Sept 1

Open

Sept 30

Early Deadline

Nov 30

Final Deadline

March

Finalists Announced

Opens for entries on June 1, 2020.

Subscribe to get a notification via Coverfly for upcoming deadlines.
Download ScreenCraft's 2020 Competition Calendar here.

Previous Jury included Pulitzer Prize-winner Nilo Cruz, Pulitzer Prize-winner Donald Margulies, Pulitzer Prize-winner Stephen Adly Guirgis, CAA agent Arya Naganeh, and award-winning playwright and screenwriter Chloe Hung.

Seeking original stage plays!

Win $1,000 + introductions to literary agents, managers and producers.

 

Why ScreenCraft's Stage Play Contest?

ScreenCraft is dedicated to discovering and promoting writing talent, and our play competition is searching for emerging playwrights. Hollywood has a long history of adapting plays and embracing playwriting talent. We're seeking to celebrate the craft of writing for the theater, and connect winning writers with career opportunities and participation in ScreenCraft's thriving community of talented writers and mentors around the world.

Submission Guidelines and Acceptable Formats

While a very wide variety of plays will be considered eligible for this program, we recommend that writers submit a play that is at least 20 pages long. Play formats differ, so there's no specific format or structure required, however we do request that you submit your play as a PDF file format.

Grand PrizeGrand Prize

$ 1,000

Cash Travel Stipend
  • The grand prize winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000 for (optional) travel to Los Angeles!
  • Circulation and personal recommendation of our top 2 winners' plays to our network of playwrights, theater companies, producers, literary managers, agents and award-winning writers.
  • Winning project will be considered by ScreenCraft for possible production in partnership with a local theater in Los Angeles, with an audience of writers and entertainment industry professionals.

2nd Place

$ 500

Cash Award
  • The runner-up will receive a $500 cash award.
  • Introductions to industry professionals including producers, literary managers and agents
  • Lifetime license to WriterDuet Pro screenwriting software, courtesy of ScreenCraft ($199 value) - which includes stage play formatting templates.

Top 50 Finalists

% 50

Discount
  • The top 30 semifinalists will receive a 50% discount code to WriterDuet Pro lifetime license, the most advanced screenwriting software with playwriting templates as well, and with real-time collaboration and automatic revision tracking, compatible with Celtx, Final Draft and PDF formats ($199 value).

Advisors

Top Playwriting, Literary and Hollywood industry professionals will read the winners!

Nilo Cruz, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright

With his award of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Anna in the Tropics, Nilo became the first Latino so honored. The work also garnered the Steinberg Award for Best New Play. A year later it received its Broadway premiere with Jimmy Smits in the lead role. Cruz is an alumnus of New Dramatists and has taught playwriting at Brown University, the University of Iowa and at Yale University.

Donald Margulies, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright

American playwright and a professor of English and Theater Studies at Yale University. In 2000, he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Dinner with Friends. Margulies adapted the memoir Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip With David Foster Wallace, by David Lipsky, as a feature film screenplay, The End of the Tour. The film was directed by James Ponsoldt and stars Jason Segel as Wallace and Jesse Eisenberg as Lipsky.

Stephen Adly Guirgis, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright

Stephen Adly Guirgis is an American playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. He is a member and a former co-artistic director of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company. His plays have been produced both Off-Broadway and on Broadway as well as in the UK. His play Between Riverside and Crazy won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Guirgis also had a small role as an actor in Charlie Kaufman's film Synecdoche, New York.

Arya Zanganeh

Arya is a junior agent at Creative Artists Agency. CAA's clients include many of Hollywood's top talent, including Cate Blanchett, Emily Blunt, Alec Baldwin, Sandra Bullock, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Colin Farrell, Will Smith, Marion Cotillard, Viola Davis and many more.

Chloe Hung

Chloe Hung: Awarded the RBC Emerging Playwrights Award from Tarragon Theatre, Chloe currently writes on season three of Ava DuVernay’s television series, Queen Sugar (OWN).

Official Sponsor

RULES:

  • Submissions are accepted via electronic submission only, between September 1, 2019 and November 30, 2019.
  • Entry fee for each stage play is $39 until the early deadline on September 30, then $69 until the final deadline on November 30.
  • Optional feedback from a professional reader may be requested at the time of entry. Requests for feedback after an entry is submitted will be available only for a limited time.
  • Plays must be a minimum of 20 pages and a maximum of 120 pages.
  • Writers may also submit a logline or synopsis with their play submission.
  • There is no limit to the number of projects you may submit for consideration.
  • Entries must be received on or before the deadline dates by 11:59PM Pacific Time, and submission fee payment must be made in full at time of the submission. All entry fees are non-refundable.
  • All submitted material must be original, and all rights must be wholly owned by the writer(s).
  • Material must be submitted by the writer. Material written by writing teams must be submitted by one of the writers, with consent of the other(s). All writers must be credited on title page.
  • If a writing team is chosen as a winner, prizes will be given to the person who submits the project. Each team is responsible for dividing or sharing the prize money.
  • Substitutions of either corrected pages or new drafts of the entered material are allowed.
  • It is recommended that original material be registered with the US Copyright Office before submitting to any competition, however we do not require registrations. ScreenCraft offers a convenient, secure registration service here.
  • Contact info may be included on the cover page of the play, however it is not required.
  • All ownership and rights to the material submitted to this contest remains with the original rights holders until and unless other agreements are made.

ELIGIBILITY:

  • All writers at least 18 years of age are eligible.
  • All persons from anywhere in the world are eligible; however the material submitted must be in English.
  • All material submitted to other competitions or contests are eligible for this contest.
  • There are no requirements as to when the material was written.
  • Play and intellectual property must be wholly owned and submitted by the writer(s).
  • Material should be submitted in generally accepted play format, font, spacing and margin.
  • We have no preferences regarding title page content. Title and name of writer would suffice.
  • Adaptations are ineligible unless the underlying rights are owned by the writer or the work is in the public domain (such as a mythology or publications before 1923).
  • Plays longer than 120 pages will not be eligible.
  • All material must be submitted electronically as a PDF or it will not be eligible.

The winners will be chosen based on the following criteria: (i) originality of story or concept; (ii) voice; (iii) characterization and dialogue; (iv) production viability at a reasonable budget. The winners and top finalists may be contacted by interested industry representatives, such as literary managers, agents or producers. Entrants may be required to submit further information to assist in the judges’ verification of eligibility. Any entrant may be deemed ineligible at the sole discretion of ScreenCraft. Finalists may be required to sign and return within seven (7) business days of receipt a notarized Affidavit of Eligibility and a Release and Indemnification and proof of valid passport and any other documents that ScreenCraft or any other partner may require before receiving prize payment. Failure to respond to the initial notification within ten (10) days or return of notification will result in disqualification. We reserve the right to amend these rules at any time.

COPYRIGHT AND OWNERSHIP

ScreenCraft or any other partner, employee or agent associated with this contest claims no ownership nor first right of option to any original play submitted to this contest. All ownership and rights to the material submitted to this contest remains with the original rights holders until and unless other agreements are made.

PUBLICITY

Except where prohibited by law, participation in the contest constitutes each entrant’s consent to ScreenCraft 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.

REFUND POLICY

All entries are non-refundable.

ENTRY CONDITIONS AND RELEASE

BY ENTERING THE CONTEST YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND AGREE TO THESE CONDITIONS. You agree to release and hold harmless ScreenCraft, ScreenCraft.org, its subsidiary, parent and affiliated companies, Prize contributors, judges, 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 material by a Released Party in violation of your rights under applicable copyright law; and (c) indemnify, defend and hold harmless the ScreenCraft.org and its Sponsor, agents and employees from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorneys fees) relating to an entrant’s participation in the Contest and/or entrant’s use or misuse of Prize. Employees of ScreenCraft 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.