Creative Screenwriting Animation Competition

Eligibility and project requirements

Open internationally: all writers from all countries are welcome, but scripts must be in English and entry fees paid in US dollars. NO INCOME CAP AND NO CREDIT CAP, so unlike the Black List nothing here excludes produced or professional writers. Work must be original and unencumbered: sold, produced-for-profit or optioned scripts are ineligible, as are novels, short stories, stage plays, treatments, synopses, reality concepts and specs of existing series; adaptations need rights or public domain status. Sole or collaborative authorship is accepted, with collaborators dividing prizes themselves. Under-18s need a parent or legal guardian's permission. Employees of Creative Screenwriting and their immediate families are ineligible. Entrants must accept the judges' decisions without reservation, and decisions are final and may not be disputed. Entrants are treated as independent contractors for tax purposes. PAGE LENGTHS ARE PUBLISHED TWO WAYS: the rules say features 70 to 120 pages and TV pilots up to 70 pages, while the FAQ says features 70 to 120 and pilots 20 to 70. Either way the limits are advisory, since scripts running over the suggested lengths are not disqualified. PDF only, with the title alone on the cover page and no contact details. Note a gap: the animation rules are silent on AI-written scripts, while the operator's sibling competition disqualifies them without refund.

Formats

Feature, TV Pilot

Genres

Animation

Eligibility

Open worldwide

Deadlines & fees

Dates and fees checked against the official site 19 Oct 2026.

Prepare your entry

Prizes

GRAND PRIZE 1,500 US DOLLARS to a single winner, plus a feature in a Creative Screenwriting article, option consideration, and promotion of the winning script to industry partners. Those last three are in kind. NO CASH IS PUBLISHED FOR THE KIDS, TEEN/YA OR ADULT CATEGORY WINNERS, so do not read the three categories as three funded awards; in the one fully published prior cycle the grand prize winner and the Adult category winner were the same script, which tells you the age categories are judging tracks feeding one overall prize. Prizes may be distributed at one package per person based on the highest placement rather than per winning screenplay. Cash is distributed within 90 days of notification and the winner may be required to sign an affidavit of eligibility. RIGHTS, AND THE OPERATOR'S OWN PAGES DISAGREE. The FAQ says you retain all the rights to your screenplay, that the contest seeks to support and empower writers rather than claim their work, and that the judges have no intention of stealing your material. The rules you must agree to say something narrower: you understand any staff member or judge may have been or may be exploring ideas similar to yours, and you waive any claim that Creative Screenwriting Magazine or Creative Screenwriter LLC, its staff or judges may have misappropriated any ideas or portions of your submitted logline or screenplay. Both are the operator's own words about the same competition. NOTHING IS OPTIONED WITHOUT YOU: contestants may submit elsewhere, retain all rights, and are under no obligation to participate in the option consideration. But that prize routes the winner to the operator's own development slate, and NO TERMS FOR THAT OPTION ARE PUBLISHED, no price, no window and no exclusivity period. There is also a broad publicity grant covering name and likeness for advertising without additional consideration, plus a wide release and indemnity carved back only for commercial exploitation in violation of your copyright.

Judging

NO JUDGE IS NAMED ANYWHERE, including on the winners pages. The only description published, identically on the competition page and the ISA listing, is that the final panel will be comprised of screenwriting and other industry professionals, including but not limited to producers, managers and established writers. Feedback readers are described elsewhere as former studio development executives, WGA writers and contest judges, again unnamed. Written feedback is NOT included and is sold separately as an add-on: the first 20 pages free, General Feedback at 35 US dollars and a Deep Dive at 69, each advertised as 30 dollars off, with a further 2 dollars per page charged above 120 pages or the reader may only read the first 120. The sibling competition states that script feedback does not affect contest judging; the animation rules do not carry that sentence, noting only that analysis can take up to 90 days and may not arrive before the contest ends.

Frequently asked questions