5th Annual Feature Drama Screenwriting Contest

The Biggest Feature Screenplay Contest in the World is Back!

Ever dreamt of seeing your feature film script come to life on the big screen or streaming on TVs in living rooms across the country? This is your chance to turn that dream into reality! Our Grand Prize Winner will be flown to LA to meet industry professionals who’ve worked on iconic hits like MONKEY MAN, FIRST REFORMED, BEAU IS AFRAID, BLONDE, VOX LUX, INFINITE, HER SMELL, UNPREGNANT, the JOHN WICK series, and many more!

But that’s not all! Every finalist’s logline will be featured in a Stage 32 Look Book sent to over 500 top entertainment industry executives, giving your work unparalleled exposure.

Open to Feature Film Scripts!

Drama is the basis of every story that endures throughout entertainment. From the world-altering tension of OPPENHEIMER to the relentless turmoil of KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and the emotional depth of THE HOLDOVERS, audiences can’t get enough. This year alone, films like CHALLENGERS and IT ENDS WITH US have crushed it at the box office. The appetite for scintillating drama is insatiable, and we want your story to be the next smash hit!

We’re on the lookout for all types of feature drama scripts! Classic family melodrama? Atmospheric psychological mind-bender? Passionate period piece? Genre-twisting Legal, War, Musical, Sports, Fantasy or Sci-Fi? The next legendary biopic? We want to see it all!

Let our 3rd Annual Feature Drama Winner Kelly Nugent tell you why you should enter!

Stage 32 Contest Winners Have Gone on to Work With:

Important Dates to Be Aware Of

Super Early Bird Deadline: September 12, 2024

Early Bird Deadline: October 2nd, 2024

Regular Deadline: October 23rd, 2024

Final Deadline: November 13th, 2024

Quarterfinalist Announcement: January 17th, 2025

Semifinalist Announcement: January 31st, 2025

Finalist Announcement: February 14th, 2025

Winner Announcement: February 28th, 2025

If you have any questions regarding this contest, check out frequently asked questions here.

Our Feature Screenwriting Contest Winners See Results

Stage 32 has launched the careers of hundreds of writers over the last 12 years. Stage 32 has quickly emerged as the leading source for industry executives to uncover new talent! Is this your year to move the needle on your career?

Our 4th Annual Feature Drama winner, Laura Preble gained massive traction on her winning script ANNA INCOGNITO, as she took a full slate of meetings in LA with Literary Managers, Development Execs, and Producers from Imagine Talent, IPG Literary Management, Empirical Evidence, Perfect Storm Entertainment and more! -- all actively working on and looking for features.

Our 3rd Annual Feature Drama winner Kelly Nugent signed with a manager at Wonder Street Entertainment after winning with her script THE OTHER MOTHER CRIED!

Our 6th Annual Feature Screenwriting winner, Jeff Galante signed with a manager at Primary Wave, and he is currently working on a slate of feature films with producers. Jeff's gone on to create/produce TV pilots for NBC and A&E and has consulted on projects for Ron Howard, Chris Moore, and Warner Bros animation.

Our 5th Annual Feature Screenwriting winner, Eric Jeske signed with a manager at Heroes & Villans Entertainment.

Still don't believe us? Previous contest winner Diana Wright was signed to The Cartel and Abrams Artists Agency! Check out her video here:

More Contest Winners would love to tell you why you should enter!

Previous winner, Christina Pamies, was signed by "Billion Dollar" Literary Manager, Jake Wagner. After that, he got her a paid gig with StudioCanal adapting the recently released film BAGHEAD, which was co-produced by The Picture Company and released via AMC+ Networks!

VIEW THE BAGHEAD (2024) TRAILER HERE! AVAILABLE NOW ON SHUDDER!

Winner Jonathan Jordan was signed by major literary agency Verve, and worked on a script currently in production through them. He has also signed with a manager and is currently working on a new film.

Winner Greg Mania was signed by Cohn/Torgan Management, and has since published a memoir called Born To Be Public, which was named NPR’s Best Book of 2020.

Previous Contest Winner Layla O'Shea took meetings all over Los Angeles (and online) with Literary Managers, Producers, and Execs and is still going strong!

She shares her advice: "There is no one path or age limit when it comes to breaking in!"

Click the "Success Stories" link here for even more testimonials from our past winners!

Adam Gerhleter (Judge) - Creative Executive and Producer, 507 Collective

Adam Gheleter is a Creative Executive and Producer at 507 Collective, a distinguished film production company known for its focus on independent and diverse storytelling. Films in the 507 Collective include ONE TRUE LOVES for Apple, SAM & KATE with Vertical Entertainment, DEVIL'S PEAK(starring Billy Bob Thorton, Robin Wright, and Jackie Earle Haley), BLOOD FOR DUST (starring Scoot McNairy and Kit Harington), AMBUSH starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and STOWAWAY (starring Ruby Rose, Frank Grillo, and Patrick Schwarzenegger) and many more.

Recently 507 Collective worked in conjunction with several producing partners on 57 SECONDS starring Morgan Freeman and Josh Hutcherson and the Action-Thriller feature film MUZZLE directed by John Stalberg and starred Aaron Eckhart that sold to RLJE and was announced in Variety.

As a longtime development producer at 507 Collective, Adam oversees script development and project packaging. He has developed a keen eye for identifying top writing talent, developing projects and getting them to the screen.

Joel Gotler (Judge) - CEO & Literary Manager, Intellectual Property Group Literary Management

Joel Gotler is the CEO of Intellectual Property Group, a literary management company representing some of the world’s best-selling authors and writers. He is responsible for selling the underlying book rights to hundreds of films, including INDECENT PROPOSAL and CHOCOLAT. Joel also works as a producer, with credits like THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, FERDINAND, MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS, and the documentary SID & JUDY. 

Maddy Weese (Judge) - Junior Literary Manager, Bellevue Productions

Maddy Weese is a Junior Literary Manager at Bellevue Productions. Prior to literary representation, she worked as a Creative Executive at Beacon Pictures overseeing development of both film and television. She has worked as an independent producer and has been a writers' assistant and script consultant on many projects. She got her start in the industry working on the original TV series CSI: LAS VEGAS and also worked as a writer for two of the CSI Video Games. She was raised in Southern California and she attended Loyola Marymount University.

 

Bethany Cerrona (Judge) - Producer/Development, Jay Silverman Productions

Bethany Cerrona is the Producer at Jay Silverman Productions, the film and TV production company headed by industry veteran Jay Silverman. The company has just completed post-production on their latest inspirational feature film, CAMERA starring Beau Bridges, Jessica Parker Kennedy & Bruce Davison.

Other films include the inspiring drama SAVING PARADISE, available on Tubi, and the romantic comedy OFF THE MENU which premiered at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, and was released by Sony, HBO, and is currently available on Amazon and Tubi. The company’s first feature film drama GIRL ON THE EDGE, was released to huge critical success, including 13 Festival Award wins. Picked up by Showtime, the script was penned by Joey Curtis (BLUE VALENTINE) and stars Peter Coyote, Taylor Spreitler, Gil Bellows, and Makenzie Phillips. On the TV side, Silverman worked on A&E’s “THE CLEANER” as Co-Executive Producer and creator.

On the heels of these amazing productions, Jay Silverman Productions is looking for its next feature to develop. Silverman gravitates toward character-driven and inspirational material, including stories of unlikely heroes, small-town secrets, and characters that showcase the best of humanity, with themes of acceptance, love, and hope.

 

Catalina Ramirez (Judge) - Co-Head of Propagate International, Propagate Content

Catalina Ramirez is the Co-Head of Propagate International at Propagate Content, one of the world’s fastest-growing independent content creation companies, Propagate’s portfolio includes projects with Apple, Valhalla Entertainment. At Propogate, her duties include managing, resourcing, and producing different projects from the early stages of conception and development to sales and exhibition. Catalina also co-leads the distribution, partnerships and co-productions of Propagate's catalogue including the successful format JANE THE VIRGIN, LA FIRMA, MASKED SINGER, CRIME SCENE KITCHEN, and NEXT LEVEL CHEF along with the HBO documentary LFG.

Catalina produced the Emmy Award-winning documentary IN HER HANDS with Senator Hillary Clinton which was sold to Netflix as well as the upcoming TV series 90 MINUTES which was sold to NBCUniversal.

She was previously at Gunpowder and Sky where she led the international team and helped shape the content strategy for titles such as the SXSW documentary EVERYBODY'S EVERYTHING and the punk tale HER SMELL starring Elisabeth Moss. Prior to that, she worked at Magnolia Pictures where she handled sales and foreign festivals for films including the Oscar-nominated RBG and LUCKY starring Harry Dean Stanton.

Alex Pelham (Judge) - Literary and Talent Manager, 831 Entertainment

Alex Pelham is a Literary and Talent Manager at 831 Entertainment which is involved in the highly anticipated upcoming BUMBLE biopic starring Lily James, VAMPIRES OF THE VELVET LOUNGE starring Mena Suvari and FINEST KIND starring Scotty Tovar). He represents a diverse group of writers, directors, and actors between the US and Canada. His literary clients have staffed on Stephen Colbert's TOONING OUT THE NEWS on Paramount+ and SOFT FOCUS WITH JENNA FRIEDMAN on Adult Swim, while his talent clients have appeared in Amazon Prime's WITH LOVE, NBC's YOUNG ROCK, and CW's WALKER.

Alex started his career at Cross Creek Pictures and Ghost House Pictures and he previously worked with the Austin Film Society.

 

Alex has a strong grip on what makes a great story and loves working with writers. He's looking to find fresh new voices he can represent in film and television.

Sydney Foos (Judge) - Creative Executive/Producer, Works with Amazon, AMC, Peacock, Kevin Hart's Hartbeat

Sydney Foos develops and produces projects for film, TV and podcasts and has developed projects with Amazon, AMC, Peacock, Kevin Hart's Hartbeat, and many more notable production companies.

Sydney served as the Vice President of Development at Jay Ellis and Aaron Bergman’s Black Bar Mitzvah where she brought in multiple projects, both original ideas and based IP. She set up and sold half-hour and one-hour television pitches, features and podcasts, acquired financing for various projects, widening Black Bar Mitzvah’s presence in the marketplaces and managed the development slate of 40+ projects across film, TV and podcasts, including packaging, filling open assignments, preparing pitch materials and script drafts.

She oversaw a slate of various projects including ALL THE SINGLE LADIES (OWN), SUE BIRD: IN THE CLUTCH, which was acquired by Wolfe Releasing, the largest exclusive distributor of LGBTQ+ films, following its buzzy Sundance debut.

She previously worked as a Creative Executive at Killer Films (MAY DECEMBER), where she Executive Produced the Gotham Award nominated limited docu-series PRIDE for FX. She also contributed to projects with a wide range of independent filmmakers across all genres and budgets, such as Paul Schrader’s FIRST REFORMED, Brady Corbet’s VOX LUX, Wash Westmoreland’s COLETTE, Todd Haynes’ DARK WATERS, and Josephine Decker’s SHIRLEY.

Sydney loves meeting and developing new writers with unique, fresh ideas!

Danny DiMaso (Judge) - Creative Executive, Thunder Road Films

Danny DiMaso is a Creative Executive at Thunder Road Films (JOHN WICK franchise, SICARIO, THE TOWN, WIND RIVER, and more) which recently released films such as MONKEY MAN, SILENT NIGHT, KANDAHAR, and JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4, along with the upcoming sequel to GREENLAND, the John Wick spinoff film BALLERINA, and RELAY among others.

Thunder Road is run by Basil Iwanyk and has grossed over $3.8 Billion at the box office worldwide. They have been nominated for the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Producers Guild Awards, Writers Guild Awards, Directors Guild Awards and the AFI Awards. They are known for supporting the directorial debuts of Taylor Sheridan, Halle Berry and Dev Patel.

Prior to this, he worked at YMH Studios developing film, TV, and podcast projects and held positions at Proxima Media and the short-form video company Triller where he developed and produced original content for the app and their PPV endeavors. He began his career in entertainment in the mailroom at A3 Artists Agency in Los Angeles.

Danny loves finding and working with new writers to develop unique scripts with universal appeal.

David Romero (Judge) - Literary Agent, CAA

David Romero is a literary agent featured in Deadline representing high-profile clients who have worked on films and TV shows such as HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, FAST AND FURIOUS 6, MORTAL KOMBAT, Amazon's JUBILEE, and more critically acclaimed showrunners, writers, directors, and producers, providing unmatched expertise and tactical advice.

For nearly a decade he's been a TV Literary/Scripted Agent at powerhouse agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). He began his career at The Shuman Company in management and producing before joining CAA's Scripted Television department, where he assisted Bruce Vinokour and Michael Gordon, as well as working as a Scripted TV Coordinator.

David is open to finding to writers with great materials.

Eben Davidson (Judge) - Executive Producer, Empress Films

Eben Davidson is a producer and studio executive with a career spanning over two decades in the entertainment industry. Eben serves as Executive Producer at Empress Films and 308C Productions, Davidson has played pivotal roles in shaping numerous successful projects such as the Oscar-nominated film ARRIVAL and the TRANSFORMERS franchise.

With previous positions including Head of Scripted Entertainment at Invisible Narratives and Executive Vice President of Scripted Programming at Blumhouse Television, Davidson's expertise encompasses both creative development and strategic oversight. With a strong foundation built during fourteen years at Paramount Pictures, where Davidson held various senior roles, including Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Production, his track record speaks volumes about his commitment to quality storytelling and effective production management.

As a feature film executive, Davidson supervised projects grossing over $1 Billion and earning 18 Academy Award nominations. Some notable films that Eben oversaw and brought into the company are ARRIVAL, FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS, TOP FIVE, ANOMALISA, EVERYBODY WANTS SOME, JACKASS PRESENTS: BAD GRANDPA, JACKASS 3D, JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVER SAY NEVER, KATY PERRY: PART OF ME, and FOOTLOOSE.

Luca Borghese (Judge) - Producer, AGX Films

Luca Borghese is one of the most prolific producers working today. His producing credits include LOVE ME (Sam and Andy Zuchero), THE PERSIAN VERSION (Maryam Keshavarz), DIANE (Kent Jones), MONSTERS AND MEN (Reinaldo Marcus Green), MINYAN (Eric Steel), GOLDIE (Sam de Jong), QUITTERS (Noah Pritzker), TEN THOUSAND SAINTS (Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman), and GABRIEL (Lou Howe).

He is a partner in AgX alongside Ben Howe. Luca’s films have screened at major festivals worldwide including Sundance, the Berlinale, SXSW, Directors’ Fortnight, Locarno and Tribeca. They have been distributed theatrically both internationally and domestically by Neon, Sony Pictures Classics, IFC Films, Oscilloscope Laboratories, and Strand Releasing, amongst others.

Other work includes co-producing NYAD (Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin), BEAU IS AFRAID (Ari Aster), SPACEMAN (Johan Renck), MR HOLMES (Bill Condon), TIME OUT OF MIND (Oren Moverman), NORMAN (Joseph Cedar), RAMPART (Oren Moverman) and supervising post production on OKJA (Bong Joon-Ho) LOST CITY OF Z (James Gray), TRIPLE NINE (John Hillcoat), YOUNG ADULT (Jason Reitman), THE BEAVER (Jodie Foster), THE MESSENGER (Oren Moverman), and ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL (Sasha Gervasi).

Upcoming projects include Kent Jones’ MY SHIP, Nicholas Ma’s MABEL (starring Judy Greer and Christine Ko) and Stephen Cone’s LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CONNOR BELL.

 

ENTRANT TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Void where prohibited by law.

This Stage 32 Contest is an international contest. Must be 18 years or older to submit.

Entrant agrees to Stage32.com terms and conditions.

This Stage 32 Contest is not a game of chance. All material is read and reviewed by industry professionals.

All quarterfinalists, semi-finalists, finalists and winners are subjectively determined by our judges.

There is no limit to the number of screenplays an Entrant can enter. The same screenplay cannot be submitted multiple times under different names. If so, you will be disqualified.

Entrant must not be an immediate family member or friend of any of the judges or their respective companies.

Entrant acknowledges that because of the judges' and mentors' position in the entertainment industry they receive numerous submissions of ideas, formats, stories, suggestions and the like and that many such submissions heretofore or hereafter received by them are similar to or identical to those developed by them or their employees or, if an agent, are otherwise available to them.

Entrant acknowledges that they will not be entitled to any compensation because of the use by judges or mentors of any such similar material.

Entrant acknowledges that no fiduciary or confidential relationship now exists between Entrant and judges or mentors, and Entrant further acknowledges that no such relationships are established between Entrant and judges or mentors by reason of this contest entry.

Entrants must submit screenplays and payment online.

Entrants must upload their submission within 72 hours of entry purchase.

Entry fees will not be returned or adjusted.

No waivers are available for this contest.

SCREENPLAY TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Screenplays should be written in English and in standard industry format.

The rights to the Entrant’s screenplay should not have been previously optioned or sold.

The Entrant retains the rights to his or her screenplay at all times.

Entrant’s screenplay must not have been produced.

The screenplay can be submitted with or without a title page and/or contact information.

After a screenplay is entered, no new drafts or corrected pages can be made by the Entrant unless it is confirmed in our records that the Entrant has paid for the "Resubmission" option.

Screenplay must be submitted as a PDF document.

Screenplay must be the original work of the Entrant and may not be based whole or in part on any fictional or non-fictional material, published or unpublished, produced or unproduced for which the Entrant does not have rights. Neither Stage 32 nor its judges investigates or attests to the authenticity of an applicant’s statement of authorship or rights secured. By entering the competition, you are acknowledging that you have secured all necessary rights.

Using our new Feedback & Resubmission Option you will get 3-5 pages of coverage/notes back in 5-days with a guaranteed option to resubmit one (1) revised draft of your script up to 10 days after the Final Deadline! See what elements of your script are working and what still needs to be developed. You can position yourself for the best chance of success - all for an additional fee of only $99.

This option is good for a one-time use and is non-refundable/non-transferable if you do not enter an updated draft. Updated drafts will need to be sent to contests@stage32.com to be scored.