SHARKS SHORT FILM SCRIPTWRITING COMPETITION - 2025/26

This year’s FREE TO ENTER short film script competition gives you a LOT of scope for imagination, drama and creativity, we hope you enjoy it.

Brief:

Script should be times at 5 mins (max) or less.

This year’s brief (like all our previous briefs) has been devised for one reason only - to give you the best opportunity to come up with something creative, memorable and entertaining.

The judge/s will be looking for all these things PLUS originality. Anything (too far) off brief will not be considered.

Anything (too far) over the 5 min time limit will not be considered (nb: our judge/s won’t be reading scripts while looking at a stop-watch but WILL be experienced enough to know the difference between 5 mins and 7 mins).

We suggest entrants time scripts (approx) before submitting.

And as far as rules go, that’s…about it.

Brief: This brief has a bit of a twist, in that we have written the first page (or scene) of the story for you (nb: this will not be taken from the 5 mins you have to finish the story).

So… Scene one: You’re walking home late (very late, 2.30 a.m) on a dark, cold, foggy winter’s night. While walking, something makes you stop in your tracks.

Off in the distance, down a quite street you can see two men who appear to be removing bricks from a wall. You make sure you can’t be seen and you continue to watch. When they have removed about 30 bricks, one of the men opens a car door and takes out a bag. They both look around (you duck down out of sight as they do) then they place the bag in the hole that’s now in the wall.

They then quickly begin to replace the bricks. When they finish, they look at their handy-work, then look up and down the street one more time. When they’re satisfied they haven’t been seen, they get into the car and go.

Your continuation of the story/script starts…now. It’s entirely up to you what your character does next and what happens next and it’s also entirely up to you to decide what’s in the bag (cash, gold bars, body parts, the Koh-i-noor, diamond?) and where the story goes.

Remember, creative, memorable, entertaining and originality.

Very best of luck, we look forward to receiving your submission.

The winner will receive £1000 and one of our sensational and beautifully designed iconic Black Shark head trophies.

Awards & Prizes

Cash Prize of £1000 and, of course a revered Shark Head Trophy.

Rules & Terms

1. Open to entries worldwide written in English language only.
2. We open for entries on 1st November 2025, close 31st January 2026
3. The Script must be your original creative work, and you warrant that you are the sole creator. Writing teams are accepted.
4. You agree we may publish the synopsis of the winning script. You retain all rights to the Script itself and any other creative materials submitted to the Competition.
5. You agree that your submission will not infringe, misappropriate or violate the intellectual property, privacy or other rights of any third party.
6. You are solely responsible for protecting your intellectual property rights in the Script.
7. The script must not have been previously produced into a movie before the winner is announced.
8. Participation in the competition constitutes permission to use the winners name and photograph on our website and in promotional material.
9. We will publish a shortlist of Finalists, prior to announcing the winner, here on our website and in social media.
10. The team at The Shark Awards (writers and producers) will sift the entries to create a manageable list for our judge to review.
11. This is a free to enter competition, therefore you agree there is no contract entered into, implied or otherwise.
12. You accept that the decisions made by the staff and judges are their personal subjective opinions and for reasons of confidentiality we do not provide further comment on individual entries.
13. We reserve the right to revoke/disqualify any entry or award for a breach of these rules.
14. THE FINAL RESULTS WILL BE RELEASED ON OUR WEBSITE AND OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES.
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Format
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The Film Title should sit in the header at top of page.
No credits should appear on page.
The 500 word synopsis should sit immediately under the Film Title.
The script should follow.
You may include a treatment or storyboard if you so wish.
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Advice
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Please note that the brief is for a '5 minutes or less' Short Film, not Heaven's Gate! Entries should be written as succinctly as possible. The judge will principally be looking for an idea that can be compellingly expressed in a 5 minute time-length. This should be clear from the synopsis. It is quite likely that any entry that clearly fails this first objective will be discarded from further reading. Once the 5 minute rule has been established the script and treatment will help visualise the execution into moving image. Think 5 minutes, less is more!