Shoot Your Sizzle Announcements:
Semi-Finalists (Top 100): Jan 22nd
Grand Prize & Top 10: Feb 25th
Nightingale by Amanda Bermudez (2018 Winner)
Finding Distance by Jodi Levitan (2017 Winner)
Why Shoot a Sizzle or Proof of Concept?
The Shoot Your Sizzle Experience
As the Grand Prize Winner, you’ll receive Over $45,000 in Cash, Production and Post-Production Services, Professional Consulting and more to produce your sizzle, scene or short. Our mentors will support you along the way and secure a director if needed. When completed, you will have an excellent calling card that the ISA Development team will champion alongside your script to companies like MGM, ICM, Eclectic Pictures, Bohemia Group Originals and more.
Deadlines and Fees
Early Deadline: Sept 11th – $35
Regular Deadline: Oct 9th – $45
Final Deadline: Dec 10th- $65
Ext. Final Deadline: Dec 18th- $7
Announcements
Semi-Finalists (Top 100): Jan 22nd
Grand Prize & Top 10: Feb 25th
“Winning the Sizzle Reel contest has been a real game changer for me. I can’t thank Emerging Screenwriters enough for the gigantic leap forward this contest has afforded me. Unlike other contests, where a win brings the hope of producers reading your script, this one gives the winner a concrete tool to sell and promote their story. It’s been an eye opening experience and a real delight to work with such a great and supportive team!”
– Jodi Levitan (Grand Prize Winner 2017)
GRAND PRIZE
Production and Post Production Services
$34,000 Value
Your sizzle or short will be completed with use of a Canon camera and lens package, complimentary post-production consultation for the director/DP/writer with Canon and use of the Canon Burbank space for editing, color correcting, sound mixing and more, plus editing by Real Reels, coloring by Color Space Finishing, and music licensing by Universal Production Music.
Mentoring from Production Consultants
$7,500+ value
$5,000 in Cash
ISA Development Slate Invitation
Screening and Exposure
HollyShorts Film Festival will screen the completed sizzle at their Monthly Film Screening Series.
Insurance and Equipment Rental
$6500 Value
We Make Movies will provide production insurance plus a Gold Member discount on WMM’s equipment rental packages for the winning project’s shoot.
Software and Support
- Gorilla Scheduling & Budgeting Combo Pack
- 6 Month Membership to Indie Film Hustle
- 20 Scriptation Licenses to be Used for Production
TOP 10
StoryO 3 Story Outline Software
StoryO takes story organization to a whole other level! With StoryO, writers can enter ideas onto electronic index cards, rearrange and attach them to multiple sequences and timelines, then develop plot points, multiple story lines and characters along the way.
6 Months of Scriptation Pro
Scriptation is the industry-leading script reading and annotation app, which automatically transfers users’ notes into new script revisions. Trusted by shows such as The Walking Dead, Westworld, and Stranger Things, Scriptation offers a full set of annotation tools, which make the production process easier and more efficient.
3 Month Membership to Indie Film Hustle
Teaching you how to hack your indie filmmaking with stuff they don’t teach you in film school. Showing you on how to get your Indie Film Hustle on!
TOP 100
ISA Development Slate Consideration
12 Month ISAConnect Membership
First Time Filmmaker?
Our Consulting Producers will guide you through the process.
Felicity Wren – Consulting Producer:
Felicity Wren is the Development Director at the ISA. Originally from London, she studied all areas of performance: writing, directing, acting technique, and script analysis for her Honors Degree, then finished her education with a Masters in Drama from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. She formed her own Production Company: Unrestricted View in 1999, concentrating on theatre, new writing and comedy at their performance venue – The Hen & Chickens Theatre in London. Since moving to Los Angeles in 2011, she has continued acting, writing and producing, winning three performance awards in 2016, and producing nine film projects to date. She now devotes a lot of her time to the co-creation and management of the ISA Development Slate, working directly with the Slate Writers, and ISA Contest Winners, ensuring their projects get in front of eminent producers, managers and agents in Hollywood.
Craig James – Consulting Producer:
Craig James is a writer, director and producer whose film projects have won numerous awards. Karma Cafe and Contract Killers placed in multiple film festivals and helped him land a manager in Los Angeles. His pilot Wrigleyville, which he created and co-wrote was hip-pocketed by a major agency in LA after placing at ITVFest. Unfortunately, the writers’ strike of 2007 interfered leaving him without a production deal but fortuitously pushed him to found the International Screenwriters’ Association. The ISA provides both enthusiast and professional writers the opportunity to advance their careers and improve their craft. Craig is passionate to see the ISA and its members propel their careers by opening doors with new and exciting opportunities brought on by the ISA’s incredibly devoted team.
Jerren Lauder – Development Consultant:
Jerren is the Development and Contest Manager for the ISA, as well as a produced writer-director. He went to film school thinking he would be Terrence Malick. Years later, after several NON award-winning short films, he can confidently say about that period of time: ‘Whoops.’ Since then, he’s found his voice writing on a PBS kids show, writing and directing a series for Fox Digital and selling a horror script he will be directing along with ISA 2019 Top 25 Screenwriter Jason Goldberg.
He’s honored to be working with the ISA, where he has found “his people,” as they say. He loves writers and finding great, undiscovered scripts through his work in development and overseeing the contests. It’s a perfect fit, and he’s dedicated to giving a platform to undersung voices.
Molly Kasch – Consulting Producer:
Molly is an award-winning producer who has worked in television and film for over a decade. Molly’s most recent project, Defining Beauty: Ms. Wheelchair America, a feature documentary narrated by Katey Sagal, premiered at the Newport Film Festival where it won the Audience Award. It continued on a successful festival run and is used in education programs. Molly also produced a short film from the AFI Directing Workshop for Women, The Death of Toys starring Disney channel’s Kim Rhodes, which premiered at the Anchorage Film Festival. Molly’s award-winning shorts The Burger and The Right Turn now have international distribution. Molly’s passion for independent film and dedication to examining pertinent issues through media makes her a part of a generation of trail blazers making a difference.
Scott Markus – Line Producer:
Scott Markus has worked in film/TV/video since he started up his own production company at age 16. He has gone on to work in production in various aspects on some of the largest productions, from Lost and Prison Break to Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Dark Knight. He currently works as a camera operator and film editor in Los Angeles while also working at the International Screenwriters’ Association.
Shayna Weber – Consulting Producer:
Shayna Weber is a screenwriter and producer who came on board ISA after starting a family and making the transition out of reality television and into film, recently producing Lunch Ladies, an award-winning short film and directing her first short film, VIF. Previously, Shayna worked as a producer of reality programming for network, cable and online channels for the hit shows, So You Think You Can Dance, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Weakest Link and VH1’s Bands Reunited, among others. She is part of TwinBridges Screenwriting Salon.
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