Welcome to SYS’s Six-Figure Screenplay Contest!
What’s this contest all about?
Do you have the next great low budget screenplay? SYS is trying to find great screenplays in any genre that could be produced for less than $1,000,000USD (one million). In other words, scripts that could be produced on six-figures or less.
Our goal with this screenplay contest is simple: find the best low budget screenplays on the planet and present them to the industry, which will hopefully lead to options, sales, and productions.
We’ve assembled a great group of seasoned writers, directors, and producers (see list on our website) to help judge the entries, as well as a great group of readers to handle the first round of reads.
How’s it going to work?
Each script submitted will be read by a minimum of two professional readers in the first round. The scripts that stand out in the first round will move into the second round (roughly 20% of all screenplays entered). The second round screenplays will be vetted further with more assessments from the SYS readers. The top scripts from the second round will be selected and moved into the quarter finals, where we will pitch those screenplays to the industry judges. Finally, after all the scripts have been graded by the judges, we will choose a winner and make the announcement in October 2023.
How will scripts be graded?
Each professional reader will fill out an SYS Script Assessment form for each screenplay that they read. The SYS script assessment is a quick way for the reader to grade the screenplay. Each screenplay will be graded based on seven key criteria: Ability to be produced for less than $1M, Concept, Characters, Structure, Marketability, Tone, and Craft. For a small additional charge ($10) you can receive the two assessments from the first round readers (and possibly a 3rd assessment from a second round reader).
Prizes (Features)
For this contest shorts are screenplays that are less than 30 pages, while features are screenplays that are longer than 75 pages.
Winner:
-$1,000 cash
-1 SYS 3-pack screenplay analysis
-Highlighted in a special newsletter that goes to hundreds of working producers
-Featured in The Budget List at the end of the year
Runner up:
-1 SYS 3-pack screenplay analysis
-Highlighted in a special newsletter that goes to hundreds of working producers
-Featured in The Budget List at the end of the year
Semi-finalists:
-Highlighted in a special newsletter that goes to hundreds of working producers
-Featured in The Budget List at the end of the year
Quarter-finalists:
-Featured in The Budget List at the end of the year
Prizes (Shorts)
Short film scripts (less than 30 pages) will be judged using the same method and criteria as features. We’re looking for low budget short scripts. Our readers will grade the scripts in the first round and then the highest rated scripts will be passed along to our industry judges in the later rounds.
Winner:
-$100 cash
-Highlighted in a special newsletter that goes to hundreds of working producers
-Featured in The Budget List at the end of the year
Runner up: ($300 worth of prizes)
-Highlighted in a special newsletter that goes to hundreds of working producers
-Featured in The Budget List at the end of the year
Semi-finalists:
-Featured in The Budget List at the end of the year