Held each May at the beautiful Delta King, a genuine 1860's riverboat and floating hotel located in historic Old Sacramento, the conference will educate new and experienced screenwriters on the state of the art today.

NOTE: In 2020, due to COVID-19, we held a single ONLINE symposium in July to be followed by more conference tracks upcoming. If we are STILL dealing with COVID by May of 2021 we'll do another online conference. In the wake of the pandemic, many conferences have canceled. We KNOW this is concerning for writers. These changes are NOT easy but we have COMMITTED to NOT CANCEL the conference. We always prefer to meet people physically but will do all necessary to ensure a conference CAN happen, even if it is online rather than in person.

Much More than JUST a writers Conference:

With our SPECIAL WRITER'S PASS (Just $75) you get a day-long writing summit, learning to screenwrite in an intimate setting from top pros, PLUS A LAVISH AWARDS CEREMONY and, should you desire, an ENTIRE 8-DAY FILM FEST! YES, that's right, this conference is part of a larger film festival that you are GREENLIT to attend (The Sacramento International Film Festival).

Awards & Prizes

The Awards:
Think you are ready for recognition for your work? Get recognized in front of a jury including the Godfather of American Screenwriting, Lew Hunter. Lew leads a group to analyze screenplays in 3 categories:

1) FEATURE SCREENPLAY (DRAMATIC)
This category recognizes full-length screenplays (70-150 pages) that are NOT comedies. Almost any genre can fit in this category: Science Fiction, Thrillers, Horror, etc.

2) FEATURE SCREENPLAY (COMEDY)
This category recognizes full-length screenplays (70-150 pages) that are specifically comedies.

3) SHORT SCREENPLAY (COMEDY or DRAMATIC)
This category is for screenplays that are LESS than 30 pages. Any genre is welcome!

THE LEW HUNTER AWARD FOR SCREENWRITING EXCELLENCE:
In addition to individual category awards, we also recognize one screenwriter each year for being the outstanding Screenplay of the entire year. This is a jury award given regardless of which of the categories writers enter. The award is named for our patriarch, Dr Lew Hunter, Dean Emeritus of the UCLA screenwriting program and author of THE BOOK, Screenwriting 434. Lew has trained more Academy Award-winning writers than anyone on the planet.

Rules & Terms

You must adhere to category rules regarding length of screenplay and genre. Screenplays may be submitted regardless of when they were created so long as they have not been previously submitted to this competition.
20 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Heidi Barrientes

    Thank you so much for the Offical Selection on my screenplays!

    May 2021
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  • Darr Reitknecht

    Though the festival was cancelled, Martin has done everything possible to continue it online with a variety of zoom meetings for those who entered their screenplays or just wanted to network. For our last on line session- a pitch session- Martin had Richard Broadhurst as a guest speaker. We pitched our screenplays and received valuable feedback- Thanks again Martin for a wonderful job in keeping the spirit of the festival alive despite our current COVID-19 condition.

    August 2020
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    Response from festival:

    Thanks so much Darr! We like to think NOT cancelled, just REBORN as a digital event. Great having you along for this "Digital Odyssey"!

  • Stephane Arteta

    I greatly appreciate having my script selected. Thank you.

    June 2020
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you kindly! Watch for more upcoming!

  • Labeeb Jamal

    It was awesome. Encouraging. Uplifting skills. Exciting.... love to be a part of it. Thanks alot

    June 2020
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you so very much!

  • Luzi Santos

    I'm really happy with the nomination!!! It is so motivating for an amateur :D

    May 2020
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    Response from festival:

    Keep up the good work!!