Finish Line Script Competition: Fees, Prizes, and Who It Suits

Most screenwriting contests sell you a single verdict: one read, one score, try again next year. The finish line script competition works differently. It is built around paid notes and free resubmission, so the draft you enter doesn't have to be the draft that gets judged. That design is the whole pitch, and it's also the main thing to weigh before you pay. This guide covers what Finish Line charges, what the prizes are worth in cash and in extras, how judging works, what the contest says its past winners did next, and who should spend money on it. Every figure comes from the contest's own site, as of September 2026.

What the finish line script competition is and who runs it

Jenny Frankfurt founded Finish Line in 2016 and is its Founder and CEO. She says she has many years of industry experience. She assisted the head of the theater department at William Morris Agency (now WME) in New York, worked at ICM (now merged with CAA) in Los Angeles, and ran the literary department at Handprint Entertainment, where she says she sold pitches and spec scripts and staffed writers.

That history explains how the contest is built. Frankfurt says she started it because many submissions she saw were "thisclose to being good". Her answer was a competition offering "extensive actionable notes and free resubmissions throughout the contest schedule". In plain terms, the contest assumes your script isn't finished yet. It's designed to help you finish it within one cycle so you don't have to wait a year for another shot.

Entering is simple. You submit through FilmFreeway, Scrybe, Stage 32 or NetworkISA, and you choose one of two entry types. One is script only. The other is script entry with notes, which gets you 6+ pages of feedback and free resubmissions. The homepage describes a network of 50+ well connected international mentors in film and television, and the top prizes draw on that network. We couldn't read the full roster when we checked, so treat that number as the contest's own claim.

Eligibility is wide. The contest is open to screenwriters and TV writers of any experience level, with one limit: you can't enter if you earned more than $50,000 as a writer in the previous year. WGA members may enter if they haven't sold the material and earned no more than that threshold. Every submission must be in English. There's no minimum page count, though the FAQ notes that the WGA treats 70 pages as the minimum for a feature.

Finish line script competition fees and deadline tiers

Here is every fee for the 2026/27 cycle, as of September 2026:

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• $58: script entry only, which still includes a free resubmission.
• $128: comprehensive feedback of 6+ pages, including the script entry, the notes, and free resubmission of drafts.
• $299 Premium: submission and feedback plus a 50 minute Zoom with Jenny Frankfurt.
• $122: each additional set of feedback bought after your first set of notes.
• $1.00 per page over 120: charged on feedback only.

Two details stand out. First, you don't have to buy notes to get a free resubmission. The $58 entry includes one too. That helps if you already have a trusted reader outside the contest and just want the right to swap in a stronger draft later. Second, the page surcharge applies to feedback only. A 130 page script costs an extra $10 for notes. If you enter it script only, you pay nothing extra.

The deadlines for this cycle, as of September 2026, from the contest's official dates and pricing page:

• Early Bird: 2 July 2026 (passed)
• Regular: 5 September 2026 (passed)
• Latecomers: 7 November 2026
• Final Resubmissions: 14 December 2026

When we read the pricing page, it listed the same fee options at every deadline tier. Check the live price at checkout rather than assuming any tier is cheaper.

The gap that matters is the one between Latecomers and Final Resubmissions. On the current schedule (as of September 2026), if you enter with notes by 7 November, you have until 14 December to act on them. Subtract however long the notes take to arrive, and ask about turnaround before you pay. The pricing page also says winners will be announced for the 2026/27 cycle but gives no results date, so don't count on hearing back by any particular date.

What the notes and free resubmission model actually sells

Look past the branding and Finish Line is two products sold together: a paid notes service, and a contest that lets you use those notes before judging closes. The contest is open about keeping the two separate. Its FAQ says three readers evaluate each script, that judges don't know whether you revised or bought a consultation, and that each script is judged "on its final merits, solely". You can resubmit as many times as you like before the deadlines at no extra cost, either by buying more notes or by emailing a revised draft.

Keeping the notes and the judging separate is the right call, and it should change how you think about the money.

So don't ask whether the notes are good. We have no independent read on their quality, and nobody who hasn't bought them does either. Ask whether you can turn a set of notes into a clearly better draft in weeks rather than months. If a rewrite usually takes you a season, resubmission is worth much less to you than it looks.

Here's how the costs add up for a writer who goes all in on revisions. Entry with notes is $128. A second set is $122. A third is another $122. That writer has spent $372 before reaching the most expensive option, the 12 Week Industry Mentorship at $1,800, as of September 2026. The mentorship is one on one with Frankfurt. It includes two sets and a polish of 6+ pages of notes, up to five Zoom calls, pitch and meeting strategy, review of loglines, synopses and query letters, and unlimited email. The pricing page also links to a pitch consultation but shows no price for it.

None of these costs are hidden, and you can stop at any level. The hard part is deciding in advance which level you're paying for and what you expect it to change in the script.

Before paying anyone for notes, it helps to know where your pages already stand, so score your own logline or opening page for free below.

Prizes: the cash, and what comes with it

Finish Line's prizes combine cash with industry access and services, and it's worth looking at the two separately. Cash first, from the contest's prizes page as of September 2026:

• Grand Prize: $10,000
• First Runner Up: $2,000
• Second Runner Up: $750

That's $12,750 in cash across the three places. The site doesn't state a total; that figure is simple addition.

Now the extras. The Grand Prize winner also gets meetings with 50+ industry professionals, described as "ranging from literary managers, agents, development execs and producers". The winner also gets a filmed table read with Howard Fine's acting students, free script notes from the contest's consultants for a year, screenwriting software of their choice, Script Reader Pro's Script Hackr course, and access to Finish Line's industry guidance. The contest also donates 5% of competition earnings to the winner's chosen charity.

The First Runner Up's script is sent to 10+ professionals from the mentor list. They also get the Script Hackr course, a year of free script notes, and access to industry assistance. The Second Runner Up's script is sent to 6+ industry professionals, and they get a filmed table read with Howard Fine's acting students, the Script Hackr course, a year of free script notes, and access to industry guidance.

A few things to note. The meetings are the real Grand Prize, but a meeting only gets you in the room. It isn't a deal, and what happens next depends on the script and on you. The year of free notes matters most if you have more scripts coming, since it's feedback on future drafts, not money. And the filmed table read is listed for the Grand Prize and the Second Runner Up but not for the First Runner Up, which is worth knowing if a filmed read is what you're after.

How judging works and who reads your script

Per the FAQ, three readers evaluate each script. They aren't told whether you revised or bought a consultation, and the script is judged only on its final merits. Having three readers means one reader's taste can't sink a draft on its own. And because judges don't know about revisions, a writer who resubmitted five times is judged exactly like one who entered once.

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The final round is less documented. The contest's own listings say three industry judges read the final three scripts and choose the winner and runners up, and describe them as producers, writers, agents and managers. We saw that description in a search summary, not on a page we could open, so treat it as the contest's claim. The contest doesn't publish a named list of final judges we could verify, and we won't guess at one.

If it matters to you who reads the final round, ask the contest directly who is judging it this cycle. It should matter if you're hoping to reach a particular kind of buyer. A contest run by a former literary manager should be able to answer quickly.

The contest also can't tell you how you rank against the rest of the field. It publishes no entry counts or advancement rates that we could find, so you can't know how competitive the top places are in any given year.

What past winners did afterwards

Everything in this section comes from the contest's winners page. We haven't verified any of it, so read every outcome as "the contest says".

• 2025/26: Grand Prize winner Jane Geist, Midnight, is said to have signed with management company M88. Second tier winner Dane Drummond, Undiscovered Genius, is said to have UK producer Sam Lavender on board.
• 2024/25: Grand Prize winner J. Augustine, Muse, is said to have signed with Anonymous Content and WME. First tier winner Steven Lowery, Kangaroo, is said to have Bruce Beresford attached to direct.
• 2023/24: No ranked winners are listed. Jane Wilson's Who Is Amy Bock? is said to be in the hands of producer Andrew Mark Sewell of B7 Media, likely as a US/UK/New Zealand co-production, and Pepi Kokab's The Fireman is said to have Hugo Diaz attached to direct.
• 2022/23: Grand Prize winner Jason Forbach, Memory Play, is said to have signed with Zero Gravity Management, with Richard Johns and Christine Vachon attached to produce. Second tier winner Ned Farr's Tin Kickers is said to be optioned by Blue Monday Productions.
• 2021/22: Second tier winner Matthew Thomas, Debbie: the winners page says the pitch was sold to HBO Max, with Gabrielle Union attached to star and produce. Grand Prize winner Matthew Wixey, 731, is said to have signed with The CW Agency.
• 2020/21: Grand Prize winner Muki Thangamani, Flowerfield, is said to have signed with Paper Road and Fourth Wall, with the script in development at Jon M. Chu's Electric Somewhere. Social Impact Grand Prize winner Alex Qin, ThirstyGirl, is said to have signed with Atlas Artists and UTA.
• 2019/20: Social Impact Grand Prize winner Stephane Dunn, Chicago '66, is said to be optioned by Sean Penn.
• 2018/19: Grand Prize winner Avi Glick, Old Dogs and Still Waters, is said to have signed with Heroes & Villains Management and WME and to be set up at A24.
• 2017/18: Grand Prize winner Sebastian Magiera, Folklore, is said to have signed with Lou Pitt (The Pitt Group).

The record looks credible, and it has more representation deals than sales. Most of the headline outcomes are signings, attachments and options.

The page is also candid in a smaller way. Several winners have no listed outcome at all, including Devi Snively in 2024/25, Lorenzo Galuszka in 2021/22, and Oliver Cooper IV and Chris Caleo in 2020/21. That's normal. Winning is a starting point, and a winners page shows the best results, not all of them.

Who the finish line script competition suits, and who it does not

Is finish line script competition worth it? That depends almost entirely on how close your draft is to done and how fast you rewrite.

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It suits you if:

• Your script is close, and you know it's close. The contest was built for drafts that are "thisclose", not first drafts that need structural rework.
• You'd pay for professional notes anyway. At $128 for 6+ pages plus an entry, as of September 2026, the entry effectively comes free with the notes.
• You can revise in weeks. With Latecomers on 7 November 2026 and Final Resubmissions on 14 December 2026 (as of September 2026), every revision has to fit into a short window this cycle.
• You want representation more than a laurel. The contest's own record and its founder's background in literary management both point toward meetings with reps and producers rather than prestige for its own sake.

It doesn't suit you if:

• You earned more than $50,000 as a writer last year; you're ineligible.
• Your script isn't in English.
• You mainly want a laurel to put on a query letter. A laurel from a notes driven contest signals something different from a place in a long running fellowship, so weigh that honestly.
• You rewrite slowly. Resubmission is the main thing you're paying for, and if you can't use it, you're paying extra for a standard contest read.
• You're tempted to treat each $122 note set as one more chance to win. Set a spending limit first.

Placing in a contest isn't the only way to get your script read, either: ScriptLix runs free AI coverage that scores any draft from 1 to 100 in about a minute, no account required. If you're comparing Finish Line with other options, our roundup of screenwriting contests worth entering covers the alternatives.

Whichever route you choose, the standard is the same: a draft a reader can finish without wanting to mark it up. If you want to see what market ready pages look like, this one is worth a read.

Red flags and questions to ask before you enter

Nothing in our research suggests Finish Line is anything other than what it says it is. The concerns come from how it's set up, and you should know them going in.

The first is the fee structure. It runs from $58 to $128 to $299, then $122 per extra note set, then $1,800 for the mentorship, as of September 2026. Every fee is disclosed and every add-on is optional. But the contest is built around revision, and it earns more the more you revise, so there's a built-in pull to buy one more set. Decide your spending limit before your first notes arrive, not after.

The second is what the site doesn't tell you: no results date for the 2026/27 cycle, no named final judges, no mentor list we could read in full, no entry counts or advancement rates, and winner outcomes reported only by the contest itself. None of these is a red flag on its own. Together, they mean you're relying on the contest's own description more than you would with a contest that publishes all of this.

Before you pay, ask:

1. How long do notes take to arrive at this point in the cycle? The Latecomers and Final Resubmissions deadlines are only weeks apart, so turnaround decides whether you can actually use a resubmission.
2. Who writes the notes? Frankfurt, the contest's consultants, or a mix, and does that differ by tier?
3. Who is judging the final round this cycle? Ask for names, not job titles.
4. When will 2026/27 results be announced?
5. What is the refund policy, and does entering give the contest any rights in your script? Get the answer in writing.
6. Does the free resubmission on the $58 entry work the same way as on the notes tier?

A contest run by a former literary manager should answer all six without hesitation. If it doesn't, that tells you something too.

Before any of that, make sure the script can hold up to a reader seeing it for the first time. A resubmission only helps if you have time to use it. Run your logline or opening page through the free scorer above, fix what it flags, and then decide which level of spending you actually need.