Deadline Today: FIRST Scene Screenplay Festival

 Submit and get your first 10 pages performed!

Submit via FilmFreeway to the WILDsound Flagship (under 1st Page Screenplay Festival):

Watch over 150 1st Scene Screenplay Festival Winners on the WILDsound Flagship Site HERE

Festival takes place every single month. At least 4-15 winning screenplays read monthly.

This festival has a guaranteed 4 tier set up for each accepted script. (No matter what all screenplays submitted receive FULL FEEDBACK on their work by industry professionals.)

1st Tier: FULL FEEDBACK on your screenplay (all submissions)

2nd Tier: Accepted scripts (25% on average of submitted entries) get their screenplay performed by professional actors and made into a promotional vehicle.

Then (Tier #3) we will send you a list of questions to answer for our blog interview that will promote you and your film. Then after that (Tier #4) we will set up a podcast interview on our popular ITunes show where will we chat with you about the process of how the film was made.

——

In the first 10 pages the writer needs to let the reader know in general terms what the story is about, and what is at stake. Plus, set the tone of what world and genre the writer has created, while also introducing the main characters. All the while you need to engage and entertain the reader.

The contest was created because this is an industry where agents/producers and their team are so busy and are reading so many scripts that if you do not grab them right away then they will put down the script and move onto another one. So you have to capture their attention when you’re writing on spec.


SUBMIT the first scene/first moments (10 pages or less) of your screenplay
You will receive feedback on your script in 3-5 weeks

The RULES are simple:

1. Write your first scene/first moments. Edit the heck out of it.

2. Email your script to 1stscenescreenplay@wildsoundfestival.com in .pdf, .doc, .wpd, .rtf, or .fdr format.

In the body in the email please add your:
– FULL NAME
– CITY AND COUNTRY
– TITLE OF SCRIPT
– TYPE OF SCRIPT (1st scene entry)
– (optional) and a 1-2 line synopsis of your screenplay.

OR if you like to mail us your script with a check, please email us and we’ll make arrangements.

PLEASE ADD YOUR FULL CONTACT INFO (especially email address) on the title page of your script!

3. Pay the $25 submission fee ($10 OFF regular submission) via the button below (credit card or payment account) or include a cheque payable to WILDsound Film Festival. Please put your full contact info (name, email address) on a title page

Buy Now Button

We also accept online submissions through Film Freeway. Click on the link BELOW to submit online through this middle-man resource website.

ALL SUBMITTED SCRIPTS GET FULL FEEDBACK – The goal of the WILDsound Film and Screenplay Festival is to help everyone involved grow as an artist, so we will offer feedback to jump start you to your next draft. If you are not fully satisfied with the feedback you receive, we will send it off to new committee members until you are fully satisfied. We understand where new and mid-level writers are coming from and we want to help you as much as we can.

Recent Testimonials:

I’d never seen a contest that took only the first moment of a screenplay. The first moments can make or break a script in any competition, but I like that WILDsound looks at the opening on its own. Positive feedback on an unfinished piece can truly motivate a writer to push through to the end.
– LOVELESS by Chris Courtney Martin

Wow,the screenplay review is incredibly detailed and helpful! Big thanks.
– Steve Mikals, 1st Scene Script “Man Seeking Money”

Thank you very much for the pleasant feedback. I completely understand about the whole flashback bit and will work to change it. Otherwise I’m glad you like the immediate conflict which I thought would grab the audiences/readers attention instantly.
– Tom Dunham, 1st Scene Script “Rise of the Irishman”

The communication, organization and feedback these guys offer are fantastic and scriptwriters of all disciplines and experience should be jumping at the service WILDsound provides. The best thing about it is they are as enthusiastic as you about your work. Thank you to everyone involved with WILDsound.
– Grant Reid, 1st Scene Submission

I want to thank you for your feedback on my screenplay. The feedback gave me real direction on how to perfect this piece. I look forward to resubmitting in the near future. Thank you for this great experience.
– Anthonio Vole, 1st Scene Screenplay

Thank you so much for your feedback. It is thought provoking and helpful. I feel the urge to go back to line one and make the scenes a lot more punchy.
– Darryl Greer, 1st Scene Screenplay (The Morning After)

2023 Screenplay Winners

Here is the list of 2023 screenplay winners from the DIVERSITY Festival.

Watch the winning screenplay best scene readings:


A Waterless Place, by Leiter Daniellson
After witnessing an Alien spacecraft crash in the mountains two brothers rush to the scene and gather what they can. A shadowy figure is sent to hunt the brothers down and eliminate them before their Father rescues them.

1st Scene Reading: A Waterless Place, by Leiter Daniellson


UNDYING LOVE, by Bill Liggins
All hell breaks loose when a flaky podcaster involves herself in a race between the US government and a powerful secret society to find an authentic immortal.

1st Scene Reading: UNDYING LOVE, by Bill Liggins


Gladiatrix Daughter of War, by Roxanne Gregory
Gladiatrix Daughter of War — Barbarians+Spartacus=Gladiatrix. Acolyte priestess Aoife survives the fall of the Druidic stronghold but is enslaved. She kills a brothel master & is sold to a ludus, a school for gladiators, where she flourishes becoming Rome’s deadly champion. As Amazonia Nyx Death-Bringer she will have blood justice for her people.

1st Scene Reading: Gladiatrix Daughter of War, by Roxanne Gregory


Christmas Pizza, by Andy Heidel, Chloe Sehr
Noelle is a struggling NYC singer and musician that returns to her hometown of Carillon after her mother dies in a freak accident during the annual Thanksgiving Leftovers Casserole Contest. Upon her return, she discovers that the building she is supposed to inherit is in foreclosure and her ex-girlfriend/bandmate Joy has opened up a pizza parlor on the ground floor.

1st Scene Reading: Christmas Pizza, by Andy Heidel, Chloe Sehr


Mr. Pettigrew, by Larry J. Martin
Beau, having lost a leg in the Civil War, stumbles out of a cattle car at the little Nevada town of Nemesis. He’s taken under the wing of Mr. Pettigrew, partner in the Angel Saloon and given a job sitting shotgun. Pettigrew kills the son of a powerful mine owner and Beau is drawn into the trouble. It’s two against twenty.

1st Scene Festival Reading: Mr. Pettigrew, by Larry J. Martin


VILLAGE, by Adolpho Phillips
It takes a village to raise a child and Tasha’s village is crazy but willing.

1st Scene Festival Reading: VILLAGE, by Adolpho Phillips


THE EVIL THAT MEN DO, by Jeffrey van Davis
When a police detective, hunting a serial killer, gets too close, the killer murders his wife and two children, sending him into a downward spiral of alcohol, suicide, and a near-death experience where God tells him to become a priest. Years later the serial killer reappears – in his confessional.

1st Scene Script: THE EVIL THAT MEN DO, by Jeffrey van Davis


SHORT Screenplay: The Garden, by A.M. Chester
A short, short film about finding magic and the trauma of sudden loss when that magic goes away.

Winning SHORT Screenplay: The Garden, by A.M. Chester


1st Scene Festival Testimonial – April 22 2020

Kristy Leigh Lussier

Fantastic experience! Very thrilled to have our comedy screenplay “The Wreckers” selected and showcased ….and the feedback we received was above and beyond what we thought! So helpful and beneficial. 🙂 As well these guys are so active on Twitter promoting all the selected projects – its nice to see their commitment to helping new writers / filmmakers grow! Thanks again !

We accept online submissions through Film Freeway. Click on the link BELOW to submit online through this middle-man resource website.

ALL SUBMITTED SCRIPTS GET FULL FEEDBACK – The goal of the WILDsound Film and Screenplay Festival is to help everyone involved grow as an artist, so we will offer feedback to jump start you to your next draft. If you are not fully satisfied with the feedback you receive, we will send it off to new committee members until you are fully satisfied. We understand where new and mid-level writers are coming from and we want to help you as much as we can.

WATCH past and recent script winning readings! CLICK HERE and see what happens when your script wins.

Winning 1st Scene Reading of AVES, by Daniel L Burke

Winning Screenplay – AVES
Written by Daniel L. Burke

CAST LIST:

NARRATOR – Julian Ford
ALFRED – Mandip Brar
GRAMPS – Allan Brunet
DR. BLACK – Sean Ballantyne
CHRISTINE – Amanda Quach
MARVIN – Zake O’Connor
DR. OHNO – Kayla Lakhani

SYNOPSIS:

Genre: Thriller, Horror

Mankind fights birds for control of planet Earth in an Apocalyptic battle of Armageddon.

Get to know the writer:

What is your screenplay about?

In the year 1980 residents of an Ohio town are rounded up and executed for the takeover of their land.

Now.

From the deepest part of space, a lost space probe filled with lethal alien radiation returns to earth. The President orders a strike of nuclear missiles.

On vacation, a horrified family watches the missile attack. They stare haplessly as the radiation from the destroyed probe encircles the planet. Filled with anxiety; the family attempts to returns home with the mother and son carrying a deep secret.

The alien radiation encircling the earth transforms the planet’s billions of birds to instruments of death and destruction. They are stronger, and more intelligent, and realize that man must die. Soon the Aves of the world join forces and attack.

In multiple battles, the fleeing family fights the violent birds on their quest to safety. Of the six-member family only two survive, the mother and daughter. The two finally reach their destination; a military bunker sitting deep in the Ohio hillside. In the fortified structure, the mother reveals her plan for world domination with her lover, the President’s leading General. The daughter realizes that she is the only one who can stop the insanity. It’s a fight between daughter, mother, the General and birds for rule of the planet. In the supreme battle inside the bunker, only the daughter survives. The finger of God saves the world as a massive solar flare cleans the atmosphere of the alien radiation.

What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Horror, Sci-fi, Drama, Suspense, Thriller, Action, Fantasy, Adventure

Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

Two reasons. The world needs quality entertainment. Second, it opens the door to my world of films.

How would you describe this script in two words?

Surpassing splendor

What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

That’s a good question and I really don’t think I can answer it. And that’s because I watch my new movies until I wear out the grooves. Then I don’t watch them for awhile. But if I was on a deserted island with one movie; it would be “West Side Story.”

How long have you been working on this screenplay?

To be perfectly honest, it only takes me about a month to write the raw draft, another half month for the refined script. The problem isn’t the script but the research. It consumes all the time and can take weeks.

How many stories have you written?

If you include manuscripts I will say about thirty-five. If you want to just want to know about my screenplays including musicals I would say, twenty.

What motivated you to write this screenplay?

Shooting photography I saw a chorus line of birds sitting on electrical wires and that was it.

What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?

None really unless you count researching the subject, I wrote “Aves” and “Looking For Love” back to back and they both flowed like water. It took about three and a half months. I missed October, November, December and the first part of January.

Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

Photography and music. Those are my two main passions after writing. I have photographs on my FaceBook page and Deviant Art. Also, I have pieces of music that I composed on some of the music sites.

What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?

I had entered your Logline Contest and figured I would give it a shot. Man I was mad because the mistakes were minor but major to the script.


TV CONTESTSUBMIT your Best Scene Screenplay or TV SPEC Script
Voted #1 TV Contest in North America.
Screenplay CONTESTSUBMIT your Best Scene Screenplay or FEATURE Script
FULL FEEDBACK on all entries. Get your script performed
Screenplay CONTESTFIRST SCENE (first 10pgs) Screenplay CONTEST
Submit the first stages of your film and get full feedback!

 

 

 

*****

Director/Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Editor: John Johnson

Camera Operator: Kierston Drier

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne