Early Deadline is April 15th, 2024

Enter Now

Our Short Script Lab is designed to connect you with producers, screenwriters and industry professionals eager to expand their network. Featuring Keynote Mentors who have been nominated for Academy Awards and produced films like The Departed, You’ve Got Mail and more.

 

This is your chance to meet like-minded filmmakers and learn from the paths they took in the industry. Plus free feedback with every entry!

The WeScreenplay Difference

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Free written feedback. Included with your submission, you’ll receive actionable feedback from a professional reader to help elevate your work.

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Interactive Labs. Our virtual labs put you and your work front and center, so you can receive the hands-on opportunity to learn and connect with working industry professionals.

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A team that cares. The writer development team supports lab winners with ongoing mentorship and guidance - all based on your specific goals.

Deadlines

Early

Apr 15, 2024

Regular

May 15, 2024

Late

Jun 15, 2024

Final

Jul 15, 2024

Announcements

Quarterfinalist

Aug 16, 2024

Semifinalist

Sep 6, 2024

Finalist

Oct 4, 2024

Winner

Nov 1, 2024

Industry Guests

Industry guests will join the Short Script Lab and will participate in either group sessions or one-on-one meetings with our winners.

Juror Image 1

Stefanie Abel Horowitz

Writer and Director, Sometimes I Think About Dying

Stefanie Abel Horowitz directed theater for a decade before pivoting to film. She is the co-writer of the Sundance 2023 feature film Sometimes, I Think About Dying, starring Daisy Ridley. She is also the director/co-writer of the short film of the same title, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, traveled the world on the Sundance Shorts Tour, garnered Abel Horowitz the Future Filmmaker Award from Palm Spring FF, and was shortlisted for the 92nd Academy Awards. As writer/director she participated in Season 1 of the Disney Launchpad: Shorts Incubator program. Her short Let’s Be Tigers is available on Disney +. She’s also directed narrative podcasts whose cast lists include Rami Malek, Cole Sprouse, Colman Domingo and Emily Hampshire. She is an alum of the New Voices Sundance Lab as well as a member of Lincoln Center Directors Lab. And her essay He’s Your Destiny. Just Be Patient. was published in The New York Times Modern Love column.

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A.J. Briones

Writer, Director, Animator

A.J. Briones has over 20 years of film and games experience with an emphasis on visual storytelling, animation and performance capture. He began his career in the videogame industry, where he worked at various roles at Sega of America, Midway Games and High Moon Studios. In 2007, A.J. began working as an animator. Over the years, he has collaborated with directors Matt Reeves, Brad Bird, Peter Berg, Chris Columbus and others, designing iconic shots and sequences for films such as Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Iron Man 2, and the Planet of the Apes franchise. Currently, A.J. is working at Lightstorm Entertainment as a Sequence Supervisor on James Cameron’s Avatar sequels. This year he was recognized with a Visual Effects Society award for Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project for his work on Avatar: The Way of Water. A.J.’s short horror film The Smiling Man has screened internationally in over 60 film festivals, including SXSW, and won numerous awards. The Smiling Man debuted online via Blumhouse and Crypt TV, going viral with over 10 million views, and had its network television premiere on Robert Rodriguez’ El Rey Network Horror Anthology, presented by John Carpenter.

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Kelly Lui

Acquisitions Lead, Ouat Media

Kelly is the Acquisitions Lead at Ouat Media, a Toronto-based distribution and sales company that specializes in short films. Recognized internationally as one of the world’s primary destinations for work by the industry’s rising stars, Ouat Media boasts an award-winning catalogue of titles featuring 12 Oscar® nominees including 3 Oscar® winners to date. Her experience includes festival programming, community arts facilitation, and multimedia art making. Kelly has worked with Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Toronto Youth Shorts Film Festival and is a co-founder of The Asian Canadian Living Archive (TACLA) collective.

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Meghan Ross

Head of Creator Success, Seed & Spark

Meghan Ross is an Austin-based writer, director, producer, and comedian who was selected for 2022 Women at Sundance Adobe Fellowship, Sundance Episodic Lab 2021-2022, and 2022 NewNarratives grant from NewFilmmakers LA & Warner Bros. Discovery’s OneFifty for her half-hour comedy Here to Make Friends (also her personal tagline). Her shorts made The New Yorker’s Best Shouts of 2020 list, she was nominated for The Webby Awards for If You Ever Hurt My Daughter, I Swear to God I’ll Let Her Navigate Her Own Emotional Growth, featuring narration by Jon Hamm, and her writing has appeared in Reductress, VICE’s Broadly, TV Without Pity, The Toast, and other defunct but beloved sites. She hosted the late night show That Time of the Month for 5 years, the Instagram Live show No One Asked For This for 2 pandemic years, and is currently Head of Creator Success at Seed&Spark. Most importantly, Meghan’s an aspiring stage mom to her rescue pit-lab, Dreidel.

Prizes

Grand Prize

WeScreenplay Shorts Virtual Lab

6 winners will be selected to participate in this game-changing virtual lab. This lab will be PACKED with virtual meetings with industry professionals, workshops, and more so you can learn, network, and gain exposure.

 

Winners will also receive:

 

• A copy of Final Draft screenwriting software
• Guidance for drafting query letters, research methods for finding the right representation, and insight for career next steps.

 

Our virtual labs have directly led to writers getting staffed, signing with their dream reps, and more.

Select Finalists

Meeting with Writer Development Team

Select finalists will have a 1:1 virtual meeting with a member of the WeScreenplay Writer Development Team to discuss you and your work.

Finalists

Mentorship Session with Industry Professional

Finalists will be invited to a special virtual group mentor session with an industry professional!

All Entrants

Free page of feedback

All entrants will receive one page of feedback from a professional reader.

WeScreenplay Lab Testimonials

All entrants will receive one page of feedback from a professional reader.

Quotation Mark

I’m always interested in connecting with the next generation of filmmakers, and this afforded the perfect opportunity to have personal time with a handful of new, top creative minds. I was extremely impressed with your writers … they were all so well spoken, clear and concise about their experience and their goals, which were all so varied and interesting! Truthfully … I felt more optimistic about the future of cinema after the zoom than I have in a while!

G. Mac Brown

Producer (2023 Lab Mentor)

Quotation Mark

It’s always exciting to be able to engage with emerging writers through programs like WeScreenplay because it opens the door for talent from around the world to be discovered and potentially find the right fit in terms of literary representation.

Daniel Seco

Literary Manager at Empirical Evidence (2021 Lab Mentor)

Quotation Mark

Having the wide variety of people to talk to was very helpful – I felt like I gained just as equal benefit from talking to the independent filmmakers as I did the industry executives. It was really lovely to see how many different ways there were to move forward after writing a short script.

Katy Erin

2021 Lab Winner

Quotation Mark

Speaking with a literary manager was the most beneficial to my career development at this stage. However, pitching myself over and over to executives is a close second.

AJ Dinsmore

2021 Lab Winner

Sample Lab Schedule

Schedule

Learn About the Different Session Types

Workshops

Group Mentorship Meetings

We will have exciting workshops for winners to get hands on experience with industry professionals. Winners participate in curated workshops with screenwriters, literary managers which have included managers like AE Jones of Stagecoach Entertainment, and a Pitching Masterclass with Jim Arnoff.

Writers will meet with executives, literary managers and working writers to learn more about the craft and industry for a deeper 360 perspective of a career in screenwriting. Each session includes a mentor who will share their experience and area of expertise followed by a Q&A with the writers.

Success Stories

Check out more of our Writers’ Successes.

Gabe Berry

Hired for a writing assignment

Don’t hesitate to enter. WeScreenplay provides feedback on every single script entry. That in itself is worth the cost of submission. Additionally, if your script places, it can give you a boost in the exposure department. I earned a writing assignment from a complete stranger – a producer/director in Canada.

Samuel Thompson

Signed with a manager

What drew me to WeScreenplay was their fast turn around on note services, and the quality of the readers. A few years ago, I was writing an early draft of the first feature I had ever written, and they were the first service I turned to for notes. To this day, those notes still rank among the best notes I’ve ever gotten. I entered a short script of mine to their short screenplay contest, and the reactions to it were eye opening in a good way. This pushed me to adapt the short to a feature script, and that script ended up getting me my manager.

Shaun & Jay Perry

Signed with one of the top agencies in Australia

The WeScreenplay team deserve a round of applause for everything they are doing. Our conversations with the team were always fruitful. Not only are they incredibly friendly, but have a wealth of industry knowledge. They educated us on agencies, managers, writing query letters and generally how to get our foot in the door. They’re also responsible for setting up a meeting with Oscar nominated writer/director Vincent Lambe, who has since become a great contact for us – and led us to a meeting with Profile Creative. The rest is history, we signed with our agent, and we also have a producer for our short film.

Our Process

Every Entry Includes Judge's Notes

A FREE, 1-page mini-version of our phenomenal coverage from the entry’s first round judge, including their scores!

*Note: You can upgrade your free Judges Notes to the 2-page Classic Notes for an additional fee.

Quarterfinalists - Top 20%

A new reader and another read for every script that makes it to this round.

*Note: You can upgrade to include Judges Notes for a small fee!

Semifinalists - Top 10%

Another new reader and another full read for every script that makes it to this round … and you are welcome to submit an updated version of your script for only $6.

Finalists

Scripts that make it to this round will be read internally by the WeScreenplay team. Scores will not be provided for this round, as judging will be discussed privately.

Winners!

The top scripts selected by the WeScreenplay team! We’ll be reaching out to the winners to invite them to attend our exclusive Virtual Shorts Lab.

Rules

General Rules

  • Screenplays entered must:
    • Be under 35 pages – Anything over 35 pages will be charged an extra $1 per page.
    • Be submitted in PDF form and must fit all standard screenplay format guidelines. Personal formatting conventions will be accepted but must not intentionally or accidentally alter the page count of the project as determined by the judges.
    • Be owned solely by the writer or writing team listed. It may be an adaptation or reimagining of true events or fictional stories. Projects submitted should not infringe on the rights of any work not available in the public domain. Spec scripts of existing shows are NOT accepted at this time.
    • All persons from anywhere in the world are eligible; however the material submitted must be in English (occasional dialogue in other languages is acceptable, if subtitle translation is provided).
    • Be written in English. However, scripts from anywhere in the world will be accepted.
    • NOTE: WeScreenplay automatically removes the cover page before assigning scripts to readers, so writers may include any typical information on their cover page. Scripts are accepted with or without cover pages.
  • Writer must be 18 years of age or older at the time of the winner’s announcement.
  • By entering this screenplay into the competition, you must have full permission from all co-writers and any attachments to the project.
  • WeScreenplay claims no ownership nor option on your work. All ownership and rights to the scripts submitted to this contest remain with the original rights holder(s).
  • Screenplays entered may be in any genre or combination of genres. All will be treated equally and read by an unbiased panel of readers and jury members.
  • The following formats will be accepted: Short Script screenplay
  • Entrant’s total earnings for screenwriting for either film or tv, produced or unproduced, must not exceed $50,000 in the previous 18 months from submission or $250,000 lifetime earnings. This excludes any prize money from competitions or fellowships and only applies to fund or money transferred in exchange for an option or sale of a script, treatment, idea, intellectual property, or other writing for filming. Money earned from acting, directing, producing, or any other film work outside of writing is not included.
  • Screenplays submitted must not have been previously sold or produced unless said sale or production was completed with no financial gain to the writer.
  • Purchasing Additional feedback throughout the competition will in no way impact your standing or odds of advancement.
  • For a submission to be valid it must be accompanied with the appropriate payment based on the submission deadlines.
  • All deadlines are at 11:59pm PT on the date listed. Any deadline alteration or promotion of any kind does not make any entry valid for a refund of any kind.
  • RESUBMISSIONS will be accepted. Substitutions of either corrected pages or new drafts of the entered material will be allowed for a limited time with a $6 reentry fee through Coverfly. Please proofread your script carefully before submitting.
  • There are no refunds for any submitted screenplay. Coupons may not be applied to previously submitted scripts. Coupons deemed for WeScreenplay coverage may not be used for submission to the contest or addition of coverage to any submission unless explicitly stated or exempted on the coupon or by a WeScreenplay representative via e-mail communication only.
  • There is no limit on the number of scripts a writer or writing team may submit.
  • Prizes are awarded per script and teams of writers are expected to divide prizes on their own accord. WeScreenplay will send prizes to the writer who submits the project and will in no way be responsible for how the prizes are distributed among the writing teams.
  • The decision of the judges will be final and cannot be contested in any manner. There is no score on a scorecard that guarantees advancement to the next level as advancement will be based on all scores in the competition.
  • Scorecards can be accessed on the writer’s dashboard. Feedback will be delivered before the next announcement but usually sooner. Feedback for each round of the competition, whether free or upgraded, will be returned before the next competition announcement.
  • WeScreenplay reserves the right to delay announcements for any reason. While we never anticipate any delays, such delays will not alter the standing of any screenplay entry and will not qualify an entry for a refund under any circumstance.

Eligibility

  • By entering a WeScreenplay competition every entrant is agreeing to all WeScreenplay Terms of Service listed on the website and additional terms agreed upon at checkout. If you disagree with any terms you may not submit to the contest.
  • By submitting to the contest you are releasing your script (but not it’s underlying rights) to WeScreenplay and holding harmless WeScreenplay or any affiliates from any claims, expenses, and liabilities, including but not limited to invasion of privacy, defamation, copyright, libel, trademark infringement, slander, personal property infringement, etc.
  • Any prize winners will be required to sign an affidavit validating their entry into the contest.
  • Any writer winning a cash prize will be required to file the appropriate tax and legal documentation before the cash prize is distributed.
  • All prizes provided by sponsors or mentors are subject to said sponsor or mentor providing the prize. In the event a juror, partner organization, or prize partner is no longer able to serve in their specified capacity, WeScreenplay will make its best effort to secure a replacement if possible. WeScreenplay is not responsible for the failed delivery of any prize package by a juror, sponsor, or partner organization.
  • Former Grand Prize, Second Prize, and Third Prize Winners of the contest may enter so long as it is NOT the same script that won in a previous year. Any other placement in former years does not disqualify the script from being entered this year.
  • By entering the competition, entrants are acknowledging their eligibility for the competition. We may check eligibility at the finalist stage before picking winners or distributing any prizes. We also advance a few additional scripts to ensure no one is missed by someone entering who is not eligible.
  • Void where prohibited.

Additional Legal

  • Except where prohibited by law, participation in the contest constitutes each entrant’s consent to WeScreenplay and its agents’ and contest sponsor’s use of entrants’ names, likenesses, photographs, and/or personal information for promotional purposes in any media, worldwide, without further payment or consideration. All uses of an entrants’ information are in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
  • BY ENTERING THE CONTEST YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND AGREE TO THESE CONDITIONS. You agree to release and hold harmless WeScreenplay, Red Ampersand, Inc., Industry Arts, LLC., WeScreenplay.com, its subsidiary, parent and affiliated companies, Prize contributors, judges, screenplay readers, Sponsors, and any other organizations responsible for administering, advertising or promoting the Contest, and every one of their respective members, directors, employees, agents and representatives (collectively, the “Released Parties”) past and present from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liability, including but not limited to damages and negligence to property and persons, including but not limited to invasion of privacy, defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, copyright, infringement of trademark or other intellectual property rights relating to a participant’s Entry, participation in the Contest and/or acceptance or use or misuse of Prize; provided however, that such release will not apply to any commercial exploitation of the script by a Released Party in violation of your rights under applicable copyright law; and (c) indemnify, defend and hold harmless the WeScreenplay.org and its Sponsor, agents and employees from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorney’s fees) relating to an entrant’s participation in the Contest and/or entrant’s use or misuse of Prize. Employees of WeScreenplay and their immediate families are ineligible to participate in this contest. Any such submission will be immediately disqualified. ENTRY TO THIS CONTEST IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED or restricted by any Federal, State or Local law. Voided entries will be refunded. Recipients’ eligibility will be verified before the grant is awarded and the winner may be required to sign an affidavit of eligibility.

Select Notes

How many pages of notes would you like included with your entry?
1 Page
Standard
$39.99
2 Pages
$114.99
$94.99