TV PILOT
Now OPEN for Submissions!
We’re currently in a clear Golden Age of TV. With audiences’ increasing desires for escapism and purely bingeable TV, it has never been this good. And there have never been as many opportunities for screenwriters to write for TV. There were a record 532 scripted TV programs in 2019. That’s a lot of pages of TV that need to be written.
Some of the best writing happens for TV. Some of the best stories being told are being told on TV. When it comes to television, it’s a writer’s world. Writers become producers and showrunners of TV shows.
Streaming services like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Apple TV+ are eager to find TV writers with unique voices. That is what our competition is for. We want to find undiscovered talented TV writers and connect them with the industry, so one day they’ll be able to write for their favorite TV Show. So, finish your TV Pilot script, submit it to our competition and let us do the rest.
THE JURY
Our 6 Judges who have won Emmy Awards, Golden Globes, and Writer's Guild Awards will decide this year’s TV Pilot Winner. These are all writers and producers who have written and produced and are still writing and producing for some of the best Outstanding Tv Series available today.
Top TV Pilot scripts are considered by our unprecedented Emmy Award-winning and Writer's Guild Award-winning writers, creators, and producers. Our jury includes:
Susan Soon He Stanton - producer and writer on HBO's Succession - Emmy Award Winner
Susan is a playwright, television writer, and screenwriter based between New York and London. Susan is a producer/writer on HBO’s Succession, for which she has won an Emmy, a WGA and Peabody Award. Upcoming television work includes HBO/Sister Picture’s THE BABY, Amazon’s Modern Love, Amazon/Annapurna’s Dead Ringers, Hulu/Element Pictures/BBC’s Conversation with Friends adapted from the novel by Sally Rooney, as well as several projects in development. She has worked on projects for Amazon, Annapurna, Netflix, and Pixar, among others.
Her plays have been produced internationally and regionally across the United States. In film, she is a co-writer for the award-winning feature film Brooklyn Love Stories. She received a Feature Film Development Grant and Screenwriting Award from the Sloan Foundation.
She has taught playwriting at UT Austin’s MFA Program, SUNY Purchase, New York University, Yale University, as well as various other institutions regionally and internationally.
RULES
Erik Bork - Producer and Writer on HBO's Band of Brothers - Two Times Emmy Award Winner & Two Times Golden Globe Award Winner
​
Erik is a Two-Times Emmy Award-winning & Two Times Golden Globe Award-winning screenwriter, producer, script consultant, and blogger best known for his work on the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and From the Earth to the Moon. He got his start in Hollywood as an assistant to Tom Hanks, who gave him the opportunity to help write and produce From the Earth to the Moon, after reading some sitcom spec scripts he had written. Bork has sold series pitches and written pilots at NBC and FOX worked on the writing staff for two primetime dramas, and written feature screenplays on assignment for companies including Universal Studios, HBO, TNT, and Playtone.
He also teaches screenwriting for UCLA Extension, National University and The Writers Store, and offers one-on-one consulting to writers. His multi-category Amazon best-selling book THE IDEA: The Seven Elements of a Viable Story for Screen, Stage, or Fiction was released in 2018. For more info check his webpage https://www.flyingwrestler.com.
RULES
Ron Leshem - Executive Producer on HBO’s Euphoria - Emmy Award Nominee & Academy Award Nominee
Ron Leshem is a writer, Emmy-nominated producer, TV executive, and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter. He is best known for serving as executive producer on HBO's Euphoria and for the film Beaufort, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
He co-created and co-wrote the original version of Euphoria (2012) which HBO’s Euphoria (2019) is based on. In 2018, he joined the American production of HBO’s Euphoria as an executive producer.
He co-created and wrote the television series No Man's Land (Hulu), Valley of Tears, Euphoria, The Gordin Cell, and the film Incitement, in addition to his career as a television executive.
As head of programming and content for Keshet TV, he commissioned and oversaw the development and production of some of the most popular and successful Israeli TV series, including Prisoners Of War (the Israeli original version of Homeland), the A-word, Traffic Light, and Arab Labor.
He is also a bestselling author. He won Israel's top literary award, the Sapir Prize for Literature, and has been published in 22 languages.
RULES
Jamie Lee - Producer and Writer on Ted Lasso - Two Times Emmy Award Winner
Jamie Lee is a stand-up comedian, actor and two-time Emmy award winning television writer/producer. She starred as Ali Reissen, the female lead in the Judd Apatow-produced HBO series CRASHING, opposite Pete Holmes and wrote/starred in “The Viewing Party” episode, which was directed by Judd Apatow and honored by the New York Times in their piece on The Best TV Episodes of 2019.
In December 2016, Lee released her debut book Weddiculous (Harper Collins), which was adapted by Netflix and ITV as a series titled THE WEDDING COACH, hosted and Executive Produced by Jamie and premiered on April 7th, 2021.
Jamie is currently an Executive Producer on the mega-hit Apple TV+ series TED LASSO and has won an Emmy (2x), Peabody, WGA (2x), PGA & Critics Choice Award for her work on the series. Most recently, Jamie served as a Co-Executive Producer on KILLING IT (Peacock) created by BROOKLYN NINE-NINE duo Dan Goor and Luke Del Tredici and starring Craig Robinson.
Hartley Gorenstein, P.G.A. - Producer on The Boys - Emmy Award Nominee
Hartley Gorenstein is a renowned producer whose films and TV series have achieved both critical and popular success. He has worked on multiple high-profile film and television projects.
His credits include the Best Picture nominated feature Room (starring Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay) and Emmy Award Nominee The Boys (created by Eric Kripke and Gorenstein produced alongside Seth Rogen, Neal Moritz, and Evan Goldberg). The Boys has been nominated for 6 Primetime Emmys along with multiple guild awards.
Other producing credits include the highly anticipated film Polar, The Grizzlies, Goon: Last of the Enforcers and Pompeii.
For television, Gorenstein produced three seasons of the popular series Man Seeking Woman for FX, as well as the pilot for the breakout hit series The Bold Type. He also produced What We Do in the Shadows, a half-hour comedy series for FX based on Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s popular mockumentary horror film. The series is executive produced by Clement and Waititi, along with Scott Rudin, Paul Simms, Garrett Basch and Eli Bush.
Olivier Sultan - Literary Agent at leading entertainment agency CAA
Olivier Sultan is a Theater Literary Agent at the leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Olivier represents both established and emerging writers, directors, composers, and designers including Emmy Award Winners and Academy Award Winners. His clients include:
Stephen Daldry - Two Times Emmy Award Winner for The Crown and Three Times Academy Award Nominee
Danny Strong - Two Times Emmy Award Winner for Game Change (2012) and Two Times Emmy Award Nominee for Dopesick (2021)
Florian Zeller - Academy Award winner for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Father
Alexander Dinelaris - Academy Award winner for Best Original Screenplay for Birdman
Nikole Beckwith - 2012 Nicholl Winner, 2012 Black List for Stockholm, Pennsylvania.
Olivier Sultan also represents Pulitzer Prize winning playwrights Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks and Martyna Majok and Tony winners Stephen Daldry, Duncan Sheik, Steven Sater, David Yazbek, Bill T. Jones, David Rockwell and Derek McLan
PRIZES
Two Grand Prize Winners:
1HR Grand Prize Winner will receive:
- $1,000 CASH AWARD
- MENTORSHIP with Emmy Winner ERIK BORK (writer on HBO's Band of Brothers)
- The Idea - an exclusive Online Course from Erik Bork ($500 value)
- Your script will be sent to our Judges & specially chosen members of our Industry contacts
- Script development with Outstanding Screenplays, with our help and suggestions on how to get your TV Pilot produced.
1/2HR Grand Prize Winner will receive:
- $1,000 CASH AWARD
- MENTORSHIP with Emmy Winner SUSAN SOON HE STANTON (writer on Succession)
- The Idea - an exclusive Online Course from Erik Bork ($500 value)
- Your script will be sent to our Judges & specially chosen members of our Industry contacts
- Script development with Outstanding Screenplays, with our help and suggestions on how to get your TV Pilot produced
* 2 Winners and 3 Runners-up will receive a copy of the NEWEST Final Draft 12 - The screenwriting software used by 95% of Hollywood (5 x $217.55 value)
Top 15 Finalists:
The top 15 Finalists will receive:
* Each of the 15 finalists will receive an EXCLUSIVE one page written feedback report from one of our 6 Emmy Award Winning and Writer's Guild Award Winning/Nominated judges!
* Each of the 15 finalists will receive a collection of 5 Audio classes by Erik Bork (including Story Concept, Main Character, Act One, Act Two, Act Three) (15 x $49 value).
Semi-Finalists:
* Each of the 120 semi-finalists will receive a copy of the Script Hackr: The extensive online step-by-step screenwriting course from Script Reader Pro (120 x $99 value)
Quarter-Finalists:
* All quartefinalists, semifinalist, finalists and winners will be published on our Instagram and all our other social media accounts. We currently have more than 780.000 followers combined and this will be an important exposure for you and will create more opportunities for your screenplay and your writing career.
* Your script will be sent to our Judges & specially chosen members of our industry contacts. You don’t need to be one of our finalists to have your script sent out. If we notice an interesting script that we know a certain producer, agent, or manager will be interested to read, we'll contact you and ask if we can send it to a certain industry contact.
All Entries:
We’re on a mission to help and support ALL screenwriters who enter our competitions, not just the finalists and winners. If you have written a TV script and submit to our competition, this shows your intent that you are serious about your screenwriting career. We value that intent. Just with entering you will immediately get on our radar and we will monitor your development from script to script and how your writing is improving.
In addition, EVERYONE who enters will receive:
* FREE eBook THE IDEA by Erik Bork - Regularly listed on the top 10 lists of the best Screenwriting books, The Idea, written by Multiple Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning writer/producer Erik Bork (HBO’s Band of Brothers) takes a different approach to the craft of screenwriting. It's all about selecting that initial idea. A clever, well thought out initial idea is what will motivate Hollywood “gatekeepers” to read your script.
PRIZES
At the program's request, Coverfly will automatically remove your title page for you if you include one when submitting to this program.
TV Pilot Scripts should be within 15 - 70 pages.
All scripts must be written in English.
We welcome submissions from screenwriters and filmmakers from all countries around the world.
Material submitted must be written and owned by the person submitting.
There is no age limit. All ages can enter.
There is no limit on the number of scripts a writer may submit. You are allowed to submit as many entries as you like.
Outstanding Screenplays claims no ownership of your work. All ownership and rights to the scripts submitted to this competition remain with the original rights of the person(s) that submitted.
All decisions of Outstanding Screenplays are final. By applying to this competition each participant agrees to hold Outstanding Screenplays, our judges and sponsors immune from any competition disputes, claims, liabilities, and expenses.
Please contact us via info@outstandingscreenplays.com if you have any further questions.
OUR 2021 COMPETITION
ABOUT
We’re currently in a clear Golden Age of TV. With audiences’ increasing desires for escapism and purely bingeable TV, it has never been this good. And there have never been as many opportunities for screenwriters to write for TV. There were a record 532 scripted TV programs in 2019. That’s a lot of pages of TV that need to be written.
Some of the best writing happens for TV. Some of the best stories being told are being told on TV. When it comes to television, it’s a writer’s world. Writers become producers and showrunners of TV shows.
Streaming services like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Apple TV+ are eager to find TV writers with unique voices. That is what our competition is for. We want to find undiscovered talented TV writers and connect them with the industry, so one day they’ll be able to write for their favorite TV Show. So, finish your TV Pilot script, submit it to our competition and let us do the rest.
THE PRIZES
Grand Prize Winner
*$1,000 cash award
*The Idea - an exclusive Online Course from Erik Bork ($700 value)
*Your script will be sent to our Judges & specially chosen members of our Industry contacts
*Script development with Outstanding Screenplays, with our help and suggestions on how to get your TV Pilot produced
​
Top 25 Finalists
*Each of the 25 finalists will receive an EXCLUSIVE one page written feedback report from one of our 7 Emmy Award Winning and Writer's Guild Award Winning/Nominated judges!
* Each of the 25 finalists will receive a copy of the NEWEST Final Draft 12 - The screenwriting software used by 95% of Hollywood (25 x $249.99 value)
* Each of the 25 finalists will receive a copy of the Script Hackr: The extensive online step-by-step screenwriting course from Script Reader Pro (25 x $299 value)
* Each of the 25 finalists will receive a collection of 5 Audio classes by Erik Bork (including Story Concept, Main Character, Act One, Act Two, Act Three) (25 x $49 value).
* All 25 finalists will be published on our Instagram and all our other social media accounts. We currently have more than 270.000 followers combined and this will be an important exposure for you and will create more opportunities for your screenplay and your writing career.
​
All Entries
We’re on a mission to help and support ALL screenwriters who enter our competitions, not just the finalists and winners. If you have written a TV script and submit to our competition, this shows your intent that you are serious about your screenwriting career. We value that intent. Just with entering you will immediately get on our radar and we will monitor your development from script to script and how your writing is improving.
In addition, EVERYONE who enters will receive:
* FREE eBook THE IDEA by Erik Bork - Regularly listed on the top 10 lists of the best Screenwriting books, The Idea, written by Multiple Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning writer/producer Erik Bork (HBO’s Band of Brothers) takes a different approach to the craft of screenwriting. It's all about selecting that initial idea. A clever, well thought out initial idea is what will motivate Hollywood “gatekeepers” to read your script.
* An invitation to a private Outstanding Screenplays forum where we’ll discuss ideas and improvements for TV Pilots, TV Shows and Web Series and how to get them produced. On the forum, we’ll also share exclusive posts for more advanced screenwriting techniques.
* A $15 gift card from us to be redeemed on our Script Coverage services.
* 10% off of ALL subsequent Outstanding Screenplays Competitions (Shorts, TV Pilot and Feature competitions)
​
RULES
At the program's request, Coverfly will automatically remove your title page for you if you include one when submitting to this program.
TV Pilot Scripts should be within 15 - 70 pages.
All scripts must be written in English.
We welcome submissions from screenwriters and filmmakers from all countries around the world.
Material submitted must be written and owned by the person submitting.
There is no age limit. All ages can enter.
There is no limit on the number of scripts a writer may submit. You are allowed to submit as many entries as you like.
Outstanding Screenplays claims no ownership of your work. All ownership and rights to the scripts submitted to this competition remain with the original rights of the person(s) that submitted.
All decisions of Outstanding Screenplays are final. By applying to this competition each participant agrees to hold Outstanding Screenplays, our judges and sponsors immune from any competition disputes, claims, liabilities, and expenses.
Please contact us via info@outstandingscreenplays.com if you have any further questions.
​
THE JURY
Our 7 Judges who have won Emmy Awards, Golden Globes and Writer's Guild Awards will decide this year’s TV Pilot Winner. These are all writers who have written and are still writing for some of the best Outstanding TV series available today.
​
Top TV Pilot scripts are considered by our unprecedented Emmy Award winning and Writer's Guild Award winning writers, creators and producers. Our jury includes:
​
Erik Bork - writer on Band of Brothers - Two Times Emmy Award Winner & Two Times Golden Globe Award Winner
​
Erik is a Two Times Emmy Award winning & Two Times Golden Globe Award winning screenwriter, producer, script consultant and blogger best known for his work on the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and From the Earth to the Moon. He got his start in Hollywood as an assistant to Tom Hanks, who gave him the opportunity to help write and produce From the Earth to the Moon, after reading some sitcom spec scripts he had written. Bork has sold series pitches and written pilots at NBC and FOX, worked on the writing staff for two primetime dramas, and written feature screenplays on assignment for companies including Universal Studios, HBO, TNT, and Playtone. He also teaches screenwriting for UCLA Extension Writers' Program, National University and The Writers Store.
Marion Dayre - writer on Better Call Saul - Six Times Writer's Guild Award Nominee
Marion is a six times Writer’s Guild Award nominated writer who has worked on Better Call Saul and is the lead writer on Marvel’s upcoming Disney+ series Echo. She’s got an MFA in Screenwriting which she acquired at UCLA.
Read our interview with Marion here.
Alyson Feltes - writer on Ozark - Emmy Award Nominee
Alyson is an Emmy award nominated writer and showrunner on shows like Ozark and The Alienist. She is the founder and president of Misou Media LLC which owns and develops properties for traditional, digital and social media. As a writer and producer, Feltes has made a name for herself by building emotional characters within a muscular TV landscape. In addition to her work on Ozark, Feltes is also working on new material based on books by Chelsea Clinton.
Noah Gardenswartz - writer on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - Writer's Guild Award Winner
Noah is a New York based comedian and writer. He is a writer on Amazon's Emmy and Golden-Globe winning show, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” for which he’s received a WGA award. He has his own Comedy Central special and was a semi-finalist on NBC's "Last Comic Standing," and has released two chart-topping comedy albums, "Blunt" and "White Men Can't Joke."
Susan Soon He Stanton - writer on Succession - Emmy Award Winner
Susan is a playwright, television writer, and screenwriter based between New York and London. Susan is a producer/writer of HBO's Succession, for which she has won an Emmy, a WGA and a Peabody Award. She has worked on projects for Amazon, Annapurna, Netflix, and Pixar, among others. Her plays have been produced internationally and regionally across the United States. In film, she is a co-writer for the award-winning feature film Brooklyn Love Stories. She received a Feature Film Development Grant and Screenwriting Award from the Sloan Foundation.
Peter Cameron - writer on WandaVision - Emmy Award Nominee
Peter is an LA based screenwriter who has written episodes of Marvel shows like Wandavision, Moon Knight and the upcoming TV movie Werewolf by Night. His Wandavision “All-New Halloween Spooktacular!” script was nominated for an Emmy.
Ali is a versatile creator who moves easily between comedy and drama, and film and television. She writes for the Emmy-winning series The Morning Show (Apple TV+), and serves as an on-set producer. Previously, she was a Field Producer for The Daily Show spinoff The Opposition w/ Jordan Klepper (Comedy Central). She’s currently developing her first feature film as writer/director with Park Pictures.
Ali Vingiano - writer on - The Morning Show - Writer's Guild Award Nominee
