Austin Film Festival Calls For Entries in Screenplay, Film Competitions

Posted on February 4, 1998

The Austin Film Festival is currently accepting entries in its '98 Screenplay Competition and Film Competition. Screenplay categories are adult and family. Film categories are feature, short and student short. Entry postmark deadline for the 5th Screenplay Competition is May 15, 1998, just three months away.

A record 3,225 scripts in both categories were received in the '97 competition; organizers anticipate more than 3,500 this year. Since its beginning in 1994, numerous new writers have found the competition a way to begin their writing careers. Excess Baggage (starring Alicia Silverstone) was the winning script in the '94 competition, and Good-Bye Lover (scheduled for release this year starring Ellen Degeneres and Patricia Arquette) was a semi-finalist in '95.

Entry deadline for the 1998 Film Competition is Aug. 7. Feature film winners receive $750; short and student short film winners receive $500. The Heart of Film Screenplay Competition and Film Competition are part of the Austin Film Festival, which will be held Oct. 1-8, 1998.

The Austin Film Festival is the first film festival dedicated to recognizing the writer's contribution to the motion picture and television industry. During 1997's festival, more than 1,500 aspiring writers and filmmakers from across the country rubbed elbows with scores of movie and TV film industry VIPs (conference panelists) and stars.