The 2026 Callaia Screenplay Contest

Submit your script for a chance to win a $2,000 cash prize and put your
screenplay in front of a panel of film industry experts – at no cost to you!

See who last year's winners were and get inspired!

I want to participate!

Jury

Monika Skerbelis

Author & Programming
Director

Monika Skerbelis is the director of The American Pavilion's Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival. She is the co-author of I Liked It, Didn’t Love It: Screenplay Development from the Inside Out and currently co-writing a 2nd edition of The Complete Filmmakers Guide to Film Festivals: Your All Access Pass to Launching your Film on the Festival Circuit. She’s a former VP of Creative & Executive Story Editor for Universal Pictures’ story department. Prior to Universal, she worked for 20th Century Fox and Paramount.

Clay Epstein

Former Chairman of
Independent Film and Television Alliance
IFTA

Clay Epstein is the former elected Chairman of Independent Film and Television Alliance, and is a member of PGA, FIND, BAFTA LA, and the Australian Academy Cinema Television Arts. He is the president and owner of Film Mode Entertainment, a worldwide sales and distribution entity with a producer friendly initiative. Previously, as SVP Sales & Acquisitions at Arclight Films, Clay was instrumental in acquiring and representing high profile films such as Paul Schrader’s Dog Eat Dog. Earlier in his career, he represented prestigious titles including Academy Award winner Tsotsi.

Andrea Scarso

Managing Partner,
IPR.VC

Andrea Scarso is the Managing Partner at IPR.VC, an international media and entertainment fund manager with offices in London and Helsinki. With 15+ years of experience, he specializes in sourcing, structuring, and executing investments. Passionate about storytelling, he has executive produced over 50 films, bringing great projects to life on the big screen.

Awards & Prize

The top 10 Semi-Finalists will receive their Callaia Script Coverage+ report, including detailed feedback and go-to-market recommendations, for free.

The top 3 Finalists will also receive a free Cinelytic distribution analysis (worth $2,000) and their screenplay will be read by a panel of industry experts.

The Winner selected by the panel will win all of the above + $2,000 cash prize.

Up to 90 contestants will receive 50% off their Script Coverage+ report:
$39 instead of $79.

And no AI training on your screenplay ever

General rules

Entry requirements
  • Screenplays must be submitted by the credited writer or an authorized representative. All material submitted must be original, and all rights must be wholly owned by the contestant(s).
  • Screenplays submitted to The Callaia Screenplay Contest are accepted via electronic submission on Callaia.ai/contest only.
  • Submissions must be in PDF file format, the title and name of writer(s) indicated on the front page of the PDF file.
Submission deadline & results announcement
  • There is a maximum entry limit of one hundred (100) screenplays. The contest will close either once 100 submissions are received or on Monday, April 20th, 2026, 11:59PM Pacific Time, whichever occurs first.
  • Winner announcement will be made within two weeks of the submission deadline.
Evaluation Criteria
Submissions will be securely run through Callaia to receive an overall grade along with an industry-style rating (“recommend,” “consider” or “pass”) based on the premise, originality, dialogue, structure, logic, tone, conflict, character development, pacing, and craft of your material. The coverage report will also include:
  • A logline, synopsis, and summary, similar to those production companies will develop for your script
  • An objective and comprehensive evaluation of your story
  • Go-to-market recommendations, including budget estimates and suggested cast
Eligibility
  • All screenwriters, without regard to professional or amateur status, age, gender, race, ethnicity, country of origin, native language, political orientation, or sexual preference are eligible.
  • A screenwriting team is allowed to submit a screenplay. The team will designate one representative who will submit the project.
  • A screenplay previously submitted to other competitions is eligible.
  • There are no limitations or restrictions as to date of authorship of submitted screenplay.
  • The screenplay can be submitted in any of the following languages: English, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Kazakh, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Malayalam, Marathi, Mongolian, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese.

Terms and conditions

Rules and conditions
  • Only one (1) entry per individual or writing team will be accepted.
  • Once a screenplay has been accepted into the contest and submitted, it will immediately be analyzed, graded, and commented upon by Callaia’s Script Coverage+.
  • If a screenwriting team is chosen as a winner, prizes will be given to the contestant who submitted the project. Each team will be responsible for sharing the prize, with no direction from The Callaia Screenplay Contest administrators.
  • By entering The Callaia Screenplay Contest, you authorize Callaia to use its cloud-based service to analyze your screenplay. Your screenplay will remain confidential and will not be stored by Callaia nor used to train AI models.
  • By submitting material to the contest, the contestant gives The Callaia Screenplay Contest administrators permission to promote the competition submitted screenplay and the writer by name and/or image to third parties and in any and all media online throughout the world.
  • All grades are final as objectively defined by Callaia’s Script Coverage+ tool. No warranties are expressed or implied as to the grading or written analysis of any entry.
  • The contestant acknowledges that any and all written feedback and analysis commentary is objectively presented and intended to be guide the writer along a professional path. Grades and comments are in accordance with current professional film industry standards, and contestant agrees not to request revised written feedback; no guarantees of satisfaction on the part of the writer are expressed or implied.
  • Please bear in mind that Callaia is not a production company and it cannot guarantee that winning screenplays will be optioned, produced, or purchased.
  • Callaia reserves the right to amend contest rules at any time.
Copyright and ownership
  • All copyright, ownership and derivative rights to the material submitted to The Callaia Screenplay Contest contest remains with the original rights holders and/or author.
  • Neither Callaia, Cinelytic Inc., nor any other partner, employee or agent associated with the contest may claim any ownership in any original material submitted. All ownership and rights to the material submitted remain with the writer claiming authorship of the scripted material.
General Provisions
  • By agreeing to these Rules and Conditions you agree that you have read the rules of the contest and that you have the authorization to submit this screenplay to The Callaia Screenplay Contest. You further agree that your screenplay is owned by you (and co-author(s)).
  • Contestants submitting material to The Callaia Screenplay Contest agree to release and hold harmless Callaia, its parent and affiliated companies, and any other organizations responsible for administering, advertising or promoting your submission of material, against any and all claims, expenses, and liability, and to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Callaia and its owners and employees from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities in perpetuity.
Publicity
  • Submission of written materials establishes each writer's consent to The Callaia Screenplay Contest to the use of the names and photographs of contestants for promotional purposes.
  • The names of finalists and Grand Prize winner may be posted on Callaia’s website, newsletters and social media publications as they are written on any entry forms.
  • By entering this contest, you agree to receive email marketing messages and updates relative to this contest and any affiliated sources and providers from us. You may unsubscribe from those messages and marketing protocols at any time by emailing us at .
No warranties
  • All assessments, grades, and comments of submitted material are provided by Callaia’s Script Coverage+ based upon objective standards as they are applied to the screenplay submitted.
  • No warranties are expressed or implied as to the utility, value, or accuracy of statements written by Callaia’s Script Coverage+ with regard to material submitted to us by contestants.
  • Comments provided by Callaia’s Script Coverage+ do not reflect the opinions of management; management assumes no responsibility for the academic, creative, professional, economic, or emotional impact or consequences of the opinions provided.
  • Material submitted to the competition is solely at the risk of the individual registering, entering, or offering written material for grading, analysis, judgment, or commentary.

or to get started!