Turn your calling card script into an attention-grabbing short film with our $15,000 cash production grant!

As much as we love to read scripts, too many excellent shorts never progress beyond the written word, which is why we established the Shore Scripts Short Film Fund to help take those compelling stories off the page and onto the screen. 

Many of our previous 19 funded short films have played at some of the top film festivals in the world, including Sundance, Tribeca, BFI London, Austin, Cannes, Encounters, and Palm Springs. They’ve even won a BAFTA! Those writers have gone on to gain representation, sold screenplays, and been staffed on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, & BBC shows as a direct result of winning and producing their shorts with us.

New this season! We are excited to offer a 2nd Place cash grant of $2,500 specifically for finishing funds submissions. As filmmakers, we know it can be challenging to get a short over the finish line, and a little extra support toward post-production and/or distribution can go a long way.

New projects are funded each season, offering screenwriters and filmmakers the fantastic opportunity to finance and produce their short scripts with a $15,000 cash grant towards production or finishing funds. It’s one of the single best ways to showcase your creative talent, receive festival exposure, and open doors within the industry – so what’s stopping you?!

Here's the lowdown: 

• • • Grand Prize Winner - A Cash Grant of $15,000 and support from Shore Scripts to take your screenplay through pre-production, production, post, and distribution. Plus, free camera equipment rental from ARRI Rental for the duration of production (some restrictions may apply). On top of that, our winner will receive a Film Festival Strategy Package with Tribeca programmer, filmmaker, and Academy member, KIMBERLEY BROWNING.
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• 2nd Place Winner - A Cash Grant of $2,500 in finishing funds for projects that have already been filmed, and support from Shore Scripts through post-production and distribution.

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• Both Winners will connect with two-time Oscar-nominated producer MARIA GRACIA TURGEON for development, production, and career guidance. Both Winners will also have the opportunity to have their completed films circulated to select members of our Industry Roster and Directors, will receive a free 30-minute consultation with our new partner Seed & Spark, and free access to a Stage 32 Webinar of their choice.

  
  

• Top 5 Finalists – will receive feedback on their scripts from one of our esteemed Judges. And, new this year, one US-based writer will get on a call with NATALIE GERGELY (VP, Scripted at Gunpowder & Sky) and one European-based writer will get on a call with KIRSTIE MACDONALD (Creative Director of TV at FilmNation) to discuss their projects and receive career advice.  

  
  

• Top 15 Finalists – will have the opportunity to have their scripts circulated to select members of our Industry Roster and Directors.

As a new writer, getting a script produced is a transformative career milestone that can lead to new opportunities and help you pitch your stories to producers, managers, and agents. Our Short Film Fund was established to commission production projects from emerging screenwriters and create another avenue for you to get your work seen by the industry.

Our Award-Winning Judges including filmmakers, festival programmers, and former Fund winners will decide this season’s Grand Prize Winner. The 2nd Place Winner will be chosen by members of the Shore Scripts team.

The Fund accepts submissions from writers, directors, and producers from around the world. We are open to working with directors attached to the project, even first-timers. However, if you are a standalone writer, Shore Scripts can assist in attaching a director and team to the project, if needed. We also accept submissions from produced shorts seeking finishing funds. 

The Fund accepts scripts for narrative short films (live-action & animation), web series pilots, half-hour TV pilots, and proof-of-concept shorts for TV series and features. 

Screenplays must be in English; however, the production can be filmed in any country and any language (English subtitles in the finished film are required).

We can offer end-to-end support from script development to post-production and film festival distribution.

We do not seek to obtain any rights over your script or the finished film at any time. For those who take the funding, we ask for a production company credit and access to promotional material for the resulting short film to promote the project and Fund in the future.

READ MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE SHORT FILM FUND: https://www.shorescripts.com/historyoftheshortfilmfund/

Plus, every writer who enters will be sent our FREE 18-page booklet on HOW TO GET YOUR SCREENPLAY PRODUCED straight to their inbox.

Grand Prize Winner will be awarded a Cash Production Grant of $15,000, free camera equipment rental from ARRI rental for the duration of production (some restrictions may apply), a Film Festival Strategy Package from Tribeca programmer KIMBERLEY BROWNING, and a free online or in-person All Access Badge to HollyShorts 2024. Once the film is complete, the Winner will also have the opportunity to circulate the finished film to members of our Industry Roster of producers, agents, and managers.

2nd Place Winner will be awarded a Cash Finishing Funds Grant of $2,500 and support from Shore Scripts through post-production and distribution.

Both Winners will connect with two-time Oscar-nominated producer MARIA GRACIA TURGEON for production and career guidance. They will also have the opportunity to circulate the finished film to select members of our Industry Roster of producers, agents, and managers, as well as receive a free 30-minute consultation with Seed & Spark, and free access to a Stage 32 Webinar of their choice.

Top 5 Finalists will receive feedback on their scripts from one of our esteemed Judges and a free copy of “(Not Just) Another Book on the Craft of Screenwriting" by the International Screenwriters' Association's (ISA) Director of Education, Max Timm, Founder of The Story Farm, and a Free 6-month ISAConnect membership. Plus, one US-based writer will get on a call with Natalie Gergely (VP, Scripted at Gunpowder & Sky) and one European-based writer will get on a call with Kirstie MacDonald (Creative Director of TV at FilmNation) to discuss their projects and receive career advice.

Top 15 Finalists (including the Winners) will have the opportunity to have their scripts circulated to select members of our Industry Roster and Directors.

Semi-Finalists (and above) will receive a PDF of the Shore Scripts Film Festival Guidebook.