ScreenCraft Virtual Pitch
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About
The ScreenCraft Virtual Pitch Competition gives writers the chance to pitch to industry professionals, a network of writers, and a live audience! Here’s how it works:
Submit your best elevator pitch - a written, typed pitch of no more than 350 words.
Semi-finalists will be asked to submit a 2-minute video pitch.
The selected finalists will pitch live and online, to a panel of A-list industry professionals.
Benefits
THE JUDGES
Pitch in front of Hollywood judges who are looking to celebrate great talent.
Nicole Perlman
Screenwriter
Best known for co-writing Marvel Studios blockbusters, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and CAPTAIN MARVEL. Nicole has won the Tribeca Film Festival's Sloan Foundation Grant for Science in Film, the Hugo Award, and the Ray Bradbury award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation. She will be directing her first feature film in January, and is developing a series for Apple TV.
David Madden
President, Berlanti Productions
As President of Berlanti Productions, David Madden oversees development and production for Berlanti’s TV projects. Previously, Madden was President of Programming at AMC and worked for nearly two decades at Fox, developing and producing EMPIRE, 911, BROOKLYN 99, THE AMERICANS, WHITE COLLAR, BURN NOTICE and many more. As producer and partner in Cort/Madden Company, Madden’s credits include RUNAWAY BRIDE, SAVE THE LAST DANCE and AGAINST THE ROPES.
Davina Hefflin
Literary Agent, Verve
Davina Hefflin received her MFA in Screenwriting from Chapman University and has dedicated herself to building Black/diverse, Female, and LGBTQ+ creatives and helping them tell new stories that will have a positive and lasting impact. Hefflin started at The Gersh Agency, and is now a Literary Agent at Verve, the agency that represents talents like Jac Schaeffer, Lord & Miller, Kimberly Pierce and more
THE PRIZES
On top of pitching live to this incredible jury, the winner will receive prizes and industry outreach. Dozens of ScreenCraft winners have signed with managers, sold their scripts, option projects, been staffed, or been hired for open writing assignments. Check out some of the success stories here.
The finalists of the ScreenCraft Virtual Pitch Competition will have the exclusive opportunity to pitch live, over Zoom, to a panel of entertainment industry leaders (Literary Agents, Screenwriters, TV Showrunners, etc).
The overall Grand Prize winner will receive a $1000 prize, and will be welcomed into the ScreenCraft Development Program and receive personal introductions and phone calls with one or more top Hollywood literary managers who are looking for talented emerging TV screenwriters.
The winners’ project info and log lines will be circulated and recommended to our network of over 60 Hollywood managers, agents, producers, and development executives.
ScreenCraft has a proven track record for getting writers signed with representation, and staffed in writing rooms. Past ScreenCraft winners have signed with reps at CAA, WME, 3 Arts, Anonymous Content, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and United Talent Agency.
Writer Success
Announcements
Rules
- 350-word pitch submissions are accepted via electronic submission only.
- Entry fees are as listed on the site and checkout form. No coupon or discount is applicable on a previous entry.
- There is no optional feedback option from a professional reader applicable to this competition.
- All participants must first submit a written, typed pitch of no more than 350 words. Your written pitch can include a brief description of characters, plot, themes, tone, writer background, comparable projects, etc. Any submission of more than 350 words will be disqualified from the competition.
- Pitches should be for feature films and episodic series only. Please do not pitch a short film.
- There is no limit to the number of projects you may submit.
- All semi-finalists will be required to submit a filmed video pitch of themselves, via a private link.
- Instructions for submission of video pitch will be sent only to Semifinalists. Only submissions with a filmed video pitch will be eligible to advance to the finals.
- Hundred Semifinalists will be selected from the written submissions.
- Video submission guidelines for Semifinalists:
- Video can be hosted on YouTube, Vimeo, or any public-access video hosting platform.
- Video must be 3 minutes or less in total, including stop/start time and a brief introduction. We ask that the pitch itself be no more than 2 minutes, but if you go over by a few seconds you will not be automatically disqualified.
- There is no judging criteria based on video quality other than the clear ability to see/hear the writer(s). Self-filmed pitches via your smartphone are fine.
- No additional props, guests or support materials may be in the video, only the writer(s).
- Writers should - and the judges will - consider this video pitch a rehearsal for pitching live.
- The finalists will be invited to pitch live to the Panel of Judges, over Zoom.
- Finalists must be available for the Pitch Finals online event. Finalists who are not available for the event will be disqualified.
- Winners will be selected and announced at the Finals Event .
- Pitch 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).
- If a writing team is chosen as a winner, both members of the writing team must be available to live-pitch at the Finals event.
- It is recommended (but not required) that original material be registered with the WGA or The Library of Congress US Copyright Office before submitting to any competition.
- Contact info may be included on the pitch, however, it is not required.
- ScreenCraft claims no ownership nor option on your work. All ownership and rights to the scripts submitted to this contest remain with the original rights holder(s).
- 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.
- ScreenCraft reserves the right to change deadline and announcement dates at any time.
- ScreenCraft reserves the right to amend these rules at any time.
