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Emerging Screenwriters
Shoot Your Short Screenplay Competition
2021
Active Since 2020
Bring your script to life with $5,000 cash to shoot your short and guidance from our highly talented consulting producers.
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Currently Closed. Subscribe to receive a notification when the next season opens.

About

Is Your Short Ready to Be Produced?

We've got you covered, from funding the production to providing all the necessary resources to produce a polished premiere-ready short. Bring your script to life with $5,000 cash to shoot your short and guidance from our highly talented consulting producers. As the Grand Prize Winner, we'll help you produce a film that is not only ready to submit to festivals, but primed to present to our list of agents, managers and producers as we champion you as a writer. Not a director or producer? No problem! Writers of all levels are encouraged to apply. Accepting shorts in multiple genres up to 15 pages in length. 

As the Grand Prize Winner, your short will be promoted on all of our media platforms and be championed to ISA industry contacts including top agents, managers and producers from CAA, Gersh, Madhouse, Echo Lake and more. Our support doesn’t stop there. Since our main goal is helping emerging writers develop, you’ll be invited onto the ISA Development Slate for a full year for more in depth support.

Benefits

GRAND PRIZE

  • $5,000 Towards Producing Your Short
  • Production Insurance
  • We Make Movies Gold Member Discount on Equipment Rental for the Shoot
  • 20 Scriptation Team Licenses for use During Production
  • Guidance from ISA Consulting Producers
  • Produced Short Featured and Highlighted on IndieFlix
  • ISA Development Slate Invitation
  • Prizes in All Other Categories

TOP 10

TOP 100

Announcements

Feb 23rd
Top 10s
Feb 23rd
Grand Prize Winners

Rules

  • Grand Prize Winning screenwriters of any previous Emerging Screenwriters SHOOT YOUR SHORT Competition season will not be eligible to submit to any further contest seasons.
  • Screenwriters who have placed 3 times in the top 6 of SHOOT YOUR SHORT are ineligible to submit to any further contest season.  
  • Scripts must be the original work of the author(s) and may not be encumbered by any third party.
  • Scripts that have been sold, produced for a profit, or are currently under option are not eligible.
  • Screenplays adapted from your own self-published books, plays, or other source material are eligible if you have retained all rights to your work.
  • Adaptations from other works are permissible provided you have the writer’s written permission to adapt the work.
  • Adaptations of works in the public domain are permissible.
  • Collaborative work is eligible; the writers are responsible for the distribution of the competition prize(s).
  • Emerging Screenwriters cannot guarantee your script feedback will be received within enough time to resubmit before the final deadline.
  • The writer understands that a script feedback can take up to 90-days turn-around time and may not be received before the end of the contest.
  • Prize packages cannot be exchanged or transferred to another party.
  • The International Screenwriters’ Association (ISA) will maintain the rights to the produced short and may post, promote and submit the completed short to various media outlets. 
  • The winning writer may post, promote and submit the completed short to various media outlets at the discretion of the ISA.
  • Prizes, depending on the sponsor’s request, may be distributed in the rate of 1 package per person based on the highest placement and not per winning screenplay.
  • ISAConnect Membership prizes expire after 90 days and cannot be combined with a current free ISAConnect membership.
  • You may submit your entry and payment online only. We’re GREEN!
  • Multiple entries are permissible with an additional entry fee. 
  • Once a script has been entered into the competition, we will only accept substitutions of new drafts or corrected pages if you contact us within 24 hours. After that, under no circumstances will we accept changes. If you wish to submit a revised draft of your script, you must enter it as a new submission and pay the appropriate entry fee.
  • Writers under the age of 18 years old must have parent or legal guardian’s permission to participate.
  • Competition applicants must accept without reservation the decisions rendered by the judges, which may not be disputed.
  • The writer understands that it is his/her sole responsibility to register material with the U.S. Copyright Office and/or with the Writer’s Guild of America or the appropriate agency in his/her country.
  • Payments will be accepted via Paypal where all major credit cards are accepted, or through registrations on the ISA website, Film Freeway or Coverfly.
  • Promotional discounts do not apply to ISA, Film Freeway or Coverfly registrations unless otherwise stated.
  • By entering this competition, and in the event you are declared a finalist, you understand and accept that Emerging Screenwriters and the ISA will be free to use your name, likeness, and completed short project for advertising or promotional purposes without additional consideration.
  • Contestants are under no obligation to participate therein.
  • No agreement for compensation, other than the prizes, has been implied.
  • Include a standard title page, listing the title of your script, name of author(s), telephone number, and email address. This does NOT affect the judging process.
  • Under no circumstances should you include your name or contact information within the body of your script.
  • The competition and its administrators are not responsible for any errors or omissions on the writers submission.
  • Please do not enclose synopses, casting suggestions, letters, resumes or photos with your submission. They will not be forwarded to the judges.
  • You understand that your logline and screenplay will be reviewed by our employees and/or our panel of industry judges for evaluation. You also understand that any one of these employees, or judges may have been or may be exploring ideas similar to yours, and you hereby waive any claim that Emerging Screenwriters, its employees or judges may have misappropriated any ideas or portions of your submission logline or screenplay.
  • By submitting to this contest, your email address will be added to the contest database as well as the International Screenwriters' Association newsletter for weekly updates, contest promotions and other notifications. You may unsubscribe at any time. 
  • It is our full intention to fulfill all prizes as posted. However, due to an unlikely event, act of God or other, we reserve the right to update or edit prizes.
  • The Grand Prize Winner will be responsible for producing their short with the guidance of ISA consulting producers.
  • Emerging Screenwriters and ISA reserves the right to award the cash prize in lieu of producing the short if COVID prevents the ability to have a safe set.
  • To enter Emerging Screenwriters Shoot Your Short you must agree to the rules.
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2021