Shore Scripts
Shore Scripts Feature Contest
2025
Active Since 2012
Guaranteed Option Prize, Specific Genre Meetings, 1-to-1 Judges' Feedback, Mentorships, Cash Prizes + more. We've launched screenwriting careers at Sony, Blumhouse, Film4, & Hulu.
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About

Shore Scripts 2025 Feature Contest - Submit Your Script Here


Guaranteed Option Prize, Specific Genre Meetings, 1-to-1 Judges' Feedback, Mentorships, Cash Prizes + more. We've launched screenwriting careers at Sony, Blumhouse, Film4, & Hulu.


For over a decade, Shore Scripts has been shining a light on new screenwriting talent. This year we are presenting a unique opportunity for feature writers to go behind the scenes and get mentorship from our award-winning Judges.


Feature film production is a massive engine, made up of many moving parts and engaging the creative talents of a huge number of individuals, but as the well-known phrase goes, “It all starts with the script.”


RETURNING IN 2025 – A GUARANTEED PAID OPTION PRIZE with Showdown Productions!


Showdown Productions has come on board to select and sign a Paid Option Agreement with one of Shore’s 2025 feature writers, working with the writer to develop their project before taking it out to market. This is a career-changing experience for an upcoming writer that will enable them to gain experience developing their work with a top production company. They will also build up their network, whilst giving their script the best opportunity of being taken through into production.


Showdown will be presented with a shortlist of the strongest screenplays for them to choose the winner.


To be eligible for consideration for the Guaranteed Option Prize you must select the +Showdown entry when submitting your Feature screenplay.


Showdown Productions is a Los Angeles-based Production Company founded by Bo Youngblood and John Ierardi, and repped by UTA. They have produced multiple feature films, including Blumhouse’s TORN HEARTS, FOLLOW ME & SAFER AT HOME. They are looking to work with writers and material that not only has a strong artistic vision but also makes a commentary on social and diverse issues.


NEW IN 2025 - 5 GENRE SPECIFIC PRIZES: COMEDY, DRAMA, THRILLER, HORROR, SCI-FI/FANTASY


+ OUTSTANDING INDUSTRY MENTORSHIPS


This year, Shore Scripts will be awarding placings to two (2) Winners, 1 Guaranteed Option Winner, 5 Genre Winners, Top 10 Finalists, Semi-Finalists, and Quarter-Finalists.


Along with cash awards and development prizes, the Grand Prize Winner will have an unprecedented opportunity to participate in one-to-one calls with multiple Judges to get firsthand advice on how to polish their script with a view to successful production and receive must-have career advice and industry guidance.


Get your script read by:

- Tess McGuinness Director of Development, Red Wagon Entertainment – DIVERGENT, THE GREAT GATSBY

- Antony Johnston Author & Screenwriter – ATOMIC BLONDE, RESIDENT EVIL, DEAD SPACE.

- Shih-Ching Tsou Writer & Director & Producer – TAKE OUT, TANGERINE, THE FLORIDA PROJECT.

- Alice Smith, Atomic Monster – M3GAN, THE CONJURING.


SUBMIT YOUR SCRIPT HERE: https://www.shorescripts.com/feature/.

SHORE SCRIPTS | DISCOVERING NEW SCREENWRITING TALENT FROM AROUND THE WORLD.

Benefits

Shore Scripts 2025 Feature Contest - Submit Your Script Here


RETURNING IN 2025 – A GUARANTEED PAID OPTION PRIZE with Showdown Productions!


Showdown Productions is a Los Angeles-based Production Company who have produced multiple feature films, including Blumhouse’s TORN HEARTS, FOLLOW ME & SAFER AT HOME. Showdown will select and sign a Paid Option Agreement with one of Shore’s 2024 feature writers, working with the writer to develop their project before taking it out to market. This will be a career-changing experience for an upcoming writer that will enable them to gain experience developing their work with a top production company.


Showdown will be presented with a shortlist of the strongest screenplays for them to choose the winner. To be eligible for consideration for the Guaranteed Option Prize you must select the +Showdown entry when submitting your Feature screenplay.


NEW THIS YEAR - 5 Genre Winners: Comedy, Drama, Thriller, Horror, and Sci-Fi/Fantasy


Plus, our prestigious panel of Oscar & BAFTA winning Judges will decide this year’s Winners.

* Grand Prize Winner - $5,000.

- Writer Development Calls with our Judges, Antony Johnston (ATOMIC BLONDE), Jack Donaldson (M3GAN).


* 2nd Place Winner - $1000.


* 5 Genre Winners - Guaranteed Meeting with Top Production Company in That Genre


In 2025 all of our 7 Winners and Top 10 Finalists will have the opportunity to participate in our Writer Development Program receiving one-to-one support from our Writer Development Manager, sending out their scripts to members of our roster of over 300 Managers, Agents, Producers, and Directors. This bespoke and personal approach to script circulation built on enduring, knowing what our roster members are looking for right now, and what our writers wish to achieve is what makes Shore Scripts stand out from the crowd, and has enabled us to help launch the careers of over 100 screenwriters to date.


And the opportunity to take part in exclusive live events and access specially provided learning materials.


Take a look at our alumni and see how placing in Shore Scripts contests can kick-start your screenwriting career: www.shorescripts.com/success-stories/.


Plus, every writer who enters will receive a FREE 18-page booklet on HOW TO GET YOUR SCREENPLAY PRODUCED.

Writer Success

Excellent competition which actually follows through with their finalists and actively seeks out opportunities/meetings for them.
Jason Jenkins
2021 Finalist
I have such a long list of great things to say about Shore Scripts and the wonderful people that run this competition, so I don't really know where to start. But it begins and ends with my sincere appreciation to all of your team and readers. I'm just so grateful for the introduction to Patrick, and can't wait to see what happens next with my script.
Jacob Wehrman
2019 Winner
Shore Scripts is in a category all of its own. After I won, they sent out my script to industry professionals that I would've never had access to. They have incredible industry connections, but more importantly, they have industry respect. They even did a follow-up mailing, reaching out to more industry folks. They helped me get amazing representation. Now, I feel like I'm finally on the road to being a working writer. And it is ALL because of Shore Scripts.
Beth Curry
2017 Winner
Signed with Jenny Wood/Raquelle David at Elevate Entertainment
Show more
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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 Winner on Coverfly

Top 1%
Feature  · Thriller  · 95 Pages
Desperate to get home, a young woman forces her way aboard an inflatable dinghy full of asylum seekers who must band together to evade capture and survive a deadly Channel crossing.
Adelaide, AU
Adele writes thrillers, often with migration and borders in the mix. She focuses on grounded stories, full of suspense and threat, with characters that have real dirt under their nails and secrets to keep. She is a 2024 Academy Nicholl finalist with her second feature, NO GHOSTS TONIGHT.
See Other Placements

Announcements

Nov 19th
Semifinalists
Dec 17th
Finalists
Dec 17th
Winners

Rules

* Scripts should ideally be within 80-120 pages. Writers can exceed the recommended limits by up to 30 pages, with an additional fee of $1 per page. 

* To be eligible for consideration for the Guaranteed Option Prize you must select the +Showdown entry when submitting your Feature screenplay.

* To be eligible for consideration for the Guaranteed Genre Meetings, you must indicate your script's genre as part of your Feature submission.

* Screenwriters from all countries are welcome to enter. All scripts must be written in English.

* The script must be the writer’s original work. Adaptations are accepted but the writer must own all copyright. At no point will Shore Scripts ever have any rights over your work.

* All ages are welcome.

* We accept all genres, including animation. It’s absolutely fine if your script is a combination of multiple genres or sub-genres. If that’s the case, use the Genre dropdown to indicate the main genre on your submission, and make a note of other Genres, and any other information you feel will be relevant to the reader in the Any Other Project Comments field. 

* Each writer, or writing team, may not have earned more than $50,000 in screenwriting fees in the preceding 18 months. This clause is in place to help us support emerging talent. (Contest & Fellowship awards and writing fees received outside of fiction screenwriting do not count toward this total).

* You may enter a newer draft of an already submitted script. There is a small additional fee as the script will be reread. You may re-enter your script through the Resubmission page.

* A writer can enter as many scripts in as many categories as they wish.

* If a script is optioned or purchased during the competition, then it will no longer be eligible for the contest.

* Scripts should be in standard screenplay formatting and submitted electronically as a PDF.

* Please only include the Script Title on the cover page.  

* The winners consent to Shore Scripts using their name, script title, and any other relevant information for promotional purposes on their website. This will be used to inform other contestants and the media of the results. 

* If Shore Scripts helps a writer gain representation, option, sell, or have his/her screenplay produced, then we are entitled to state this on our website and on any other platform whenever we see fit. 

* Shore Scripts staff and associates are unable to enter.

* The decision of Shore Scripts is final. By applying to this contest each participant agrees to hold Shore Scripts, our judges and sponsors immune from any competition disputes, claims, liabilities, and expenses.

* By entering Shore Scripts, you authorize us to use any trusted third-party online, cloud-based, and email services and databases for hosting, managing, and/or sending/transmitting your submission file(s).

* If we see fit, we can extend the final deadline for the competition. (Please note that this has never yet happened).