AFF Script Competition: Austin Film Festival

Contest · 2026Prestige 85/100Feedback included

Premier US screenplay competition since 1994. Cash prizes, fellowships, and direct producer/rep access.

Official site ↗

Deadlines & fees

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 script competitions closed early after reaching capacity. A 2027 opening date has not been announced.

Dates and fees checked against the official site 14 Jul 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

Blind judging by trained volunteer readers; all scripts read in full. First Round + Second Round (top 15–20%) notified by email mid-September; Semifinalists contacted by phone mid-September; Finalists notified early October; winners announced at Awards Luncheon on 31 Oct 2026. Finalist and Semifinalist Judges announced on a rolling basis through the year. Semifinalists and above are listed in the Producers Book distributed to judges and industry.

The PreList verdict

Austin is the rare contest where the prize is a room full of people. The script competition feeds the Austin Film Festival and its Writers Conference, and that conference is the point: finalists and even second-rounders walk the same panels, bars and mentor sessions as working producers, reps and showrunners. If you can get yourself to Texas, no other competition on this list converts a placement into conversations as directly.

The honest part: the value concentrates on people who attend. A quarterfinal laurel from your sofa is nice but inert, and the 2026 competition closed early after hitting capacity, which tells you how crowded the field has become. Fees are moderate, rising by deadline tier, and the category spread is unusually wide: features, pilots, short scripts, playwriting, even fiction podcasts.

Enter if you write commercially minded work and would actually travel to the festival if you placed. Skip it if you want written feedback on your script, because that is not what Austin sells. The 2026 cycle is closed; put the 2027 opening on your calendar and enter early, because capacity is now a real constraint.

Dylian Salvatore, Founder of The PreList · Updated 14 Jul 2026

Frequently asked questions

When does the Austin Film Festival script competition open again?

The 2026 competitions closed early after reaching capacity, and Austin has not yet announced a 2027 opening date. Recent cycles have opened around the turn of the year with deadlines from March to May.

What did entry cost in 2026?

Feature entries ran US$60 at the early bird deadline, US$70 regular and US$90 late. Other categories are priced separately.

Is Austin worth entering if I cannot attend the festival?

The laurel still carries weight, but the conference access is where most of the career value sits. If you would never travel to Austin, contests with feedback or cash-led prizes may serve you better.