Fall 2023 Competition now OPEN for entries.
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Paradise for writers...
Where every connection leads to Hollywood.
 
Santa Barbara—where the film industry began—has always attracted Hollywood’s
Leading writers, directors, producers, agents, managers, stage, television, and movie talent.

Hollywood’s decision-makers are in constant search of today's most promising writers...
and they start that search right here​.

​​Home of the famed Santa Barbara International Film Festival* and home to major celebrities...

Featuring Oscar-Emmy-WGA Award-winning judges with vital industry connections.
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Every word of every page of your script will be read and analyzed by established Hollywood film and television professionals.

*not affiliated

Let us see your script!

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The  Fall 2023 Contest now open for submissions.
Featuring the industry's #1-ranked written studio analysis 
by working industry professionals (no unpaid "interns" here!).

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Fall 2023 Winning Prize Packages
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Live Line Notes & Personal Consultation
The only screenplay contest​ where winning feature and TV pilot writers are invited to a Live Line Notes & Consultation session with an award-winning WGA writer-producer.
This is a 60-90 minute personal and private meeting to go over every single page of your script with notes written directly on the pages.
​Winners receive a full PDF of those notes, an in-depth written analysis, and a complete recording of the online video session.
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​Feature Screenplay
(all genres)
• $500 Cash Prize
• Live "Line Notes & Consultation" with award-wining  Senior Level WGA Judge 
• Written Studio-grade  analysis
• 4-month InkTip Pro Membership
• Free Listing at SellingYourScreenplay.com
​•Free listing at MovieBytes.com

TV Script
(pilot or episode)
• $250 Cash Prize
• Virtual Script Meeting with
​Senior Judge
• Written Studio-grade  analysis
• Free Listing at SellingYourScreenplay.com
​•Free listing at MovieBytes.com

Short Film Script
• $150 Cash Prize
• Written Studio-grade  analysis
 • Free MovieBytes.com listing

4 ways to enter...4 ways to win.
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Full Reading Contest Entry

Scores & Comments

 Your script is read cover-to-cover by professional analysts
and scored on ten major elements.
Total scores are ranked as Honorable Mention-Quarterfinalist-SemiFinalist-Finalist-Winner .
​Contest entry only; no written feedback provided.

Your script is read cover-to-cover by professional analysts with scoring of key script elements: Concept • Structure • Character • Dialogue • Pacing • Tone • Conflict • Marketability • 
Senior Judges review scores and forward them to you with their brief personalized comments.
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Writers Room Notes

Academy Analysis

Your script is read by multiple  analysts and forwarded to the Senior Judging Team for evaluation of these critical elements: Concept • Storyline • Characters • Dialogue • Pacing The scores and evaluation are reviewed by Senior Judges who provide you with your score sheet and 3-4 pages of Professional Hollywood Studio Writers Room Notes

Your entire script is read, broken down, and analyzed by multiple professional studio analysts. You receive  5-10 pages of extensive Academy Level Studio Notes covering all 10 primary screenplay elements: Concept • Structure • Characters • Dialogue • Pacing • Tone • Conflict • Emotional Response- Investment • Sales/Marketplace Potential, with specific comments from the Judges.
(This is the most popular option, as it often delivers specific guidelines for bringing material to the marketable level.) 

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What happens to your script when you enter
​The Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards?

Photo: Hannah Grace/Unspash

​• Your screenplay, TV script, or short feature script is given an exclusive file number and is immediately uploaded into our firewall-protected data portal.
• Once the virus-free integrity of your pdf file is verified, it is then made available to a confidential team of professional reader-analysts with significant industry experience in the evaluation of essential screenplay elements at every genre level.
• There are no unpaid interns or amateur readers involved in our process at any time. 
• Your script is then read from cover-to-cover, word-for-word, and evaluated against professional marketplace standards.
• Scores are assigned; written analysis (far more than "coverage") is then composed, edited, and validated by members of the Senior Judging Panel.

Enter at any feedback level and you're then notified of your scores (no waiting for the contest to end!) via email.

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Why do so many writers trust the judges at 
The Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards?

If you want honest "feedback' of your work, this is where you can get it. (unlike other competitions that fling out opinionated responses and label it "feedback") the Santa Barbara Awards easily eclipses all the other competitions with their Academy feedback. ~~ Terrence Selleck, Reno, NV

"I have entered several projects into the Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards and got great insights and feedback on the first 109 pages each time. I paid extra for the more Writers Room feedback and it was well worth it. Everything here is really a class act.        ~~ Lindsay Coogan, Atlanta, GA

See more unsolicited testimonials here.

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Sponsored by​

Bridging the gap between writing your script and selling it. 

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Where everyone goes for scripts and writers.

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