TIFF Writers' Lab

Deadlines & fees

Dates and fees checked against the official site 14 Sept 2026.

Key facts

Formats

Feature

Page limit

120 pages

Eligibility

Open worldwide18+

Required materials

A script of 80 to 120 pages · One consolidated PDF containing a logline and synopsis, a one-page story outline, a CV and filmography, a bio of 150 to 300 words and a headshot · A 2-minute pitch video · A 5-minute video sample of produced work · A FilmFreeway custom form

Applications are open to Canadians and international applicants, with no quota published. Applicants must be 18 or over and credited as a writer on at least one produced feature film or one episode of a television series. The project must be a feature-length narrative film in development with a minimum first draft complete, running 80 to 120 pages. A strict rule worth reading twice: applicants must be the sole writer on the project, and projects with co-writers will not be considered, so this is a lab a writer enters entirely alone. No director or producer attachment is required. The applicant must be the person who attends. Adaptations require proven copyright ownership. Alumni of the TIFF Writers' Studio are ineligible, and applications written by third parties are not accepted. Positioned for mid-level screenwriters and writer-directors. Writers working in broadcast, interactive, web series and transmedia may apply if they are aiming at feature production.

Prizes

The Writers' Lab itself carries no cash award, prize or stipend. What it includes is the five-day programme fully catered, access to the Toronto International Film Festival, and access to TIFF: The Market and delegate resources. Two adjacent money items are distinct from the lab and should not be confused with it: the Sloan Science and Technology Writer Fellowship, worth 35,000 Canadian dollars, which has its own separate application, and the CHANEL Women Creators' Network Fellowship, for which women and non-binary applicants are automatically considered and whose value is not published. Credit obligations are modest: subsequent drafts carry a line noting development support from TIFF Writers' Lab, and the finished project credits TIFF Writers' Lab. No option or rights transfer of any kind.

Judging

No tutors, mentors or selection committee are published; the names listed on the page belong to the CHANEL Women Creators' Network and are alumni rather than tutors. Written feedback is not promised as such: the offer is one-to-one discussions with script consultants during the lab and a script-polishing period with a development executive afterwards. Confidentiality is favourable, with materials not shared with third parties without the owner's explicit consent. Note that the separate Sloan Science and Technology Writer Fellowship, which carries a 35,000 Canadian dollar award, has its own application form and must be applied for separately. One caution for verification: the English and French versions of TIFF's own page disagree on when the higher fee begins, with the French regular window starting on 10 March and overlapping the early-bird window that the English page runs to 23 March.

Frequently asked questions