Even though TV has gone through some pretty big lulls in quality in the past, today, some of the greatest stories are being told around 43 minutes at a time on a screen much smaller than the colossal ones at the multiplex. Audiences are hungry for beefy, dramatic, well-written television content, and screenwriters are more willing than ever to offer it to them. If that sounds like you, then you might want to take a look at ScreenCraft's Pilot Launch TV Script Contest, which is now open for submissions and looking for fresh voices in television for drama and comedy.

As always, ScreenCraft is not only offering a great prize package for winners and finalists but they've also put together a stellar panel of judges, including executives at HBO, AMC, Amazon Studios, and 3 Arts.


Judges

  • Francesca Orsi, Co-Head of Drama Series at HBO (Game of Thrones, West World, Silicon Valley)
  • Amanda Verdon, Scripted Television Exec at AMC (Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead)
  • Ari Lubet, Literary Manager at 3 Arts Entertainment (Orange is the New Black, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, 30 Rock)
  • Brenna Xiang, Drama Coordinator at Amazon Studios (Transparent, The Man in the High Castle, Bosch)
  • Jennifer Grisanti, Story Consultant and TV Network Writing Instructor for NBC's Writers on the Verge

Prizes

ScreenCraft will award three 1st Place prizes in the Drama, Comedy, and Web Series categories. All three winners will receive $1000 cash, professional consultation from the ScreenCraft team, and personal introductions to top Hollywood managers, agents, and producers who specialize in the development and production of drama and comedy for TV. Furthermore, the top three finalists in all categories will receive free WriterDuet Pro screenwriting software.

Nitty Gritty

  • Anyone from anywhere in the world can enter, but you must be at least 18 years old.
  • All submissions must be written in English.
  • You must have earned less than $20,000 from professional writing services for film or TV in the last year. 
  • Each screenplay will be judged based on originality, story, characterization, visual inventiveness, and overall impression.
  • Single-camera comedy pilot should be no longer than 40 pages. Multi-camera comedy pilots (industry standard format has the dialogue double-spaced throughout the script) the page length should be no longer than 60 pages. Drama pilot should be no longer than 75 pages. For non-traditional formats (mini-series, web series, etc.) exceptions to page limits will be accepted.
  • You can submit as many scripts as you like.
  • Entry fees: $39 until the early deadline (August 15th), $59 until the final deadline (October 3rd)

The final deadline for the 2018 Pilot Launch TV Script Contest is October 3rd at 11:59 p.m. PST. So, if you're cooking up a killer TV pilot, send it on over to ScreenCraft for the chance to take your career to the next level.

Source: ScreenCraft