The best screenplay contests feature the best screenplays. The beauty of the competitive arena is that every screenplay begins with one writer staring at one blank page.
From there, it can take years of rewrites, late nights, difficult notes, abandoned scenes, and breakthroughs that arrive when no one else is watching.
Today, that work is being recognized.
Scriptmatix is proud to announce the official results of Scriptmatix Fellowship X, led by this year’s winning screenplay:
John Dion has been named the winner of Scriptmatix Fellowship X for his screenplay, Light Field.
His achievement places Light Field at the top of a competitive field of screenplays and marks the beginning of the next stage in his development as a writer.
As the Fellowship X winner, John will receive a three-month screenwriting fellowship with 3 free months of free Scriptmatix usage.
During the fellowship, John will have the opportunity to develop new ideas alongside a producer and executive.
The process will explore the choices that shape the reading experience: concept, structure, character, conflict, pacing, theme, and the moments that stay with an audience after the final page.
Our goal with all screenplay contest winners is to help them develop a portfolio of top-tier content and equip them with the ability to bring them to market in a modern world. It’s not just about preparing screenplays for the best screenplay contests, but to actually make the story come to life.
Scriptmatix Fellowship X FINALISTS
| TITLE | NAME |
| (Anthology) Episode One: Immortal | Collet Collins |
| A Kind of Guilt | John Cooney |
| Adventures in Serial Killing | Jack Warner |
| ALMOST CRIMINAL | Elizabeth Navello |
| Bad Juju | Josey Rodriguez |
| Breaker Hill | Robyn Kenney |
| CIVITAS: A Tale of Anathema (half-hour pilot teleplay) | Bob Singleton |
| Complicated | RIchard Reda |
| Enemy of My Enemy | Robert Lifton |
| FLIT | Gordon Carrick |
| Girl At The Drive Thru | Chantal Massuh-Fox |
| Greg’s Dojo | Jeremy Burchard |
| Hedonism | Jessica James |
| Here Come the Poons | Katie Raulerson |
| Intersection | JT Chaiyakam |
| Jewels of the Night | Javon Johnson |
| Leaving Lviv | Alexia Kosmider |
| Marko: Dog of War | Richard Norris |
| Masterpiece | Ann LeSchander |
| Mother Marilyn’s Motor Tours | Paul Hodgson |
| MUTI __Pilot Episode: ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes | Robert Bowersox |
| Mysterious Island | Don Thompson |
| Neurodivergent Society | Esabella Strickland |
| One for the Road | beth zucker |
| PowerPoint Ranger | Kelly Galvin |
| PSI Force | John Grace |
| RESISTENSIA | John Heather |
| Role Theory | Nima Najafi Kianfar |
| Secrets of the Forbidden City | Pamela PerryGoulardt |
| Space For Pluto | Jonny Gentry |
| Texians | Greg Harris |
| The Bad Habits Of Unhappy People | Chantal Massuh-Fox |
| The Death Row Cook | Jessica James |
| The Fifth Queen | Margaret Doner |
| The Ones We Keep | Rafael Paiva |
| The Reboot | Stephen Hiemstra |
| THE REWIND CONNECTION | Noel Frankel |
| The Secret Life Of A 40-Year-Old Sugar Baby | Anita Peter |
| The Wingwoman | Sophie Spiers |
| Trial Run | Haley Martin |
Reaching the finalist tier means you are amongst the best screenplay contests have to offer. Your screenplay survived every major stage of consideration and continued to stand out as the field became smaller.
These scripts did more than make a strong first impression.
They held attention.
They gave readers characters to follow, conflicts to invest in, and a reason to keep turning pages.
Every Scriptmatix Fellowship X finalist should view this placement as a serious achievement. Their work reached the final level of the competition and earned recognition among the strongest submissions in the fellowship.
A finalist placement is the result of a screenplay competing at a high level from the opening pages through the final scene.
Honoring the Semi-Finalists
| TITLE | NAME |
| A | Pam Price |
| A Good Goodbye | J.N. Gould |
| Absolute Faith | Mary Haarmeyer |
| Afterlives | Jayme McMillan |
| Alligator | Jenya Unknown |
| AVALON | Achraf EL BADAAI |
| Beyond The Arc | David Mills |
| Civitas: A Tale of Anathema | Bob Singleton |
| Courier Seven | J.N. Gould |
| Crescendo | Michael Carrithers |
| Dearly Departed | Caleb Nicholas |
| Death Cloak | markus meedt |
| East London Western | George Gifkins |
| ENYO | John O’Connor |
| FALLOW | Clementine Moss |
| Family Foreclosure | Chic Perkins |
| Flame of the Iceni – Pilot Script | Laura Harris |
| Forsaken, Texas | Jordan Jacobson |
| Friends & Family | Lowell Shull |
| Gary God of Light | Phil Keenan |
| Gettysburg | Edward Veltre |
| Ground to Cloud | Bryant Karnes |
| Harry’s Hill | Jeff Reese |
| Hell That Rolls | Kobi Mccarthy |
| Hiding Bodies (feature) | Bear Kosik |
| Hindsight | Arthur Tiersky |
| Influence | Quinn Katherman |
| Life In The Bottle | John kmiecik |
| Love and Death in Hollywood: A Dillon Fuhrman Mystery | Dillon Fuhrman |
| Lu Bomb! | Bernadette Atuahene |
| Marked Souls: Pennsylvania | RIchard Reda |
| Medusa: An Animated Series | Ruby Mainieri |
| Moon Magic | Robbie Filios |
| Nevermore | Eris Robinson |
| Occam’s Beard | David Ezell |
| Orchid | Jarad Kopciak |
| Palmetto | Greg Emmerth |
| Pax Americana | anatoly bloom |
| PEAK WATER | John Boal |
| Pool Boy | Jeremy Roth |
| Promethean | Heather Graham |
| River Maiden | Douglas Serven |
| ROGER LAMB | Stephen Brodsky |
| Santiagatita | Chic Perkins |
| SCARLET | Pascal Franchot |
| Serpent’s Run | Erik J. Waldman |
| Shreveport | Kevin Michael Morin |
| Some Desperate Glory | Bert Pigg |
| Sotto Voce: Omerta | sotto voce omerta |
| Stinky Pears and Turtle Farts | Esabella Strickland |
| STRATEGIC AMBIGUITY 101 | John Boal |
| Tennessee Whiskey | Albert Mason |
| The Attic | Glenn Pollard |
| The Comeback | Sasha Tishman |
| The Control Variable | Aaron Lieben |
| The Devil Inside | Bert Pigg |
| The Escape Artists | varun vaswani |
| the Last Stuntman | Michael Gonzalez |
| The Loss of Silence | Kevin Brunner |
| The Morning After the Morning After | Roberta Roy |
| The Red Card | Kevin Michael Morin |
| The Shiner and the Shark | Mark Wasserman |
| The Triangle Girls: Episode 1 ‘Ignite’ | Jane Ann Gonzalez |
| The Wachtkamer | Norman Siopis |
| The West Moon Chronicle | Frank Kim |
| Time Before the Fall | Suzanne Birrell |
| TIME TRACKER | George Schwimmer |
| Trials of Faith | Aaron Carter |
| Uncle Joey | Maria Felicetti |
| Valerie August | Mak Deezal |
| Van 59 | Brian Trotter |
| Where She Should Be (Previously; The Last Time She Counted) | Abhishek Mishrra |
The semi-finalist tier represents another major creative milestone and are amongst the best screenplay contest submissions.
Each selected screenplay rose above a large portion of the field and demonstrated a level of craft, control, and storytelling potential that demanded further consideration.
These writers created something readers could see.
A world.
A character under pressure.
A decision with consequences.
A story strong enough to remain in contention as the competition narrowed.
Becoming a Scriptmatix Fellowship X semi-finalist confirms that the screenplay connected on the page and distinguished itself within a competitive group of writers.
Recognizing the Quarter-Finalists
| TITLE | NAME |
| A Funeral for the Forecast | Jack Reynolds |
| A Map of Unclaimed Hours | Lucas Bennett |
| A Soft Place to Vanish | Connor Hayes |
| A Town Called Elsewhere | Cole Bennett |
| After the Neon Rain | Brandon Lee |
| Aftermath in Room 204 | Noah Kaplan |
| All the Quiet Fires | Lauren Bishop |
| AMARU: The Origin Story | Jenesis Scott |
| Batgirl | Emily Marsh |
| Black Coffee for Ghosts | Nolan Brooks |
| Borrowed Thunder | Jordan Pike |
| Can We Talk? | GEORGE PETRICK |
| Child | Gregg Vines |
| Clouds Over Little Havana | Sofia Alvarez |
| Copper Birds | Lena Calloway |
| Crowned with Laurel | Ilysa Spencer |
| Disclosure | Darius Wright |
| DIZZY’S WORLD ¬© pilot script | R Lawrence |
| Dust Choir | Jasmine Walker |
| Everyone Leaves Through Reno | Mason Carter |
| Evolution | Garry Pratt |
| Exit Signs for Astronauts | Caleb Foster |
| Feral Mountains | Terry Podnar |
| Fireside Mathematics | Gabriel Moreau |
| Forever Forward | Michael Lemish |
| Funeral Music for Satellites | Maxwell Turner |
| Hollow County Morning | Marcus Ellison |
| Horsemen | J.N. Gould |
| Instinct | Michael Addiego |
| It’s A Fine Day | Kent Flaagan |
| Last Call in Briar County | Derek Lawson |
| Little Deaths | Marisa Drinkwater |
| Marked Souls: Florida | RIchard Reda |
| Midnight at the Switchyard | Trevor Hale |
| Motel Aurora | Samantha Reeves |
| No Saints in Dayton | Garrett McBride |
| Nobody Lives on Bellflower Road | Grace Sullivan |
| North of the Siren | Dylan West |
| Paper Saints of Marigold Avenue | Diego Morales |
| Parking Lot Messiah | Tyler Donovan |
| Prairie Fever Dream | Spencer Cole |
| Psyche | Amaya Jones |
| Radio | Majid Farzolahi |
| Rain Checks for Strangers | Bianca Rossi |
| Red Hands at Noon | Isaac Romero |
| Renegade of Light | Dennis Higgins |
| Saltwater for Breakfast | Logan Pierce |
| Shadows of the Steppe’ | Unknown Unknown |
| Silver Teeth | Cameron Brooks |
| Static Bloom | Maya Collins |
| Stay alive | Majid Farzolahi |
| Steinberg | Hanni Steppan |
| STREET GIGS | Vanessa M. Chattman |
| Sunday Dogs | Miles Cartwright |
| The Archive of Bad Decisions | Hannah Price |
| The Blue Apartment | Chloe Anderson |
| The Boy Who Counted Sirens | Adrian Torres |
| The Boysenberry Republic | Paige Hamilton |
| The Chapel of Broken Radios | Amelia Grant |
| The Choir Beneath the Floorboards | Tessa Moore |
| The Clockmaker’s Bad Daughter | Emma Richardson |
| The Crow | Majid Farzolahi |
| The Dead Letter Summer | Fatima El-Sayed |
| The Electric Widow | Nina Patel |
| The Empty Seat at Table Nine | Ryan Campbell |
| The Family Trick | Elizabeth Appell |
| The Interns | Rafael Jennings |
| Three Knocks | Evan Kail |
| The Forgotten Weight of Snow | Angela Chen |
| The Girl Who Lent Out Her Shadow | Miriam Haddad |
| The Glass Tide | Ethan Brooks |
| The Good Luck Department | Kristen Blake |
| The Gospel of Small Mistakes | Kayla Morrison |
| The House That Learned to Whisper | Megan O’Rourke |
| The Island of Unsent Letters | Sarah Kim |
| The Knife Drawer Confession | Patrick O’Neill |
| The Last Honest Motel | Rebecca Walsh |
| The Last Orchard on Mercer Street | Daniel Whitaker |
| The Last Picnic in Queens | Henry Delgado |
| The Lighthouse Tax | Owen Carlisle |
| The Man Who Misplaced Tuesday | Nathan Adler |
| The Memory of Paper Planes | Claire Donovan |
| The Museum of Almosts | Leila Mansour |
| The Night We Sold the Moon | Brooke Sinclair |
| The Orchard Beneath the Airport | Priya Shah |
| The Paper Lantern Theory | Rachel Monroe |
| The Piano in the Laundromat | Elena Petrović |
| The River Keeps Receipts | Natalie Mercer |
| The Sea Was Never Blue | Zoe Tremblay |
| The September Staircase | Olivia Hart |
| The Shape of Wednesday | Monica Nguyen |
| The Smallest Wildfire | Isabel Greene |
| The Theory of Missing Keys | Vivian Stone |
| The Third Room Upstairs | Jason Miller |
| The Unfinished City | Julian Marshall |
| The Weather Inside Us | Avery Mitchell |
| The Window Above Tremont | Emily Fletcher |
| Together Delirious | Ben Fussiner |
| Two Blocks from Tomorrow | Aaron Fisher |
| Velvet Flood | Aisha Carter |
| Where the Pines Remember | Madison Clarke |
| Winter Bees | Evelyn Harper |
| Wooden man | Majid Farzolahi |
Every quarter-finalist crossed an important line.
Their screenplay moved beyond the initial field and earned its place among the officially recognized projects of Scriptmatix Fellowship X.
That means the work showed clear promise are were amongst the best screenplay contest entries.
It may have been a gripping concept, a vivid voice, a memorable character, a sharp emotional turn, or a sequence that made the reader forget they were reading words on a page.
Whatever the reason, these screenplays created momentum.
They gave the judges something worth discussing.
For many writers, a quarter-finalist placement is the first outside signal that the years spent developing their craft are beginning to show on the page.
Every Placing Writer Qualifies for The Canon
The recognition does not end with this announcement.
The winner, finalists, semi-finalists, and quarter-finalists of Scriptmatix Fellowship X will be instantly qualified for The Canon, the official Scriptmatix ranking for screenwriters.
The Canon is designed to give recognized writers a continuing place inside the Scriptmatix competitive ecosystem.
Instead of allowing one achievement to disappear after the announcement, The Canon records that achievement as part of the writer’s growing competitive history.
Each placement becomes visible progress.
Each future result can build on the last.
For the writers selected in Fellowship X, this means their performance now carries forward.
Their names enter the ranking.
Their placements become part of their record.
And their work gains another opportunity to be seen.
What Makes the Best Screenplay Contest ?
Writers searching for the Best Screenplay Contest are rarely searching for a digital laurel alone.
They are searching for proof that their work connected.
They want serious recognition.
They want a result they can use.
And at the highest level, they want access to a real development opportunity.
Scriptmatix Fellowship X was built around that progression.
First, recognize the strongest work.
Then, celebrate every writer who advanced.
Finally, give the winning writer time, attention, and direct mentorship to help move the screenplay forward and rank in a competitive ecosystem.
For every winner, finalist, semi-finalist, and quarter-finalist, the achievement continues through immediate qualification for The Canon and a dedication to improving their screenplay craft.
The announcement is one moment.
The work that follows is what gives that moment weight.
Congratulations to the Writers of Scriptmatix Fellowship X
Congratulations to John Dion, the winner of Scriptmatix Fellowship X, for his screenplay Light Field.
Congratulations to every finalist who reached the final stage.
Congratulations to every semi-finalist whose work continued to rise as the field narrowed.
And congratulations to every quarter-finalist who earned official recognition and a place in The Canon.
These are the best screenplay contest entries for the season, and we now encourage you all to continue the journey of creating and ranking by continuing to create on the Scriptmatix platform.
Here is an exclusive Writer Ranking Starter Pack where you get free submissions to help you rank. Creating on the platform, getting analysis, and improving your work helps you climb the ranking and get the recognition you deserve.
