during the following three years.
15) The winner of the production award must sign a release form with MC PATRAT FILM S.R.L., during the first two weeks after being sent the release form, which allows MC PATRAT FILM S.R.L. to produce the film, under no direct financial obligations, with no remuneration due for the acquisition of the screenplay, but with a 20% share of the film profit, in case the film made from the script returns profit.
16) If, for reasons above our control (earthquake, wildfires, global pandemic, injury, death etc.), we can't make the film during the initial three years, the Grand Winner will have the choice to allow us yearly extentions, until we produce the film, or will be offered an additional prize of $1000 and be released from any contractual obligations with MC PATRAT FILM.
17) The Let’s Make It! Grand Winner will also receive two pages of written analysis from at least three of our readers, before March 31st, 2025.
18) If the Golden Grand Winner screenplay is not available for production, the Silver Grand Winner will inherit the main prize and we will produce the Silver Grand Winner screenplay.
19) If the Silver Grand Winner screenplay is not available for production, the Bronze Grand Winner will inherit the main prize and we will produce the Bronze Grand Winner screenplay.
20) If none of the Golden, Silver and Bronze Grand Winners are available for production, we will select one of the other category winners for production.
21) In case the Grand Winner is a pilot for a series, besides handling the production of the pilot episode, MC PATRAT FILM S.R.L. will also receive the rights to further develop the series in case TV networks or other companies are interested in funding at least one entire season of the project. In such case, the writer will receive a payment equal with 20% of the sale price, and will continue to be credited as creator for the entire series. We will also negotiate for the writer to be part of the writing team for the entire series, but depending on numerous factors, that might not be possible.
22) The feedback filles for the pruchased packages will be sent in the following 60 days after the submission. The feedback files will be written based on the innitial submitted screenplay, and not on subsequent updates. Please note, the feedback files are subjective, based on the reader's experience, preferences, knowledge. Feedback files are final, and we will not be able to offer updates on them.
23) The one-hour video meetings will be organized in the following 60 days after the submission. The one-hour video meetings will contain feedback based on the innitial submitted screenplay, and not on subsequent updates. Please note, the feedback offered is subjective, based on the reader's experience, preferences, knowledge. The video meetings are final, and we will not be able to offer other meetings after that.
24) Competition judges, readers and employees of the Let’s Make It! Screenwriting Contest or mc² film production company, past and present, and their immediate families, are not eligible to enter.

An event organized by:
MC PATRAT FILM S.R.L. 
EUID: ROONRCJ40/13245/2020
Bucharest, Romania
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2023-2024