Screenwriting competitions directory (2026)
Free to enter.
Free here means two things at once: no entry fee at any deadline, and nothing to pay if you are selected. A lab that costs nothing to apply to and thousands to attend is not on this page.
Free is not the same as easy. Much of what is free is also the most selective, because the organiser is paying for the reading.
Only entries with explicitly recorded zero fees are included. Missing fees do not count as free. A closed listing is shown for reference; check its application status before planning a submission.
13 entries, soonest deadline first, then anything currently open, then everything between cycles.
Screen Ireland Screenplay Development (Established Talent)
Grant (2026)
30 Oct 20266 days left
Attach a producer and you are automatically ineligible. Up to 20,000 euro, and it is a repayable loan.
Feature
Checked 4 days ago
BFI NETWORK England Early Development Fund
Grant (2026)
11 Nov 2026
National Lottery money paid straight to the writer, with no producer needed and no copyright share taken.
Feature
Checked 4 days ago
BBC Writers Open Call
Programme (2026)
1 Dec 2026
The BBC's free flagship route for UK writers: drama or comedy-drama scripts assessed for development.
FeatureTV PilotComedyDrama
Checked 4 days ago
NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship
Fellowship (2027)
4 Dec 2026
Free to enter, and it gives you a paid evaluation for nothing. 20,000 dollars each to three writers.
FeatureTV Pilot
Checked 74 days ago
Ffilm Cymru Wales Development Fund
Grant (2026)
2 Feb 2027
Up to 24,999 pounds to develop a feature, and a lone writer can apply. Recoupable, with a 50 per cent premium in places.
Feature
Checked 18 days ago
BBC Writers: Pilot 2027/28
Programme
Closed for this cycle
Applications for Pilot 2027/28 closed at 12 noon on 4 August 2026. BBC Writers runs Pilot every two years, so the next round is not expected until 2028. The 2027/28 programme is focused exclusively on emerging deaf, disabled and neurodivergent writers. The annual BBC Writers Open Call is a separate opportunity.
BBC pilot commission scheme. The 2027/28 round is exclusively for deaf, disabled and neurodivergent writers.
TV PilotDrama
Checked 76 days ago
Greenlight Screenwriting Lab
Lab (2026)
Closed for this cycle
The 2026 cycle opened on 2 March and closed on 20 March 2026 at 5:00pm, with shortlist interviews in the week of 4 May and six writers informed by 12 May. No timezone is published, though the organisers are Irish. The 2027 window is unannounced, but the cadence is the most stable of any Irish scheme we carry: four consecutive years with a late February or early March open, a deadline in the first three weeks of March, a residential weekend in Galway in May, a second in Dublin in October, and six writers plus three shadow editors every single year. The only drift is the deadline itself sliding from the first days of March in 2023, 2024 and 2025 to the 20th in 2026, so a March 2027 deadline is a reasonable expectation.
Free, paid, six months of mentored development. And a production company takes a first option over everything you write on it.
TV PilotDrama
Checked 4 days ago
Netflix NextGen India Writers' Program
Programme (2026)
Closed for this cycle
Registration for the first India edition closed at 23:59 IST on 1 September 2026. Selected writers are announced on 15 December 2026, every applicant hears by email in December, and the workshop begins in February 2027. NextGen is a travelling programme that changes shape per territory (France, then the Netherlands, then India), so do not expect a second India cycle unless Netflix announces one.
Three lakhs, travel paid, eight weeks with Netflix executives. Your application script becomes Netflix's property from the moment you write it.
TV Pilot
Checked 47 days ago
RTÉ Storyland
Programme (2026)
Closed for this cycle
The 2026 cycle closed on Friday 13 March 2026 at 12 noon, described as a strict deadline; no timezone is published, though RTÉ is Dublin-based. Finalists were named on 17 April, commissions on 15 May, with delivery in October 2026. The next cycle is unannounced, and this is one to watch rather than plan around: the cadence is reliably annual but the deadline month swings hard, running December for the 2022 edition, April for 2024, May for 2025 and March for 2026. The slate size moved too, from eight developed and three commissioned to ten and four in 2025 and back again in 2026, and 2026 switched from drama to comedy-only. Expect a call, but do not expect it in any particular month.
Free to enter, three scripts commissioned and broadcast. But a production company has to submit for you.
TV PilotComedy
Checked 4 days ago
SGIFF Pro Pitching Forum
Programme (2026)
Closed for this cycle
Submissions for the 2026 forum closed on 20 August 2026 at 11:59pm Singapore time; the forum itself runs on 30 October 2026 during the festival. SGIFF's page shows the call as closed with no dates for 2027. The 2026 call opened on 20 July, so expect the next one around July 2027.
Singapore's co-production pitching forum. Free, hotel covered, but the applicant must be a producer, not a writer.
Feature
Checked 47 days ago
The Great Pitch Competition
Contest (2026)
Open for applications
Open now and genuinely free. Two tiers, both at zero cost across all four categories: regular on 30 September 2026 and final on 22 October 2026. No times or timezones are published for either deadline.
Genuinely free to enter, including with an unfinished script. The prize is ISA credit, not cash.
FeatureTV Pilot
Checked 4 days ago
The Next Brilliant Career
Programme (2026)
Closed for this cycle
Applications closed on 18 August 2026 (Netflix gave 11.59pm; most state agency portals cut off at the end of 17 August). Selected writers are notified on 28 September, the Sydney pitch day is 6 October, resubmissions are due 6 November and final feedback arrives by 1 December 2026. Netflix has announced no second round.
Netflix ANZ, the Australian Writers' Guild and all eight screen agencies fly eight writers to Sydney to pitch. Free, and you keep every right.
FeatureTV Pilot
Checked 30 days ago
Writers' Access Support Staff Training Program
Programme (2027)
Closed for this cycle
Applications for the 2027 course closed on 13 September 2026 at 11.59pm Pacific. The course runs on Thursday evenings over Zoom in the first half of the year. The next window has not been announced.
Writers Guild Foundation training for writers' assistant and script coordinator roles. Free, and explicitly not a writing fellowship.
Checked 30 days ago
We are not affiliated with the competitions and programmes listed here, and nobody pays to appear. Verdicts are our editorial opinion, formed from public information on the date shown. Deadlines, fees and eligibility change, so confirm the details on the organisation's own site before you submit or pay anything. More in our Terms.
Questions writers ask about free screenwriting competitions, fellowships and labs
How many free screenwriting competitions, fellowships and labs are listed?
13 at the last count. Each one is checked against the organiser's own site and carries the date it was last verified; the newest stamp is 19 October 2026. Entries are added in verified batches, and anything that goes dormant is unpublished rather than left to mislead.
Which free entries are open right now?
6 of the 13 are open for applications or carry a dated deadline ahead, and 1 more are marked as opening soon. The page regenerates every hour from the directory, so the counts move as deadlines pass and windows open.
Do free competitions still have costs?
Entries on this page have explicitly recorded zero entry fees and no participation charge if selected. Opportunities with missing fees or a participation charge are left off this page. Check the organiser's rules for personal expenses such as travel and accommodation.
Plan the season rather than reacting to it. The deadline calendar shows what closes next across the whole directory, the cost of entry shows how fees climb at late deadlines, and the free Contest Fit-Finder narrows the list to your script in five questions. Or go back to the full directory.