Nashville Film Festival Screenwriting Competition
Contest · 2027Prestige 52/100
Long-running festival screenwriting contest across genre features, shorts and 30/60-minute pilots, open worldwide.
Deadlines & fees
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.
Dates and fees checked against the official site 10 Aug 2026.
Entry categories
30-minute Pilot
TV Pilot · Action, Adventure, Animation, Biography, Comedy, Crime, Documentary, Drama, Family, Fantasy, History, Horror, Music, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Sport, Thriller, War, Western · up to 40 pages
25 to 40 pages.
60-minute Pilot
TV Pilot · Action, Adventure, Animation, Biography, Comedy, Crime, Documentary, Drama, Family, Fantasy, History, Horror, Music, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Sport, Thriller, War, Western · up to 70 pages
59 to 70 pages.
Genre Feature
Feature · Action, Adventure, Animation, Biography, Comedy, Crime, Documentary, Drama, Family, Fantasy, History, Horror, Music, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Sport, Thriller, War, Western · up to 110 pages
75 to 110 pages. Length is a guideline, not an automatic disqualifier.
Short
Short · Action, Adventure, Animation, Biography, Comedy, Crime, Documentary, Drama, Family, Fantasy, History, Horror, Music, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Sport, Thriller, War, Western · up to 45 pages
Under 45 pages.
Tennessee Writer
Feature, TV Pilot, Short · Action, Adventure, Animation, Biography, Comedy, Crime, Documentary, Drama, Family, Fantasy, History, Horror, Music, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Sport, Thriller, War, Western · up to 110 pages
Writer born in or residing in Tennessee; special category award.
Key facts
- Formats
- Feature, TV Pilot, Short
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Animation, Biography, Comedy, Crime, Documentary, Drama, Family, Fantasy, History, Horror, Music, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Sport, Thriller, War, Western
- Page limit
- 110 pages
- Required materials
- Original script PDF, 12-point Courier, title only on the title page · Adaptation permission as the first PDF page if applicable · Category selection (a fee applies per category)
Open worldwide. Scripts must be original and must not have been sold or be under option as of the deadline (adaptations need rights; Stephen King Dollar Baby projects are exempt with a cover-page note). AI-generated writing is prohibited (grammar and spelling tools allowed). Anonymous: title only on the title page, 12-point Courier. Online entry via FilmFreeway only; no refunds. The Tennessee award requires the writer to have been born in or currently reside in Tennessee.
Prizes
Category winners receive US$750 or US$1,000 in cash depending on category; the festival awards up to US$100,000 in cash and in-kind sponsor prizes overall. Attending finalists get a professional table read and a complimentary festival badge.
Judging
Scored on originality, structure, premise, entertainment value and commercial viability. Rounds run to Quarterfinalist, Semifinalist and Finalist; winners are announced live at the festival (attendance not required). Quarterfinalist-and-up scripts are hosted in a database for invited industry access.
The PreList verdict
Running since 2014 inside a festival founded in 1969, Nashville spreads across eight categories covering drama, comedy, horror and genre features, plus shorts and both 30-minute and 60-minute pilots, with a dedicated award for a Tennessee writer. Attending finalists get a professional table read of a scene and a complimentary festival badge, which is a more tangible reward than most festival contests manage.
The honest part: the cash is modest at US$750 to US$1,000 per category, and the widely quoted figure of up to US$100,000 in prizes is mostly in-kind sponsor value spread across the whole festival rather than money reaching screenwriters. Entry runs through FilmFreeway only with no refunds, and fees are not published on the festival's own page. The rules are stricter than average too: scripts must be anonymised in 12-point Courier with the title alone on the title page, and AI-generated writing is prohibited outright.
Enter if a table read and a festival week in Nashville is the shape of prize you actually want, or if you are a Tennessee writer, where the dedicated award meaningfully shortens the odds. The 2026 competition closed on 10 May, having run Early-bird on 11 January, Regular on 15 March, Late on 26 April and Extended on 10 May, with quarter-finalists notified by 30 June. No 2027 dates have been announced yet.
Dylian Salvatore, Founder of The PreList · Updated 7 Sept 2026
Frequently asked questions
Is the competition open?
No. Entries closed on 10 May 2026, quarter-finalists were notified by 30 June, and winners are announced live at the festival. No 2027 dates have been announced.
What do winners receive?
US$750 or US$1,000 in cash depending on category. Attending finalists also receive a professional table read of a scene and a complimentary festival badge.
Are there rules that catch people out?
Yes. Scripts must be anonymised with the title only on the title page in 12-point Courier, AI-generated writing is prohibited, and entry is via FilmFreeway only with no refunds.
Is your script right for Nashville Film Festival Screenwriting Competition?
Upload your screenplay and The PreList scores how well it fits this contest: genre, format, eligibility and readiness, before you spend anything.
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