News and Updates

(Dates Subject to Change)

Quarter-Finalists tba Wednesday, January 29^th, 2020
Quarter-Finalists represent the top 20-30% of scripts in each category

Resubmission Period
Writers who successfully advance to the Quarter Finalists will have an optional, 1-week resubmission period to enter a new or more current draft of their material. The Resubmission Deadline is February 6th

Semi-Finalists tba Tuesday, March 5th
Semi-Finalists represent the top 10 scripts in each category

Finalists & Spotlight Award Shortlist tba Tuesday, March 26th
Finalists are represented by the 5 best scripts in each category

Winners & Honorable Mentions tba Thursday, April 9th
The Best Script in each category plus 2x Honorable Mentions/ Spotlight Award Winners
Plus one overall Screenplay Competition Grand Prize Winner

By Fresh Voices Staff

We have made some changes to our scoring.  Why?

Roger Ebert gave the Will Ferrell comedy Anchorman three stars out of four.  You know how many stars he bestowed upon the classic film Godfather, Part II in his original 1974 review?  Three stars out of four.  Well there you have it, Roger Ebert thought a Will Ferrell comedy and an epic crime saga were exactly the same in terms of quality.

Except he didn’t.  We know he didn’t.  He’s said so.  Numeric ratings have their place and their use, but at some point a general thumbs up or thumbs down is more practical.  That’s not to say that there’s no merit in numbers, but at some point you have to wonder if you’re not just overcomplicating subjective opinions with objective-sounding numbers.

This is why we have made some changes to our scoring.

Fresh Voices Headline Judge Hossein Amini will see his film “Shanghai” released in the US by The Weinstein Company. TWC originally opened the Mikael Håfström directed film in China in 2010 but it was never released in the US. That is all about to change as the film has been slated for a limited theatrical run starting August 21, 2015.

The film, starring John Cusack, Chow Yun-Fat, Ken Watanabe and Franke Potente is a neo-noir set during the Japanese occupation of China during World War II. John Cusack plays an American Naval Intelligence Agent investigating a murder just as the US is being drawn in to the war by Pearl Harbor.

The film is produced by Academy Award Winning Producer Donna Gigliotti (Shakespeare In Love), Mike Medavoy, Barry Mendel, and Jake Myers.

Fresh Voices is pleased to congratulate the winners of the

2016-17 Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition!!