List of Top Film Festivals for Screenwriters

1. AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL
Drama and comedy feature screenplays win $5,000 each. Other prizes available for other categories of scripts.

http://www.austinfilmfestival.com

2. CINEQUEST FILM FESTIVAL, San Jose, CA
http://www.cinequest.org/
$5000 for maverick screenwriters.

3. DISNEY/ABC FELLOWSHIP
$50,000 annual salary to be mentored on location at the studios and networks for a year.

http://www.abctalentdevelopment.com

4. FINAL DRAFT’S BIG BREAK SCREENWRITING COMPETITION


http://www.finaldraft.com/products-and-services/big-break/

5. NANTUCKET FILM FESTIVAL
Showtime’s Tony Cox Award for Screenwriting receives $2,000 plus a month long, all-expenses-paid retreat on the island of Nantucket. A select number of writers are invited to workshop their feature screenplay projects with guidance from industry mentors. Participating writers live together in an atmosphere of secluded creativity at picturesque Almanack Farm, perched on the edge of Nantucket’s cranberry bog conservation land. In addition to intensive one-on-one feedback sessions, writers and advisers enjoy a sociable colony experience over dinners and island outings.

http://www.nantucketfilmfestival.org

6. NICHOLL FELLOWSHIPS
Up to 5 people will each win $30,000 fellowships from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the folks who do the Academy Awards and give out the Oscars.

http://www.oscars.org/awards/nicholl/

7. SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
$5,000 grand prize and industry exposure.

http://www.slamdance.com

8. WORLDFEST, Houston
http://www.worldfest.org/
http://www.worldfest.org/PAGES/categories.htm
(Must be bound in some way, 2 or 3 brad or spiral bound) Should run from 70 to 120-150 pages for a standard 2 hour feature film. Not accepted loose-leaf in a box, or with a clip! Unproduced screenplays only. You may put your name and other info on the Title Page.
701. Action / Adventure
702. Biographical
703. Comedy-Adaptation or Original
704. Comedy-Romantic
705. Dramatic-Adaptation
706. Dramatic-Original
707. Family / Children
708. Fantasy / Science Fiction
709. Historical-Period Piece
710. Horror / Thriller / Mystery
711. Short Film Screenplays (under 60 pages, lower entry fee)
712. Teleplays (under 60 pages, lower entry fee)
713. Westerns
714. Romance



9. ZOETROPE SCREENPLAY CONTEST
Francis Ford Coppola’s motion picture production company Zoetrope offers $5,000 to the grand prize winner of its Screenplay Contest, plus excellent Hollywood industry exposure and opportunity.

http://www.zoetrope.com/contests/

10. PAGE AWARDS

http://pageawards.com/

This year’s Quarter-Finalists will be posted on July 15th. Semi-Finalists will be posted on August 15th. Finalists will be posted on September 15th. And on October 15th, the Judges will announce our 2010 Winners.

Finalists for Screenwriting Oscars Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship

As per news below the Nicholl(pronounced as Nickel) Finalists for 2009 are as below: The 2010 acceptance will start in January 2010

http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=105358

Academy Announces Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship Finalists for 2009

Beverly Hills, CA — Eleven writers have been selected as finalists for the 24th annual Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Their scripts will now be read and judged by the Academy’s Nicholl Committee, which may award as many as five of the prestigious $30,000 fellowships.

This year’s finalists are (listed alphabetically by author):

Matt Ackley, Los Angeles, “Victoria Falls”
Vineet Dewan and Angus Fletcher, Los Angeles, “Sand Dogs”
John Griffin, Los Angeles, “Dream before Waking”
Hiram Martinez, New York City, “Ansiedad”
Marleine Pacilio, Shadow Hills, Calif., “Born Elizabeth Jane”
Adriana Brad Schanen, Montclair, N.J., “Gifted”
Neil Swaab, Astoria, N.Y., “Eddie Fantastic!”
Nidhi Anna Verghese, Los Angeles, “Jallianwala Bagh”
Dan Lee West, Vancouver, Canada, “Abroad”
Jeff Williams, Wake Forest, N.C., “Pure”

The finalists were selected from a record 6,380 scripts submitted for this year’s competition. The competition is open to any individual who has not sold or optioned a screenplay or teleplay for more than $5,000, or received a fellowship or prize that includes a “first look” clause, an option, or any other quid pro quo involving the writer’s work.

The Nicholl Committee, chaired by writer and 1992 Nicholl fellow Susannah Grant, is composed of writers Naomi Foner, Daniel Petrie, Jr., Tom Rickman and Dana Stevens; actor Eva Marie Saint; cinematographers John Bailey and Steven B. Poster; executive Bill Mechanic; producers Gale Anne Hurd, David Nicksay, Peter Samuelson and Robert W. Shapiro; marketing executive Buffy Shutt; and agent Ronald R. Mardigian.

Fellowships are awarded with the understanding that the recipients will each complete a feature-length screenplay during their fellowship year. The Academy acquires no rights to the works of Nicholl fellows and does not involve itself commercially in any way with their completed scripts.

Since the program’s inception in 1985, 108 fellowships have been awarded, and a number of fellows have achieved considerable success. Recently Ehren Kruger, a 1996 fellow, co-wrote the box office success “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”; “City Island,” which was written and directed by 1991 fellow Raymond De Felitta, premiered at the 2009 Berlin and Tribeca film festivals; and James Mottern directed “Trucker,” slated to be released this month, from his 2003 Nicholl-winning script. Additionally, 1992 fellow Andrew W. Marlowe created and executive produces ABC’s “Castle.”

Nicholl Committee chair Susannah Grant adapted the screenplay for “The Soloist,” which opened earlier this year. She wrote and directed 2007’s “Catch and Release,” and in 2000, she received an Academy Award® nomination for her “Erin Brockovich” screenplay. She also earned writing credits on “Charlotte’s Web,” “In Her Shoes,” “28 Days,” “Ever After” and “Pocahontas.”

Several other Nicholl fellows have had success in the film industry; to read more about them, visit http://www.oscars.org/awards/nicholl/fellows/notable.html