ScreenCraft
ScreenCraft Action & Adventure Screenplay Competition
2024
Reads in Coverfly
Active Since 2016
Joe Robert Cole, co-writer of BLACK PANTHER and BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER, joins as our VIP Mentor alongside jurors from Zero Gravity, Thunder Road, Buchwald and more...
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About

Accepting TV and Feature Scripts

ScreenCraft's Action & Adventure competition has consistently led to writers signing with literary reps at companies including Bellevue Productions, Rascality Entertainment, Kersey Management, Citizen Skull, and more.

So whether it’s a pressure cooker moment, a ticking clock, or saving the world from destruction, we're looking for scripts that can keep us on the edge of our seats.

We are thrilled to welcome Emmy-nominated screenwriter Joe Robert Cole, co-writer of BLACK PANTHER and BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER as a VIP Mentor for this year’s competition. 

Benefits

VIP MENTOR

JOE ROBERT COLE

Filmmaker and Writer

Joe Robert Cole is a filmmaker committed to crafting smart, rich, character-driven journeys as well as creating tent-pole, world-renowned projects. Along with Ryan Coogler, Cole co-wrote the Academy Award-nominated “Black Panther,” for which Cole received an NAACP Award. His critically-acclaimed feature directorial debut for Netflix “All Day and a Night,” starring Ashton Sanders (“Moonlight”) and Jeffrey Wright was released May 1st, 2020. Cole produced the Emmy-Winning FX series “American Crime Story: The People vs. OJ Simpson,” for which he also received an Emmy nomination for writing the episode “The Race Card.” Joe co-wrote “Black Panther 2" with Ryan Coogler, released by Marvel/Disney in 2022. He co-directed the pilot and directed the final two episodes of the 2023 series “Class of ’09" for FX starring Brian Tyree Henry and Kate Mara for which he was also an Executive Producer. Joe is writing the upcoming biopic about icon Snoop Dogg produced by Death Row Pictures for Universal. He is also writing a conspiracy thriller for Amazon Studios that he will direct this year.


THE PRIZES

Grand Prize Winner

The overall grand prize winner in either feature or TV category will be welcomed to the Writer Development Program and receive personal introductions and phone calls with one or more top Hollywood literary manager(s), producers, or industry execs who are looking for talented emerging Film & TV screenwriters.

They'll receive:

- Personal Introduction to top literary managers
- Accepted into the Writer Development Program
- $1,000 cash award
- An exclusive invitation to a Finalist+ workshop to position yourself and your writing to the industry
- Virtual Q&A with Joe Robert Cole

Feature & TV Winners

- $500 cash award
- Accepted into the Writer Development Program
- An exclusive invitation to a Finalist+ workshop to position yourself and your writing to the industry
- Virtual Q&A with Joe Robert Cole

Finalists

- An exclusive invitation to a Finalist+ workshop to position yourself and your writing to the industry
- Guaranteed Meeting with an Industry Professional
- Virtual Q&A with Joe Robert Cole


ADD-ON DEVELOPMENT PRIZE

This optional add-on prize category will grant one eligible writer the opportunity to learn, develop, and strengthen their project with guidance from an industry professional. Only projects submitted to the ScreenCraft Action & Adventure Competition AND that select this add-on are eligible for consideration in this category. Additionally, all projects that place in the Top 10 of the competition will automatically be considered.

NADYA PANFILOV

Manager, Writ Large

Nadya Panfilov is a literary manager at Writ Large, an LA-based entertainment management and production company that specializes in writers, directors and actors in film and television. Nadya has been Hollywood-pilled from the moment she got American cable in Uzbekistan in 2000. Since then, she has been obsessed with figuring out how to expand the inclusive and, often times, therapeutic power of storytelling. As a manager, she strives to find voices that can make any outcast from any part of the world feel seen and understood.

Judges

Buchwald

Daniel Perry

Literary Agent

Buchwald

Daniel is a Film & TV Literary Agent at Buchwald, representing prolific, iconic, and award-winning writers, directors, producers, and multi-hyphenates. Buchwald was launched in 1977, and is an industry leader in representation.

Paris Herbert-Taylor

Creative Executive

Paris Herbert-Taylor is a former Creative Executive at Pride of Gypsies, founded by Jason Momoa, star of beloved tentpole film and television series Aquaman, Game of Thrones, and Dune. She is currently developing various feature projects.

Zero Gravity

Matt Tegtmeier

Development Executive

Zero Gravity

Matt Tegtmeier works in development at Zero Gravity Management (OZARK, THE ACCOUNTANT), shepherding genre projects from grounded sci-fi to action comedy that tell larger than life stories from a character driven perspective- exploring the extraordinary from a very ordinary, humanistic angle. Prior to Zero Gravity, Matt was a screenwriter, having sold and optioned material to companies like Endeavor Content and Hyde Park Entertainment with his writing partner.

Confluential Films

Prince Baggett

Producer and Executive

Confluential Films

Prince Baggett recently led the charge at Confluential Films & Black Love. In his role as Head of Film, he oversees films such as Young. Wild. Free with Sanaa Lathan, "The Perfect Find," and "Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project." Before joining Confluential, Prince held the reins at Genius Productions, overseeing Marsai Martin's first-look deal with Universal Pictures and playing a pivotal role in development on projects like "Little" “Saturdays” and "Amari and the Night Brothers."

Thunder Road Films

Courtney Brock

Director of Development

Thunder Road Films

Courtney Brock is Director of Development at Thunder Road. Thunder Road Films are the producers of the JOHN WICK franchise, MONKEY MAN, KANDAHAR, WIND RIVER and SICARIO. Prior to this, she was a creative executive at Sue Kroll’s Kroll & Co. Entertainment.

Writer Success

The ScreenCraft Action & Adventure competition helped open doors for me by landing me vital meetings with multiple executives at production companies as well as working writers in the industry.
Aleksandr Biskis
2021 Winner
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Coverfly Program Insights
Coverfly vets all programs on its platform, but not every program is right for every writer. Program Insights help you decide where to submit your work.

2024 Winners on Coverfly

Top 4%
Feature  · Adventure  · 97 Pages
1942. Framed for killing Allied agents, an ex-husband and wife must race across Nazi-occupied Europe to clear their names while trying not to fall back in love along the way.
Los Angeles, CA
Nicholas Schmid is a daydreamer. Somehow, writing those dreams down has turned him into an AFI grad, PAGE Awards Winner, ScreenCraft Action and Adventure Winner, and has placed him in the Top 50 of the Academy Nicholl Fellowship. He likes long hikes and short naps, hot paprika and cold nights, big dogs and small spaces. And telling stories. Telling...
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Top 1%
TV Script  · Action  · 59 Pages
Days before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, British spy Elaine Fisher and her team are sent on a perilous mission beyond the Iron Curtain to recover a stolen nuclear device and prevent a catastrophic disaster.
Queensland, AU
Criss Gidas is a Greek-Australian writer/director whose imagination never takes a day off. By day, she weaves action-packed narratives with heart and fearless female heroes. By night, she brings cinematic dreams to life as a cinema projectionist. Hero of Hyrule? Check. Pokémaster in search of the next great character? Absolutely. Criss is always ...
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Top 4%
Feature  · Action  · 96 Pages
An Amazon deliveryman is ambushed in Mexico by a group of mobsters who mistake him for a drug mule and must survive using only the packages inside his van.
Los Angeles, CA
An aspiring action, thriller & mystery screenwriter based in Los Angeles, California. While working for a completely unrelated Bachelor's degree in Business & Economics at an international university, I've written many shorts, treatments, and feature-length scripts in various genres and niches.
See Other Placements

Announcements

Aug 28th
Semifinalists
Sep 25th
Finalists
Oct 16th
Development Prize Winners
Oct 16th
Winners

Rules

At the program's request, Coverfly will automatically remove your title page for you if you include one when submitting to this program.

  1. Submissions are accepted via electronic submission only.

  2. Entry fees are as listed on the site and checkout form. No coupon or discount is applicable on a previous entry.

  3. Optional feedback from a professional reader may be requested at the time of entry. Requests for feedback can be done through Coverfly.

  4. Entries may be any length --  the standard 1/2 hour is between 20 - 40 pages, and the standard hour long is between 40 - 70 pages, and the standard feature is between 85 - 120 pages. Any script submission longer than 120 pages will incur a $.50 per page overage fee for each page over 120 if it does not include feedback and $1 per page if the entry does include feedback.

  5. There is no limit to the number of projects you may submit.

  6. Entries must be received on or before the deadline dates by 11:59PM Pacific Time, and submission fee payment must be made in full at time of the submission. All entry fees are non-refundable.

  7. All submitted material must be owned by the writer(s), however the material may be based on other works not owned by the writers.

  8. Material must be submitted by the writer. Material written by writing teams must be submitted by one of the writers, with consent of the other(s).

  9. If a writing team is chosen as a winner, prizes will be given to the person who submits the project. Each team is responsible for dividing or sharing any prizes awarded as they deem fair (whether there is a cash value or not).

  10. Substitutions of either corrected pages or new drafts of the entered material will be allowed for a limited time with a $6 reentry fee through Coverfly. Please proofread your script carefully before submitting.

  11. It is recommended that original material be registered with the WGA or The Library of Congress before submitting to any competition, however we do not require registration.

  12. Contact info may be included on the cover page of the screenplay, however it is not required. ScreenCraft uses Coverfly to manage submissions and automatically removes cover pages before scripts are read by the judges.

  13. ScreenCraft claims no ownership nor option on your work. All ownership and rights to the scripts submitted to this contest remains with the original rights holders. 

  14. The decision of the judges will be final and cannot be contested in any manner. There is no score on a scorecard that guarantees advancement to the next level as advancement will be based on all scores in the competition.

  15. In the event a juror, partner organization, or prize partner is no longer able to serve in their specified capacity, ScreenCraft will make its best effort to secure a replacement. ScreenCraft is not responsible for the failed delivery of any prize package by a juror, sponsor, or partner organization.

  16. ScreenCraft reserves the right to change deadline and announcement dates at any time.

  17. ScreenCraft reserves the right to amend these rules at any time.

    For a full list of rules and eligibility please visit ScreenCraft.