Prime Time competition heats up

18 November, 2016

The Australian Writers’ Guild’s Prime Time screenwriting competition has received more than 500 entries, making it one of Australia’s most hotly contested writing competitions.

The new competition, which is for writers who have an original script or idea for a commercially viable prime time television series, has a $10,000 first prize, with the shortlisted entrants also invited to join AWG’s prestigious Pathways Program – which showcases their work to key industry, including making their projects eligible for development and funding by Scripted Ink.

The competition, which is now in the judging stage, received entries across all genres of TV production, including drama, comedy, thriller and science-fiction.

Jacqueline Elaine, Executive Director of the Guild, said the Guild was thrilled with the response to the Prime Time competition.

‘The number of entries received for Prime Time is the greatest for any screenwriting competition we have ever run,’ Elaine said. ‘We are excited to showcase Australian screenwriters and their work, linking talent with industry opportunities through our acclaimed Pathways Program.’

A longlist of the entries will be finalised before the end of the year. This list will then go through a second round of judging, before a shortlist is handed over to the final judging panel of industry experts early in 2017.

A winner is expected to be announced in January 2017.