Champion Screenwriting Competition

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

**ENTRY FEES (SAVE $5 PER ENTRY WITH WITHOUTABOX DISCOUNT PACK)**
	Early Bird (3/26)	Regular Deadline (5/15)	Late(7/30)
Screenplay (feature-length)	$45	$50	$55
Screenplay (feature-length) with Coverage	$85	$90	N/A
Screenplay (feature-length) Resubmission	N/A	N/A	$25
Screenplay (short)	$20	$25	$25

What inspired the name of this competition?
Our winners will be champions and we will work to champion our winners. We will inspire, empower and guide them with mentoring and coaching from industry professionals. We have some of the best teachers and consultants, who will help you jumpstart your career.
What is Champion Screenwriting Competition?
Champion Screenwriting Competition is sponsored by A-List Screenwriting, which is owned by Jim Mercurio. Jim has taught screenwriting to thousands of writers. As a script consultant, he has worked with A-list filmmakers (billions of dollars in box office) who fly him across the country for notes on film cuts; Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning clients; and regular writers who want to improve their craft. The Washington Post called the bonus material he wrote and directed for the film Hard Scrambled a “must-see” for all would-be filmmakers.
What makes CSC different from other contests?
Our motto is “Winning is just the beginning.” We don't want to write you a check, shotgun your synopsis around, and then wave goodbye. Win our competition and we will prepare you for what you can expect in Hollywood by giving you a team of mentors who will champion you, your current script, or even your next script and will help you to become a working screenwriter in Hollywood. One of our writers from last year has already optioned his script to a company to whom we introduced him.
If I win your competition, why do I need all this extra help?

In the past two years, some of the top screenwriting competitions have had to disqualify finalists because they were already professionals. It was unfair for the pros to enter, but their scripts rose to the top of the contest heap. Winning a contest is just the beginning. We want to help our winners go from best in the contest to best in Hollywood, to help them become well-known working writers.

All writers have strengths and weaknesses. For some it's dialogue, for others it's concept or theme. For some, it might not even be a craft issue but how to market and sell themselves or their scripts. It might be the ability to write a great query letter or to pitch their story. We want our winners to use the insight from and support of our professional sponsors to identify and conquer their weaknesses and cultivate their strengths.

But if you only want the cash and other competition prizes, you can always turn down the mentorship and consulting services.

To hear what last year’s winning writers had to say about the classes they attended, click here.
What kind of material are you looking for in this competition?
Great writing. In Jim's A-List Screenwriting classes, he does thematic analyses of Frozen River and The Dark Knight. And he is in the trenches raising money to make micro- and low-budget films. As coordinator of contests, he has championed dark dramas, family animation films, magical realist stories, sexually-charged period-piece biopics, high-concept comedies, and quirky interracial buddy films. As evidence of his willingness to award all types of films, the Shorts category has a Best Comedy, Best Drama and Best Short Short (three pages or less).
Do you accept adaptations of any kind?
We do not accept adaptations because we want to judge every writer on the same premise: the ability to take an original idea and flesh out a full-length screenplay. If a company published your novel, for example, the screenplay adaptation would not be eligible for our contest. However, if your script is based on your own unpublished novel, to which you own all rights, then that screenplay would be eligible.
Do you take entrants from outside the US and Canada?
Sure. We do require that scripts be written in English, and all prize money will be paid in US dollars.
When is your deadline?

Our late deadline is July 30, 2010. We will have one short deadline extension followed by Withoutbox’s exclusive extension. You can save money by entering early. Please note that the Regular Deadline (May 15) is the last day to receive the optional coverage on a submission. Fees to resubmit scripts that used the coverage service are the same (assuming you take advantage of WAB’s Filmsubmissions Discount Packs) throughout all of the deadlines. They do not increase.

May I enter more than one script in the contest?
Yes.
Do I put the contact information on my script?
Yes. But if it's not there, don't worry. Some contests forbid contact information on entries, but we only use trusted readers and make our decision based on the material, not the resume of or our relationship to the writer. There are no politics or inside connections here. The winning script has the best writing. Period.
Two brads or three?
None. Our contest is a paperless. It saves trees and time.
Will you accept hard copies?
No. We accept only electronic copies of scripts.
Can I submit or substitute a later/different draft?
Writers who have used our coverage service are eligible to resubmit the new draft and pay the reduced entry fee by selecting the category of Screenplay (feature-length) Resubmission. Other resubmissions or substitute drafts are not allowed. It is unfair to others, and oftentimes the scripts have already been judged.
How does the coverage process and resubmission process work?

You may submit a script before the May 15 Regular Deadline into the Screenplay (Feature-length) with Coverage category. It will cost an additional $40 and you will receive one to two pages of coverage-style notes and the status of whether your script advances to the Quarterfinalist stage. Coverage is always a subjective process, but we want to give your script the best chance to advance to where it will be read again by the contest judges. Our readers and company will not be available to answer questions about the content of any individual coverage. Only writers who have used our coverage service will be able to resubmit their script by entering it in the Screenplay (Feature-length) Resubmission category which has a (Discounted) price of $20 through all deadlines.
Does Champion Screenplay Competition own or control any of the rights to my work if it wins?
We never ask for or acquire any rights to your material. The awards are merely to encourage and support our winners. Some prizes like the Low Budget Horror Prize may involve an outside company offering an option or writing assignment to a writer, but the writer has no obligation to accept the offer.
How do I apply?
We only accept digital submissions and payments via the Withoutabox (WAB) system. It's free to join WAB, and an upgraded membership gets you special discounts to contests and festivals. WAB stores your entry-form information so you can easily apply to numerous other contests. Log on to http://www.withoutabox.com/login/7735, fill out the application, and upload your script in any electronic format.
When will you announce the winners?
We will post our schedule in the summer and give constant updates at our site on our announcement dates. We will make important announcements via email but please check back at our updates page (The Champion Blog) for the most current information. Contest updates and results will be announced in A-List Screenwriting's Craft & Career, a free monthly e-newsletter (see below to sign up). As a green contest, we do not plan to send out any paper.
Who are your READERS AND JUDGES?
Most of our first-round readers have extensive industry experience. Many have advanced degrees in film, work as writers, and have development backgrounds or filmmaking experience. Our least-experienced first-round readers have gone to school for film, writing, or a related art; have experience as readers; and have passed a coverage test to become readers for the contest. All readers beyond the first round are film industry professionals – writers, directors, managers, producers, and agents. Their input is used to help Jim Mercurio make the final decision.

Please note there are 3 different categories for feature-length screenplays:

Screenplay (feature-length) – For feature-length screenplays that have not and are not planning to use the coverage service.
Screenplay (feature-length) with Coverage – For feature-length screenplays that are using the coverage service.
Screenplay (feature-length) Resubmission – Only for screenplays that used the coverage service and are now being resubmitted.

If you have any more questions, please contact us at info@championscreenwriting.com.