The Save the Cat!® 2021 Screenplay Challenge

SUBMISSIONS NOW CLOSED

All entrants receive 50 points of analysis—at no extra cost. 

All scripts receive a full read. 

Feedback is grounded in structure—not subjective opinion.

Our approach is simple: a screenplay competition that uses the same language the writer, the reader, and the decision makers use when analyzing your work.

Introducing year 3 of “Blake Snyder’s SAVE THE CAT!® SCREENPLAY CHALLENGE.”

Now accepting both feature film and 60-minute TV scripts.

All entrants will receive:
• 50 points of analysis report adapted from the Save the Cat! Greenlight Checklist (Save the Cat!® Strikes Back – pages 104-108)
• A review by readers and judges trained in the Save the Cat! Methodology
• Feedback grounded in structure and marketability and consistently applied to all scripts

Awards & Prizes

Grand Prize Winner(s)
• 3-day trip to LA ($600)
• 3-night hotel stay ($1200)
• Live table read to bring your work to life
• A real pitch to a production company in LA
• 4-month subscription and magazine winners listing in INKTIP ($500 value)
• 12-month subscription to host your work on The Black List on us
• Save the Cat! 4.0 Software – 12 Month Subscription

Top 5 Finalists
• Meeting with one of the judges
• 4-month subscription and magazine winners listing in INKTIP ($500 value)
• Save the Cat! 4.0 Software – 12 Month Subscription

Your Submissions
• We want screenplays that are entertaining and have a strong and unique voice that grabs the audience – after all, if it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the screen
• See all details on the Film Freeway site (link below)

Check out Testimonials from Current Entrants and Last Year’s Winner!

JUDGES

SHEILA HANAHAN TAYLOR
Sheila Hanahan Taylor founded Practical Pictures in 2004 with Craig Perry. Past projects include Universal’s American Pie franchise, New Line Cinema’s Final Destination franchise, Warner Bros’ Cats & Dogs franchise, Universal’s Breaking In, Village Roadshow’s Oddball, Sony Pictures’ Little Black Book and The Big Hit, and Helkon Media’s RepliKate. Worldwide, they have grossed over $2 billion. Upcoming projects include a sixth installment in the Final Destination franchise, vampire thriller Nightfall, and the high-tech thriller Entry Level.

JULIET BERMAN
As Head of Development at Treehouse Pictures, Juliet oversees the development and packaging of the Treehouse Pictures’ slate. Her credits at Treehouse include Producer of Set It Up, Executive Producer on Sand Castle (both for Netflix), and Co-producer on Mediterranea.

ZACHARY LEVINE
Zachary Levine is a Creative Executive at Gilbert Films, a Los Angeles-based production and finance company known for La La Land, The Kids Are All Right, and Garden State. He oversees the development slate, tracks and ideates projects for financing and development, and scouts talent.

JAMIE NASH
The author of the soon to be released Save the Cat! Writes For TV: The Last Book on Creating Binge-Worthy Content You’ll Ever Need is a working and accomplished screenwriter. Jamie has written and sold almost every type of story under the sun, including horror films like Exists, V/H/S/2, The Night Watchmen, Altered, and Lovely Molly, and family films like Santa Hunters and Tiny Christmas. He teaches screenwriting at MICA and Johns Hopkins and co-hosts the podcast Writers/Blockbusters.

BOBBY HOPPEY
Bobby Hoppey is VP (Production and Development) at Complementary Colors. A seasoned story analyst and independent producer, Bobby was a founding member and ran development for Valparaiso Pictures, where his projects included Straight Up and the upcoming Pig with Nicolas Cage. Prior to Valparaiso, Bobby spent 5 years at Echo Lake Entertainment, where he managed projects across the film and television divisions.

DIANA MENDEZ
Diana wrote her first episode of television as a writers’ assistant on Rizzoli & Isles. She continued to hone her crime writing chops on Fox’s Rosewood, Charter’s L.A.’s Finest, and most recently as a co-producer on ABC’s The Rookie. Diana is an alum of the National Hispanic Media Coalition’s (NHMC) TV Writers Program and the Fox Writers Intensive.

CHRIS BYTHEWOOD
Chris, a film and television writer based in LA, worked as an executive at Fox Network Group and co-created the Fox Writers Initiative (FWI). He also ran TV development at Confluential Films, where he developed with the team the HBO documentary 40 Years a Prisoner, and was in the writer’s room for The Chicago Code and Shots Fired series.

WILL PHELPS
As head of production for American High — a studio with recent releases including Big Time Adolescence, The Binge, The Ultimate Playlist of Noise, and Plan B — Will oversees all development, packaging, and production

GRANDVIEW
Grandview is a creative, ambitious, inclusive and culture-first home for artists and for the managers who represent them. Among their clients are actors Olivia Cooke (Sound of Metal), Diego Boneta (Luis Miguel), Noah Jupe (Honey Boy), Rupert Friend (Death of Stalin), Common (Selma); filmmakers Hikari (37 Seconds), Jonathan Entwhistle (The End of the Fucking World), Miles Joris-Peyrafitte (Dreamland), Lucy Tcherniak (Angelyne); and writers and creators Molly Smith Metzler (Maids), Dara Resnik (Home Before Dark), Mattson Tomlin (The Batman), Matthew Lopez (The Inheritance), Zach Baylin (King Richard) and Erica Johnson (Good Lord Bird). Grandview will be reviewing the top 5 feature and TV scripts.

Watch this space for more judges to be announced soon!