Movie Bytes

Oh so many screenwriting contests. Having a deadline for a contest is a great way of motivating yourself to finish your screenplay. However, there are so many here, that if you miss your initial deadline, there's always another one, for a different competition, just around the corner. Perhaps you'll have to rely on self motivation after all.

The homepage to this information stacked site is sensibly laid out. The links are easy to access, at the top of the page, in the blue stripe. Down the centre of the page are the latest bits of news, then the new contest announcements, then the all important information on the contests you're going to miss if you don't get a move on. Then, almost at the bottom are the site sponsors. A tiny scroll further and you'll find the form to fill in if you want the free newsletter and access to more of the site via a password they'll send you. You want this, so fill it in. Good luck with the competitions.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Contests It's why you're here. If you like long lists, and you have nothing better to do for the rest of the day, you can see all the contests together, alphabetically. At the time of writing their were a mere 209 for you to browse. A much better idea is to look at the subsections running down this page and see which one is closest to your needs. Some contests are parts of festivals, others encourage minority entries, some are for short screenplays, while others are interested in scripts for TV. Some of them are available to enter for free. Each contest has a brief blurb detailing what it's all about and the all important deadline. If you click the title of a contest you go to a full page with more detailed information. Make sure to check whether a contest is accepting entries from your part of the world before sending an entry.

Writers Wanted Lots of production companies asking for scripts. Nearly all of them American, but that needn't be a problem.

Bulletin Board As soon as you subscribe to the newsletter you will be sent a password which you need to access this section. Once in you see that this a fairly active board, without being overwhelming. Threads with most recent responses are at the top. There is a great deal of intelligent comment going on here. It will also help to remind you, that as a screenwriter, you are not alone.

Other Features A huge list of names and addresses of US based writer's agents. Also, news stories, going as far back as a year ago, about competitions.