Whether you’re writing a novella or a flash fiction, our industry jury is looking for great stories with cinematic appeal. Past winners have signed with top agents and had their worked optioned.

If you think your short story has cinematic adaptation potential, we’d love to consider it for this year’s competition, which features a jury of professionals from across the entertainment and publishing industries.

ScreenCraft is thrilled to include a one-of-a-kind mentorship opportunity with novelist/writer Julia Seales as a part of this year's Grand Prize. Julia is the author of A MOST AGREEABLE MURDER, which will be published by Random House in 2023 and was optioned by TriStar Pictures for film with 3 Arts producing and Julia adapting. This will be an invaluable learning experience for any writer!

We’re looking for true and fictional short stories, novellas less than 20,000 words in length.

Awards & Prizes

JURY

ZOE HOWARD
Literary Agent, Howland Literary

Zoe Aline Howard is a literary agent and literary publicist. Zoe is currently an agent acquiring adult fiction and nonfiction at Howland Literary, and as a literary publicist at Pine State Publicity. Through each of these and her own writing, Zoe has garnered an eye for those interdisciplinary, lyrical, quiet books that demand more space in publishing.

KIMBERLEY CAMERON
President, Kimberley Cameron & Associates Literary Agency

Kimberley is the president of Kimberley Cameron & Associates Literary Agency. This agency represents many great authors, some of which have adapted their novels into feature films like THE TOY SOLDIERS and ADAM which was distributed through Searchlight Pictures.

CARLY WATTERS
SVP and Senior Literary Agent, P.S. Literary

Carly Watters is a SVP and Senior Literary Agent at P.S. Literary and the sitting VP of PACLA, the Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents. Her clients’ books have been translated into 40 languages, optioned for TV and film, adapted into podcasts, and have been on every bestseller list from coast to coast, including the New York Times, USA Today, the LA Times, the Washington Post, the Toronto Star, and the Globe and Mail.

ERIN CLYBURN
Literary Agent, Howland Literary

Erin Clyburn is a literary agent with Howland Literary, representing middle grade, YA, and adult fiction and nonfiction. Prior to joining Howland Literary, Erin was an associate agent with The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency. She has over a decade of experience in magazine publishing, having worked for brands including Food & Wine, Cooking Light, People, and Entertainment Weekly.

ELIZABETH KRACHT
Literary Agent, Kimberley Cameron & Associates Literary Agency

Elizabeth Kracht is a literary agent with Kimberley Cameron & Associates and the author of The Author’s Checklist: An Agent’s Guide to Developing and Editing Your Manuscript. Elizabeth represents both literary and commercial fiction as well as nonfiction, and brings to the agency experience as a former acquisitions editor, freelance publicist, and writer. In fiction, she represents thrillers, mysteries, literary, commercial, women’s, and historical.

PRIZES

Grand Prize Winner

The overall Grand Prize winner will be welcomed to the ScreenCraft Writer Development Program and receive personal introductions and phone calls with one or more top Hollywood literary managers, agents, and producers. ScreenCraft has a proven track record for getting writers signed with managers, agents, and staffed in writing rooms.

Winners can expect:
- Personal Introduction to top literary managers and producers
- Accepted into the ScreenCraft Development Program
- $1,000 Cash
- An exclusive invitation to a Finalist+ workshop to position yourself and your writing to the industry

Runner - Up
- $500 cash award
- Accepted into ScreenCraft Development Program
- An exclusive invitation to a Finalist+ workshop to position yourself and your writing to the industry

Finalists
- An exclusive invitation to a Finalist+ workshop to position yourself and your writing to the industry

Rules & Terms

For full rules, terms, and conditions, please visit -- https://screencraft.org/shortstory

• Submissions are accepted via electronic submission only.
• Entry fees are as listed on the site and checkout form. No coupon or discount is applicable on a previous entry.
• Short Stories should be 20,000 words or less. Files should be in PDF format when submitted and should be double spaced.
• There is no limit to the number of projects you may submit.
• Entries must be received on or before the deadline dates by 11:59PM Pacific Time, and submission fee payment must be made in full at time of the submission. All entry fees are non-refundable.
• All submitted material must be owned by the writer(s), however the material may be based on other works not owned by the writers.
• Material must be submitted by the writer. Material written by writing teams must be submitted by one of the writers, with consent of the other(s).
• If a writing team is chosen as a winner, prizes will be given to the person who submits the project. Each team is responsible for dividing or sharing any prizes awarded as they deem fair (whether there is a cash value or not).
• Substitutions of either corrected pages or new drafts of the entered material will be allowed for a limited time with a $6 reentry fee through Coverfly. Please proofread your short story carefully before submitting.
• Contact info may be included on the cover page of the short story, however it is not required. ScreenCraft uses Coverfly to manage submissions and automatically removes cover pages before short stories are read by the judges.
• ScreenCraft claims no ownership nor option on your work. All ownership and rights to the short stories submitted to this contest remains with the original rights holders.
• The decision of the judges will be final and cannot be contested in any manner. There is no score on a scorecard that guarantees advancement to the next level as advancement will be based on all scores in the competition.
• ScreenCraft reserves the right to change deadline and announcement dates at any time.
• ScreenCraft reserves the right to amend these rules at any time.