UK Film Festival London
UK Film Festival Script Competitions
2024/25
Active Since 11
4 competition categories: 1) FEATURE SCREENPLAY 2) TV PILOT/EPISODE or 60 MINUTE TV FILM 3) 3 MINUTE SCRIPT 4) 10 MINUTE or less SCRIPT
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About

Unlike other script competitions UKFF doesn’t just give awards or money as a prize but aims to get their winning scripts into production. In fact, we are well known for successfully connecting scriptwriters to the film industry and getting the films made. With 7 of our winners’ scripts made into films, 1 of which won an award at Sundance and 2 of which went on to win Crystal Bears at the Berlin Film Festival; and 4 others have subsequently gone on to be multi-award winning at film festivals around the world including Aesthetica, Bilbao, Galway and Underwire. The films have been Official Selection in 41 other festivals and 2 have gained prestigious distribution deals. 

As previous Feature Script winner Joadie Jurgova says,

“Entering The UK Film Festival’s screenplay competition was the best chance I have ever taken. It took my script and breathed new life into it, attaching an award-winning director and placing it with a prestigious international production company in less than a year. The support since winning has been phenomenal, respectful and generous. If you are looking for a script competition that you can place your trust in, this is it.”  (Writer of ‘The Canadian’)

As previous Short Script winner, Andrea Allen says,

“When I won the competition, UKFF got my script made into a film within 6 months and went on to be multi-award winning, including the Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival 2015 as well as screenings at 26 other festivals around the world.”  (Writer of ‘A Confession’)

Deadline for submissions for this year is 28 February 2025.

The administration and reading fee varies depending on each new deadline. 

Winners will receive immediate marketing to the industry, winner’s laurels and the associated publicity. Winners in each category will also receive the latest version of Final Draft 13 (value $250) as well as receiving a 4 month InkTip pro membership. As an InkTip Pro Member, thousands of filmmakers can find and read your scripts, and you’ll be able to pitch directly to production companies every week. With over 3,000 options and 400 movies made, InkTip is the place for independent film. 

Benefits

Winners will receive immediate marketing to the industry, winner’s laurels and the associated publicity. Winners in each category will also receive the latest version of Final Draft 13 (value $250) as well as receiving a 4 month InkTip pro membership. As an InkTip Pro Member, thousands of filmmakers can find and read your scripts, and you’ll be able to pitch directly to production companies every week. With over 3,000 options and 400 movies made, InkTip is the place for independent film. 
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2024/25 Shortlists on Coverfly

Top 2%
Feature  · Fantasy  · 120 Pages
When Alice’s younger sister is captured by the Queen of Hearts, her virginity to be sold to the highest bidder, Alice must find out a way to defeat the Queen and save her sister.
Paradise Valley, AZ
A Top 10 Sci-Fi Screenwriter @ AFF, Stowe, & Rocaberti Fellow Danielle grew up sickly. She read & watched films to escape. A few yrs ago, she was told she had a rare autoimmune disease & sleeping disorder. She wrote her saga “LEGACY” while ill & undergoing chemo. She’s won 63 awards, and was invited to Ron Howard’s & Brian Grazer’s Imagine-Impact. ...
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Top 3%
Short  · Animated  · 10 Pages
A boy desperately tries to hold onto the memory of his father… and his hair.
Los Angeles, California
Ben Hirschhorn is an award winning actor, writer, and director. He most recently starred in the Off-Broadway world premiere of ROOM 1214, and was previously nominated for an “LA Drama Critic Circle Award” for his performance in the West Coast premiere of TRAYF at the Geffen Playhouse. Additionally he received the “Best Actor Award” at the Los Angele...
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Top 18%
Short  · Comedy  · 14 Pages
In a bleak corner of England, two celestial beings, Gottlieb and Montmartre, navigate their grim duties documenting the tragic ends of lost souls while grappling with their own disillusionment and the weight of divine abandonment.
Montreux, CH
As an English teacher living and working on the shores of Lake Geneva, Toby has witnessed what began as a hobby in the form of writing offbeat school Christmas shows, become a fully fledged passion for writing scripts. Toby has had worked produced in both London and LA, including the theatrical monologue 'THE UNIVERSE IS A KINKY OLD BITCH' and short...
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Apr 6th
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Rules

THE RULES AND GUIDELINES ARE:
  • The script should be in English.
  • We would ask the winner to agree to grant first option choice for production to the UK Film Festival's associates unless the writer has other filmmaker contacts and wants to work in association with them. Nothing is obligatory and the script remains as the author's work.

Should there be a need to alter any small aspect of the script if it goes into production, the winner should be willing to work with the script editor and/or director to develop the idea. If this should occur the rights to the script still remain with the writer.

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