Our Year in Review: Screenwriting Competitions, Virtual Events, and Industry-Leading Script Coverage

2020 has certainly been an interesting year. Millions of people have adapted to remote work, altered plans during the pandemic, and adjusted to a new normal — including screenwriters. Beginning in March, writers started attending educational and networking events online and even worked in virtual writer’s rooms. With change, comes innovation! Let’s take a look at the exciting things WeScreenplay did this year.

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Hollywood Goes Virtual in 2020

Thanks to a lot of hard work from our readers and members of the WeScreenplay team, we were able to provide a number of successful online events with professional writers and industry experts including:

Cocktails & Conversations: Incredible Guests & Thousands of Online Attendees

The pivot to online events turned out to be one of our most successful (and fun!) initiatives for socially distant screenwriters looking for expert advice from industry pros. We asked some of our exciting contest jurors including literary agents, managers, writers, producers, and more to take part in these casual conversations about what it takes to become a working screenwriter.

Check out some of these Cocktails & Conversation recaps:

Actions for Positive Change:

Another virtual event series WeScreenplay launched this year ACTIONS FOR POSITIVE where we explore specific ways to amplify diversity and inclusion in screenwriting. With accomplished guests who can speak directly from experience, we examine the history that has resulted in underrepresentation, discuss visions for the future of Hollywood, ask speakers for their challenges to the industry at large, and close each conversation with concrete steps screenwriters can take to help move the needle.

Revisit these seriously impressive guests and honest discussions here:

Specificity in Character Description & Intentional Inclusivity with TV writer Teresa Huang and WarnerMedia SVP of Enterprise Inclusion Karen Horne.
Embracing the Nuanced Latinx Experience with Emmy-winner showrunner Javier Grillo-Marxuach, TV writer/producer Evangeline Ordaz, and sketch comedy sensation Jenny Lorenzo.

Diverse Voices Lab: Virtually Perfect

2020 was also a year of firsts for WeScreenplay. We held our first fully virtual Diverse Voices Writer’s Lab in October, and it was an absolute blast! All of our writers were able to work together online and meet with industry experts for a truly one-of-a-kind experience.

Diverse Voices Lab by the numbers:

8 writers chosen from our Spring 2020 and Fall 2020 Diverse Voices competitions
8 table reads with 22 professional actors who have appeared on RATCHED, NCIS, CRIMINAL MINDS, FLASH, ARROW, THE BABY-SITTER’S CLUB, THE GOOD DOCTOR, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, GRIMM and many, many others
52 meetings with 30 Industry Professionals including working TV and Feature writers, Network Execs, and Literary Reps — including Lionsgate, Hillman Grad, Warner Brothers, ITV, and more!
12 literary manager meetings resulting in 8 script requests (100% of writers) and multiple offers for rep!
4 Peer Mentorship sessions led by Diverse Voices Winners
7 days over 2 long weekends
Once in a lifetime experience!

Click here for more information about how you can apply to our next Diverse Voices Lab.

WeScreenplay Script Coverage: Highly Recommended!

WeScreenplay script coverage is better than ever with new packages and increased options for feedback, notes, and even marketing blueprints.

2020 by the numbers:

Genre Breakdown:

Action/Adventure — 7%
Animated — 3%
Comedy — 20%
Drama — 32%
Faith/Family — 2%
Fantasy — 2%
Historical — 3%
Horror — 9%
Sci-Fi — 6%
Thriller — 11%

Where does your script land?

Check out our Ultimate Guide to Script Coverage for even more detailed information about the different types of script coverage we offer, prices, packages, and how you can use screenplay coverage to improve your writing.

Screenwriting Competitions with Industry-Leading Jurors

2020 saw WeScreenplay host five unique screenwriting competitions featuring 20 industry-leading professionals that made up our juries:

2020 was a banner year for WeScreenplay competitions. Our Feature, Shorts, TV Pilot, and Diverse Voices Lab broke submissions records, largely due to our incredible jurors.

Each competition was helmed by a panel of influential and experienced industry judges including literary reps, producers, working writers, showrunners, and Academy-nominated filmmakers.

Thank you to all of the writers who submitted to WeScreenplay competitions who have helped grow these competitions into the talent-discovery tools they’ve become. We’re looking forward to an even bigger and better competition season in 2021 — we’re even launching a brand new College Screenplay Competition! We’ll let you know when the new competition page is available in April.

WeScreenplay Year in Review: 2020

2020 saw incredible growth in our competitions, script coverage service, virtual events, and overall interaction with an increasingly diverse community of incredible screenwriters. 2020 was a year of experimentation. We launched new events, innovated on the fly, and created new ways to amplify exciting voices in the screenwriting community.

And we’re just getting started. WeScreenplay has an incredible year planned for 2021 including more of the fantastic virtual events, screenwriting competitions, and coverages that you’ve come to expect.

Check out WeScreenplay’s upcoming competitions here.

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