| .. |
| When
will the winners be notified? |
| Quarterfinalists will be
notified by November 30, 2008. Finalists will be notified shortly thereafter according to the judges' schedules. |
| How will the
winners be notified? |
| All participants will be
notified of the results of the screenwriting competition by email.
Quarterfinalists will be contacted by email and posted on our
Website. Finalists will be contacted by email and posted on
our Website. The top five prize winners will be contacted by
email and telephone. |
| Who
are the past judges? |
| All of
the people we ask to judge are at the top of the Hollywood
pyramid. Some of previous years judges include New Line Cinema,
Daily Variety, One Race Productions (Vin Diesel's production company), Cuba Gooding
Jr.'s production company, the head of a major television
network, as well as many other leading directors, producers and
entertainment professionals. |
| Do I
lose the rights to my screenplay if I enter or win the
competition? |
| NO !!! , Winning
the competition does not have anything to do with the
ownership or rights of your screenplay. The screenplay is
YOURS and will remain YOURS even if you win a prize from us.
The Grand Prize winner will be offered an option on their
screenplay in ADDITION to other cash and prizes. This option
will be competitive with Top Level Production companies and you
are never obligated to accept it if you do not wish to. |
| Why
do you have so many incentives for those who enter early? |
| You
mean the reduced fees, additional random prize drawings, and
lack of deadline stress... yes, we do encourage early
entries and here's why:
Reading and fairly evaluating
screenplays is a time intensive process. By collecting entries
throughout the competition, we
are able to save time and energy. Besides, it's fun for us to
pass this savings on to you in the form of early prizes and
bonuses.
Entering early will save you
money and give more chances to win prizes
but it WILL NOT in any way improve your chances of
becoming a finalist in the overall screenwriting competition... only great
writing will do that!
|
| Why
is there an entry fee? |
| The
main goal of the American Screenwriting Competition is to find
incredible screenplays and the writers who create them. This
being the case, we would love to run a free competition but it
is simply not possible. The entry fees help to offset the
administrative and other considerable costs of producing a major
screenwriting competition. |
| What are the
contest rules and regulations? |
| Please refer to our official
rules
and regulations page for the complete American
Screenwriting Competition rules. |
| Does my
screenplay submission have to fit within a specific genre or
budget? |
| All genres and budgets are
welcome. Screenplays are not judged on genre or budget. |
| Can I enter more
than one screenplay in the competition? |
| Yes. There is no limit to the
number of screenplays that you may enter. You must, however,
complete a separate entry form and release form for each
screenplay and submit them with the required
entry fee. Additional screenplays entered at the same time
have a reduced entry fee of $40. |
| I have an agent,
can I still enter a screenplay? |
| Yes. Having an agent does not
preclude you from entering the screenwriting competition. There must,
however, not be an option on the screenplay you enter at the
time of entry and you must own the material outright. |
| Can I enter a
screenplay if I live outside of the United States? |
| Yes, international
screenplay submissions
are welcomed. All submissions must be written in the English
language and International submissions must be accompanied by
a money order payable in U.S. dollars for the entry fee or
credit card information for payment. |
| Will you accept
online submissions of my screenplay? |
| Yes! You can
submit your screenplay
online through our secure Website. We accept .DOC (word), .FDR
(final draft), .PDF (adobe), and .SCW (movie magic
screenwriter) files. |
| If I have
optioned or sold a screenplay in the past can I still enter
your competition? |
| Yes. The only rule is that the
screenplay you submit may not be under option or sold at the
time it is submitted to us. Screenplays that have been optioned in
the past but have had the option expire with no resulting sale
are also eligible. |
| Will you set the
winners up with industry meetings? |
|
We promise to
support our winners and help them in any way that we can. It is easy for a company to say
that they will set you up with "industry" executives
for meetings and then send you off to the company where you
will meet with someone as a courtesy for a couple of minutes.
Also they can "submit" your material to studios just
as you can with an envelope and postage.
Instead we will
submit you to people who will not waste your time.
|
| How does the
judging process work? |
|
Everyone's script is read and scored. The top screenplays
advance to the quarterfinals where they are read again and
scored. The leading screenplays then advance to
a semi final round where they are read and scored once again.
The 10 screenplays with the highest score move on to the finals where they are read and judged by a panel of industry
experts. |
| Who does the
judging? |
| All
screenplays are read by
experienced readers. Every screenplay that makes the
quarterfinals will be read by at least three of our executives,
the top ten will move on to the finals.
Each finalist will then be read and scored five more times by
different industry executives chosen at random from a panel including literary agents, producers, managers, actors,
and other top entertainment executives. It is our policy not to disclose the names of the
individuals on our final judging panel during the year they
are acting as a judge as it is not proper for
them to be approached by the contestants before the final
decisions have been made. |
| My friend can not
get on the Internet but would like to enter. How can she get
an application form? |
| Your
"friend" can call us at
888-299-0234 and we will fax her the application
package. She
may also request the application package by sending a self
addressed, stamped envelope to us with a note requesting the
application package.
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? Email us at
click here to
contact us and we
will be happy to help. |
