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Frequently Asked Questions
I don't live in the United States. Can I still enter the contest? Yes, as long as you comply with contest rules and regulations, you're welcome to enter the competition. Foreign contestants may submit their scripts on A4 or equivalent size paper, and you may use industry-standard binding for your region; however, your script must be in English and your entry fee must be paid in U.S. dollars. You may pay with a check drawn on a U.S. bank, an International Money Order in U.S. dollars, or a credit card payment via PayPal. Can I submit an adaptation of a book or play? Under no circumstances will we accept adaptations of any material written by other authors. If you have personally written a book or play which has never been published or sold, or if you self-published your work and you have retained all rights to it, you may submit an adaptation of your own material; however, if your source material has been published, sold, or is currently under option to any third party, your screen adaptation of this material is not eligible. My script is based on true historical events and I did a lot of research on the subject. Is this admissable? As long as there are no liability issues and your script does not violate any copyrights, stories about historical events and people in the public domain are admissable. When you do your research, just make certain you utilize multiple sources of information and do not plagiarize any other author's work. Can I submit an animated script or musical? Absolutely! In fact, in the past we've had many animation scripts and musicals among our lists of Finalists and Winners. Most of these scripts are entered in the Family Film category, but they can also be entered in the Comedy, Science Fiction, Short Film, or TV Sitcom Pilot category, depending upon the style and nature of your story. I entered the contest last year and since then I've rewritten my screenplay. Can I submit it again this year? Yes. As long as your script has not won any of our prizes in the past, you may resubmit it. Can I submit more than one script? Yes. You may enter as many scripts as you like in this year's contest. And if you submit more than one script in the same envelope or online transmission, you'll receive a $5 discount for each additional entry. Can I enter my script in more than one category? And if so, do I need to send you more than one copy of my script? Most scripts will naturally fit into one of our ten categories, but some full-length features do cross genres. So if, for instance, you wrote a script like E.T., you could enter it either as a Family Film or as a Science Fiction Film, or you could enter both categories. It's entirely up to you. The price of the first category is included in your entry fee, and you may enter up to two additional categories for an additional $10 each. But no matter how many categories you enter, you only need to send us one copy of your script. My screenplay is longer than 130 pages. Will it be disqualified? No, your script will not be disqualified if it is longer or shorter than the lengths we specify; however, we highly recommend that you adhere to our standard guidelines. The judges who are reading and evaluating your work are industry professionals, and any deviation from standard format and page count may put you at a disadvantage. Why enter early? While entering early will not increase your chances of winning, it will save you money! We offer you a discount for early entry because we want as much time as possible for the judges to review your submissions. I'm planning to enter early to take advantage of the discount prices, but what if my script doesn't arrive by the deadline? The Early, Regular, and Late Entry Deadlines apply to the date of postmark or electronic transmission. As long as your entry and payment are postmarked or transmitted electronically on or before midnight on January 31, the Early Entry fee will apply. If any portion of your entry is sent after January 31, the Regular or Late Entry fee will apply. All entries must be postmarked or transmitted electronically on or before the final deadline in order to be eligible for the contest. How will I know you received my script? If you're submitting your script by mail and you'd like confirmation that we've received it, you may include a self-addressed stamped postcard with your entry. If you're submitting your script online, you'll receive an email from us confirming that your entry has arrived. If I want to enter online, what type of file should I submit? We recommend submitting your script as an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file; however, we also accept Movie Magic Screenwriter, Final Draft and Microsoft Word documents. What information do you want on the title page? Please attach a standard title page, including the title of your script, author's name(s), address, phone number and email address. Our judging procedure is anonymous, so we will assign your script a number and black out or delete your name and contact information before we give your script to the judges. The judges will identify your script by title and number only. (Under no circumstances should you include your name or contact information within the body of your script.) Oops! I found some typos in the screenplay I submitted. Can I send you the revised pages? Please proofread your script carefully before you submit it! Our administrators and judges are all paid professionals, and it takes a great deal of time to record all your entries, distribute the scripts, read and evaluate them; so once your script has been entered in the competition we cannot accept any revisions, corrected pages, or rewrites under any circumstances. If you wish to submit a new draft of your screenplay, you may enter it as a brand new submission and pay the appropriate entry fee; however, unless you've made extensive and substantial revisions to your material, we do not encourage this. When will this year's winners be announced? All contestants who advance to the Quarter-Final round will be notified by email on or before July 15th. The list of this year's Semi-Finalists will be posted on our website on August 1st, Finalists will be posted on September 1st, and this year's Winners will be announced October 1st. What if my script is optioned or sold after I enter the contest? Congratulations! As long as your script was not optioned or sold prior to the date you submitted it to the contest, you are still eligible for an award. Once the contest is over will you send me my scores and the judge's comments about my script? Only if you request JUDGE'S FEEDBACK when you enter. It would be extremely time-consuming for our judges to write detailed comments about each and every entry, so in order to keep our basic entry fees as low as possible, we ask the judges to score entries solely on a numeric basis, as described on our JUDGING PROCEDURE page. However, if you'd like your First Round judge to take the extra time to write you several pages of thoughts and ideas about your script, you may request Judge's Feedback when you enter. The fee for this is $65. When will I receive my Judge's Feedback? Your Feedback will be e-mailed to you once the Semi-Finalists are announced in August; or if your script advances further in competition, you'll receive your Feedback once the Winners are announced in October. If I win, will I have to give the contest any rights to my script or any percentage of future profits? Absolutely not. You retain all rights to your work. Neither the contest nor its administrators, producers, sponsors, or judges will attach themselves to your script as a condition of you being designated a Winner or receiving prize money, nor will we demand any percentage of any sales you make as a result of entering or winning the contest. The profits are yours. How will you use the contact information I give you? Never fear! We hate spam as much as you do. Any information you give us, whether online or by mail, will only be used by our contest administrators to communicate with you directly. Your name, email address, and other contact information will never be sold or lent to any other person or business. We promise. 7510 Sunset Blvd. #610, Hollywood, CA 90046
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