Ready to level up your TV writing? The WeScreenplay TV Pilot Lab is a unique virtual screenwriting experience led by Hollywood managers, agents, writers, and more. Get ready for an action-packed interactive lab that includes:

Hands-on workshops
Meet-and-greets with industry professionals
1 on 1 mentorship opportunities
Pitching workshops
Feedback sessions

Previous TV Pilot Lab winners and finalists have signed with companies like Zero Gravity, Heroes and Villains, Echo Lake Entertainment, and had scripts optioned with Party Over Here, CBS Studios, and more.

Awards & Prizes

GRAND PRIZE
TV WRITING LAB

The top 6 winning scripts will be invited to WeScreenplay’s Virtual TV Writing Lab! This is a once-in-a-career opportunity to network, get exposure for your writing, and learn from working TV writers. All keynote mentors and industry guests will be participating in the TV Pilot Lab subject to availability.

Winners will take part in an interactive 3 day virtual lab with hands-on workshops, industry meetings, and will learn from working TV writers. They will take meetings with development executives, TV writers, and learn how to make the most of a client/rep relationship from managers and agents.

Additionally, winners will receive guidance for drafting query letters, research methods for finding the right representation, and insight for next steps.

INDUSTRY GUESTS

David Baggelaar
Manager, Good Fear

David is a Los Angeles native and graduate of San Diego State University where he received a degree in psychology, which has proven to be helpful in this business. After moving back to LA, he worked as a Production Assistant in commercials and indie film before landing at Benderspink in 2012 where he remained as the company transitioned to Good Fear in 2016. On the production side, he’s worked in some capacity on New Line’s WE’RE THE MILLERS, HORRIBLE BOSSES 2 and VACATION, Disney’s MULAN, and A24’s UNDER THE SILVER LAKE. As a manager, he has built a portfolio of film/tv writers, filmmakers, and IP creators. His clients have worked at most of the streaming platforms, networks, and film studios. David strives to develop his clients work and find the best place for their project/talents to thrive, pushing his clients to find the balance between art and commerce, and he is always on the lookout for noisy voices.

Angelina Chen
Manager, Energy Entertainment

Angelina Chen is a literary manager at Energy Entertainment, Brooklyn Weaver’s company. Energy Entertainment represents screenwriters, directors and book authors. Some of their company’s credits include RUN ALL NIGHT, OUT OF THE FURNACE and the TV show EXTANT. Being a minority, Angelina’s focus is particularly on minority and LGBTQIA+ writers/directors, with an emphasis on AAPI clients. Prior to Energy Entertainment, Angelina was an asst at Management 360. Before Management 360, Angelina was at an asst at CAA in the talent and literary departments. She graduated from UCLA with an undergraduate degree in political science and also attended USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program for graduate school in producing.

Lyra Tan
TV Lit Coordinator, Gersh

Lyra Tan is currently the TV Literary Coordinator at the Gersh Agency. Before joining Gersh as a floater (and then being promoted to assistant to a TV Literary Agent), Lyra interned at Topic Studios and FilmNation Entertainment in New York City. Lyra’s dream is to have the opportunity to champion diverse writers from all walks of life and discover stories for the screen that are both diverse and universal. While diversity is incredibly important, universality is even more so (and everything needs a little sprinkle of magic). She’s the proud daughter of immigrants from the Philippines and has lived in Hong Kong, New York and California.

Shuli Harel
Head of Production, Duplass Brothers Productions

Shuli Harel was introduced to Mark and Jay Duplass through her work on the HBO pilot Togetherness. Harel collaborated with the brothers from that point on; and in 2019, she joined Duplass Brothers Productions full time, as their Head of Production. Her myriad of credits include the TV series Penelope, Somebody Somewhere, Room 104, feature films The Knife, Jazzy, Biosphere, The Drop, and documentaries American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders, Jason Isbell: Running With Your Eyes Closed, Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off, Last Stop Larrimah.

Robin Budd
Literary Manager, Viewfinder Management

Robin Budd is a literary manager representing writers working in television, film, theatre and prose. Viewfinder Management clients are associated with the following television series: SWARM (Amazon Prime), EXTRAPOLATIONS (Apple TV+), THE HANDMAID'S TALE (Hulu), WATCHMEN (HBO), THE WITCHER (Netflix), ATLANTA (FX), MOTHERLAND: FORT SALEM (Freeform), AWAY (Netflix) THE 100 (CW), DIETLAND (AMC), GIRLFRIEND’S GUIDE TO DIVORCE (BRAVO). Robin has extensive experience in development and production, having worked at The Bedford Falls Company, Mandalay Television and the Humanitas Prize prior to launching viewfinder management. Her producing credits include features LONE STAR STATE OF MIND and THE SIEGE. Prior to moving to Los Angeles, Robin was part of the theatre administration staff at the Tony Award-winning Huntington Theatre Company in Boston and Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, NY. She is an alum of Boston University's School of Theatre Arts.

Rules & Terms

1. Screenplays entered must:
A. Be screenplays that are a minimum of 18 pages. (scripts under 18 pages will be accepted, read, and considered through the finalist round – but cannot win one of the top prizes).
B. Be submitted in PDF form and must fit all standard screenplay format guidelines. Personal formatting conventions will be accepted but must not intentionally or accidentally alter the page count of the project as determined by the judges.
C. Be owned solely by the writer or writing team listed. It may be an adaptation or reimagining of true events or fictional stories. Projects submitted should not infringe on the rights of any work not available in the public domain. Spec scripts of existing shows are NOT accepted.
D. All persons from anywhere in the world are eligible; however the material submitted must be in English (occasional dialogue in other languages is acceptable, if subtitle translation is provided).
E. Be under 70 pages – Anything over 70 pages will be charged an extra $1 per page.
NOTE: WeScreenplay automatically removes the cover page before assigning scripts to readers, so writers may include any typical information on their cover page. Scripts are accepted with or without cover pages.
2. Writer must be 18 years of age or older at the time of the winner’s announcement.
3. By entering this screenplay into the competition, you must have full permission from all co-writers and any attachments to the project.
4. WeScreenplay claims no ownership nor option on your work. All ownership and rights to the scripts submitted to this contest remain with the original rights holder(s).
5. Screenplays entered may be in any genre or combination of genres. All will be treated equally and read by an unbiased panel of readers and jury members.
6. The following formats will be accepted: Original TV pilot screenplay
7. Entrant’s total earnings for screenwriting for either film or tv, produced or unproduced, must not exceed $50,000 in the previous 18 months from submission or $250,000 lifetime earnings. This excludes any prize money from competitions or fellowships and only applies to funds or money transferred in exchange for an option or sale of a script, treatment, idea, intellectual property, or other writing for filming. Money earned from acting, directing, producing, or any other film work outside of writing is not included.
8. Screenplays submitted must not have been previously sold or produced unless said sale or production was completed with no financial gain to the writer.
9. Purchasing Additional feedback throughout the competition will in no way impact your standing or odds of advancement.
10. For a submission to be valid it must be accompanied with the appropriate payment based on the submission deadlines.
11. All deadlines are at 11:59pm PST on the date listed. Any deadline alteration or promotion of any kind does not make any entry valid for a refund of any kind.
12. RESUBMISSIONS will be accepted. Alterations can be re-uploaded via our submissions management platform at coverfly.com for $6. New drafts of an entry will be accepted at any time during the contest.
13. There are no refunds for any submitted screenplay. Coupons may not be applied to previously submitted scripts. Coupons deemed for WeScreenplay coverage may not be used for submission to the contest or addition of coverage to any submission unless explicitly stated or exempted on the coupon or by a WeScreenplay representative via e-mail communication only.
14. There is no limit on the number of scripts a writer or writing team may submit.
15. Prizes are awarded per script and teams of writers are expected to divide prizes on their own accord. WeScreenplay will send prizes to the writer who submits the project and will in no way be responsible for how the prizes are distributed among the writing teams.
16. 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.
17. Scorecards can be accessed on the writer’s dashboard. Feedback for each round of the competition will be returned before the next competition announcement.
18. WeScreenplay reserves the right to delay announcements for any reason. While we never anticipate any delays, such delays will not alter the standing of any screenplay entry and will not qualify an entry for a refund under any circumstance.
19. By entering a WeScreenplay competition every entrant is agreeing to all WeScreenplay Terms of Service listed on the website and additional terms agreed upon at checkout. If you disagree with any terms you may not submit to the contest.
20. By submitting to the contest you are releasing your script (but not it’s underlying rights) to WeScreenplay and holding harmless WeScreenplay or any affiliates from any claims, expenses, and liabilities, including but not limited to invasion of privacy, defamation, copyright, libel, trademark infringement, slander, personal property infringement, etc.
21. Any prize winners will be required to sign an affidavit validating their entry into the contest.
22. Any writer winning a cash prize will be required to file the appropriate tax and legal documentation before the cash prize is distributed.
23. All prizes provided by sponsors or mentors are subject to said sponsor or mentor providing the prize. In the event a juror, partner organization, or prize partner is no longer able to serve in their specified capacity, WeScreenplay will make its best effort to secure a replacement if possible. WeScreenplay is not responsible for the failed delivery of any prize package by a juror, sponsor, or partner organization.
24. Former Grand Prize, Second Prize, and Third Prize Winners of the contest may enter so long as it is NOT the same script that won in a previous year. Any other placement in former years does not disqualify the script from being entered this year.
25. By entering the competition, entrants are acknowledging their eligibility for the competition. We may check eligibility at the finalist stage before picking winners or distributing any prizes. We also advance a few additional scripts to ensure no one is missed by someone entering who is not eligible.
26. Void where prohibited
27. Except where prohibited by law, participation in the contest constitutes each entrant’s consent to WeScreenplay and its agents’ and contest sponsor’s use of entrants’ names, likenesses, photographs, and/or personal information for promotional purposes in any media, worldwide, without further payment or consideration. All uses of an entrants’ information are in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
28. BY ENTERING THE CONTEST YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND AGREE TO THESE CONDITIONS. You agree to release and hold harmless WeScreenplay, Red Ampersand, Inc., Industry Arts, LLC., WeScreenplay.com, its subsidiary, parent and affiliated companies, Prize contributors, judges, screenplay readers, Sponsors, and any other organizations responsible for administering, advertising or promoting the Contest, and every one of their respective members, directors, employees, agents and representatives (collectively, the “Released Parties”) past and present from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liability, including but not limited to damages and negligence to property and persons, including but not limited to invasion of privacy, defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, copyright, infringement of trademark or other intellectual property rights relating to a participant’s Entry, participation in the Contest and/or acceptance or use or misuse of Prize; provided however, that such release will not apply to any commercial exploitation of the script by a Released Party in violation of your rights under applicable copyright law; and (c) indemnify, defend and hold harmless the WeScreenplay.org and its Sponsor, agents and employees from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorney’s fees) relating to an entrant’s participation in the Contest and/or entrant’s use or misuse of Prize. Employees of WeScreenplay and their immediate families are ineligible to participate in this contest. Any such submission will be immediately disqualified. ENTRY TO THIS CONTEST IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED or restricted by any Federal, State or Local law. Voided entries will be refunded. Recipients’ eligibility will be verified before the grant is awarded and the winner may be required to sign an affidavit of eligibility.