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.