Missouri Stories Scriptwriting Fellowship
Subscribe
About
Three scripts will be chosen from all submissions. The winning writers will receive an all-expenses paid trip to our concentrated fellowship experience, held in Missouri in February 2023*.
The writers will be joined by accomplished industry mentors who will work with each fellow. In addition to workshop time and one-on-one mentor time, we will visit areas of the state for added inspiration.
Past industry mentors include: Bob Gale, best known for co-writing films in the “Back to the Future” trilogy; Angelo Pizzo, who wrote among others, Hoosiers and Rudy; Valerie Woods, Queen Sugar, Soul Food; Nancy Miller, Saving Grace, The Closer; Philip LaZebnik who wrote the screenplays for Mulan and The Prince of Egypt; and Kathleen McGee Anderson, noted for a variety of television credits including ABC Family’s “Lincoln Heights.”
*Due to COVID-19, we held an online version of the 2021 fellowship retreat, and might need to do so in the future. The decision will be made in January 2023.
Benefits
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.
The final selection of fellowship winners will be made by the Missouri Stories Scriptwriting Fellowship Committee. The Missouri Stories Scriptwriting Fellowship reserves the right not to release judges’ comments.
The Missouri Stories Scriptwriting Fellowship reserves the right to choose less than three scripts.
We strongly suggest that applicants register their Screenplays/ TV Pilot Scripts with the Writers Guild of America. (http://www.wgawregistry.org/webrss).
Conditions on Participation
Entrants must be 18 or older at the time of entry.
Collaborative work by two writers who share equally in its creation is eligible. The collaborators’ names must be added to the application. Trip prize package provided for one writer only. (But, second writer may attend at their own cost.)
Screenplays/TV pilot scripts must be the original work of the applicants and be
written in proper script format. If based upon another’s life story,
applicant(s) must attach a statement attesting to their rights to make such
adaptations. Neither the Fellowship nor its jurists investigate or attest to
the authenticity of an applicant’s statement of authorship or rights.
You can submit scripts based on prior work (novels, short stories), as long as
you have secured the underlying rights to the material.
Screenplays/TV pilot scripts must not be currently under option or sold.
Officers and employees of the Missouri Film Commission, Missouri Division of
Tourism and Missouri Motion Media Association; competition judges or mentors;
and the immediate families of these individuals are not eligible.
Submission Requirements
An
entrant may submit a maximum of two screenplays in the current
competition. Each submission is a separate application and requires a
separate application fee.
Entry fees will not be waived, returned or adjusted. Once an entry payment has been processed we cannot provide a refund. If a payment is disputed, the account holder may be subject to any fees.
No revisions or missing pages will be accepted once entry has been received.
No drafts or treatments will be accepted. Only completed scripts will be considered.
**The entrant’s name, address, phone number and any other identifying information should not appear on the title page or any other page of the script. Placing a Library of Congress or WGA registration number on the title page is acceptable, but not required.
There is no page minimum or maximum, but the feature screenplay should be approximately 90 - 120 pages in length. Pilot scripts between 30 – 65 pages. Submissions must have been written originally in English; translations will not be accepted.
Acknowledgment of Terms and Conditions:
By entering, I (we) attest:
A. To the accuracy of the information supplied in this application.
B. That the material submitted is my (our) sole and original work.
C. To my (our) agreement to hold the Missouri Film Commission, Missouri Division of Tourism and the Missouri Motion Media Association harmless from, and defend them against, all claims, demands, losses, costs, damages, judgments, liabilities and expenses (including attorneys’ fees) arising out of or in connection with any stories submitted to the Missouri Stories Scriptwriting Fellowship competition or any screenplay developed out of such stories.
D. That the Missouri Film Commission may retain the material submitted for use in connection with its Missouri Stories Scriptwriting Fellowship deliberations, and thereafter for its archival collection of materials, to which use I (we) expressly waive compensation.
E. That the burden of obtaining copyright or otherwise protecting any proprietary interests in the material, if I (we) wish to do so, rests entirely with me (us).
F. To my (our) understanding of the purposes and conditions of the Missouri Stories Scriptwriting Fellowship and to my (our) acceptance of them should I (we) be selected as a fellow.
G. That I am (we are) eligible for the competition, and that I (we) will notify The Missouri Stories Scriptwriting Fellowship if I (we) become ineligible prior to the conclusion of the competition.
H. That providing false or misleading information on this application, and failing in any other way to comply with the rules of the competition, will subject me (us) to disqualification, forfeiture of prize and/or other penalties.