PEOPLE'S PILOT 2020 has been cancelled, and PEOPLE'S PILOT is on an indefinite hold. Thank you all for your support over the years!

Some pundits call today’s entertainment situation “Peak TV.” Others pronounce this a “Golden Age.” We at TVWriter™ think of it as “The Era of the Unique Vision, a time when TV is more open to new writers than ever before. To help you sell yourself and your series ideas, we’ve updated our long-running (since the year 2000!) PEOPLE’S PILOT COMPETITION to give our entrants the best possible shot at success.

We are all about giving agents, showrunners, and executives exactly what they now are looking for: Spec pilot teleplays that showcase you, the new writer operating at your very best. If the suits love the writing of a spec pilot, they have the best reason in the world to trust the writer to come through in the development process. A strongly-written spec pilot shows you’re ready for the gig.

No matter who you are, no matter where in the world you live, this is your chance to do all you can to make contemporary media as good as you always thought it could be!

The PEOPLE’S PILOT COMPETITION is held yearly, opening for entries June 1 and closing at 10 pm Pacific Time, November 1, at 11:59 P.M. We do our best to announce the Winners, starting with Semi-Finalists, over a three or four week period in January and February of the following year.

The contest is for scripted series intended for just about any media you can think of. Broadcast TV. Cable and satellite TV. Internet and even audio and podcast series on major sites from Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu through YouTube, Vimeo and other popular uploading channels and venues, to your own personal website.

The PP is divided into 2 prize-giving categories:

Scripted Comedy Series – intended for any electronic platform (including broadcast and premium cable series, internet series, cell phone series et al) of any length of any length required for telling your story

Scripted Drama & Action Series – intended for any electronic platform (including broadcast and premium cable series, internet series, cell phone series et al) of any length required for telling your story

All categories are open to any imaginable genre or sub-genre, including:

Drama
Comedy
Action
Dramedy
Anthology
Science Fiction
Fantasy
Children’s
Soap Opera
Medical
Legal
Police & Detective
Historical
Live Action
Animation
Puppetry
Anything else we haven’t mentioned that you want your series to be

In other words, the PEOPLE’S PILOT is wide open to whatever you want to express and whatever best expresses you as a creative force.

FREE FEEDBACK for all entries

FREE STORYTELLING PATTERNS E-BOOK for all entries

SPECIAL DISCOUNT ENTRY FEE FOR WEB & AUDIO FICTION SERIES PILOTS ($25 per entry from opening day to the November 1 closing. Available at https://tvwriter.com/contests-the-peoples-pilot/

REPLACE ENTERED DRAFTS W/REV. VERSIONS ANY TIME UNTIL CONTEST CLOSES

CATEGORY PRIZES:

FIRST PRIZE:

US $500 from Manner Movie Ltd.

1 free 1-On-1 Career Coaching Session (by phone, e-mail, or, if possible, in person with producer-writer Larry Brody of TVWriter™ ($350 value)

1 Script Consultation from Script Pipeline ($395 value)

Free admission to Larry Brody’s Online TV and Film Writing Master Class ($279 value)

1 InkTip Script Listing so that producers and reps can find you ($65 value)

1 InkTip Magazine Logline Listing to make your presence known in print ($40 value)

12-Month subscription to iPitch.TV a next generation platform for creators of original pitches for TV, Film & Digital Media ($189 value)

Inclusion in the vaunted TVWriter.Com List of Recommended Writers (priceless)

SECOND PRIZE:
1 free 1-On-1 Career Coaching Session (by phone, e-mail, or in person with producer-writer Larry Brody of TVWriter™ ($350 value)

US $300, courtesy of Manner Movie, Ltd.

1 InkTip Script Listing so that producers and reps can find you

1 InkTip Magazine Logline Listing to make your presence known in print

12-Month subscription to iPitch.TV a next generation platform for creators of original pitches for TV, Film & Digital Media ($189 value)

Inclusion in the TVWriter™ List of Recommended Writers

THIRD PRIZE:
US $200, courtesy of Manner Movie, Ltd.

1 InkTip Script Listing so that producers and reps can find you

1 InkTip Magazine Logline Listing to make your presence known in print

12-Month subscription to iPitch.TV a next generation platform for creators of original pitches for TV, Film & Digital Media ($189 value)

Inclusion in the TVWriter™ List of Recommended Writers

BONUS PRIZES for Web & Audio Series Entries:

(PEOPLE'S PILOT believes in the future of New Media. To encourage its creators, in addition to being included in the general competition for the prizes above, each top ranking web and top ranking audio script will receive the following regardless of where they place overall.)

1 free 1-On-1 Career Coaching Session (by phone, e-mail, or, if possible, in person with producer-writer Larry Brody of TVWriter™ whether or not any other specific category prizes apply ($350 value)

3-Month subscription to iPitch.TV a next generation platform for creators of original pitches for TV, Film & Digital Media ($117 value)

Inclusion in the TVWriter™ List of Recommended Writers regardless of specific category placing (priceless)

1. The PEOPLE’S PILOT especially encourages new writers because of the fresh outlooks and original perspectives they bring to contemporary electronic media, but in the interest of obtaining the greatest variety of new concepts possible this contest is open to all writers at all levels in all countries in the world except as expressly forbidden in paragraph 5 below.

2. Only online entries will be accepted.

2a. Writers-submitters may enter as many times as they wish, but each entry must be accompanied by an entry fee of $50. All entry fees are non-refundable.

2b. Writers-submitters may replace an entry’s original submission with a revised version at any time up to the final closing of entries (usually at 11:59 pm Pacific Time November 1st of the contest year), keeping in mind that the most recent revision is the one that the judges will use for their final determination.

All entries must be submitted as PDF files to facilitate judging.
We recommend that each writer(s)-submitter(s) protect his/her material by registering it with the U.S. Copyright office, the Writers Guild of America, West, or another reliable intellectual property registration service.

All entries must be submitted as PDF files to facilitate judging.
We recommend that each writer(s)-submitter(s) protect his/her material by registering it with the U.S. Copyright office, the Writers Guild of America, West, or another reliable intellectual property registration service.

3. Pilot submissions must consist of a full-length English-language PILOT SCRIPT (a teleplay designed to tell a typical story for the series while also introducing the main characters and overall situation) of a new series of dramatized stories intended for exhibition on electronic media, including but not limited to broadcast networks, cable channels, the worldwide web, etc.

3a. The pilot script should be written in standard international teleplay/screenplay format.

3b. The pilot script should include a title page presenting the following:

The title of the series
The title of the pilot episode if there is such a title
The name, address, & e-mail address of the writer(s)-submitter(s)

4. Optionally, the writer(s)-submitter(s) may also submit a “proposal,” “presentation,” “prospectus,” or “leavebehind” to which the judges can refer for clarification and/or additional series information. Keep in mind, please, that the proposal is not a requirement.

4a. Also optionally, If a produced version of the entry authorized by writer(s)-submitter(s) exists, the writer(s)-submitter(s) may link to a video (or in the case of an audio series) recording of the produced pilot script instead of or in addition to the script to further aid the judges. As in #4, above, please keep in mind that such a recording is not a requirement.

5. All material must be the property of the writer(s)-submitter(s). The pilot script must be original work created by the writer(s)-submitter(s) and never before have been optioned, sold, or produced in any form in any medium.

6. Protections & Warranties

The writer(s)-submittor(s) must have copies of the material being submitted, and agree(s) not to hold PEOPLE’S PILOT, TVWRITER.COM, MANNER MOVIE Ltd, Larry Brody, and/or their employees and representatives responsible should loss of the submitted material occur.
The writer(s)-submittor(s) agree(s) not to hold PEOPLE’S PILOT, TVWRITER.COM, MANNER MOVIE Ltd, Larry Brody, and/or their employees and representatives responsible should any questions arise regarding authorship or ownership of the material submitted, or of similar material, before, during, or subsequent to the judging of the contest.
The PEOPLE’S PILOT, TVWRITER.COM, Manner Movie Ltd., Larry Brody, and their employees and representatives will not use the submitted material or any part thereof, except in connection with the judging of this competition unless the writer(s)-submitter(s) grant them rights to the material, or the aforementioned parties determine in good faith that the writer(s)-submitter(s) do not own or control the material because all or parts of it were independently developed by others, are in the public domain, or are otherwise not novel, new, or the property of the writer(s)-submitter(s).

Overall Rating
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Networking
  • This was such a wonderful festival. I really appreciate all of the communication and feedback provided.

    March 2020