Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Contest · 2026Prestige 72/100Feedback included

Indie-leaning screenplay competition since 1997. $18,000 total prize pool, strong track record placing unrepresented writers.

Official site ↗

Deadlines & fees

LatePassed
20 Jul 2026America/Los_Angeles$85
FinalPassed
3 Aug 2026America/Los_Angeles$95

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.

Dates and fees checked against the official site 10 Aug 2026.

Entry categories

Feature
Feature · up to 110 pages
41 to 110 pages at the standard fee. Longer features (111 to 140 pages) incur a higher entry fee: $85 Early, $95 Regular, $105 Late, $120 Final.
Horror/Thriller
Feature · Horror, Thriller · up to 110 pages
41 to 110 pages at the standard fee. Longer scripts (111 to 140 pages) incur a higher entry fee: $85 Early, $95 Regular, $105 Late, $120 Final. Same fee scale as the main Feature category.
Short
Short · up to 10 pages
Shorts up to 10 pages at the standard fee. Longer shorts (11 to 40 pages) incur a higher entry fee: $50 Early, $60 Regular, $65 Late, $70 Final.
TV Pilot
TV Pilot · up to 45 pages
Pilots up to 45 pages at the standard fee. Longer pilots (46 to 80 pages) incur a higher entry fee: $55 Early, $65 Regular, $75 Late, $85 Final.

Category	Late	Final
Feature	$85	$95
Horror/Thriller	$85	$95
Short	$50	$55
TV Pilot	$65	$70

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: 140 pages
Required materials: PDF of the screenplay in 12-point Courier with industry-standard formatting · Cover page with script title only

No produced scripts and no television specs. Writers earning more than 50,000 US dollars annually from screenwriting are ineligible. The prior-award ceiling was loosened for 2026: writers who have won awards from other competitions worth more than 2,500 US dollars at the time of entry are excluded, up from 1,000 in 2024 and 2025. Screenplays written or rewritten by AI are not accepted. Categories and page limits: Feature 41 to 140 pages, Horror/Thriller 41 to 140, TV Pilot up to 80 pages with an optional show bible of up to 5 pages, and Short up to 40 pages. Fees vary by page band within each category.

Prizes

Grand Prize: $10,000 cash. Each of the four category winners (Feature, Horror, TV Pilot, Short) receives $2,000 cash, for a total prize pool of $18,000. Top three in every category receive Festival Passes good for all screenings and parties at the next Slamdance Film Festival. Separate Screenplay Mentorship Award provides one-to-one coaching, an in-depth coverage report, a draft development action plan, further review of subsequent drafts, support preparing pitch materials, and best-efforts assistance with production through the alumni network.

Judging

Multi-round judging. Quarter-Finalists announced 21 September 2026, Semi-Finalists 28 September, Top 12 on 5 October, and Winners on 31 October. Judging panel includes Slamdance staff, festival alumni, and outside industry readers. Specific judge identities vary by year.

The PreList verdict

Slamdance is the indie counterweight to the studio-adjacent majors. Born as the festival for filmmakers Sundance passed over, its screenplay competition carries the same DNA: it genuinely favours distinctive, unrepresented voices over polished market bait, and it has a long record of surfacing writers before the industry finds them. The 18,000 US dollar total prize pool is spread across categories rather than concentrated on one winner, with 10,000 to the grand prize and 2,000 to each of the feature, horror/thriller, TV pilot and short winners.

The honest part: fees are mid-tier and climb by both deadline and page count, so a long feature costs more than a short pilot. A Slamdance laurel earns real respect in indie circles but moves the needle less in a mainstream studio room than a Nicholl or Austin placement. And the festival itself has relocated from Park City to Los Angeles, so the passes that come with a top-three placing are no longer a January trip to Utah, which was part of the appeal for some writers.

Enter if your script is the one you were told was too odd, too dark or too small for the majors, because that is precisely the sensibility this competition rewards. Skip it if your work is squarely commercial, where the bigger brands buy more. Worth knowing that every entrant receives short written feedback from a reader as standard, a genre suggestion, a logline and a paragraph on strengths and weaknesses, with fuller coverage available as a paid add-on. Eligibility loosened for 2026: the ceiling on prior competition winnings rose from 1,000 to 2,500 US dollars. The 2026 competition closed on 3 August and winners are announced on 31 October.

Dylian Salvatore, Founder of The PreList · Updated 7 Sept 2026

Frequently asked questions

What are the remaining Slamdance deadlines for 2026?

The late deadline is 20 July (US$85 for features of 41 to 110 pages) and the final deadline is 3 August 2026 (US$95), both at 11:59pm Pacific.

How do the fees work?

Fees vary by category, page count and deadline tier. Standard features run US$65 to US$95 across the tiers, pilots US$50 to US$85 depending on length, and shorts US$35 to US$70.

What kind of scripts do well at Slamdance?

Distinctive, independent-minded work. The festival was founded by filmmakers passed over by Sundance, and its screenplay competition consistently rewards bold voices over conventional commercial material.

Is your script right for Slamdance Screenplay Competition?

The 2026 round closed on 2 April 2026 at 5pm Central European time and 20 projects were announced in August. IFFR states that the 2027 deadline will be announced towards the end of 2026. The fund runs a single annual round; deadline dates for rounds before 2026 are not published.

Ten thousand euro to develop a feature, if you originate from one of its eligible countries.

Feature

Checked 30 days ago

For organisers

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