The annual Great Lakes Film Association Scriptwriting Competition has officially opened its Call for Entries and will accept submissions internationally of short and feature length screenplays, stage plays, and teleplays of all genres and niches including documentary, horror, experimental, Religious/Spiritual, animation and Gay/Lesbian for the 2009 competition.The Great Lakes Film Association Scriptwriting Competition has achieved such great success in past years that we now are able to offer a $5,000.00 cash award to our first place winner of the 2009 competition among other prizes. The winning script will also be forwarded to agents and industry professionals for consideration. 

The annual Scriptwriting Competition is a way for new and veteran scriptwriters to possibly get the break they need. Each year we are contacted by many agents and production companies and have launched the careers of many budding scriptwriters while giving new exposure to veteran scriptwriters.

The 2009 Great Lakes Scriptwriting Competition will accept all forms of religious, Christian, and spiritual scripts including African, African American, Gay/Lesbian, Black, Hispanic, Islamic, Latino and Native/Aboriginal from the United States and around the world.

The Great Lakes Film Festival Scriptwriting Competition horror categories will include Horror, Thrillers, Science Fiction, Suspense, Grindhouse Horror, Horror Documentary, and Horror Animation.

FEES and DEADLINES:

Short Length Script:

·         $15.00 if postmarked by March 7, 2009 (U.S. Currency only)

·         $25.00 if postmarked by May 30, 2009 (U.S. Currency only)

·         $35.00 if postmarked by July 25, 2009 (U.S. Currency only)

·         $55.00 if postmarked by Sept 26, 2009 (U.S. Currency only) Withoutabox entries ONLY

Feature Length Script:

·         $25.00 if postmarked by March 7, 2009 (U.S. Currency only)

·         $35.00 if postmarked by May 30, 2009 (U.S. Currency only)

·         $45.00 if postmarked by July 25, 2009 (U.S. Currency only)

·         $65.00 if postmarked by Sept 26, 2009 (U.S. Currency only) Withoutabox entries ONLY

 Winner will be announced no later than October 17, 2009   

PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW ALL BELOW INSTRUCTIONS

ABSOLUTELY NO INTERNATIONAL CHECKS, WIRETRANSFERS, OR MONEY GRAMS WILL BE ACCEPTED. For all entries submitted outside the United States, we will only accept payment for submission fees in the form of INTERNATIONAL POSTAL MONEY ORDERS  

Scriptwriting Eligibility:

Must be 18 years of age or older

The entered script must not be or previously been optioned, sold, or produced  

Scriptwriting Rules:

Any genre considered
Scripts must be original work of the author
Multiple authorship is allowed. If the script wins, the writers will divide the prize.
Multiple entries are allowed, but their own completed entry form and their own appropriate entry fee must accompany each entry.
No corrected pages or additional pages will be accepted after the script has been entered.   

Script Guidelines:

Submitted Scripts must be in English.
Do not send originals, scripts will not be returned.
Scripts must be in industry standard format and bound with 2 or 3 brads unless submitted electronically as an Adobe PDF or Word File.
Body pages must be correctly numbered.
Script title page should only contain name of screenplay.
Must be on white paper.
Covers must be card stock only  

Teleplay Rules:

Teleplays must be original material. We will not accept spec scripts for existing shows, treatments or reality television pilots.

Teleplays must be hour or half-hour or one hour pilots. Additional material will not be read or considered.

Teleplays must not have been previously optioned, purchased or produced.

Script Length:
Feature Length scripts 70 pages or more
Shorts length scripts 69 pages or less

Teleplay Feature Length scripts no more than 60 pages

Teleplay Short Length Scripts no more than 30 pages

Stage Play Full Length scripts 50 pages or more

Stage Play Short Length Scripts 49 pages or less   

All entries must be postmarked no later than the appropriate entry deadline they were submitted under. Additional entry fee will be required if not postmarked by the appropriate deadline. Entries received with uncompleted information will not be considered.    

PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW ALL BELOW INSTRUCTIONS

ABSOLUTELY NO INTERNATIONAL CHECKS, WIRETRANSFERS, OR MONEY GRAMS WILL BE ACCEPTED. For all entries submitted outside the United States, we will only accept payment for submission fees in the form of INTERNATIONAL POSTAL MONEY ORDERS   

Checks returned to us will incur a standard $25 fee that must be paid, even if you choose to pull your teleplay from the competition.

 Please include a SASE for notifications if no email address is available. 

Winner will be announced no later than October 17, 2009  

 www.greatlakesfilm.org