The Baltimore Film Office at the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) is accepting entries for the 16th annual Baltimore Screenwriters Competition.All screenwriters are encouraged to apply for this opportunity to craft a winning screenplay highlighting Baltimore. Screenplays may be submitted in both the feature and short categories, and scripts must be set in or able to be filmed in Baltimore. The Baltimore Screenwriters Competition is a project ofthe Baltimore Film Office in conjunction with film programs at Johns Hopkins University and Morgan State University.
The deadlinefor submissions is January 15, 2021 by 5pm. The application and full guidelines are available online at www.baltimorefilm.com.
Submitted scripts receive coverage from students in the Johns Hopkins University and Morgan State University screenwriting programs and by local screenwriters and producers. The final screenplays are judged by industry professionals in film and television, including producers and writers working on projects for HBO, NBC and others. The top entries in each category will win cash prizes and are scheduled to be announced during the2021 Maryland Film Festival in May 2021.
In 2020, the 15th annual Baltimore Screenwriters Competition judges – Ken LaZebink, Nina K. Noble, B.A. Parker and Annette Porter – selected “King of the Freaks” by Evan Balkan; “Squeegee Boy” by Chung-Wei Huang; “Wooden Nickels” by Miceal O’Donnell; and “Stealing Cars,” “Derby Night” and “Like You Think You Know Me” by Stephen Schuyler, whose “Like You Think You Know Me” screenplay also won a Script Competition Award at the Austin Film Festival 2020. Previous Baltimore Screenwriters Competition winners have also received Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund Fellowships, Individual Artist Awards from the Maryland State Arts Council, and have participated in nationwide film festivals.