13th Annual Search for New Blood Screenwriting Contest
A horror contest for features and pilots, run by Stage 32 for the 13th time.
closes tomorrow
Screenwriting deadlines and events in December 2026
Everything with a deadline in December 2026, or an event that runs during it. 34 of them close for entries this month.
52 listed. Early deadline Oct 21, 2026 is the soonest.
Weekly email alerts. New events and the deadlines coming up, for the kinds and places you pick.
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Trabzon Film Festivali Öğrenci Kısa Film Senaryo Yarışması: Karadeniz'i Sen Anlat! (Trabzon Film Festival Student Short Film Screenplay Competition)
University students in the eastern Black Sea area can send a short script about the region's food and nature to this contest at the second Trabzon Film Festival.
closes tomorrow
La construction de personnages et de dialogues
Quebec's screenwriters' guild runs this six-day French-language course on building fiction characters for film and TV and on what dialogue does, from function to subtext.
closes in 3 days
Short Script Lab 2026 (Online)
Writers and writer-directors with an original short screenplay can rework it here with mentors from the Doha Film Institute, online and in English.
closes in 4 days
Stage 32 8-Part Screenwriting Lab: Write your Sci-Fi or Fantasy Script in 8 Weeks
Six Saturday classes on Zoom and two private consultations take a writer with a sci-fi, fantasy or supernatural idea from logline to a revised draft.
starts in 4 days
CineStory TV Retreat & Fellowship 2027
This pilot contest leads to a five-day retreat in Idyllwild, California, in late April 2027, where the writers invited from the top rounds work one-on-one with industry mentors.
closes in 5 days
Stage 32 8-Part Screenwriting Lab: Write Your TV Animation
Evan Anglin, who co-heads the animation department at Zero Gravity Management, leads this eight-week Sunday lab on Zoom for writers with an animated series in mind.
starts in 5 days
Rewriting Your Screenplay and Crafting Your Pitch
Writers who already have a full feature draft spend eight weekly Zoom classes revising it with screenwriter Jen Harrington, on Wednesday mornings Pacific time from December into February.
closes in 7 days
Hong Kong - Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF)
Held each March alongside FILMART, this Hong Kong forum brings 25 to 30 feature projects to three days of meetings with investors and film companies, with cash and in-kind awards at stake.
closes in 10 days
Spazio Film, Concorso Nazionale Sceneggiature per Cortometraggio
A festival in Campania brings ten Italian film students under 30 to a December writing residency, where each writes a short script on a set theme and place.
closes in 11 days
Stage 32 Screenwriting Lab: Write a Comedy TV Pilot in 6 Weeks - From Concept To Completed Script (October 2026)
In this six-week lab, literary manager Spencer Robinson of Art/Work Entertainment gives notes on a comedy pilot's outline, each act and the full draft.
starts in 11 days
Screenwriting: Core Elements (Self-paced), November 2026 session
Trey Ellis teaches this nine-week introduction to feature screenwriting for writers starting from an idea or a rough first draft.
closes in 13 days
VdR-Pitching 2027
Documentary makers with a feature-length film close to shooting can pitch it at Visions du Réel in Nyon, Switzerland, in April 2027.
closes in 13 days
Robert McKee's STORY Webinar Series (2026 Fall Program)
Robert McKee's STORY seminar, given as 15 pre-recorded lectures of about 90 minutes, shown on Zoom three afternoons a week for five weeks.
starts in 14 days
Screenwriting: From Outline to First Draft of Your Screenplay (November 2026 session)
Writers who already have an outline, or a draft to rebuild, spend 15 weeks turning it into a complete feature draft of 90 to 120 pages.
closes in 20 days
BlueCat Screenplay Competition 2027
BlueCat has been running since 1998 and returns written notes on every script entered, so a writer gets feedback whether or not the script places.
closes in 21 days
Basic Course in the Art of Screenwriting (Online and Weekend)
On weekends from mid December to mid February, FTII's Centre for Open Learning teaches screenwriting online in English and Hindi, led by Hindi film writer Vikas Sharma.
closes in 24 days
Crafting Your Short Film Screenplay (December 2026 session)
Over eight self-paced weeks, writers take one short film idea to a finished script of 5 to 15 pages, with lectures by Asher Jelinsky and written notes from an advisor twice along the way.
closes in 27 days
Stowe Story Labs 2027 Narrative Labs, Writers' Retreats and Fellowships
A Vermont nonprofit runs four-day, in-person labs where screenwriters and filmmakers work on a project, with two 2027 sessions in Stowe and writers' retreats online and in Europe.
closes in 27 days
TV Writing: Core Elements (Self-paced), December 2026 session
For writers new to television, Angela LaManna's eight-week course works from a series idea to a full outline of the pilot episode.
closes in 27 days
TV Writing: From Outline to First Draft of Your Pilot
A ten-week course for taking an original TV pilot from outline to a first draft under 60 pages.
closes in 27 days
11th Annual Feature Comedy Screenwriting Contest
Comedy features only, judged by named producers and executives from companies such as Whitewater Films and Shoot to Midnight.
closes in 29 days
Online Screenwriting Course for Film & TV
Ten full days of live online teaching spread across five weekends, for at most eight students, each writing a short screenplay of their own with notes from tutors and classmates.
starts in 32 days
Financiación de cine independiente: dossier, pitch, mercados y coproducciones
Writers with a project in hand, even just a synopsis, spend two weeks in Cuba building the paperwork to finance it: a sales dossier, a pitch and a list of labs, festivals and markets to…
starts in 34 days
Lights, Action, Christmas!
Holiday TV movies are the whole subject of these four evening Zoom classes with Karen Schaler and Joany Kane, both of whom have written Christmas films for Netflix, Hallmark and Lifetime.
starts in 41 days
24th Sofia Meetings
Sofia's co-production market, held inside the Sofia International Film Festival, takes first to third fiction features and series in development, plus works in progress.
closes in 42 days
Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) 2026
Singapore hosts this TV and streaming content market in early December, pairing a sales floor with a conference and pitch sessions for projects still in development.
starts in 42 days
BBC Writers Open Call
Rather than taking scripts all year, the BBC reads unsolicited work in one annual window and uses it to find writers to develop, not projects to make.
closes in 42 days
Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition
Features are ranked in seven genres, from family to historical, and a separate shorts track has lower fees.
closes in 42 days
Whistler Film Festival Content Summit 2026
The industry side of the Whistler Film Festival runs four days in early December, with panels, masterclasses, case studies and booked one-to-one meetings with executives.
starts in 43 days
Sundance Institute Episodic Alfred P. Sloan Grant
Sundance Institute's Episodic Program gives this grant to one original half-hour or hour-long series that centers science, technology or a historical figure or event.
closes in 44 days
Green Narratives 2027 - Feature Films
This online lab helps feature writers and directors build climate and social awareness into a story while it is still a treatment.
closes in 45 days
Tan Ean Kiam Foundation-SGIFF Southeast Asian Short Film Grant (SEA-SHORTS) 2026
Singapore's festival funds six new Southeast Asian short films in this round, at SGD 10,000 each. It suits writer-directors from the region with a short film project.
closes in 46 days
Leading Lights
Newcomers to documentary get a subsidized pass to their first Australian International Documentary Conference, held in Sydney in March 2027.
closes in 47 days
Raindance Script Competition
London's Raindance festival judges unproduced scripts in four categories: feature, short, TV comedy and TV drama.
closes in 48 days
Concurso de Guion (Premio DAMA Mejor Guion), Skyline Benidorm Film Festival
Benidorm's short film festival holds a contest for unproduced short scripts written in Spanish or Valencian, with EUR 1,500 for the winner.
closes in 49 days
Hot Docs Deal Maker 2027
Deal Maker books private pitch meetings at Hot Docs for documentary and factual projects that still need money, wherever they come from.
closes in 51 days
Hot Docs Forum 2027
Documentary teams whose project is already partly financed can apply to pitch it live at Hot Docs in Toronto during the April 2027 industry conference.
closes in 51 days
IbizaCineFest Concurso de Guiones (Script Contest)
Ibiza's independent film festival runs a contest for short scripts in Spanish or English alongside its March program.
closes in 51 days
Introduction to Script Editing for Film and TV
Two days on Zoom with Jackie Thornton, a development script editor who has worked for See-Saw Films and Netflix UK, on reading a script critically and writing notes a writer can act on.
starts in 51 days
23. Akbank Kısa Film Festivali Forum Senaryo Yarışması (Akbank Short Film Forum Screenplay Competition)
Writers with a finished short-film script in Turkish can enter this contest run inside the Akbank Short Film Festival.
closes in 52 days
Schreiben im Dokumentarfilm (Von der Idee zur Drehvorlage)
Taught in German in Bern, this three-day course looks at how to write for documentary when the shoot cannot be fully planned.
closes in 54 days
2026 Pitch Contest (Fall/Winter)
Writers with an idea and no draft yet can enter here.
closes in 56 days
Jurybasierte kulturelle Treatment- und Drehbuchförderung (jury-based treatment and script funding)
Germany's federal jury funding pays authors, not producers, to develop a treatment or a feature screenplay, with up to EUR 40,000 for a script across two phases.
closes in 56 days
Talents Buenos Aires 2027 (22nd edition)
South American screenwriters and other film professionals with some festival, feature or film school experience can apply for five days of closed sessions held alongside BAFICI in April…
closes in 56 days
JEONJU Cinema Project: Next Edition (19th JEONJU Project)
Jeonju's festival invests its own money in low-budget features through the JEONJU Cinema Project, and this call looks for the next ones.
closes in 57 days
SeriesLab 2027
Writers with a producer and an early series idea spend six months here building a concept, a pilot draft and a pitch.
closes in 57 days
Yaddo Artist Residency (winter application cycle)
Yaddo, the artists' community in Saratoga Springs, New York, offers residencies with room, board and a studio, and screenwriters apply through its Film & Video category.
closes in 61 days
2027 Screenwriting Contest (25th Annual Script Pipeline Screenwriting Contest)
Now in its 25th year, this feature contest is judged only by Script Pipeline's own development staff, with no volunteer or intern readers.
closes in 71 days
2027 TV Writing Contest (20th Annual Script Pipeline TV Writing Contest)
For original pilots and unproduced indie series, this contest reaches its 20th edition in 2027 and turns away specs of shows already on air. Every round is read by Script Pipeline staff.
closes in 71 days
Documentary Films: Development Track, 2026 round (הגשת סרטי תעודה: מסלול פיתוח - מועד 2026)
Open all year, this Gesher track pays for early development of feature documentaries, animated documentaries and documentary series made by Israel-based teams.
closes in 72 days
HaSipur HaIvri (The Jewish Story): Development track, 2026 round
Writers in Israel developing a Hebrew-language film or series rooted in Jewish culture can ask for development money here at any point in the year.
closes in 72 days