Screenwriting competitions have become increasingly popular as a way to gain validation and see if you, as a writer, are going on the right track in your writing career.
However, with so many options out there, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and wonder if they’re even worth entering. In this article, we’ll explore whether screenwriting competitions are worth entering.
So, are screenwriting competitions worth entering?
To save you some time, the short answer is: it depends.
It turns out that 99.9% of screenwriting competitions can be classified into one of two categories: Small Competitions and Huge Competitions. Let’s break down the characteristics of each:
Small Competitions
Approximately 98% of screenwriting competitions fall under this category. Most small competitions have two main features:
They’re relatively easy to win since they receive very few submissions, especially compared to the larger contests.
They don’t offer any valuable prize to the winner.
These competitions may be good for boosting your ego but, considering that most of them charge for each entry and that they offer little else to your writing career, we generally do not recommend participating in these types of screenwriting contests.
Huge Competitions
Huge competitions are often reputable, with a long track record, and they also share two characteristics:
They offer significant prizes for their winners, which go from meetings with agents or producers to cash rewards.
They receive an overwhelming number of submissions, which makes them virtually impossible to win.
This category includes a few well-known contests, such as Nicholl Fellowships, PAGE, or Big Break. To give you an idea of the numbers, it’s rumored that some editions of Big Break have received over 15,000 entries. You can do the math.
Do we recommend entering these types of screenwriting contests? If you have a polished script that you believe can outshine the thousands of other participants, you should definitely enter, as the rewards can be substantial and may help advance your screenwriting career.
Are These My Only Options?
As mentioned earlier, 99.9% of screenwriting competitions fall into one of these two categories. But what about the remaining 0.1%?
As a writer, discovering that there were only these two types of screenwriting contests—small ones offering no real benefit and big ones nearly impossible to win—was frustrating.
And, to know that many people were spending their hard-earned money to enter contests that, even if they won, wouldn’t contribute anything to their careers, just felt unfair. That’s why we decided to create SPARK.
What is SPARK?
SPARK offers the best of both worlds.
Unlike small competitions, SPARK provides a worthy prize—cash— for you to use as you please.
Unlike large competitions, SPARK doesn’t receive thousands of submissions, making it a contest where you have real chances of winning.
Additionally, we have a proven track record since 2021, and you can find testimonials and reviews from past winners on our FilmFreeway page, the world’s #1 platform for entering film festivals and creative contests.
Plus, to promote even more transparency, we disclose the number of submissions we’ve received. You’ll find updated information on the number of submissions on our FilmFreeway listing.
If you’re interested in entering, you can find more information here. We’d be thrilled to read your script!
Conclusion
Navigating the world of screenwriting competitions can be overwhelming. That’s why it’s important to do some research and understand what you hope to gain from participating.
Whatever you choose, we wish you the best of luck and, as we always say…
Happy writing!