SCREENPLAY COMPETITION

SCREENPLAY COMPETITION

Presented By

THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CINEMA SOCIETY

The Orange County Independent Film Fest and the Southern California Cinema Society present the annual OCIFF Screenplay Competition. The goal of this competition is to assist potential production and financial partners in finding exceptional independent screenplays.

In honoring the best original unproduced screenplays of the year with awards and prizes, the festival goal is to connect creative filmmakers with the best collaborators who will help push new and innovative cinema projects forward towards completion.

For those seeking out the best new writers to sponsor or collaborate with, we recommend attending our annual Award Ceremony to meet our Screenplay Competition Winners.

For screenplay authors interested in entering the Screenplay Competition, submitting your screenplay is the first step. See below for more information on how to submit a screenplay project through FilmFreeway.

SCREENPLAY AWARDS

GRAND PRIZE

Best Original Screenplay

1st Place Grand Prize Winner

Receives a $3,000 Grand Prize,
Award Statue & Laurel Certificate.

1st RUNNER UP

Best Original Screenplay

2nd Place Award Winner

Receives Laurel Award Certificate.

2nd RUNNER UP

Best Original Screenplay

3rd Place Award Winner

Receives Laurel Award Certificate.

3rd RUNNER UP

Best Original Screenplay

4th Place Award Winner

Receives Laurel Award Certificate.

Best Teleplay

Best Original Teleplay

1st Place Award Winner

Receives Laurel Award Certificate.

SCREENPLAY SUBMISSIONS

The Orange County Independent Film Festival Screenplay Competition utilizes a selective, multi-round judging process. Scripts are read and scored by multiple experienced readers, with the highest-rated submissions advancing.

Semi-Finalists are reviewed and voted on by the Southern California Cinema Society’s official membership jury, and Finalists are judged by the festival Programming Board and Official Festival Jury with all final decisions made by the Festival Director and the Directors of Programming.

Screenplay authors are encouraged to submit to the Unpublished Screenplay Contest – featuring a $3,000.00 Grand Prize.
Submit using the FilmFreeway link below, or check out the official festival submission page for more information.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS & ELIGIBILITY

For more information about Submission Requirements, Eligibility, and Judging Notifications check out the F.A.Q. below to find answers to the most frequently asked questions. How To Submit

The Orange County Independent Film Festival is open to everyone. All attendees are required to have a purchased ticket or pass available on them in order to enter film screenings and attend festival events.

Must be 18 years-of-age-or-older to submit.
Contest open to submissions of all styles and genres.  Only unproduced original screenplays are accepted. Submitter must be official copyright holder. Submissions must be in English. All fees must be paid in U.S. Dollars (USD).

Tickets & Passes go on-sale around two-to- three weeks prior to the opening day.

Tickets are only available online. Official Festival Tickets will be available on the official festival website and on our social media accounts.

During festival event dates, Festival Tickets will also be available to purchase (during screening hours only) at our hospitality Box Office. Festival tickets are generally only sold directly by the festival’s ticketing service and not by any third party seller.

Bring a credit or debit card as some festival venues do not allow outside event cash sales at the door, as per insurance policy regulations.

All venue-related passes, subscriptions, etc are not applicable towards any Orange County Independent Film Festival screenings or events.

It is recommended to purchase tickets online and in advance, as festival screenings and events may (and often do) sell out.

In person ticket sales may not be available at all festival venues. Whenever possible the festival offers on-site credit card sales (during festival hours of operation.) However on-site ticketing availability is dependent on venue policies making availability of on-site ticketing unable to be guaranteed.

It is advised to arrive at least 45 minutes prior to any start time listed on your festival ticket.

Most guests will need to find parking, and all guests must check-in at our hospitality Box Office in order to gain entry to festival screenings and events.

Many festival screenings will start promptly at the exact time listed on the ticket. Due to the festival policy of scheduling the least number of trailers and advertisements – some screenings end up starting promptly at the time listed on the ticket. While not always the case, it is best to assume a prompt start time when attending any festival screening – to be sure not to miss a thing.

To find parking, arrive at the theater, get drinks and concessions, socialize with fellow attendees, and also be seated promptly by the time listed on your ticket – it is highly recommended to plan to arrive at our festival venues at least 45min prior to the listed screening start time.

For those arriving for early screenings in the mornings or early afternoons – note that If you are arriving for the first screening of the day (early matinees) the festival check-in box office area may not open until 30 minutes before the first listed screening start time for each day.

Minors can attend most events with an accompanying parent or legal guardian, as long as they do not disturb other festival attendees. Not all screenings or events at the festival will be suitable for minors – any such limited access screenings should be noted as such in our annual festival program & screening guide, as well as on the ticket’s description page.

It is recommended to purchase tickets online in advance as soon as they go on sale. As festival screenings and events are known to sell out.

When possible the festival does try to offer additional screenings or move events to larger venues to release more tickets in the event of sell outs – but this is not always possible, so do try to get your tickets early to films and events you must see.

Certain sold out screenings and events may have a Stand By or Rush Lines. These would be located at the festival box office. When a screening or event does sell out – you may inquire about Rush Tickets or an in-person Stand By line at the festival box office.

Additional screenings or encore events for sold out screenings will be announced online. Rush Ticket releases and event Stand By Lines are only available at the festival Box Office Hospitality Check-In desk one hour prior to the screening or event start time. Note that Rush Tickets and/or Stand By Lines may not be available for every sold out screening or event.

Many filmmakers are in attendance at our festival film screenings and events. With a large percentage of our filmmakers attending the festival and their film screenings.However, due to time constraints and guest availability we cannot guarantee that filmmakers will be available to meet with guests after every film screening. Filmmaker appearances are dependent on each filmmaker’s schedule and availability.

If you see a filmmaker at their screening or in the halls of our festival venues – it is acceptable to approach them as well as any festival guest – after all networking and fan engagement are all part of the fun – but please always be polite, respect that people may be busy and not able to interact at every part of their time at the festival. Please use common sense and respectful manners when approaching all guests and attendees.

For industry professionals, in the event you would like to contact a filmmaker – you may contact the festival for such requests.

Many film screenings will have filmmaker lectures or Q&A sessions after the film ends. However, due to time constraints, guest availability, and crowd size issues; Q&As / Lectures / Discussions will not be available after all festival film screenings.

Event scheduling is held at the discretion of festival and venue event agreements, and all scheduling of both screenings and events may be subject to change without notice at the discretion of the festival.

Celebrities certainly do attend festival screenings and events. Often a number of celebrity guests prefer to show up unannounced at festival screenings and events. Note that due to scheduling and work conflicts even announced celebrity festival guest attendance can never be guaranteed.

All tickets and sales are final with no refunds.

Refunds are not available for any tickets or passes sold for festival screenings, festival award ceremonies, or other festival events, nor for any festival party, meet and greet event, and/or other events held in collaboration with the festival.

The festival cannot offer refunds for late arrival, missed screenings or event events, illnesses, and/or changed plans, nor are refunds offered if the event of expulsion from any of our partner venues.