11 Best Screenwriting Festivals Every Writer Should Know

Festival Dates: 10/29-11/5 2026

You like barbecue? You like screenwriting? Then the Austin Film Festival is the perfect screenwriting festival for you! Often called “the writer’s film festival,” the Austin Film Festival is widely considered the most screenwriter-focused festival in the world. That’s due in heavy part to hosting the famous Writers Conference, featuring hundreds of panels and conversations with professional screenwriters, Showrunners, and filmmakers alike.

Their script competition comes with cash prizes for a variety of categories, including horror, drama, comedy, and sci-fi (sadly, no barbecue fiction prize exists yet), for both film and TV entries. Top prizes even include stipends for hotel rooms, so you can take your victory lap in person.

Looking for a travel-free screenplay competition? Then try the Scriptation Showcase!

The Scriptation Showcase is one of the only screenwriting contest that circulates winners’ scripts to the Hollywood directors, Showrunners, and producers behind your favorite films and TV shows. The top twenty-five (25) scripts get an exclusive feature in Scriptation, the Emmy® winning app used on thousands of productions worldwide.

The finalists also gain access to real TV Writers, in the Showcase Writers Roundtable:

Festival Dates: 1/21-1/31 2027

You’ve heard of apres ski, but what about apres screenwriting? The Sundance Film Festival is the crown jewel of screenwriting festivals, as the Sundance Institute has helped incubate filmmakers from Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson to Chloe Zhao and Ryan Coogler. While best known for film premieres (and a buyers’ market), their writer support measures include strong mentorship programs, script labs, and industry conversations that focus on storytelling and writer development.

If you’ve never been to Park City, Utah, you won’t get the chance next year, as the festival moves to Boulder, Colorado for the very first time. There’s sure to be plenty of craft cocktails mixed with craft conversations at the new Sundance, and we’re excited to see what the location change will bring for this historical screenwriting festival.

Festival Dates: 6/17-6/26 2026 (London edition)

Raindance is the largest independent film festival with offerings in LA, London, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels – so if you’re looking to cross a city off your travel bucket list, this may be the screenwriting festival to focus on. Established in 1992 by Elliot Grove, you can find both long and short-form submissions no matter what country you attend in.

You’ll get your usual panels, workshops, and networking attending a Raindance, along with a healthy buyer’s market. You’ll be in good company if you get a premiere here, too, as Christopher Nolan did with Memento in 2000. Want to try something new? Check out their immersive experiences, celebrating ten years of something different in 2026.

Festival Dates: TBD 2027

Founded by filmmakers (and, you’re not going to believe this – for filmmakers), Slamdance has built a reputation for spotlighting bold, independent voices. The Los Angeles-based non-profit (they offer way more than just a traditional screenwriting festival) emphasizes community and discovery, making it a great place for emerging writers to find a screenwriting group, a producer, representation, and more.

Slamdance is a year-round experience thanks to it’s various workshops, screenings, grants, and mentorship offerings for all types of creatives. You can learn a lot about screenwriting festivals at Slamdance, sure, but you can also learn about emerging digital and interactive art styles, experimental film, and a new system to get your work seen instead of relying on an Old-Hollywood hierarchy.

If you’re looking for a community to go with your punch ups, Slamdance may be the perfect fit for the LA-based screenwriter. While often a solemn profession, screenwriters grow the more exposure they have to other voices and readers, which this festival is happy to help cultivate.

You’ve got your festival tickets, your passport (maybe), your travel snacks. Good to go? No! You can’t forget to bring your Scriptation.

Not only can you easily read and review your scripts on the way to your screenwriting festival of choice, but you now have a hub for all the networking you’re about to embark on. You can use Scriptation to house any key-note speeches or presentations you’re giving about your projects, track all the collaborators notes on your drafts (try doing it by Layer!), and easily send scripts to prospective buyers with your full shooting plan attached.

Tired for reading all the wonderful screenplay festival offerings? Try listening to them in Scriptation for a new way to take in the fest’s hottest screenplays.

Try Scriptation’s free script annotation app and bring it with you to all your screenwriting festivals!

Festival Dates: 9/24–9/30 2026

Do you like country music, hot chicken, and telling your story through various media? Then the Nashville Film Festival is for you! Touting itself as “The future of film“, the Nashville Film Festival is one of the longest-running film festivals in the United States (est. 1969). Nashville Film Festival hosts educational events and industry programming that explore storytelling and film production.

In 2024, Nash Film received more than 3,800 submissions from over 100 countries and programmed 183 films; while that makes the chances of getting in slim, it also means if you make it? You’ve made it. While also being open to non-fiction films, this may be the screenwriting festival to focus on if you find yourself drawn to documentary storytelling.

Festival Dates: 4/23-5/3 2026

Have you been meaning to check out one of the biggest new entertainment production centers in the US? Then the Atlanta Film Festival is another great reason to visit the ATL. Over the past decade Atlanta has become one of the largest film production hubs in the U.S., and its flagship festival has grown right alongside it. 2026 is a big year, too, as the ATLFF celebrates it’s 50th year. Another Academy Award qualifying festival (in three categories), this hallowed fest focuses on stories of under represented groups by a melting pot of screenwriters, directors, producers and more.

If you’re looking to find your break in the industry, this may be the screenwriting festival for you – the festival has hosted notable first works from the likes of Spike Lee, David Gordon Green, Tina Mabry, Robert Rodriguez, RuPaul, and Ray McKinnon (among many – MANY – others).

Festival Dates: Throughout the year!

Do you like the Academy Awards and short films? Then the HollyShorts festival is one for you! HollyShorts focuses on short-form storytelling and brings together filmmakers from around the world. It’s a great festival for writers who want to explore short films or collaborate with directors. This Oscar®-qualifying short film festival based in Los Angeles has been running since 2005, and has grown into a premier platform for independent filmmakers worldwide.

As an Academy Awards-qualifying festival in four categories, HollyShorts presents a diverse selection of innovative short films across many genres. Shorts are a great way for an emerging screenwriter to show their stuff, as many short films serve as proof-of-concept for a full-length feature. Pilot presentations for TV are essentially the same thing; take this short, and imagine it as a weekly episodic offering. If you’re a writer who feels stuck with where they’re at, maybe try writing a short for one of the screenwriting festivals featured here – it may end up being the proof-of-concept your career needed.

Check out the Hollyshorts Comedy Film Festival (celebrating it’s 10th year!) this May 1st.

Festival Dates: 11/4-11/8 2026

Do you like having a passport and know how to use screenwriting software? Then the Aesthetica Short Film Festival is, indeed, the one for you! This BAFTA and BIFA-qualifying festival blends film screenings with masterclasses and panels covering filmmaking and storytelling. Based in York (the old one), Aesthetica brings a multi-media program that loops in VR and gaming with traditional screenwriting festival fare.

An often under represented piece of screenwriting is that of narrative and experimental video games. A writer can just as easily bring characters to life in a world trying to kill them – think The Last of Us -and tell powerful stories about climate change, parenting, and grief. Attending a screenwriting festival that has game writing (not game coding) offerings is a wonderful way to learn more about that side of the craft.

Check out the trailer for their 2025 edition to get a sense of the artistry on display across multiple mediums:

Festival Dates: TBD 2027 (was January 2026 for features, will be June for Shorts)

Presented by the Film Society, the Palm Springs International ShortFest (PSIFF) is one of the largest short film festivals in all of North America. Held every June, PSFIFF is another great opportunity to try and break in through a short-form offering.

The International Film Festival (full length edition) takes place every January and is a great way for LA-based screenwriting festival seekers to get a taste of the networking opportunities the right festival can provide. And hey, the drive out to Palm Springs is a chance to have a mobile story meeting (or listen to a script using Scriptation).

PSIFF is unofficially recognized as the first stop on the road to the Academy Awards®, with their Oscar®-qualifying ShortFest kicking off the season. With a focus on encouraging new filmmaking talent and growing audience’s film exposure, this screenwriting festival is an amazing opportunity for undiscovered writers to find their champions. And LA artists have certainly taken road trips for far less.

Festival Dates: 6/4-6/13 2026

Robert De Niro co-founded the famed Tribeca Festival, and over the years screenwriters and filmmakers have helped it grow into one of the most influential storytelling festivals in the world. Tribecca hosts many exclusive conversations with titans of the industry in NYC each spring, sharing their stories with the next generation of talent both on and off the screenplay page.

You also find makers of games, music, audio stories (aka podcasts), and immersive experiences blending together to network over the selection of panels and screenings. For NY-based screenwriters, this festival is an absolute must – not just for what you’ll see, but who you’ll meet. Tribecca’s strong roots in independent film means more chances for less-established artists to make the connections that will take them from listening to speakers from the audience to being on stage themselves.

Festival Dates: March 12-18th, 2026… AKA right now! Check out the full schedule!

SXSW (the second Austin-based festival for screenwriters on the list) blends film, technology, and media innovation over a. For writers, it’s a great place to explore new storytelling formats and meet creators working across film, TV, and digital media mediums.

It has everything the above festivals bring, but also a certain something you can’t find at just any screenwriting festival – buzz. You get buzz at SXSW (or ‘South by’ to the cool kids), and you can write your ticket almost anywhere.

It’s a full plate of offerings at South By each March, as the Film & TV Festival runs alongside their Innovation Conference, Music Conference & Festival, and Comedy Festival. So no matter what your discipline, there’s something for you to see, learn, or connect with when you make the trip. The sheer number of opportunities packed across Austin makes for a lot of possibilities; stories, inspiration, and, unfortunately, crowds. But if it wasn’t good, it wouldn’t be busy, and no matter what festival you attend in your screenwriting journey you’re likely to have some wait time.

You should make your way down at least once in your career; hopefully, it’s to promote one of your own offerings as you reach the next level.

These 11 Best Screenwriting Festivals Every Writer Should Know are just the launch pad to your next great screenplay – whether you turn that into a short, a feature, or enter a contest like Scriptation Showcase, you have the potential end game. Now open up your favorite writing program and get to the start!

Follow the Scriptation blog for more on where to go to network, promote your material, and be on the cutting edge of what’s next.