The 5th American Gem Short Screenplay Competition Homepage

FilmMakers.com

2006 CONTEST | RULES | ENTRY FORM AWARDS | WINNERS 05 | TESTIMONIALS | PRESS  
   
|  2006 Contest | Winners 2005 Winners 2004 | Interviews Loglines |

FilmMakers Magazine / Write Brothers
proudly present

The 5th American Gem
Short Screenplay Competition

 

WINNING SCRIPT PRODUCED!

TOP 5 GET TO  PITCH THEIR WINNING SCRIPT TO HOLLYWOOD PRODUCERS, DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVES AND AGENTS.**

CASH PRIZES

  • 1ST PLACE: $1000
  • 2ND PLACE: $500
  • 3RD PLACE: $250
  • 4TH PLACE: $150
  • 5TH PLACE: $100

TOP THREE WINNERS WILL WIN FREE SCREENPLAY WRITING SOFTWARE FROM WRITE BROTHERS.

Top 10 will win: A FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TO SCRIPT MAGAZINE

TOP 25 WILL EACH RECEIVE A CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

 

Latest Contest News

 

“We at Write Brothers are extremely happy to be partnered with American Gem in their quest to find the American Gem Short Script.”

                                --Chris Huntley, Vice President—Write Brothers

 

2004 SEMIFINALIST GETS OPTIONED.

THE CONSORT by Patricia Harris Seeley, a 2004 semifinalist in the American Gem Short Screenplay Competition, gets optioned and production is due to commence in March of 2005. Patricia Harris Seeley says "Entering your short screenplay competition has been wonderful, and being a semifinalist has been great for my CV. Thank you SO much and hopefully I'll have ackick-butt sci-fi ready to enter the film festivals that you'll recognize.  Hopefully, this script will be my calling card for features!....  a producer already picked up my script and funding has started to come in. I should be directing it in March... Thanks so much! It was wonderful to be recognized, I'm sure it's helped with raising the funding and production of the script!"

 

DONOR BY BENEDICT R. GORMAN-FANCY GETS OPTIONED

Benedict R Gorman-Fancy, American Gem 2003 Fifth Place Screenwriting Competition Winner, for his script DONOR was optioned by Heaven's Gate Films. Benedict R Gorman-Fancy says "My 5th place in the American Gem this year has gotten me a lot of script requests which I am extremely happy about. Hopefully something good will come from one of those requests... I read that you were promoting the winning scripts as part of your ongoing result promotion and was intrigued to learn more about your efforts... I have optioned the script 'Donor' to Heaven's Gate Films of Northern Ireland....  another direct achievement leading on from your competition! The 5th place result definitely helped the script land into the right hands!!!”

 

Testimonials

I want to say that we have been in initial contact with Fox regarding Frijolito, Go! and would like to thank you very much for opening that door. 

Tony Mosher and Mitch Larson

 

American Gem’s intentions are genuine. Few contests honor the short script form the way they do. They don’t present themselves as a “fly-by-night” kind of organization by any means. And to have the chance to compete and have your short produced is too good to pass up.

Angie M. Comer

 

I really wanted to thank you again for hosting such an unbelievable contest. This has to be one of the best out there. I know a lot of screenplay contest winners that I have met from around the country and your prizes blow everyone else away... I enjoyed the Expo and met a Manager with Arpil Entertainment that I hope will offer to represent me soon. He's currently reading my stuff.

Ron Bramhall

 

...when a contest offers a chance for your story to be produced, or to meet with producers and/or agents, it’s a great opportunity for an aspiring writer!

I wanted to start entering some of my work into feature screenplay contests and started looking around the web. During my search I came upon information on The American Gem Short Screenplay Competition which had received good reviews at moviebytes.com, and which offered impressive awards to its winners. I never considered entering a short script contest before that.

Bruce Smolen

 

I think contests like this one are a great way for writers to get their work evaluated while they are still in the process of honing their craft and clarifying their voice. It's exciting to enter a contest, but it doesn't feel like so much of a gamble that ordinary writers can't apply... I honestly never expected to make it anywhere near this far along in the contest. I'm very thrilled.

Hannah Sanderson

 

I entered American Gem primarily because of the testimonials on the web-site. It's important to hear what others say, and there are numerous positive statements about the competition and it's affect on careers. Secondly, the prize range in the American Gem competition is one of the best. It has real depth by offering numerous prize levels. Many contests offer a large first place prize then nothing after that. There are some that don't even offer honorable mentions or semi-finalist levels. These things are important as boosts to the soul when one is slugging it out through another 10 page day.

Marc Calderwood

 

With this being my first experience with any script competitions, I wanted to send my screenplay into one that I could trust. With FOX's name attached to it, there was a great sense of reliability. Also, reading some of the great things that people had to say about the American Gem contest was really encouraging.

John Rhym

 

My 5th place in the American Gem this year has gotten me a lot of script requests which I am extremely happy about. Hopefully something good will come from one of those requests... I read that you were promoting the winning scripts as part of your ongoing result promotion and was intrigued to learn more about your efforts... I have optioned the script 'Donor' to Heaven's Gate Films of Northern Ireland....  another direct achievement leading on from your competition! The 5th place result definitely helped the script land into the right hands!!!

Benedict R Gorman-Fancy

 

My script Found Money was only an Honorable Mention in the first American Gem, but that little bit of credibility helped get it read by a casting director and then professional NYC actors who eventually signed on to make the film. Found Money has now screened at four US film festivals, no small feat since there are now over 3,100 short films being considered in the circuit. 

Charles Valenza

 

I want to thank all of you for having this contest! It was such an honor to be in the top 10! This was the first script I had written, I'm thinking about turning a short story I've just completed into a short script......we'll see! Thanks again! 

Jennifer D. Bandrup

 

Thank you so much. The contest has been so exciting for me, and gives me hope in so many ways.

Greg Shih

 

More testimonials

PRIZES - 

1st Prize: 

  • $1000

  • Winning Script Produced.

  • PITCH your winning script to a Producer, Development Executive and Agent**

  • Gift Certificate to attend any Action/Cut 2-day intensive Filmmaking Seminar

  • A copy of Movie Magic's Screenwriter by Write Brothers

  • FREE Admission Pass to the Screenwriting EXPO*

  • FREE one-year subscription to Scr(i)pt Magazine 

2nd Prize: 

  • $500

  • PITCH your winning script to a Producer, Development Executive and Agent**

  • A copy of Movie Magic's Screenwriter by Write Brothers

  • FREE Admission Pass to the Screenwriting EXPO*

  • FREE one-year subscription to Scr(i)pt Magazine 

3rd Prize: 

  • $250 

  • PITCH your winning script to a Producer, Development Executive and Agent**

  • A copy of Movie Magic's Screenwriter by Write Brothers

  • FREE Admission Pass to The Screenwriting Expo* 

  • FREE one-year subscription to Scr(i)pt Magazine 

4th Prize:  

  • $150

  • PITCH your winning script to a Producer, Development Executive and Agent**

  • FREE Admission Pass to The Screenwriting Expo* 

  • FREE one-year subscription to Scr(i)pt Magazine 

5th Prize:   

  • $100 

  • PITCH your winning script to a Producer, Development Executive and Agent**

  • FREE Admission Pass to The Screenwriting Expo* 

  • FREE one-year subscription to Scr(i)pt Magazine 

6th Prize: 

  • FREE one-year subscription to Scr(i)pt Magazine 

7th Prize:  

  • FREE one-year subscription to Scr(i)pt Magazine 

8th Prize:  

  • FREE one-year subscription to Scr(i)pt Magazine 

9th Prize: 

  • FREE one-year subscription to Scr(i)pt Magazine 

10th Prize: 

  • FREE one-year subscription to Scr(i)pt Magazine 

 

Deadline: Early January 10, 2006; Regular April 30, 2006; Late June 30, 2006
Entry fee: $29
($19 to students) (if postmarked by 01/10/2006)
                $39 ($25 to students) (if postmarked by
04/30/2006)
                $49
($
29 to students) (if postmarked by 06/30/2006)
Notification date: Top 100 scripts notified by 08/31/2006

ENTER YOUR SHORT SCREENPLAY TODAY!
EARLY ENTRY DEADLINE: JANUARY 10, 2006
The American Gem Short Script Contest
P.O. Box 4678, Mission Viejo, CA 92690

 

*The Screenwriting Expo is the LARGEST Conference and Trade show for screenwriters in the world.  THE FREE ADMISSION PASS DOES NOT INCLUDE TRANSPORTATION, ROOM, BOARD, ETC.

**Top three will each get  to PITCH (two PITCHES of 5 minutes per pitch) their winning SCRIPTS (at the Screenwriting Expo) to Hollywood PRODUCERS , DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVES, and AGENTS, looking for and accepting scripts written by unproduced/unrepresented writers.

Top 5 will win a FREE ADMISSION PASS to The Screenwriting EXPO.



Contact: Jennifer Brooks

| HOME | RULES | ENTRY FORM AWARDS | WINNERS | TESTIMONIALS |
top of page

| Home Page | Contests | Indies | Features | News | Resource Links | Advertise With Us |

Important disclaimer

Copyright © 1999-2011 by FilmMakers.com.  All rights reserved.
 FilmMakers.com is a division of Media Pro Tech Inc.