Before you enter the PAGE Awards competition, please review these contest rules and guidelines. Any submission that does not comply with contest rules may be disqualified.
CONTEST RULES
1.Allwriters of submitted material must be over 18 years of age on the date of submission, and each writer or writing team may not have earned a total of more than $50,000 or the foreign equivalent (jointly or individually) for their work as a screenwriter and/or fictional television writer.
2.Writers who reside in countries other than the United States are welcome to enter the contest; however, all scripts must be submitted in English and entry fees must be paid in U.S. dollars. Entry in the competition is void where prohibited by law.
3.Judges, sponsors, administrators, and independent contractors who currently or have previously worked with or for the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards and/or Production Arts Group are not eligible to enter the competition, nor are their spouses or other immediate family members.
4.Scripts must be the original work of the author(s), and on the date of submission the work must be wholly owned and controlled by the author(s). If a screenplay has been sold, is currently under option, is being produced, or is in any other way encumbered by a third party on the date of submission, the script is not eligible for an award. If a script is optioned, sold, or produced after it has been entered, it will remain eligible for an award this year’s contest.
5.Only original screenplays and teleplays are eligible for awards. Novels, short stories, stage plays, treatments, synopses, reality show concepts and spec scripts for existing TV series are not accepted in the contest. Scripts that have previously won a prize in the PAGE Awards competition are also ineligible.
6.Adaptations of books, plays, or any other source material written by another author are not eligible under any circ*mstances. A script that you have adapted from your own book, play, or other source material is eligible if you have retained all film and television rights to the property.
7.Submissions and entry fees must be postmarked or transmitted electronically on or before 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on the Early, Regular, Late, or Last Minute Entry Deadline in order to qualify for those entry rates. Any script submitted after the Final Entry Deadline will be disqualified.
8.The contest and its administrators are not responsible for submissions or entry fees that are lost, stolen, or damaged in transit, and we cannot return scripts or refund entry fees once they have been submitted.
9.Once a script has been entered in the competition, under no circ*mstances will we accept substitutions of new drafts or corrected pages. If you wish to submit a revised draft of your screenplay, you must enter it as a new submission and pay the appropriate entry fee. (PLEASE NOTE: We understand that writers always want the Judges to have the opportunity to read their very best work; therefore, if you advance to the Semi-Final Round of the contest we will invite you to send us the latest draft of your script for the final two rounds of judging completely free of charge. So please do keep revising and refining your script as the spirit moves you!)
10.Decisions of the Judges are final and may not be disputed. Our Judges are instructed and agree to evaluate scripts based on our standard Judging Procedure; however, the PAGE Awards contest and its administrators may not be held responsible for any errors or omissions on the part of the Judges.
SCRIPT GUIDELINES
Below are some important formatting and submission instructions. In order to maximize your chances of success, we strongly recommend that you follow these standard guidelines:
Scripts should be written in standard spec screenplay or teleplay format, set in 12-point Courier font. If you’re not familiar with standard formatting, two great resources are David Trottier’s guidebook The Screenwriter’s Bible and our Judges’ own reference book The Insiders’ Guide to Screenwriting.
And to make it easy, you can use software specifically designed to help you format your script. We recommend Final Draft, the software used by most industry professionals.
Submissions should be standard length and should include page numbers on the upper right corner of the page.
- Full-Length Features: 80-120 pages
- Short Film Scripts: under 30 pages
- TV Drama & Comedy Pilots: 30-75 pages
Your script will not be disqualified if it’s a few pages longer or shorter than these specified lengths, but since your work is being judged by industry professionals, we strongly recommend that you adhere to these industry standards.
We cannot accept scripts that are more than 135 pages long (excluding the title page). Entries that exceed 135 pages will be disqualified.
Since our judging process is anonymous, please include only the title of your script on your title page. (You may also include your WGA registration number if you have one, but this is not required.) When we receive your entry we will assign your script a number, and our Judges will identify your screenplay solely by its title and script number.
Under no circ*mstances should your name or contact information appear anywhere within the body of your script.
Please do not send us synopses, casting suggestions, drawings, photos, personal letters, resumes, or other additional materials along with your script. Those will not be forwarded to the Judges.
However, if you’re submitting a musical, you may include a link to your music. And if you’re submitting a TV Pilot you may include standard supplementals such as a list of your recurring characters and a summary of future episodes.
PLEASE NOTE: While it is not a requirement for entry in the PAGE Awards competition, we do recommend that you register your script before submitting it to anyone you do not personally know. You can register your script with the U.S. Copyright Office and/or with the WGA. As disinterested third parties, these services provide a dated record of your claim to authorship.
Learn more about our Judging Procedure…
