NoFilmSchool » competitions

Get Industry Attention with the 2012 Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships and Two Other Competitions

Joe Marine — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:55:45 +0000

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is kind of a big deal – and if you’ve never heard of the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships, it’s a life-changing opportunity to write a script and win a grant. We’ve also go two other fantastic opportunities for script writers: Scriptapalooza and the Nantucket Film Festival Showtime Tony Cox Screenplay Competition. That’s a mouthful, but let’s see what’s so special about these competitions. (more…)

To Start a Film Career, How Important are Contests? Two Interviews with Competition Veterans

Guest Author — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 21:34:45 +0000

When I was 19 I was awarded grand prize in an online video contest put on by a now-defunct site named FirstEye. My music video entry (shot on a Sony VX1000, before HD, 24P, DSLRs, and After Effects made this video look primitive) won me a professional Sony video camera, which I used to shoot several successive projects — before selling it and buying a newer camera (which I’ve since done several times). Winning that contest gave me more confidence to keep pursuing film as a bona fide career, and every project I’ve shot since has been with that camera or its successors — including The West Side. In my own experience, contests offer a great opportunity to jump start a career. With this in mind, the following is a guest post by David Hinds, from video hosting platform Vzaar. They recently announced this year’s video festival winners. (more…)

Discount (Free if you Hurry!) Entries to the 48 Hour Guerilla Film Competition

Ryan Koo — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:01:38 +0000

I’d mentioned the 48-Hour Guerilla Film Competition in the past, but the competition has beefed up their prize package a bit and is now offering NoFilmSchool readers a limited number of free registrations (and an unlimited number of discount entries). The contest, which features a $5,000 grand prize, runs May 13-15. As you can guess from the name, entrants are given 48 hours to write, direct, shoot, and edit their entry to a given theme. If interested, here are some more details and the link for free entry: (more…)

Upcoming Contests and Opportunities for Filmmakers and Artists

Ryan Koo — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:14:51 +0000

As long as you’re not surrendering exclusive rights in the process, contests can be a great way of gaining exposure and/or funds. In my own case, I won my camera (since exchanged for a newer model several times) in a music video contest, and I bought my laptop with grant money. Here are several upcoming opportunities for screenwriters, video makers, and other artists:

Zooppa will pay you 0.001% of what your winning ad is worth

Ryan Koo — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:16:42 +0000

Zooppa is an interesting site, deeming itself “people powered brand energy.” Wait, that sounds pretty… ugh. So basically it’s a bunch of people using their creative energy to create spec work for brands looking for original ideas? Don’t they have overpriced agencies for that? (more…)

Screenwriting competitions: Page, BlueCat

Ryan Koo — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:00:12 +0000

Two upcoming screenwriting competitions, The Page International Screenwriting Awards and the BlueCat Screenplay Competition, share a deadline of April 1st (and a submission fee of $60). Page’s grand prize is $25,000 and BlueCat’s is $10,000. As with any contest, read the fine print. These opportunities are often great for money and/or exposure, but some of them also have draconian legalese attached, so be sure you’re not surrendering too much, like exclusive rights in perpetuity, or your firstborn child.

Does anyone know of a centralized resource for filmmaking competitions and grants? I’ve certainly benefitted from such opportunities — I won my camera in a competition and bought my laptop with grant money — and so I’m looking for a decent competition/grant calendar to share with others, but I can’t find one on the ‘net. If there isn’t a good calendar for filmmakers out there, I may have to scrape one together. Thoughts, anyone?