The Sunrise Film Festival is a long-running and popular film festival, with year-round events and screenings along a 100km stretch of the North Shore in Nova Scotia.

The organizers are pleased to announce the return of their Screenwriting Contest and Awards. We welcome entries from around the world for short film scripts and feature length scripts.

Selected scripts will be invited to a staged performance of the script by a team of actors during one of our film festival events, "a great tool for measuring how my script performs", and winning scripts benefit from a range of prizes.

The writing contest is now fully integrated into our year-round festival events which makes it a dynamic and rewarding vehicle to get your work noticed. Submit your scripts early to be included in 2019 events. Scripts submitted after July 31st will be part of 2020 events.

Judges include Gary Blackwood - best-selling author and screenwriter; Phil Nodding - BAFTA award-winning writer (Shameless); Paul Kimball - award-winning producer and director (Exit Thread).

Awards & Prizes

a) Short Film - Cash prizes for finalists and the winning script receives the North Shore Players Award trophy and a cash prize; b) feature film scripts: cash prizes for finalists and the winner will receive a week's stay at a writers' retreat with scheduled meetings with professional writers and producers, and a full script report by a top consultant (value in excess of $1500) plus the Simple Films Feature Film Script Award and a cash prize; runners-up will receive a share of the prize fund, currently in excess of $5000, and a one-to-one discussion and chance to pitch to a working producer actively looking for scripts.
Finalists in both Short and Feature Length categories may be selected for a live reading at one of our film festival events and the writers will be invited to attend.

Rules & Terms

2019-20 Sunrise International Screenwriting Awards - Rules, Regulations and Terms and Conditions

1. The Sunrise International Screenwriting Awards is open to writers of film and TV scripts.

2. The organizers have wide experience running film festivals and contests and we are members of the Association of Independent Film Festivals. We are a network of working professionals in the media industry and can call upon some of the most talented consultants, editors, producers and directors to make up our judging panels. We mention this because we feel it's vital to writers to be assessed fully by top people in the industry, and not to have their script judged on a first ten-page read by a random volunteer.

3. The categories for contest entry are:
a) Short - 20-30 page web episode or TV sit-com
b) Feature - Comedy script - more than 30 pages, for either TV or theatrical release
c) Feature - Drama script - more than 30 pages, for either TV or theatrical release
d) Feature - Script by a young writer (Under 25) - more than 30 pages, for either TV or theatrical release (proof of age will be required)
e) Feature - Script by a female writer - more than 30 pages, for either TV or theatrical release
f) Short or Feature - Script by a Native North American

4. Submitted scripts must be original screenplays, and the sole property of the applicant(s).
5. Writers of all ages are eligible.
6. All entries must be in English.
7. There is no limit to the number of screenplays you may submit.
8. All entries must be uploaded in PDF format.
9. Under absolutely no circumstances will substitutions of either corrected pages or new drafts of the entry screenplay(s) be made.
10. Screenplays will not be returned.
11. If a submitted screenplay becomes optioned, produced or purchased between the time of submission and the end of the judging period, that screenplay will no longer be eligible.
12. Do not send materials, information, budgets, talent attached or anything to show any packaging work done for the project. Any entrant attaching such information will be disqualified.
13. Screenplays, including outlines, treatments, pitches, log lines or any developmental material related to screenplay, that have previously won any contest, competition, grant, lab, fellowship, mentorship, reading or award of any kind, are not eligible.
14. Title pages must NOT include the writer's name. We do this to try to ensure judging remains unbiased.
15. Screenplay titles cannot be changed upon re-submission under any circumstances.
16. Screenplays uploaded or posted online to the public are not eligible.

PRIZES
17. The Organizers do not have to award prizes for any category where insufficient entries of quality are received.
18. Categories: a) Short Film - Cash prizes for finalists and the winning script receives the North Shore Players Award trophy and a cash prize; b) feature film scripts: cash prizes for finalists and the winner will receive a week's stay at a writers' retreat with scheduled meetings with professional writers and producers, and a full script report by a top consultant (value in excess of $1500) plus the Simple Films Feature Film Script Award and a cash prize; runners-up will receive a share of the prize fund, currently in excess of $5000, and a one-to-one discussion and chance to pitch to a working producer actively looking for scripts.