What is your end goal as a writer of a Spec Feature Screenplay? The end goal is to get your screenplay MADE INTO A FEATURE FILM right? Of course, there are interim goals of getting recognition, to get feedback, to get writing assignments, to sign with an agent or a manager,... and with our competition, you’ll get all these things. But the END goal should always be to get your screenplay PRODUCED.

Well, here is your chance. Most of our judges are CEOs of the world’s most renowned film production companies. Almost all of them are Academy Award Nominated producers! They ALL actually have the Power, Resources and access to Hollywood A-listers to get your script made into an Award-Winning Feature Film.

The Jury:

MICHAEL MANN - Legendary filmmaker, screenwriter and producer of such iconic films as HEAT, The Insider, Miami Vice and Collateral! Four-time Academy Award nominee! 

Michael Mann is a world-renowned director, screenwriter, producer, and one of the most innovative and influential filmmakers in American cinema. He is a four-time Academy Award® nominee, two-time Emmy®-winner and recipient of WGA, DGA and BAFTA Awards as a director, producer and writer. 

After writing and directing the Emmy®-winning television movie THE JERICHO MILE, Mann executive produced the acclaimed and highly influential television series MIAMI VICE and CRIME STORY.  He won an Emmy® for the mini-series DRUG WARS: THE CAMARENA STORY, which he co-wrote and executive produced.  Mann directed the pilot and executive produced the HBO series LUCK starring Dustin Hoffman and the limited documentary series WITNESS also for HBO. Recently, Mann served as an executive producer and directed the pilot episode, launching the HBO Max series TOKYO VICE, starring Ansel Elgort and Ken Watanabe in 2022. 

Mann made his feature film directorial debut with THIEF and went on to also write and direct MANHUNTER, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, HEAT, THE INSIDER, ALI, MIAMI VICE, and direct COLLATERAL, PUBLIC ENEMIES, BLACKHAT, and FERRARI. As a producer, Mann’s work includes Martin Scorsese’s THE AVIATOR, THE KINGDOM, HANCOCK, TEXAS KILLING FIELDS and FORD V FERRARI.  

As an author, in addition to filmmaking, Mann’s #1 New York Times Bestseller novel, HEAT 2, written with Meg Gardiner, was published by Harper Collins, and Mann is currently adapting it for the screenplay.  

PAUL SCHRADER - Writer of Martin Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER and RAGING BULL.  Academy Award® Nominee for Best Original Screenplay for First Reformed (2017)

Paul Schrader is known as one of the cinema’s most successful screenwriters. He is also a film critic and film director. He started his career as a film critic, before he began writing screenplays, hitting the jackpot when he sold his first screenplay, Yakuza, for then-record sum of $325,000, thus establishing his reputation as one of Hollywood's top screenwriters. 

He first received widespread recognition through his screenplay for Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scorsese, writing or co-writing Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Bringing Out the Dead (1999). Paul Schrader has also directed 24 films, including Blue Collar (1978), Hardcore (1979), American Gigolo (1980), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985) and Affliction (1997). 

His three most recent films have been described by Schrader as a loose trilogy: First Reformed (2017), The Card Counter (2021), and Master Gardener (2022).

He has written the screenplays for two 'Best Picture' Academy Award nominees (Taxi Driver (1976) and Raging Bull (1980), but would only receive his first Academy Award nomination for 'Best Screenplay' more than 40 years working in the business - he got nominated for First Reformed (2017).

WENDY FINERMAN - Academy Award® Winner for Best Picture for Forrest Gump

Wendy Finerman is an American film producer. She is best known for winning the Academy Award for Best Picture for Forrest Gump in 1994. Forrest Gump received critical acclaim for Zemeckis's direction, performances (particularly those of Tom Hanks and Gary Sinise), visual effects, music, and screenplay. The film was an enormous success at the box office; it became the top-grossing film in America released that year and earned over US $678.2 million worldwide. 

Further Wendy Finerman won a BAFTA Award for Fairy Tale in 1998. She has also produced such popular films as The Fan starring Robert De Niro; Stepmom starring Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon; P.S. I Love You starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler and The Devil Wears Prada starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep. She is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and runs her own company, Wendy Finerman Productions.

DAN JINKS - Academy Award® Winner for Best Picture for American Beauty

Dan Jinks is an American film and television producer. In 2010, Jinks launched his own film and television production company, the Dan Jinks Company. In July 2011, he signed an overall deal with CBS Television Studios. 

Previously, working with producing partner Bruce Cohen, Jinks produced Milk, directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Sean Penn. The film was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay.

The pair won the Best Picture Academy Award in 2000 for producing American Beauty. The film won a total of five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Next film was Tim Burton's Big Fish, which was nominated as Best Picture for both the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs.

In television, Jinks and Cohen executive produced the acclaimed ABC series Pushing Daisies, which won eight Emmy Awards. 

In the summer of 2008, Jinks and Cohen produced A Timeless Call, a tribute to war veterans that Steven Spielberg directed for the Democratic National Convention.

Jinks produced Nothing to Lose, starring Martin Lawrence and Tim Robbins for Touchstone Pictures, and executive produced The Bone Collector, with Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie for Universal. 

GARY MICHAEL WALTERS - Producer of such iconic films as Drive, Nightcrawler, and Whiplash! Emmy Award® Nominee for Outstanding Television Movie Oslo (2021)

Gary Michael Walters - CEO of Bold Films. Bold Films is a production and finance company dedicated to providing an artistic haven for creative talent and to producing original, studio-quality films with worldwide commercial appeal. Gary oversees all aspects of Bold Films: production, finance, legal, creative, strategy and sales. Gary has produced or executive produced all of its movies. He is a producer of such iconic films as Drive, Nightcrawler and Whiplash! His recent production is Netflix’s film The Guilty with Jake Gyllenhaal.

MIKE MEDAVOY - Academy Award® Nominee for Best Picture for Black Swan

Mike Medavoy - CEO of Phoenix Pictures. Sample some of the best American films over the past forty years and there's a good chance Mike Medavoy played a role in the success of many of them. From agent to studio chief to producer, he has been involved with over 300 feature films, of which 17 have been nominated and 7 have won Best Picture Oscars®, as well as numerous international film festival awards. He is a producer of such iconic films as Shutter Island, Zodiac and Black Swan! For the latest he received an Academy Award Nomination. He’s produced for Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Darren Aronofsky and many more...

SIENA OBERMAN - Variety Top 10 Producers to Watch in 2021, Founder & CEO of Artemis Pictures

Siena Oberman is the founder of Artemis Pictures, a filmmaker driven female run production company. She was named in Forbes 30 Under 30 2022, Variety Top 10 Producers to Watch in 2021, and Diversity in Cannes Top 10 Female Filmmakers to Watch in 2019. She focuses on stylistically bold independent films and female driven stories. She's had feature films in TIFF, Berlinale, Tribeca, Telluride, and Venice. Her films have been acquired by companies such as A24, IFC, Screen Media, Universal, Lionsgate, Hulu, and eOne. Before Artemis, Siena was a Development Executive at Yale Productions. Prior to producing, Siena went to USC and studied Business and Cinema.

ADAM NOVAK - Head of Story Development for WME

Adam Novak is the Head of Story Development for Hollywood's Top Talent and Literary Agency WME (William Morris/Endeavor)

Born, bred, and buttered in DC, Adam Novak majored in screenwriting at USC’s School of Cinema-Television where he sold his senior thesis script Conversations with a Cannibal before starting his career at the venerable William Morris Agency (now WME) as the exclusive script reader for Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, Sylvester Stallone, John Travolta, Clint Eastwood, and Bruce Willis. 

As Head of the William Morris/Endeavor (WME) Story Department for more than 25 years, Novak championed The Blair Witch Project, Promising Young Woman, Titanic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Truman Show, and Waterworld.  

Novak has also published a series of novels about the movie business: The Non-Pro (Salvo Press/2008), Take Fountain (Rare Bird Books/2015), Freaks of the Industry (Rare Bird Books/2017), and Rat Park (Red Giant Books/2022). Novak recently celebrated his 33rd year at the WME agency.

The Prizes:

Grand Prize Winner(s): 

* $5,000 Guaranteed Option  for the Overall Winner! 

This is your real chance at getting your script made into a feature film!

*MENTORSHIP with Academy Award® Winner DAN JINKS (Producer of American Beauty)  

* 8 x $500 in Cash to each of our 8 GENRE Prize Winners. 

Best Action & Adventure - $500 for the Winner

Best Animation - $500 for the Winner

Best Comedy - $500 for the Winner

Best Drama - $500 for the Winner

Best Horror - $500 for the Winner

Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy - $500 for the Winner

Best Thriller - $500 for the Winner

Best True Story & Public Domain - $500 for the Winner

Top 15 Finalists:

* Each of the 15 finalists will receive an EXCLUSIVE one page written feedback report from one of our Academy Award Winning/Nominated judges! This one is HUGE!  The CEOs of the best film production companies in the world will actually read your script and give you feedback! And if they like it, you'll have a big chance of getting it produced into a feature film! You can get your script read by  PAUL SCHRADER, the writer of TAXI DRIVER! Or by any other of our Academy Award Winning/Nominated judges!

* Each of the 15 finalists will also receive a 4-month InkTip Pro Membership. (15 x $130 value) As an InkTip Pro Member, thousands of filmmakers can find and read your scripts, and you'll be able to pitch directly to production companies every week. With over 3,000 options and 400 movies made, InkTip is the place for independent film.

Semifinalists & Quarter-Finalists:

* Quarterfinalists, Semifinalists, and 15 Finalists will be published on our Instagram and all our other social media accounts. We currently have more than 2.6 MILLION followers combined and this will be important exposure for you and will create more opportunities for your screenplay and your writing career. 

* Your script will be sent to our Judges, Producers, Literary Agents, Managers & specially chosen members of our industry contacts. You don’t need to be one of our finalists to have your script sent out. If we notice an interesting script that we know a certain producer, agent, or manager will be interested to read, we'll contact you and ask if we can send it to a certain industry contact.