The 2007 Slamdance Screenplay Competition, the lauded program dedicated to new writers, opens its call for submissions for completed narrative, experimental and animated scripts (both features and shorts). The Competition, now in its 12th year, accepts screenplays in every genre, on any topic, from every country around the world, with the intention of bringing attention to the most talented emerging screenwriters and introduce them to the entertainment industry. Submission forms, rules and regulations are available on the Slamdance web site – www.Slamdance.com. The early submission deadline is March 23, 2007 and includes a significant entry fee discount. The final submission deadline is May 18th.

All screenplays submitted to the Slamdance Screenplay Competition will be read by a specially-selected group of professional filmmakers and “readers,” all of whom have professional coverage backgrounds and/or have experience in production/development, as well as produced and/or published writers, Slamdance alumni filmmakers and screenwriters, playwrights and journalists. Slamdance continues to develop a unique and customized reader’s “coverage,” or feedback service, which will include a comprehensive story breakdown/concept summary and goes on to address "what works", "what doesn't work" and "how it can be improved". Slamdance coverage will give insight into the mind of a reader who reads a few hundred screenplays a year and will assist in crafting the submission into something that can advance in any competition and impress agents, reps, and producers.

The top 50 semifinalists will be announced on August 20, 2007 and the Top 10 finalists on September 7th. A ceremony will be held at the Writers Guild of America, West, in Los Angeles to announce the Grand Prize Winner and the Best Short Screenplay. The party will include Slamdance alumni filmmakers, screenwriters, members of the industry and the WGAW's Independent Writers Caucus.

"Our goal is to breech the chasm between screenwriters and the industry,” said Peter Baxter, the President and Co-Founder of Slamdance, “and bring together those who are without the advantage of experience or representation and members of the industry looking for the next big thing."

Final Draft, Script Magazine and Writer’s Bootcamp are among the 2007 prize sponsors. All entries in the 2007 Slamdance Screenplay Competition may receive:

First Place Screenplay: $7,000
Best Short Screenplay: $500
Writers Boot Camp will award the 1st place winner with a certificate for the Immersion Program (valued at $1,295) and certificates for the Basic Training Program to 2nd and 3rd place (valued at $895 each)
The Top Ten screenwriters will receive Final Draft screenwriting software
The Top Ten screenwriters will receive a year subscription to Script Magazine
Selected material will be read as part of our staged reading series, Slamdance On Stage, in Los Angeles , New York and Park City
The Top Ten screenwriters will receive prize packages that include Festival Passes good for all screenings and parties at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah (January, 2008)
The Top Ten screenwriters are eligible for membership in the Writers Guild of America's Independent Writers Caucus
The Top Ten screenwriters will receive merchandise from the Slamdance Shop
Production companies, studios, agencies and managers request to read Slamdance’s top scripts

"The competition has a life of its own, growing and maturing along with the film festival,” said Screenplay Competition Director John Stoddard. “Each year we discover amazing new talent, reaffirming our belief that Slamdance's approach to the business of screenwriting is working and continuing to gain recognition."

The Slamdance Writing Competitions received over 3,100 submissions in 2006. The Screenplay Competition received 2,000, the Teleplay Competition received 600 and the Horror Screenplay Competition, which was introduced only last year, received 500. The Grand Prize Winner of the 2006 Competition, Nancy Kissam (Drool), found representation with Elements Entertainment and is working with Upload Entertainment with the intention of making her directorial debut with the award winning screenplay.

Launched three years ago, the Teleplay Competition is sponsored by fox21 and offers the winner a five-figure cash prize and a development deal with fox21. The 2006 Slamdance Teleplay Competition Grand Prize Winners, Marcus Clay Carmouche and Seamus Kevin Fahey, were hired by fox21 to develop an original pilot.

The Slamdance Horror Screenplay Competition Grand Prize Winning screenplay Slaughter by Bobby Darby and Nathan Brookes was purchased by Angel Baby Entertainment and Maverick Red. The project is currently in pre-production. Each year, Slamdance, Angel Baby Entertainment and Maverick Red will co-produce a feature film based on the annual prize-winning entry of the recently-created Slamdance Horror Screenplay Competition. In addition to having their screenplay guaranteed to be made into a feature motion picture, the winning writer will receive an upfront payment of $10,000 against 5% of the film’s budget, plus net profits participation on the movie and payments for any sequels made of the motion picture. Production of the completed script will occur during the ensuing months, with the intent of having the film’s World Premiere during the follow year’s Slamdance Film Festival. A landmark precedent, no other film festival produces feature films that originated whose genesis began at that festival. “Slaughter” is the initial screenplay to win and head towards film production.

In the past, Slamdance-winning Competition screenplays acquired for production have included Nicole Kassell and Stephen Fetcher’s The Woodsman, Joshua Marston’s Maria Full of Grace and Tim Boughn’s Neo Ned.

As a year-round organization, Slamdance serves as a showcase for the discovery of new and emerging talent and is dedicated to the nurturing and development of new filmmakers and their cinematic vision. The feature competition programs are reserved for first time directors working with limited budgets, thus enabling the Festival’s mission to give exposure to emerging filmmaking talent. Slamdance is programmed through a unique democratic method. Every film is programmed by majority rule by a committee of filmmakers. Slamdance alumni are recruited to serve as programmers, so first-timers are represented and assisted by Slamdance veterans. The mantra of “by filmmakers, for filmmakers” resounds at every level of the organization, and plays a part in all of its undertakings.

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