AFF Script Competition: Austin Film Festival

Deadlines & fees

Dates and fees checked against the official site 28 Sept 2026.

Entry categories

• Comedy Teleplay Pilot

  TV Pilot, Comedy, up to 70 pages

  Original comedy pilots in half-hour or one-hour format (covers single-cam 22–40pp and multi-cam 52–58pp). No bibles, treatments, or reality formats. Same non-working-writer eligibility restrictions.

• Drama Teleplay Pilot

  TV Pilot, Drama, up to 70 pages

  Original drama pilots in half-hour or one-hour format. No bibles, treatments, reality formats, or mini-series. Same non-working-writer eligibility restrictions.

• Feature Comedy

  Feature, Comedy, up to 120 pages

  Open to feature comedy across sub-genres (dark comedy, satire, family, animation, slapstick, horror, etc.). Same 90–120 page guideline and eligibility restrictions as Feature Drama.

• Feature Drama

  Feature, Drama, up to 120 pages

  Open to feature drama scripts across any sub-genre (historical, western, family, romance, horror, thriller, etc.). Recommended 90–120 pages; won't be disqualified for length if reasonable. Entering both Drama and Comedy requires two entries/fees. Restricted to non-working writers (no WGA credits; no current living from film/TV writing).

• Short Screenplay

  Short, up to 40 pages

  Narrative short scripts, 5–40 pages, all genres. Produced shorts ineligible. Not eligible for sponsored award categories. Same non-working-writer eligibility restrictions.

Key facts

Formats

Feature, TV Pilot, Short

Genres

Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Sport, Family, Adventure, Animation, Fantasy, Thriller, War, History, Biography, Comedy, Horror, Western, Crime, Mystery, Romance

Required materials

PDF of script (under 5MB), Title on cover page only — no author name, contact info, or identifying details anywhere in the script (anonymous judging), Completed online entry form, Entry fee (per script, per category), Logline / brief synopsis (optional — not used for judging)

* Scripts must be in English. * Scripts must not have been optioned, have a shopping agreement, or been sold prior to 29 Oct 2026 (applicant must notify AFF of status changes). * Scripts that reached Semifinalist level or above in a prior AFF Screenplay or Digital Series Competition cannot be resubmitted; Second Round scripts may be resubmitted. * Feature, Short, and Teleplay categories are restricted to writers who do not currently earn a living writing for film/TV and/or hold WGA writing credits. * Adaptations permitted (applicant responsible for securing rights). * Author name/contact info must not appear anywhere in the submitted PDF — anonymous judging.

Prizes

Category Prizes: * Drama Feature (WGAE-presented) and Comedy Feature each: $5,000 cash + up to $500 airfare + up to $500 lodging + AFF Bronze Typewriter Award. * Horror Feature Award and Sci-Fi Feature Award (opt-in from Drama/Comedy Feature entries): $2,500 cash + $500 airfare + $500 lodging + Typewriter. * Short Screenplay, Comedy Teleplay Spec, Drama Teleplay Spec, Comedy Teleplay Pilot, Drama Teleplay Pilot, Playwriting, and Fiction Podcast winners each: $1,000 cash + up to $500 airfare + up to $500 lodging + Typewriter. Badges: * Finalists (all categories): complimentary Producers Badge to the 2026 Festival & Conference ($775 value). * Semifinalists: discounted Producers Badge at $300. Industry Fellowships / Awards: Each $30 add-on, opt-in from a parent category: * AMC One-Hour Pilot Award ($1,000 + travel + AFF Fellowship) * Starburns Industries Adult Animated Comedy Fellowship ($500 + travel + 6-month fellowship) * Donners' Company Screenwriting Award ($500 + travel + 3 meetings with Lauren Shuler Donner / dev execs) * Enderby Entertainment Award ($2,500 + travel + meeting) * Roadmap Writers Representation Fellowship ($500 + travel + 12-month programme, 24 Roadmap meetings + 3 industry exec meetings) * Valhalla Entertainment Award ($500 + travel + meetings with Gale Anne Hurd & President of Production) * William N. Collage Screenwriting Award ($1,000 + travel + meetings with Bill Collage) * YMH Studios Comedy Fellowship ($1,000 + travel + meetings with YMH execs, potential continued work) Semifinalists and above listed in the Producers Book distributed to industry.

Judging

Notifications go out by mid September for first round and second round placements, with semifinalists receiving a phone call around the same time and finalists notified by early October. Winners are announced at the Awards Luncheon during the festival. Free reader comments are opt-in via a checkbox at entry and are sent by mid-November. Scale has grown steadily: around 11,500 scripts in 2023, 10,500 in 2024 and more than 17,000 submissions across the script and film competitions in 2025, which is what drove the 2026 capacity cap. All finalists receive a complimentary Producers Badge valued at 775 US dollars, and semifinalists may buy one at 300. Austin became an official Academy Nicholl partner for 2026-27. CAUTION for future verification: austinfilmfestival.com/submit/ redirects to the FILM competition, which has different deadlines and fees, and the FilmFreeway listing under the festival name covers the film competition only.

Frequently asked questions