Regina Kim, whose TV horror pilot, Incubus, was a 2019 Bloodlist’s Fresh Blood Select. Photo by Angela Kim
BloodList – Fresh Blood Selects
Entry Fee: Free
Submission Period: August 1-15
Last year, Village Roadshow Pictures and Brillstein Entertainment partnered with BloodList to highlight the best unproduced dark genre screenplays and pilots in circulation. As a result, the BloodList has helped Fresh Blood scripts like Raj Balu’s Little India, a 2020 selection, move into development.
Fresh Blood Selects is a free program that finds work and representation for underrepresented screenwriters. Regina Kim, whose horror pilot Incubus was a 2019 Fresh Blood Select, tells MovieMaker about her experience: “I got a ton of meetings out of it, and it was a great first step into the industry. Ultimately, that script got me my first screenwriting job, which got me my manager, and then it also got me most of the screenwriting jobs I have today, as it is still one of my strongest samples.”
Entry Fee: $50-88
Submission Period: February 6-May 1
Cinestory is a nonprofit organization dedicated to mentoring talented emerging screenwriters and television writers.
The winner of its Grand Prize Feature Fellowship receives $10,000 cash, as well as free tuition and housing for its retreat, which takes place every year in the mountain town of Idyllwild, California. Finalists and semifinalists are offered discounted rates for the retreat. The TV Fellowship winner receives similar opportunities, without the $10,000 cash.
Previous Cinestory mentors have included Mark Fergus (Cowboy and Aliens, Iron Man), Meg LeFauve (Inside Out), and Karen McCullah (10 Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde).
Final Draft’s Big Break Screenwriting Contest
Entry Fee: $45-75
Submission Period: March 17-August 2
Big Break is one of the best competitions of all. Winning the Grand Prize means $10,000 cash, meetings with execs and managers, and immediate recognition, because let’s face it: Almost everyone uses Final Draft.
“I always look forward to judging for Big Break because there’s always at least one or two screenplays that give me the jolt of excitement that comes from reading an incredible writer for the first time,” says John Zaozirny, president of feature film production and literary management for Bellevue Productions.
Winners consistently recommend that entrants tell the stories that mean the most to them. Stacie Gancayco-Adlao’s script Clementine, which won the Grand Prize for feature last year, is the story of a young half-Black, half-Filipino girl in the Philippines who longs to meet her American G.I. father – but finds that America doesn’t live up to her dreams.
“To all of my fellow creatives,” she said as she accepted the award, “believe in the stories we want and we need to tell.”
Humanitas New Voices Fellowship
Entry Fee: $45
Submission Period: January-April 30
The New Voices Fellowship is a four-month mentorship program for emerging television and feature film screenwriters that best exemplify the mission of Humanitas. The organization says a Humanitas story is one that “challenges us to use our freedom to grow and develop. Confronts us with our individual responsibility, and examines the consequences of our choices. Entertains us with fully realized characters and elegantly crafted stories.”
Humanitas sets up its fellows with workshops and mentorships to make them confident showrunners, directors, producers, and staff writers, and each fellow receives a $7,500 grant.
Previous former New Voices fellows include Will Pascoe (Absentia), J. Holtham (Supergirl, Jessica Jones), Jeanine Daniels (Snowfall), and Rashaad Ernesto Green (The Chi, Looking for Alaska)
Launch Pad Screenwriting Competitions
Entry Fee: $85
Submission Period: Launchpad has multiple festivals throughout the year
Launch Pad boasts that its competitions “have led to more signings, success stories, and careers than any other screenwriting competition.” Dozens of past participants have ended up staffed on shows for Netflix, CBS, NBC and more.
Its juries include executives, agents, and managers from Bad Robot, A3, Verve, Empirical Evidence, Gotham Group and Echo Lake, among others. Three grand prize winners are invited to an exclusive Launchpad party where they’ll meet judges, managers, agents, and execs.
Among its fans is Ridley Scott, who says on Launch Pad’s site: “Writers are an integral part of my team and without them, I would not be able to do my job, so to be able to work with Launch Pad and provide a new and innovative way for them to get their work out in the world is truly exciting.”
Entry Fee: Free
Submission Period: July 1-August 1
The Nickelodeon Writing Program is a full-time, year-long development program that offers the rare opportunity to get paid while honing your writing skills within the studio system in Burbank.
It offers a variety of classes and workshops, along with networking opportunities and mentorships meant to prepare you for not only working at Nick, but anywhere in the TV industry. To submit, you send a spec script from a list of television shows provided on the program’s website, as well as an original comedy pilot.
Share:
