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Welcome to San Francisco International Screenwriting Competition & Film Awards

We are San Francisco. We love film and we love writers. In fact, we care so deeply about developing the next generation of filmmakers from the U.S. and abroad that we founded what we hope will be one of the most prestigious screenwriting competitions in the world for serious writers and serious subject matter.

Welcome to the San Francisco International Screenwriting Competition & Film Awards. We are an independent screenwriting competition devoted to good cinema. A lot of artists come from backgrounds in journalism, publishing, and in some cases some very grisly real life experiences and we love the stories that come out these artists. A lot of other festivals do as well, but that’s really all we are interested in. We are only really interested in finding the next Schindler’s List, Judgement at Nuremburg, Saving Private Ryan, Shawshank Redemption, Lincoln, Reservoir Dogs, 12 Years a Slave, the Godfather, Sling Blade, Frida, or even Shine.

We want to support serious writers who take on serious subject matter. That’s what we’re all about. We are located in the heart of California and are proud to be the only international screenwriting competition in the Bay Area. We are committed to finding the next generation of top talent from New York, Hollywood, Toronto, and around the world.

Hollywood is all about cinema and we want to find the next generation of talent capable of delivering great cinema for the next fifty years. We are dedicated to inspiring new artists with visual talent from around the world and we want to see them get their films made.

We want to find the best artists first. Then we want to recognize them and inspire them to get their films made. We love movies and the artists who make them and we are committed to seeing more artists get their films made.

Great films come in all shapes and sizes, from thrillers to dramas from blockbusters to indies, as such we love all kinds of scripts from big studio projects to arthouse indies. We believe everyone has a story to tell - no matter where you come from. So whether you’re new to writing, you’ve been doing it for years, or you’re just now thinking about starting, send us your project and if it’s good we’ll give you the recognition you deserve. We accept scripts from all over the world and from writers and artists with a wide variety of backgrounds and we never discriminate on any basis.

Men and women have been making great films for over a century and we want to continue that tradition. We want to inspire writers and filmmakers to work in every facet of production. We want to support writers at all levels to make great films. We love film and we love filmmakers. And we want to do everything we can to support and inspire the next generation of filmmakers to tell great stories that will be told for generations to come. Welcome to the San Francisco International Screenwriting Competition & Film Awards. SFISC is a Cinema Public House production. We are a US based independent festival company that produces both live and online festivals all over the world.

Hosted by talented comedian Joseph Nybyk

The San Francisco Int’l Screenwriting Competition & Film Awards is now accepting submissions!

If you’ve written a great script we want to read it. We want our winners to get the recognition they deserve. Our goal is to find the best people first and watch as their careers take off. We hope our festival inspires you to keep writing and keep making movies. Most of the world’s best cinema has come out of California, literally countless Award winning films have been made here, let's hope your film is next.

We don’t care where you’re from or what sort of past you have, we just want to read great scripts, so if you’ve written something really special, we want to read it. Please submit today! 

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Respect

We reward our winners with consultation packages provided by RoadMap Writers that include consultations with top talent managers and or production executives in NY or LA. This is in addition to getting a page and a half of written script notes from our final round judges. We also give our top two finalists a page and a half of script notes as well. Semi-finalists only receive online recognition like in most competitions.

Film

We recognize winners in the following categories: Best Feature Film, Best Short Film, Best Student Short Film, Best Dramatic Film, Best Comedy Film, Best Horror or Thriller, Best Action, Best Animation, Best Documentary, Best Web-Series, Best Pilot, Best Director, Best Indie Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing.

 

The San Francisco Arts Community

Please note, we are an independent screenwriting competition and online awards festival. Our city is home to thousands of artists of all shapes and sizes, in addition to hundreds of organizations designed to support those artists, including, but not limited to various theaters, museums, universities, acting schools, conferences, galas, award shows, development workshops, and film festivals of all shapes and sizes. We are not affiliated with any of them. We are an independent screenwriting competition. If you are looking to connect with one of those organizations, please reach out to them directly.

Photo by Joseph Neibich
This competition is a class act. It's their primary purpose to support, endorse, advance and encourage their winning writers. I've experienced this with the phone calls, emails and promotion from them that left me feeling thankful and pumped up. They keep me informed when they forward my script to industry contacts. This win is more than just a pat on the back. Much, much more. Two thumbs up from me!
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Great Competition! Great Opportunity! Will definitely recommend it to my peers.
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Sending your work here, especially for a first time writer, can be very beneficial!

Hosted by talented comedian Joseph Nybyk

 

Photo by Joseph Neibich

Exposure

Our Most Recent Winners

Our most recent screenwriting grand prize winner was awarded a consultation package that included meetings with three top talent managers -including a page and a half of script notes from our final round judges. All consultation packages were provided by RoadMap Writers. 

Winners will receive a 4-month InkTip Pro Membership. As an InkTip Pro Member, thousands of filmmakers can find and read your scripts, and you'll be able to pitch directly to production companies every week. With over 3,000 options and 400 movies made, InkTip is the place for independent film.

Photo by Joseph Nybyk