More info coming soon
Sara will identify two writers from this year's competition who will receive personalized feedback on their project, as well as a general meeting.
Sara Shepard is the author of nearly 40 books, including the #1 New York Times bestselling series, PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, which aired for seven seasons on Freeform. She has also had two other book series adapted for television, writes and illustrates novels for teens, adults, and elementary age children, and writes and produces for television and podcasts as well.
Signed with a Literary Manager
"Much of the initial feedback for my novel, THE ARCHER’S THREAD, noted how readers could visualize the story in the their mind, and how they’d love to see the book adapted to the screen. This inspired me to not only keep writing, but to submit the novel for consideration to a handful of competitions. Becoming a finalist in the ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition was an inflection point that arrived shortly after winning the Gold medal for popular fiction at the Florida Book Awards. These two milestones were confirmation that years of work had paid off. The biggest [result] was being asked to meet the members of Gravity Squared as part of a select group of finalists of the ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition. That fifteen minute conversation — which was less pitch and more an opportunity to share my background, approach and inspiration—changed everything."
Signed with UK-based publisher Markosia and Optioned Graphic Novel
"Keep at it, and never discount the power of even incremental progress. Write, rewrite, and submit your work to the highest caliber competitions. Every writer tends to swing between thinking their work is great, or absolute crap – only a competitive arena with qualified judges will give you an honest sense of your story’s true quality."
Semi-finalist in the 2018 ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition
"After my book, The Man Curse, made Screencraft's semi-finalist list in the cinematic book contest in 2018, and my adapted screenplay for The Man Curse (a pilot) was a quarterfinalist, I signed with a management team at Echo Lake Entertainment last week. I now have two managers working with me. They're part of a larger team of about 20 or so who will give me the lift I need. I found this management thanks to a fellow writer on the Screencraft finalist FB page. Echo Lake immediately requested my novel, The Man Curse. They were also impressed with some of the other things I've managed to do - like currently developing two shows with Ed Burns, co-creator of The Wire. I also signed a shopping agreement with a producer for my novel The Man Curse. This all happened after my random decision to enter a Screencraft contest. Becoming both a semi-finalist and quarterfinalist gave me the confidence I needed to push forward and believe I have a chance at success in this crazy world of TV writing. "
October 11 | by Britton Perelman
Roll credits and cue you leaving the theater, muttering something like, “Dammit, the book was so much better.” Familiar, right? That’s happened far too many...
June 20 | by Ken Miyamoto
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June 18 | by Burt Weissbourd
As a producer developing a screenplay, you learn to look for stories with strong, complex characters and emotional intensity. You want a screenplay with conflict...
April 29 | by Katie Porter
Screen adaptations of our favorite books can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, we can fall in love with our most beloved characters...
The winners will be chosen based on the following criteria:
In addition to the scoring criteria for the script, ScreenCraft may conduct interviews and send questionnaires to learn more about the entrant, their voice, perspective, and goals to help identify the winning projects. Top scripts are read by the industry jury who votes for their favorite scripts at their sole discretion.
Mentorship Selection:
Criteria for Winners and Finalists:
More info coming soon