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ScreenCraft
ScreenCraft Short Film Screenplay Competition
2019
Coverfly-exclusive
Reads in Coverfly
Active Since 2017
What do George Lucas, Neill Blomkamp, and Lynne Ramsay all have in common? They started their careers from a short script. We want to help build new great careers for amazing short script writers.
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About

ScreenCraft's Short Screenplay Competition is one of Hollywood's top contests celebrating short-form screenwriting. With the rise in demand for high-quality short content across new platforms and devices, and the increased industry importance placed on short filmmaking worldwide, we’re honoring the craft of short-form narrative screenwriting via this 5th annual competition, which features a prestigious jury of industry-leading professionals. 

Benefits

On top of a $1,000 cash grant for the winner, and Hollywood industry introductions, the top scripts are read by this amazing jury:

Andrew Allen, Short of the Week

Filmmaker and technologist, Andrew Allen is the Founder & Managing Director of Short of the Week—the web’s leading discovery engine for the new generation of filmmakers. Recognized by Filmmaker Magazine as one of 25 New Faces of Indie Film, he has had his films recognized by Wired, Fast Company, and festivals around the world. He is also the Co-Founder and Head of Design of FiftyThree, makers of the popular Paper drawing app and winner of Apple’s App of the Year award.

Alice Kharoubi, Cannes Film Festival

Alice is the Head of Court Métrage, an entity dedicated to Short Films developed by the Cannes Film Festival. She is also the short film programmer for the Abu Dhabi Film Festival since its creation, as well as the international shorts programmer for Festival Tous Ecrans in Geneva, Switzerland. She is continually a part of selection committees and has participated as a jury member at festivals all over the world.

Sudeep Sharma, Sundance Festival

Sudeep is the Programmer for Short Film submissions at the Sundance Film Festival, the world-reknowned festival celebrating independent filmmakers and storytellers. He holda a PhD in Film & Television and has worked previously with the Los Angeles Film Festival, Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and others.

Linda Olszewski, Shorts.TV

Linda is a Creative Executive at Shorts.TV, the world's first and only 24/7 cable and satellite television channel dedicated to short films, including Academy Award nominated short films.

Writer Success

2024 Semifinalists on Coverfly

See Other Placements

Announcements

Sep 25th
Semifinalists
Oct 23rd
Finalists
Nov 13th
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.

For full rules, terms, and conditions, please visit -- https://screencraft.org/shorts/

Rules:

  • Optional feedback from a professional reader may be requested at the time of entry. Requests for feedback after an entry is submitted will not be accepted.
  • Any screenplays over 35 pages will be charged and extra $1 per page. 
  • There is no limit to the number of projects you may submit.
  • 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.
  • All submitted material must be original, and all rights must be wholly owned by the writer(s).
  • 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). All writers must be credited on title page.
  • 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 the prize money.
  • Substitutions of either corrected pages or new drafts of the entered material will be allowed for a limited time with a $5 reentry fee through Coverfly. Please proofread your script carefully before submitting.
  • 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.
  • Contact info may be included on the cover page of the screenplay, however it is not required.
  • All ownership and rights to the scripts submitted to this contest remains with the original rights holders.
ELIGIBILITY:
  • All writers at least 18 years of age are eligible. However, a writer who has earned more than $50,000 (or equivalent currency) from professional writing services for film or TV in the preceding year is not. (Contest winnings not included.)
  • All persons from anywhere in the world are eligible; however the material submitted must be in English (occasional dialogue in other languages is acceptable, if subtitle translation is provided).
  • All material submitted to other competitions or contests are eligible for this contest.
  • There are no requirements as to when the material was written.
  • Screenplay and intellectual property must be wholly owned and submitted by the writer(s).
  • Material should be submitted in standard screenplay format, font, spacing and margin.
  • We have no preferences regarding title page content. Title and name of writer would suffice.
  • Entries for this competition are managed on the submission platform Coverfly.
  • Adaptations are ineligible unless the underlying rights are owned by the writer or the work is in the public domain.
  • All material must be submitted electronically as a PDF or it will not be eligible.

The judging panel, selected by ScreenCraft or its representatives in its sole discretion, will include one screenplay development professional from each of these studios and production companies listed on this year’s jury, however these studios and companies are in no way official sponsors or endorsers of this contest. The top finalists will be chosen based on the following criteria: (i) originality; (ii) story; (iii) characterization; (iv) visual inventiveness; and (v) overall impression. The top finalists will be notified by email and may be contacted by interested industry representatives, such as managers, agents or producers. Entrants may be required to submit further information to assist in the judges’ verification of eligibility. Any entrant may be deemed ineligible at the sole discretion of ScreenCraft. Quarter-finalist, semifinalist, and winner announcements will begin approximately 6 weeks after the final deadline. Finalists may be required to sign and return within seven (7) business days of receipt a notarized Affidavit of Eligibility and a Release and Indemnification and any other documents that ScreenCraft or any other partner may require before receiving prize payment. Failure to respond to the initial notification within ten (10) days or return of notification will result in disqualification. We reserve the right to amend these rules at any time.

COPYRIGHT AND OWNERSHIP

ScreenCraft or any other partner, employee or agent associated with this contest claims no ownership nor first right of option to any original screenplay submitted to this contest. All ownership and rights to the scripts submitted to this contest remains with the original rights holders until and unless other agreements are made.

PUBLICITY

Except where prohibited by law, participation in the contest constitutes each entrant’s consent to ScreenCraft and its agents’ and contest sponsor’s use of entrants’ names, likenesses, photographs, and/or personal information for promotional purposes in any media, worldwide, without further payment or consideration. All uses of a entrants’ information are in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

REFUND POLICY

All entries are non-refundable.

ENTRY CONDITIONS AND RELEASE

BY ENTERING THE CONTEST YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND AGREE TO THESE CONDITIONS. You agree to release and hold harmless ScreenCraft LLC, ScreenCraft.org, its subsidiary, parent and affiliated companies, Prize contributors, judges, screenplay readers, Sponsors, and any other organizations responsible for administering, advertising or promoting the Contest, and every one of their respective members, directors, employees, agents and representatives (collectively, the “Released Parties”) past and present from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liability, including but not limited to damages and negligence to property and persons, including but not limited to invasion of privacy, defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, copyright, infringement of trademark or other intellectual property rights relating to a participant’s Entry, participation in the Contest and/or acceptance or use or misuse of Prize; provided however, that such release will not apply to any commercial exploitation of the script by a Released Party in violation of your rights under applicable copyright law; and (c) indemnify, defend and hold harmless the ScreenCraft.org and its Sponsor, agents and employees from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorneys fees) relating to an entrant’s participation in the Contest and/or entrant’s use or misuse of Prize. Employees of ScreenCraft and their immediate families are ineligible to participate in this contest. Any such submission will be immediately disqualified. ENTRY TO THIS CONTEST IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED or restricted by any Federal, State or Local law. Voided entries will be refunded. Recipients’ eligibility will be verified before the grant is awarded and the winner may be required to sign an affidavit of eligibility. By entering the contest, you authorize us to use any trusted third-party online and cloud-based services and databases for hosting, managing and/or transmitting your submission file(s).