Screenwriting Contest Deadlines: The 2026/27 Calendar

Most writers treat screenwriting contest deadlines as one date circled on a calendar. That habit is expensive. Nearly every competition below sells the same entry at rising prices, so the date that matters is the cheapest tier your draft is genuinely ready for. This calendar covers what is still open as of 24 September 2026, what closed for the 2026 cycle and when it returns, what each tier costs, and what the prizes are once you split real cash from bundles of services. Every fee and date was taken from the contest's own page on 24 September 2026 and applies only to the cycle named there. Where a contest hasn't posted its next cycle, we say so instead of guessing.

Why screenwriting contest deadlines are a fee ladder, not a date

A contest deadline is really four or five deadlines stacked on top of each other. Final Draft priced its 2026 Big Break feature entry at $45 for Early Bird (April 27), $65 for Regular (May 18), $75 for Final (June 8) and $85 for Extended (June 29), as of September 2026. Same script, same prizes. The only variable was when you pressed submit.

The pattern repeats everywhere. Austin's 2026 feature entry went from $60 at Early Bird (March 27, 2026) to $70 at Regular (April 24, 2026) to $90 at Late (May 27, 2026), as of September 2026. Slamdance's standard feature, 41 to 110 pages, ran from $65 at Early to $95 at Final for 2026, and longer features of 111 to 140 pages cost more at every tier, $85 rising to $120, as of September 2026. Script Pipeline's 2027 cycle starts at $45 and ends at $75, as of September 2026. Stage 32's science fiction and fantasy contest opened at $49.50 and finished at $84.50 for its 2026 cycle.

Two things follow. First, the late tiers are a tax on disorganisation, not a bonus window. If the script was finished in June, entering in September buys you nothing except the higher price. Second, the late tiers aren't guaranteed to exist. Austin's page says its 2026 categories reached capacity ahead of the late deadline, and the Nicholl's 2026 public route closed on July 20 or at 2,000 submissions, whichever came first. Writers who planned around the last date found the door already shut.

There is one honest reason to pay the premium: the draft isn't ready. A rewrite that fixes your second act is worth more than $40. Paying extra because you forgot is the only version of this that's pure loss.

Screenwriting contest deadlines still open as of 24 September 2026

These are the screenwriting contests open now, and the screenplay competition deadlines this fall worth planning around, ordered by the next cutoff. Every figure is as of September 2026 and belongs to the cycle named.

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Script Pipeline, 25th annual, 2027 cycle. The cheapest tier, Special Entry at $45, closed on September 25, 2026. The ladder now runs Preregistration December 30, 2026 at $50; Early March 5, 2027 at $60; Regular May 1, 2027 at $65; Late May 15, 2027 at $70; Extended May 31, 2027 at $75. The winner gets $20,000 and each of five finalists gets $1,000, plus introductions to managers, producers, agents, directors and executives, and development assistance and mentoring. Script Pipeline says entries are judged by its own development executives and senior staff, not by unpaid interns, volunteers or seasonal readers. Results run from quarterfinalists on July 15, 2027 to the winner on August 12, 2027.

Stage 32 screenwriting competition, 10th Annual science fiction and fantasy contest. The Final tier ($79.50, September 23, 2026) and the Extended tier ($84.50, September 28, 2026) have both passed, and the contest page now shows it closed for submissions. Scripts over 120 pages cost an extra $20. Quarterfinalists are announced November 20, 2026, semifinalists December 4, finalists December 18, and winners January 8, 2027.

Emerging Screenwriters Competition, 2027 cycle. Early (July 23, $49) and Regular (September 17, $59) are gone. The Final deadline is October 29 at $79, as of September 2026. The competition page itemises a Grand Prize of $16,500 cash and $1,500 cash for each Top 10 finalist; how those numbers relate to the homepage headline is covered below. Results run from quarterfinalists on January 7, 2027 to the Grand Prize announcement on March 18, 2027, with cash distributed three months after the final announcement. One judge is named, JR Rappaport, with one more to be announced.

Black List x Cassian Elwes Independent Screenwriting Fellowship, 2027. Submissions close November 1, 2026, as of September 2026. It has its own eligibility rules, so it sits in the fellowships section below.

Finish Line Script Competition, 2026 cycle. Early Bird (July 2, 2026) and Regular (September 5, 2026) have closed. The Latecomers tier runs to November 7, 2026, and Final Resubmissions close December 14, 2026, as of September 2026. Entry only is $58 and includes a free resubmission, and that price is the same at Early Bird, Regular and Latecomers, so this is one contest where waiting didn't cost more. The page doesn't state prize amounts or exact winner dates.

Two contests writers ask about constantly are missing from this list on purpose. We couldn't confirm current dates or fees for BlueCat or the Cinequest screenwriting competition from their official pages, so treat both as dates not yet announced until they post them.

Contests that closed for 2026 and reopen next year

Most of the big names have already taken their 2026 entries. Several are still announcing results, and for most of them, screenwriting contest deadlines 2027 haven't been posted yet.

Big Break. Closed. Feature, TV and Diversity entries ran $45, $65, $75 and $85 across the four tiers, or $115, $135, $145 and $155 with feedback; shorts ran $35 to $65, or $80 to $110 with feedback, as of September 2026. Two Grand Prize winners get $10,000 cash each plus an iPad, a Dell XPS laptop and a Hollywood trip with airfare and three nights; 11 category winners get $1,000 cash each; the Short Script winner gets $5,000 cash. Results are still running: semifinalists September 25, 2026, Category Top 10 October 16, category winners November 20, and Grand Prize winners December 18, 2026. Nothing about a 2027 cycle is on the page.

Slamdance screenplay competition. Closed after its Final deadline on August 3, 2026. TV pilots of up to 45 pages ran $50 to $70, as of September 2026. Semifinalists were announced September 28, 2026 and the Top 12 on October 5, with winners due October 31, 2026. Prize amounts aren't stated on the submission page, and 2027 dates aren't posted.

Austin Film Festival screenplay competition. Closed, and full before its Late deadline. The page carries no 2027 details as of September 2026.

American Zoetrope Screenplay Competition. Closed. Early Bird was July 15, 2026 at $40 and the final deadline September 16, 2026 at $50, as of September 2026. The grand prize is $5,000, results land February 8, 2027, and the 2027 competition opens June 1.

Shore Scripts Feature Contest. Closed after its Final deadline on August 28. Quarterfinalists were announced October 6, with semifinalists due November 13 and finalists and winners December 9, 2026. The Grand Prize is $5,000 cash plus a mentorship call with Debbie Berman and one on one work with a Writer Development Manager; second place gets $1,000 cash and third gets $500 cash; the 10 finalists get development support with no cash. Fee tiers and 2027 dates aren't shown.

PAGE International Screenwriting Awards. The 2026 winners are announced October 15, and PAGE begins accepting 2027 submissions on December 1, as of September 2026. Fee tiers aren't on the page we fetched, and its judges are described only as producers, agents, managers and development executives.

Nantucket Film Festival Tony Cox Screenplay Competition. The page says 2027 submissions reopen this fall, with no dates posted, so treat it as dates not yet announced. The festival runs June 16 to 21, 2027. Cash prizes are $5,000 for the feature winner, $1,000 for the short winner, and $2,000 each for the 30 minute and 60 minute episodic winners, as of September 2026; the feature prize also includes a spot at the October Colony writers retreat on Nantucket.

Cash prizes versus value bundles: what the money actually is

Prize headlines mix two very different things, and the difference matters when you decide where your entry fees go.

Real cash, as stated on the contest pages as of September 2026: Script Pipeline pays $20,000 to its winner and $1,000 to each of five finalists. Big Break pays $10,000 to each of two Grand Prize winners, $1,000 to each of 11 category winners, and $5,000 to its short script winner. Zoetrope's grand prize is $5,000. Shore Scripts pays $5,000, $1,000 and $500 to its top three. The Nicholl awards up to five fellowships of $35,000.

Then there are value bundles. Stage 32 is refreshingly blunt: "No cash prizes awarded; all prizes consist of services and educational access." Its winner package is listed at a $5,000 value, finalists at $2,500, semifinalists at $1,000, quarterfinalists at $500, and every entrant gets a $100 value in the form of one month of Writer's Room access plus a webinar code, as of September 2026. Those figures are the retail price of services, not money you can spend on rent.

Some headlines blend the two. Emerging Screenwriters leads its homepage with "$30k Cash Prizes." The competition page itemises the actual cash: $16,500 to the Grand Prize winner, which already includes $1,500 from the Top 10 allocation, and $1,500 to each Top 10 finalist, paid three months after the final announcement. Read the itemised list, not the banner. PAGE promises "over $50,000 in cash and prizes," but its page doesn't say how much of that is cash, as of September 2026.

Keep the prize in proportion to what most writers actually want from a contest, which is proof the script can compete. A laurel is one kind of proof. A produced or purchasable script is a different proof of market, one a buyer can read and act on directly, and a quick score from ScriptLix's free AI coverage is a cheap way to check a draft is ready for either. Neither replaces the other.

Treat alumni claims with the same care. Shore Scripts' own success stories page lists Quinn Spicker, its 2025 Feature Grand Prize winner, as repped with an option agreement, and says Rachel Benaissa, a Top 5 finalist in its Short Film Fund, signed with an agent at The Agency. Those are the contest's claims, and we couldn't confirm them independently. None of the contests we checked offered outside evidence that a placement leads to a sale, so weigh the cash and the reading, not the promise.

Notes and coverage extras that cost more than the entry

The entry fee is often the smaller number on the checkout page.

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Finish Line's entry only tier is $58, as of September 2026. Its Comprehensive Feedback tier, six or more pages of notes plus entry, is $128, which is 2.2 times the entry price. The $299 Premium tier adds a 50 minute Zoom with the founder. Additional sets of feedback after the first cost $122 each, and feedback carries a $1 charge for every page over 120.

Big Break's feedback option added $70 at every tier in 2026: $45 versus $115 at Early Bird, $85 versus $155 at Extended, as of September 2026. At the cheapest tier, the notes cost more than the entry itself.

Stage 32 sells Script Coverage plus a Resubmission Option for $99, the Resubmission Option alone for $39, and discounted coverage at $49 once quarterfinalists are announced, as of September 2026. That last one is worth noticing: if you want notes, the cheaper window opens after the first cut, and by then you'll also know whether you advanced.

Script Pipeline's notes aren't priced on its contest page, and Slamdance's coverage price isn't stated either, as of September 2026. Ask before you tick the box.

The honest test for any notes option is whether you'd buy those notes as a standalone purchase. Contest coverage is sold at checkout, when you're already committed and the extra feels small. If a script needs structural feedback, it needs it before the entry, not alongside it, because notes that arrive with your results arrive after the fee ladder has already done its work.

The platforms that disappeared: ScreenCraft, WeScreenplay, Coverfly

If your contest calendar from two years ago looks thin, that's not your imagination. In February 2025, ScreenCraft, The Script Lab and WeScreenplay announced they were closing, with services gone by March. No Film School reported on February 20, 2025 that all three were owned by Industry Arts, now controlled by Cast & Crew, which also owns Coverfly, Final Draft, Tracking Board and Launch Pad.

Coverfly followed. Its closure was announced April 30, 2025, and it shut down on August 1, 2025. A secondary summary also reports that the Tracking Board discontinued all services as of September 1, 2025.

The odd one out is Final Draft. It sits in the same corporate family, yet the Big Break page is live with a full 2026 cycle and results scheduled through December 18, 2026. Whether Big Break runs in 2027 isn't stated on that page, so don't assume either way.

The practical lesson: a contest is a small business, and small businesses close. Keep your own record of every entry, fee, placement and reader comment rather than trusting a third party dashboard to hold it. If you relied on one of the closed services, our guides to Coverfly alternatives and ScreenCraft alternatives cover where writers can go instead.

Fellowships and labs with their own screenwriting contest deadlines

Fellowships run on separate calendars with stricter eligibility, and they hold the largest single cash awards on this page.

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The Nicholl Fellowship is the Academy's program, established in 1986; from its start through 2022 it awarded 192 fellowships totalling $5.08 million. It now works exclusively with partner programs, with the Black List and the Writers Guild Foundation serving as portals for public submissions. The 2026 Writers Guild Foundation route closed on July 20, 2026 at 5 pm PT or at 2,000 submissions, whichever came first. The fee was $100 for the first 750 submissions and $120 after that, as of September 2026. Up to five $35,000 fellowships are awarded each year. Eligibility is tight: lifetime film and TV writing earnings can't exceed $25,000, scripts must be original features of 80 to 125 pages in English, and the same script can't go through more than one Nicholl partner. The 2027 dates aren't posted, so treat them as not yet announced.

The Black List Cassian Elwes Fellowship closes November 1, 2026, as of September 2026. It's for unrepresented feature writers "with an independent sensibility" who have made less than $5,000 in total film or television writing earnings. You need an online project with at least one completed or pending evaluation when you submit. The prize is an all expenses paid trip to the 2027 Sundance Film Festival, January 21 to 31, 2027, with a festival pass and meetings and events with producer Cassian Elwes. The fee wasn't stated on the page we fetched.

Labs such as the Sundance Screenwriters Lab keep their own application windows, and TV writers have a separate track entirely, which our guide to TV writing fellowships covers. We haven't listed dates for either here; check each program's own page before you plan around it.

How to budget a contest season without paying the late fee premium

Pick three or four contests, not twelve. Then work backwards from the cheapest tier of each, not the final one. A best screenwriting contests 2026/27 calendar for a feature writer, built only from posted dates as of September 2026, looks like this:

• By October 29: Emerging Screenwriters Final at $79, if the itemised cash appeals.
• By November 1, 2026: the Black List Cassian Elwes Fellowship, if you're eligible.
• December 1: PAGE opens 2027 submissions; fees not yet posted.
• By December 30, 2026: Script Pipeline at the $50 preregistration tier.
• June 1: American Zoetrope's 2027 competition opens.
• Dates not yet announced: Nicholl, Big Break, Slamdance, Austin, Shore Scripts, Nantucket, BlueCat and Cinequest for 2027.

Entering Script Pipeline at the $50 preregistration tier instead of the $75 Extended tier saves $25 on one entry. Repeat that discipline across four contests and the savings can cover another entry outright. Budget notes as a separate line and judge them on their own merits. For a broader view of which competitions deserve a slot at all, see our list of screenwriting contests worth entering.

The best use of an early deadline is a finished draft, one that reads like it could go to a buyer tomorrow. Here's the polish level to measure yours against:

Before you commit a single entry fee, make sure the script is contest ready. A reader meets your logline and your first page before anything else, and no fee tier can fix a weak opening once it's submitted. Score your own logline or opening page for free below and see where it stands before the next deadline.