Congratulations to 2018’s Short Film Fund Winner
BEST SELLER
by NORA KIRKPATRICK & DENNIS MCNICHOLAS
When the reigning queen of the Home Shopping Network is killed
live on-the-air during a hair drying demonstration gone wrong, her three
venomous, power-hungry disciples enter into a cut-throat competition for
her coveted time slot.
NORA AND DENNIS HAVE BEEN AWARDED A $10,000 PRODUCTION GRANT TO MAKE THEIR SHORT.
READ OUR Q&A WITH NORA
2018’s Finalists
A big Thank You to everyone who entered this year.
 |
A YOUNG MAN’S GAME Jake wants to be a doctor when he grows up, but his dad has different ideas. |
 |
BEST SELLER When the reigning queen of the Home Shopping Network is killed live on-the-air during a hair drying demonstration gone wrong, her three venomous, power-hungry disciples enter into a cut-throat competition for her coveted time slot. |
 |
BOY A destitute, dying father must overcome years of addiction and survive one more day in order to reconnect with his estranged son. |
 |
CIRCLE OF HEAT On July 13, 1977, a blackout left the entire city of New York in darkness for 25 hours. Amidst this chaos, Miles, a closeted gay, African-American bartender, has to sort through the chaos of his own life when his first love, an openly gay, Puerto Rican-American, returns after being absent for weeks. |
 |
HEADLIGHTS ON WHITE ROSES IN THE DRIVEWAY Conner, a Native youth, meets a hook-up via the Grindr app and is thrust into an emotional journey forcing him to recognize the dangers of compromising one’s own limits. |
 |
HOME After a suspiciously dressed Palestinian man boards an Israeli bus, an IDF soldier must choose between a risk to the lives of the other passengers and a potentially innocent man, in order to keep the peace. |
 |
I LIVE ALONE, EVERYONE DOES In a world where people no longer interact with one another in person, a man and a woman break the cycle and rediscover the simple beauty of human connection. |
 |
LET GO After losing his job to an android, a disgruntled therapist takes matters into his own hands. Not content with being replaced by a mere machine, he soon finds himself in a confrontation that may yet prove enlightening. |
 |
LIVE A psychological thriller about an anxious priest distraught by a troubling confession that forces him to explore the darkness of his denial. |
 |
LOSE-LOSE An Asian American teenage boy struggles with hypermasculinity and two new rivals on the neighborhood basketball court: a girl opponent who he hates, and a boy opponent who he may also be attracted to. |
 |
MAMBA An ageing journeyman boxer obsessed with winning takes a performance-enhancing drug which causes terrifying changes to his mind and body. |
 |
NEVADA ZOO Two prominent basketball coaches take a trip to Las Vegas, where an encounter with a fan threatens their way of life. |
 |
PAGE TURNER A young woman finds a notebook and calls the ‘Please return to’ number and makes plans to meet its owner the next day.That night, while alone at home, her curiosity is piqued by the book’s contents and she begins to read the unsettling ravings of a troubled mind and discovers that her life is inexplicably tied to the dark journal’s object of desire. |
 |
POGROM A young man is arrested and tortured for his sexuality during the Chechen Gay Purger, but his true fight for survival begins when he’s outed and released to his family whose sense of honor may cost him his life. |
 |
RUMMAGE Rummage follows the journey of middle-aged and despondent Horder as he discovers that in our dystopian litter-filled future, even a single connection to another can provide all the spark we need to reignite our sense of humanity. |
 |
SCRAP After getting fired, young single-mom Beth finds herself living in her car and struggles to hide her homelessness from her estranged brother Ben. |
 |
SEASON OF SACRIFICE A woman is interviewed for a license to bear a child. |
 |
SENSORY An autistic girl terrified of ordinary sounds attempts to overcome her fears of the world outside her bedroom. |
 |
THE BUDDY SYSTEM A woman’s life is turned upside down and inside out when her personal organisation droid takes control over every aspect of her work and personal relationships. |
 |
THE FAR ACRE Tragedy brings a son home to the forsaken Irish farm where he was born but something terrifying from the folkloric past awaits him in a place his family has feared for generations – a blighted patch of earth they call The Far Acre. |
 |
THE LAST LIBRARIAN IN RAQQA In war-torn Syria, an old man is forced to choose between preserving his secret library–the last piece of his hometown untouched by violence–or saving his neighbors from ISIS’s terror. |
 |
THE SAFE SPACE Two best friends create a “safe space” for women that develops a fixation with maintaining loyalty and punishing traitors – by whatever means necessary. |
 |
THE SEAL When a struggling South Asian woman is sent a package, she and her drug dealer are forced to deal with the contents and the baggage of memories she has been running away from her entire life. |
 |
THEY WILL BE MONSTERS Separated at birth from his dead conjoined sister but with her heart still beating beside his own, Billy Weaver is forced to grow up as a girl. But when his deranged mother refuses to accept him as a boy, Billy sets about a murderous plan to embody his sister’s heart and regain his identity. |
 |
TRESPASSERS A woman tortured by a relentless interrogator finds out that she and her captor aren’t so different. |
 |
WA-WA A 5-year-old girl attempts to overcome feelings of inadequacy and isolation at a boarding school for overworked parents. |
 |
WEDDING DAY For Brad and Jill, it seems that the honeymoon is over before it even began. When an eccentric stranger named Jess White stumbles into the middle of the couple’s first argument as man and wife, the day takes an abrupt turn and changes their lives forever. |
 |
WET ROT Kit wonders why Dad is spending so much time in the basement, cleaning up the mildew growing there…. |
OUR WINNER(S) WILL BE ANNOUNCED 6TH JUNE
Why Enter?
The produced Short Film(s) will be sent to all 36 OSCAR, BAFTA, EMMY & GOLDEN GLOBE winning Judges. Between $9-15K Production Budget to make your Short Film + THOUSANDS of dollars worth of free equipment rental from ARRI. The produced Short Film(s) will be sent to our complete roster of 80 production companies, agents and managers. You will be able to view your script score. This will be released once we announce our Quarter-Finalists. Our first year Short Film Fund winner is premiering her film at 2018’s Tribeca Film Festival. We have also helped 40+ writers gain representation, option, sell, and even have their screenplays produced. We’ve partnered with Coverfly to handle all submissions. As well as our judges and roster, you have the choice to make your script available to hundreds more industry professionals on their platform for no additional fee. This is entirely optional – you can be as private or public as you like.
JUDGES
PRIZES
INDUSTRY ROSTER
SCRIPT SCORE
SUCCESS STORIES
DISCOVERY PLATFORM
Voted one of 2018’s Best Screenplay Contests by Moviebytes
Prizes
FAQ’s
Short Film Fund
Yes.
If your script meets the Rules for both, then you will save $22 (£16) if you enter into both categories. This is a fixed-priced saving throughout the deadlines.
To do this, click on either the Short or Short Film Fund submission page. There you will see a dropdown box that allows you to submit your script to both categories. The price and discount will then automatically be updated.
The best Short Category screenplays are sent out to our roster of production companies, agents and managers. It doesn’t matter if it’s unfeasible to make your script for the allocated Short Film Fund budget, you can still be a winner and get noticed in the industry. Our submission dates run from 1st March – 31st Aug
The Short Film Fund is suited for screenplays that can realistically be made for the minimum grant awarded. Our Short Film Fund submission dates run from 15th Jan – 2nd May
Some scripts will be suited for both. There’s a discount if you enter both categories.
Our FINALISTS will be announced – 26th May 2018
The WINNER(s) and film budget will be announced – 6th June 2018
Absolutely.
The Short Film Fund was setup in order to further support writers with helping to build up their body of work. This could be as solely a writer or potentially writer/director.
One of 2013’s Shore Scripts Short Winner, Ben Cleary, won a Best Live Short Oscar for his film, Stutterer. We know there are many talented writer/directors out there, so we’re completely open to this.
However, we would want to chat with the writer and see their previous work before making a final decision.
You can enter as many competitions as you like.
Yes.
Yes. Anyone can enter from anywhere in the world. However, the script must be in English.
Yes – as long as it wasn’t one of our feature or short winners.
Only if you own the copyright, or the rights are in the public domain.
Yes. You can submit as many scripts as you wish. You will just need to go through the same process that you did with the first.
Absolutely.
Navigate to your chosen Contest page. You will then see ‘Submit Your Script’ buttons. Clicking on your chosen one will direct you to Coverfly, our submission platform. You will be sent an email confirmation once we have received your script and submission fee.
Once your script has been submitted, we will log it on our system and send you a confirmation email to let you know we’ve received it.
Each script is read twice: once by one of our industry script readers, and then by one of our internal staff members. Feedback is collated and discussed as we decide on which scripts are to progress to the next round.
All applicants will be informed via email of the Quarter, Semi, Finalists and Winners. These will also be on our website.
You will receive an email from us once you have completed your submission. Your will also receive a receipt from Stripe or Paypal. Once the competition has closed, we will email everyone who has entered with all the announcement dates. We will keep informed throughout the year. It’s also worth signing up to our Mailing List.
It doesn’t need to be. But if you feel more comfortable doing so, you can do it here.
All payments are made through our submission platform, Coverfly. They work with Stripe, who handle millions of customers worldwide each day, so your details are completely secure. All major Credit Cards are accepted.
Please include the Script Title, Your Name & Email on the title page.
$9000 is the minimum grant amount that Shore Scripts will award to our overall winner. The max is $15,000. The final total will be determined once we review our chosen winner, and discuss the project with our sponsors.
We accept PDF.
Great news! However, you will no longer be eligible for the competition or be entitled to get your entry fee refunded.
You don’t have to. If your script wins, we will attach the right director and producer. You will of course be heavily involved in this decision, and every other decision made in the filmmaking process.
It can be about anything! It’s all about the quality of the writing. Some of the things we take into account when reviewing a screenplay are: premise, structure, characterization, dialogue, tone and originality.
The Shore Scripts Team will be solely responsible for choosing the winning script that will go into production.
Because the competition is all about helping upcoming screenwriters break in and establish themselves in the industry.
Previous prizes won in other screenwriting competitions do not count towards this total.
Rules
* Scripts must be within 2-35 pages
* You are free to set your script anywhere in the world.
* Writers from all countries are welcome to enter. All scripts must be written in English.
* We accept Short Scripts, Animations, Web Series, and Proof of Concept Shorts.
* All ages can enter.
* All genres welcome.
* You may submit as many scripts as you wish.
* All screenplays submitted must be the writers original work, or they own the copyright.
* Shore Scripts and the filmmaking team will share equal responsibility for sending the film to festivals.
* If a writing team enters, then all the writers must consent.
* The Filmmaking Team will have the final call on cast, crew and edit.
* You may enter the same screenplay into both the Short Contest and Short Film Fund if it fits between both category page counts. There will be a discount for entering both contests.
* To help the environment, Shore Scripts only accepts electronic entries.
* Each writer, or writing team, may not have earned more than $30,000 (£24,000 approx) in screenwriting fees since 2010. Screenwriting cash awards do not count toward this total.
* Shore Scripts staff and associates are unable to enter this fund.
* You may enter a newer draft of an already submitted script. There will be a small fee involved. You may re-enter you script through the Resubmission page.
* Scripts should be formatted at size 12 Courier.
* The script file formats we accept are: PDF (preferred) Celtx, Final Draft, MovieMagic, RTF, DOC & TXT.
* The winners consent to Shore Scripts using their name, script title, and any other relevant information for promotional purposes on their website. This will be used to inform other contestants and the media of the results. We will also be unrestricted in how and where we promote the finished film.
* If Shore Scripts helps a writer gain representation, option, sell, or have his/her screenplay produced, then we are entitled to state this on our website and on any other platforms whenever we see fit.
* The decision of Shore Scripts is final. By applying to this fund each participant agrees to hold Shore Scripts, our judges and sponsors immune from any competition disputes, claims, liabilities and expenses.
* If the writer wishes to direct his or her own script, then it will be given serious consideration. A previous portfolio of work will help in making this decision.
* Shore Scripts will be one of the production companies on the project.
* The budget will either go through Shore Scripts or be transferred to a freelance producer.
* We are open to working with filmmakers known to the winner. We will also consider co-productions and additional funding from outside sources.
* By entering Shore Scripts, you authorize us to use any trusted third-party online and cloud-based services and databases for hosting, managing and/or transmitting your submission file(s).
* There is no set shoot date.
Exposure
