Calling all screenwriters and filmmakers 18 years of age and older who are current or past Peace Region residents! Announcing SCaMP, the Screenplay Competition and Mentorship Program! Write a script, rewrite it, make a movie. This opportunity is made possible with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Submit your short screenplay (maximum 15 pages) in standard screenplay format by 7:00 pm on Sunday, August 17, 2014 and you could be one of 12 writers chosen on the basis of writing ability and story potential to receive professional mentorship and feedback from award-winning filmmaker Scott Belyea.

Mentored writers will receive feedback from Scott in an email or Skype meeting and could receive follow-up feedback if a revised script is sent to Scott with sufficient time remaining before the final submission deadline of 7:00 pm on Sunday, September 21. By that deadline, writers must have submitted their revised and polished screenplays (maximum 15 pages) to terry@reelshorts.ca for a chance to win a $500 cash prize for writing the script and a $2,000 production package to make the film. Because the intent is to develop a script that can be made in the Peace Region, concept practicality will also be a determining factor. A script about aliens on the moon, no matter how brilliant, would likely not be chosen as one of the 12 screenplays to advance to the second round.

Gordie Haakstad will judge the final batch of entries and will also cast and direct a table-read of the winning screenplay at the Reel Shorts Sneak Preview at 7:00 pm on Sunday, September 28 at Grande Prairie Live Theatre. He will also mentor the director of the winning screenplay in areas of pre-production, production, and/or post-production as mutually agreed upon.

How much does it cost to enter this competition where you can receive professional mentorship and $2,500 in prizes? Thanks to support from the Canada Council for the Arts, this opportunity for current and past Peace Region residents (must be a current Canadian resident) is absolutely free. The only limitations are:

  1. geography – must currently live in the Peace Region or have lived in the Peace Region in the past, which for our purposes is defined as the northwest watershed of the Peace River encompassing an area stretching as far as Grande Cache, Fox Creek, Peace River, Fort Vermilion, High Level, Fort Nelson, Chetwynd, and Tumbler Ridge at its outer limits
  2. age – must be 18 years of age or older as of August 17, 2014
  3. number of scripts that can be submitted – one
  4. length of screenplay – maximum 15 pages including cover page

Screenplays must be a work of fiction and the writer’s original work. The judging criteria are: is it a good story and is it feasible to make as a short film using locations that can be found in the Peace Region.

The Reel Shorts Film Festival is a production of Grande Prairie Live Theatre. By awarding this prize, Grande Prairie Live Theatre does not acquire any rights to the script nor to the short film. Copyright of the script is retained by the writer. By entering this competition, the writer grants permission to Grande Prairie Live Theatre to do a table-read performance of the script on Sep 28, 2014. The $500 cheque will be presented to the writer at that time, or mailed to the writer if not in attendance. The $2,000 production prize will be awarded after approval of a production budget and submission of expenses.

A Script Repository will be set up at Grande Prairie Live Theatre that will be accessible to PRIMAA members as a service to screenwriters and filmmakers in the Peace Region. Having your script in the Script Repository is completely optional.

Submission Rules

  1. The screenplay must be the original work of the writer. Neither the Festival nor its judges investigate or attest to the authenticity of a writer’s statement of authorship or rights.
  2. The screenplay must be formatted in standard screenwriting style. Consult any popular screenwriting text for assistance, or use a screenwriting software package such as Final Draft. Font size must be 12 point and in Courier type.
  3. Pages must be numbered in the top right-hand corner.
  4. The screenplay must be a maximum of 15 pages including cover page and be submitted as a Word or PDF document by email to terry@reelshorts.ca by 7:00 pm on Sun, Aug 17, 2014.
  5. If a writer is chosen as one of the 12 to receive professional mentorship, the deadline to submit a revised script as a Word or PDF document by email to terry@reelshorts.ca is 7:00 pm on Sun, Sep 21, 2014
  6. The author’s name must only appear on the cover page but not anywhere else in the script in order to preserve anonymity in the judging process (the cover page will be removed before the judge sees the script).
  7. The SCaMP Entry Form can be downloaded as a Word document here or as a pdf document here. Please fill it out and sign it, and submit a signed copy as an attached pdf to the same email as the screenplay, or fax it to (780) 402-2783. Only the signed form can be faxed. The screenplay must be emailed.