Screamfest
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Screamfest
Screamfest
2024
Active Since 2001
Screamfest Horror Film Festival is the largest and longest running horror film festival in the United States.
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Currently Closed. Subscribe to receive a notification when the next season opens.
About
Screamfest Horror Film Festival is the largest and longest running horror film festival in the United States. Paranormal Activity was discovered and premiered at the festival in 2007. Some of the largest horror online publications have called it the "Sundance of Horror".
The 2024 Festival will be held at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres on the 3rd floor of the Hollywood & Highland Center in eclectic Hollywood, California.
Screamfest, America’s largest and longest running horror film festival premieres and showcases new work from American and international independent horror filmmakers. Many of the filmmakers have garnered distribution and representation as a result of the festival. Screamfest launches careers.
Film entries are accepted in the categories of Best Feature, Directing, Cinematography, Editing, Special Effects and Musical Score. In addition, there are special categories for Best Animation, Best Short, Best Documentary and Best Student Film.
Screamfest was formed in August 2001 by film producers Rachel Belofsky and Ross Martin in order to give filmmakers and writers in the horror/sci-fi genres a venue to have their work showcased to people in the industry. We are very proud that the majority of the films showcased now have distribution.
Benefits
Winning Screenwriter Prize:
- $1,000 cash prize
- Our prestigious skull award designed by the legendary Stan Winston.
- 10 free pitches on VPF, the platform for TV/Film professionals seeking scripts and writers to represent. With VPF, writers can submit written pitches to 500+ networks/studios, producers and agents with the assurance of a guaranteed response. One prize per entrant, not per entry.
- 3 months of Roadmap Writers On Ramp program and 2 Open Pitch Sessions. Value $337
- General meeting with literary managers/producers.
- Movie Magic Screenwriting software.
- Winner will receive a 4-month InkTip Pro Membership. As an InkTip Pro Member, thousands of filmmakers can find and read your scripts, and you'll be able to pitch directly to production com-panies every week. With over 3,000 options and 400 movies made, InkTip is the place for inde-pendent film.
- 5 free pitches on VPF, the platform for TV/Film professionals seeking scripts and writers to represent. With VPF, writers can submit written pitches to 500+ networks/studios, producers and agents with the assurance of a guaranteed response. One prize per entrant, not per entry. Winning screenplay does not receive this prize in addition to the winning prize.
- Movie Magic Screenwriting software.
- 1 Roadmap Writers On Ramp program Open Pitch Session. Value $175
- One full festival pass to Screamfest 2023, including all screenings and parties,
- Read by leading industry managers/producers. Past judges included Ghost House Pictures, Hulu, Impossible DreamEntertainment, Gotham Group and more.
- Winners will receive a 4-month InkTip Pro Membership. As an InkTip Pro Member, thousands of filmmakers can find and read your scripts, and you'll be able to pitch directly to production com-panies every week. With over 3,000 options and 400 movies made, InkTip is the place for inde-pendent film.
- 1 free pitch on VPF, the platform for TV/Film professionals seeking scripts and writers to represent. With VPF, writers can submit written pitches to 500+ networks/studios, producers and agents with the assurance of a guaranteed response. One prize per entrant, not per entry.
- One year digital subscription to Videomaker magazine.
Announcements
Oct 1st
Finalists
Dec 18th
Today
Rules
- Feature film screenplay length should be at least 75 pages and not over 130.
- Short screenplays are not accepted.
- Writers who submit screenplays to Screamfest will have the option to receive feedback from our readers. The feedback is very brief, generally three to five sentences outlining the strengths and weaknesses of your screenplay. The feedback option is located on the submission form.
- You may enter your logline or paragraph synopsis on the online submission form. You do not need to include one with your pdf.
- Please include a title/cover page with your screenplay title, author name, WGA registration number and/or copyright information. The title page will not count towards the overall script page count.
- Screenplays can be submitted online by clicking the link above.
- Online entrants can complete their application, upload a PDF version of their script and make their credit card payment.
- Screenplay file names should be saved in this format: Title_Lastname.pdf
- The online application must be completed and script uploaded by 11:59 pm (Pacific Standard Time) on the uploaded by date or your submission fee will be forfeited.
- Entry fees are non refundable, and may be paid in the form of Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, or Discover paid in US dollars, only through a US affiliated bank. We process payments through Paypal. You do not have to have a Paypal account to make a payment. A $2.00 processing fee is included in the submission fee.
- We strongly suggest you register your screenplay with the Writers Guild of America, West and the US Copyright Office.