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:

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.

Anurag Kashyap - the LEGENDARY Indian film director, producer and screenwriter. Proclaimed as "The Tarantino of Bollywood" by Deadline. As a filmmaker, he is known for Black Friday (2004), Dev D (2009), Gulaal (2009), That Girl in Yellow Boots (2011) and Gangs of Wasseypur (2012). As a screenwriter, he wrote the scripts for the Filmfare Award-winning Satya (1998) and the Academy Award-nominated Canadian film Water (2005). He co-produced the critically acclaimed drama The Lunchbox (2013) which earned him a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Film Not in the English Language.

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...

Celine Rattray and Jenny Halper from Maven Screen Media - 

Celine Rattray is an Oscar-nominated producer and Golden Globe winner for The Kids Are All Right. She has over 40 independent films under her belt as a producer, including 18 Sundance, 16 Toronto, four Berlin International, and one Cannes Film Festival selections. In 2020, Rattray co-founded Maven Screen Media, a UK development and production company. 

Jenny Halper is Maven's Executive Vice President and Director of Production and Development. She has worked on films including The Kids Are All Right, The Whistleblower, Bernie, Still Alice, and American Honey. Jenny is always on the lookout for distinctive stories with strong female characters. 

Stephen Woolley - is an English film producer and director, whose prolific career has spanned over three and a half decades, for which he was awarded the BAFTA award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema in February 2019. As a producer he has been Oscar-nominated for The Crying Game (1992), and has also produced multi-Academy Award-nominated films including Interview with a Vampire (1993), Michael Collins (1996), The End of the Affair (1999), and Carol (2016). He currently runs the production company Number 9 Films with his partner Elizabeth Karlsen.

Ross Katz - is an American film producer, screenwriter and director. Ross is a two time Academy Award Nominee, nominated for Academy Awards for producing Todd Field's In the Bedroom (2001), and Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation (2003). Katz has had three films in competition at the Sundance Film Festival. He won the best screenplay award from the Writers Guild of America and Best Director from the Director’s Guild of America - both for his 2009 Kevin Bacon film “Taking Chance” (HBO films). He currently runs the production company Sui Generis Pictures. 

Debra Hayward - is an Academy Award nominated British film producer. As Head of Film at Working Title Films, Hayward frequently served as an executive producer for the company's feature films. She produced award winning films Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Senna (documentary), Atonement, Pride & Prejudice, Love Actually and Bridget Jones films. Hayward's first solo film as producer was Les Misérables, which went on to win multiple awards, raising her profile and getting her an Oscar nomination. After producing Les Misérables, she started her own production company, Monumental Pictures. 

Jim Cummings - is the hottest independent filmmaker of the moment. As the guru of indie filmmaking, he is completely circumventing the system and producing and distributing his films in his own way and on his own terms. His short film Thunder Road (2016) premiered at Sundance winning Short Film Grand Jury Prize and was later remade into a 2018 feature film of the same name winning the South by Southwest Grand Jury Award. Jim also wrote, directed and starred in the 2020 film The Wolf of Snow Hollow. His current film The Beta Test was released in theaters in the United States on November 5, 2021 and is available to stream on demand. 

The Prizes:

Grand Prize Winner(s): 

* $10,000 Guaranteed Option for the overall winner! 

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

* 9 x $500 in Cash to each of our 9 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 Family - $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 2 Winners:

Spec Scout's three-reader coverage! (2 x $395 value) Your script gets 15+ hours of attention and 8 pages of detailed notes from 3 film professionals. Spec Scout's reviewers have worked for studios, won Emmys, worked as agents, and had their own films and shows produced. Spec Scout’s Script Score and three-reader system has predicted the critical success of films like Sound of Metal, Jojo Rabbit, and Peanut Butter Falcon years before they were made."

Top 5 Winners:

A 4-month InkTip Pro Membership. (5 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.

Top 25 Finalists:

The top 25 Finalists will receive: 

* Each of the 25 finalists will receive an EXCLUSIVE one page written feedback report from one of our 8 Academy Award 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!

* Each of the 25 finalists will receive a copy of the NEWEST Final Draft 12 - The  screenwriting software used by 95% of Hollywood (25 x $249.99 value)

* Each of the 25 finalists will receive a copy of the Script Hackr: The extensive online step-by-step screenwriting course from Script Reader Pro (25 x $299 value)

* Quarterfinalists, Semifinalists, and 25 Finalists will be published on our Instagram and all our other social media accounts. We currently have more than 430,000 followers combined and this will be an important exposure for you and will create more opportunities for your screenplay and your writing career. 

* Your script will be sent to our Judges & 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.