Screenwriting contests.

9 Sept 2026Closes tomorrow

10 Sept 20262 days left

11 Sept 20263 days left

13 Sept 20265 days left

17 Sept 20269 days left

22 Sept 202614 days left

30 Sept 2026

30 Sept 2026

30 Sept 2026

5 Oct 2026

7 Nov 2026

7 Dec 2026

31 Mar 2027

Closed for this cycle

The 2026-27 cycle is under way and both public entry windows have already closed, each filling on capacity ahead of its published deadline. The Black List portal opened 8 June 2026 and shut around 19 June on its 2,500 cap, well before the 6 July date the Academy had published; the Writers Guild Foundation portal opened 22 June and filled its 2,000 places before its 20 July deadline. Fellows are awarded in spring 2027. There is no stable annual pattern to plan around: under the old open-entry model the contest opened in January or February with a March to May ladder, while the two cycles under the partner model opened in mid-May 2025 and early June 2026. The practical advice is to watch for the Academy's partner announcement press release, which came on 8 June for this cycle, and enter the same week. Waiting for the published deadline is how people miss it.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 competitions closed early: Austin states that submission volume reached capacity in all categories ahead of the published late deadline of 27 May, so the effective close fell somewhere between 1 and 27 May and no exact date was published. Winners are announced on 31 October 2026, with reader comments sent by mid-November. The 2027 competitions open in December 2026, which Austin has published. The annual shape is reliable across four evidenced cycles: entries open in the first half of December (7 December 2022, early December 2023, 9 December 2024 and 8 December 2025), early bird lands in late March, regular in mid-to-late April, and the late deadline in the last days of May. All deadlines close at 11:59pm Central. Winners are announced at the Awards Luncheon during the festival in late October or early November. Two changes make the late deadline less dependable than it looks. The capacity cap is new for 2026, pre-announced and then triggered for the first time, and the Extended tier that existed in 2023, 2024 and 2025 was abolished. Deadlines have also tightened year on year, from a late deadline extended to 31 May in both 2023 and 2024, to a firm 28 May in 2025 and 27 May in 2026. Enter early: the published date is now a ceiling rather than a promise.

Opens soon

The next call has not opened yet: Rocliffe's own terms page reads "coming soon, not open yet", and no dates, fees or featured format have been published for the round. A limited number of free-entry bursaries are promised.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 round opened on 15 May and closed at 12 noon on 26 June 2026, with all applicants hearing back by 30 September. New Writing North's index says the awards open again later in 2027 without giving a month. The pattern is consistent in shape but drifting later: opening has been stable at 15 or 16 May, while the deadline has walked from 4 June in 2024 to 16 June in 2025 to 26 June in 2026, always at midday. The production partners rotate annually, so treat the company list as year-specific. A caution if you go looking: the strand cards still display live Enter here buttons and present-tense deadline text after closing, and the dedicated 2026 page carries no closure indicator at all, though the underlying submission forms are genuinely shut.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 cycle closed on 11 June 2026 and is still resolving: quarter-finalists were published on 16 July and semi-finalists on 30 July, both on schedule, with finalists due 27 August and the grand prize on 10 September 2026. No times of day or timezones are published for any deadline, so we have stored dates alone. The 2026 entry ladder ran Early 19 February at 35 US dollars, Regular 26 March at 45, Final 21 May at 65 and Extended 11 June at 75. Entry fees are non-refundable for any reason. No 2027 animation cycle has opened, and the recurrence record here is thinner than for the operator's other contests: only two cycles are evidenced, and the prior one carries no year label at all on its results page, so we cannot date it from the primary source. The operator does forward-date its cycles, having already opened a 2027 form for a sibling contest, so a 2027 animation window is plausible rather than assured.

Closed for this cycle

Submissions for 2026 closed with the late deadline on 15 August 2026 (earlybird 15 June at 20 pounds, regular 15 July at 25, late 35, or 30 for students and FilmFreeway Gold members). Finalists were notified on 4 September; the Awards Evening is at Komedia in Bath on 19 October 2026, during the festival (16 to 25 October). Submissions opened on 19 May this year, so expect the 2027 call around May 2027.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 season closed on 30 June 2026 with accolades announced by 15 August, and no 2027 dates have been published. One caution if you go looking: filmmatic.com's own page currently shows a deadline ladder headed 2025 which is actually the 2023 season's dates, so use the FilmFreeway listing, which is the reliable source. We could only evidence two seasons, and every 2026 milestone fell exactly one month earlier than its 2023 counterpart, so treat the shape loosely rather than as a fixed calendar: entries open around March, the final deadline falls around the end of June, and results land in mid-August.

Closed for this cycle

This year's contest closed with the extended deadline on 20 August 2026 (early 20 May, regular 20 June at 45 US dollars, late 20 July at 50, extended 59). Filmmatic posts results on 15 October. The page gives no dates for the next season; the tiers have run from May to August, so expect the 2027 call around May 2027.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 contest closed on 29 June 2026 and is in judging, with quarter-finalists announced on 28 August and grand prize winners on 18 December. No 2027 dates have been published, though the 2026 prize list includes a free 2027 entry, so a further cycle is expected. Across four evidenced cycles the final deadline has landed between 28 and 30 June every year, with the first tier in mid-to-late April, quarter-finalists in late August and grand prize winners in early-to-mid December. The opening date is only evidenced for two cycles, 10 March 2025 and 23 March 2026, so treat March as an observation rather than a rule. Note the tier names changed for 2026, from Early Bird, Regular, Extended and Last Chance to Early Bird, Regular, Final and Extended.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 round closed on 27 May 2026, with the pitch event on Sunday 12 July. The pattern is one of the most consistent we have found: across 2024, 2025 and 2026 the regular deadline has always fallen between 13 and 17 May, the late deadline exactly fourteen days later, fees frozen at 40 and 50 euro, ten finalists, a 3,000 euro prize, and the pitch always on the closing Sunday of the Fleadh in mid-July. The only drift is the weekday and the cut-off time, which moved from 5pm in 2024 to 23:59 from 2025. Two cautions if you check their pages: the submissions page carries a year typo giving the late deadline as May 2025, and it states GMT when Ireland is on Irish Summer Time in May, which would move the cut-off an hour earlier than most entrants expect.

Closed for this cycle

Entries for the 2026 contest closed on 1 June (fees ran $40 to $75 by deadline). The last cycle opened in late August, so the 2027 window is likely to open around then.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 season closed on 19 March 2026, with no time of day or timezone published, and selected writers announced on 19 June. The pattern is consistent: a mid-March deadline every year, falling between the 14th and 19th, free every year, and three selections every year, with announcements in mid-to-late June. The 2025 season is confirmed to have run but its deadline could not be evidenced from any archived source.

Closed for this cycle

Entries closed on 10 May 2026 and winners are announced live at the festival, running 24 to 30 September 2026. No 2027 dates have been published. The last three cycles have been consistent: entries open in the first week of December of the preceding year, early-bird falls in the second week of January, regular in mid-March, late in late April and the final deadline in the first half of May. The 2023 cycle opened on 2 January and ran roughly a month later throughout, so treat the December opening as a three-year pattern rather than four. Results run quarter-finals in late June or July, finalists in early August, and winners at the festival in September. One practical caution: the competition no longer has its own page and now sits on a year-stamped festival entries page, with the rules delegated to FilmFreeway, so the official link is likely to move again around December 2026.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 challenge (the 23rd annual) finished with final round results on 29 July 2026, and no 2027 dates have been published. It has run every calendar year without a gap, always in three rounds, with entries closing in February and final results landing late July or August. The early-bird entry deadline falls in the first week or two of January, which is the moment to watch. One caution: the start date has moved earlier every single year (24 March 2023, 15 March 2024, 21 February 2025, 13 February 2026), so treat February as the shape rather than assuming a repeating date.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 contest closed on 8 May 2026 and winners are announced on 15 October. PAGE publishes its opening date in advance and states that entries for the 2027 competition open on 1 December 2026. This is the most reliable calendar of any major contest we carry: it has opened on 1 December in every one of the last four cycles, run a ladder on the 15th of January, February, March and April, and announced quarter-finalists on 15 July, semi-finalists on 15 August, finalists on 15 September and winners on 15 October, unchanged year after year. The only moving part is the final tier, which has fallen between 8 and 20 May. Fees have risen once in four years. If you enter one contest on a diary reminder, this is the one to set it for.

Closed for this cycle

Screenplay entries for the 2026 festival closed on 15 June (fees ran $42 to $77 by deadline). The 2027 window has not been announced.

Closed for this cycle

The spring and summer 2026 cycle ran from 3 February to 15 July 2026 at 11:59pm Pacific, across five tiers: special entry on 25 February at 35 dollars, early on 20 April at 40, regular on 15 June at 45, late on 30 June at 50 and extended on 15 July at 55. Results are due on or after 20 August 2026. Joining the Script Pipeline mailing list takes 5 dollars off an entry. Bi-annual here means twice a year rather than every two years, and the pattern is stable: both cycles have run in each of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. No dates for the autumn and winter 2026 cycle have been published.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 contest (the 24th annual) closed on 31 May 2026 and no 2027 dates have been published. Across every cycle we could evidence, 2021, 2023, 2025 and 2026, the ladder has been strikingly stable: a Special Entry tier opens the preceding September, pre-registration closes at the end of December, an early tier lands in early March, and the regular deadline has fallen on 1 May with a late tier on 15 May in all four years. Results run through July into early August. On that pattern the 2027 contest would be expected to open around September 2026, but nothing is published yet, so confirm on the official site. Note the contest was renamed from Competition to Contest between 2024 and 2025, so older links may fail.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 contest (the 19th annual) closed on 31 May 2026 and no 2027 dates have been published. It has shared its deadline ladder with the Script Pipeline Screenwriting Contest in every year we could evidence: a Special Entry tier the preceding September, pre-registration at the end of December, an early tier in early March, regular on 1 May and late on 15 May. Results run July into early August. On that pattern the 2027 contest would be expected to open around September 2026, but nothing is published yet. Note the contest was renamed from Competition to Contest between 2024 and 2025, so older links may fail. Original pilots only: specs of existing shows are not accepted.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 contest closed with the final deadline on 28 August (early 29 May at 59 US dollars, regular 14 July at 69, final 79). Quarter-finalists are announced on 6 October, semi-finalists on 13 November, and the finalists and winners on 9 December 2026. Shore's page lists 1 April as the opening date, so expect the 2027 contest to open around then.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 competition closed at noon Eastern on 1 July; the winner is announced in October. Entries typically reopen in late April.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 competition closed on 3 August 2026 at 11:59pm Pacific, and winners are announced on 31 October. No 2027 dates have been published. Across four evidenced cycles the shape is very consistent: entries open between mid-February and mid-March, the final deadline lands in the last week of July or the first days of August, and winners are announced in the last week of October, preceded by a four-stage announcement cascade through late September. One drift worth noting: both the opening and the final deadline have moved a little later every year, from 14 February and 25 July in 2023 to 18 March and 3 August in 2026. Fees have been identical across 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 round closed at 11:59pm on Sunday 3 May 2026 and the competition returns in early 2027, with no date yet published. The recent pattern is consistent: across 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 the deadline has fallen on the last Sunday of April or the first Sunday of May at 11:59pm, with finalists in June and showcases in June and July. The fee rose from 20 to the current level between 2024 and 2025 and has held since. One caveat on calling it annual: the organisers' own previous-years list skips 2019, 2021 and 2022, and the 2020 finalists were never staged in a theatre because of the pandemic, so it has run annually since 2023 but has missed years before.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 cycle is complete and no dates have been published for the next round; the festival says to check back in autumn 2026. That cycle opened on 18 September 2025 and ran four tiers, early on 6 November at 45 dollars for a feature, regular on 15 January at 60, final on 19 February at 80 and extended on 5 March 2026 at 95, with notification on 22 May. Episodic and short categories run cheaper. The pattern across the two evidenced cycles is consistent: opening in mid-September, four tiers from November through early March, notification in May and the festival in the third week of June, with fees held flat between cycles. No deadline times or timezones are published anywhere.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 TV contest closed on 9 March with results due by 30 August (fees ran $99 to $119). A 2026 feature cycle has not been announced; previous feature contests opened between April and June.

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 round opened on 6 April and closed on 25 May 2026 at 11:59pm Eastern, with winners announced at the Virginia Film Festival in October. This has one of the most predictable calendars we have found: across four consecutive cycles the closing date has fallen on US Memorial Day, the last Monday in May, every single year, with entries opening in early April in three of those four. No extensions are ever granted. One small note for verification: only the 2026 cycle published a timezone; earlier years stated 11:59pm with no zone.