Great scripts don’t just happen—they’re forged through passion, discipline, and vision.
Whether you’re a breakout voice or a writer looking to level up, our screenplay contest offers a platform to showcase your work and connect with decision-makers who can launch your career.
Every season, our panel of judges read all contest submissions, evaluating and analyzing each script looking for the best new screenplays and teleplays of the year. With 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards bestowed upon the top screenplays in each of our submission categories – with 1st prize for Best Screenplay (Feature Length) being given a cash prize of $5,000.00.
Our mission is to transform our contest into the top industry source for new screenwriting talent, making it so that even those who may not win top award honors with us, may also find themselves meeting producers, agents, and collaborators making it so that even those that win a prize, may end up with a career!
New Screenwriters are welcome to explore our WriteStart Screenplay Challenge—a competition built to empower new and emerging screenwriters. If you’ve ever dreamed of seeing your story on screen but didn’t know where to begin, this is your launchpad.
The WriteStart Challenge screenplay competition category is not looking for perfection – only for passion, potential, and your unique voice. First time screenplay authors should feel free to submit in this category!
For the most detailed and up to date information about our screenplay contest – please check out our FilmFreeway and Coverfly pages as well as our FAQ below:
The three styles of script categories that our contest accepts are:
– Feature Length Film Screenplays
– Short Film Screenplays
– Pilots (for TV and Streaming)
Feature Length Film Screenplays & Short Film Screenplays have 9 additional categories of genre to
submit in (giving your screenplay a better chance at being recognized in it’s specific genre category):
– Drama
– Comedy
– Family
– Science Fiction
– Horror
– Thriller
– Action
– Historical
&
– General Submissions – for films that do not feel they have a specific genre, or that exist equally
within multiple genres.
1st, 2nd, & 3rd place awards are bestowed upon the top screenplays in each of our submission categories.
1st place Grand Prize for Best Screenplay (Feature Length) wins a cash prize of $5,000.00.
– Every season, our panel of judges read all contest submissions, evaluating and analyzing each script looking for the best new screenplays and teleplays of the year.
– Your screenplay will always be judged anonymously – after entering your script is assigned a code number. This is to help ensure that all submissions are judged on the basis of content quality – and not upon any outside factors.
– First Round: for the first round scripts will be read by no less than 3 professional screenplay readers and story analysts (who all have at least 5 years experience in the film/tv industry or 7 years experience in script reading and analysis). Scripts that receive a score of 80 or greater from any one of the judges will move on to the next round, as well as scripts that average a score of 60 or greater when all three judges scores are combined.
– Quarter Finals: Screenplays that advance to the next round are evaluated by 2 additional judges. The combined score of all five judges are used to determine who moves on to the semi-final round.
– Semi-Finals: Scripts that have reached the semi-finals are reviewed and evaluated by the programmers and board members of the San Francisco Independent Cinema Screenplay Contest as well as by a rotating list of guest judges that includes Hollywood literary agents, managers, development executives, film historians, film critics and commentators.
– The Finals: Screenplays advancing to the Finals are evaluated by a panel that consists of 5 members of the SFIC/SC and 3 guest judges (including Hollywood literary agents, managers, development executives, film historians, film critics and commentators). This panel meets, discusses, and votes on the best of the top submitted screenplays in order to determine the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each category.
See our Script Services section below to find out about the feedback, script analysis, synopsis and tagline options available for submitted screenplays.
A new judge will read your screenplay and also review all of the judging notes from everyone who judged and analyzed your script, taking those combined notes and turning them into 3-6 pages of feedback that discusses the strengths and weaknesses of your script, as well as letting you know if your screenplay was to be submitted to a studio, agency, or production office where they are responsible for judging your script – what they would mark it as after reading (either “Recommend”, “Consider”, or “Pass”), and concluding with suggestions to help further develop the project. $220 3-6 PAGES
Our staff will look at the review notes from every judge that analyzed your screenplay, and from those notes type up a brief synopsis of the strengths and weaknesses of your script – as noted by the judges. This will also include a new short synopsis of your screenplay and a new logline (a concise one-to-two sentence summary of your script) that can be used in your future press releases or other pitch or press materials for your project. $160 2-3 PAGES
From the review notes of every judge that analyzed your screenplay, we will create a brand new short synopsis of your screenplay and two loglines (concise one-to-two sentence summaries of your script) that can be used in your future press releases or other pitch or press materials for your project.
$100 1-2 PAGES
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