Baltimore— The Baltimore Film Office at the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) is accepting entries for the 17th annual Baltimore Screenwriters Competition. Screenplays may be submitted in both the feature and short categories, and scripts must be set in or able to be filmed in Baltimore.
The Baltimore Screenwriters Competition is a project of the Baltimore Film Office in conjunction with film programs at Johns Hopkins University and Morgan State University.
All screenwriters are encouraged to apply. Director of the Baltimore Film Office Debbie Donaldson Dorsey emphasizes, “The Baltimore Screenwriters Competition nurtures all levels of writers and the many wonderful Baltimore stories waiting to be told.”
The application and full guidelines are available at www.baltimorefilm.com. The deadline for submissions is Friday, January 21, 2022, by 5 p.m.
Submitted scripts receive coverage from students in the Johns Hopkins University and Morgan State University screenwriting programs and by local screenwriters and producers. The final screenplays are judged by industry professionals in film and television, including: producers and writers working on projects for HBO and other studios. The top entries in each category will win cash prizes, and are scheduled to be announced during the 2022 Maryland Film Festival in April 2022.
In 2021, the 16th annual Baltimore Screenwriter Competition judges Nina Noble, Ken LaZebink, MK Asante and Annette Porter awarded “Giselle, Awakened” by Bridget Bell McMahon, “Six Shots from Now” by Mike Marroga, and “Abolition” by Evan Balkan in the features category; and “Mama,” by Leesa Ashley, “Last Call,” by James A. Burkhalter, and “Stink Bomb,” by Miceal O’Donnell in the shorts category. Previous Baltimore Screenwriters Competition winners have also received Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund Fellowships, including 2020 Baltimore Screenwriter Competition winners Stephen Schuyler for “Like You Think You Know Me,” and Chung-Wei Huang, for “Squeegee Boys” who both recently shot their films in Baltimore.
For more information on the Baltimore Screenwriters Competition, call 443- 263-4313 or visit www.baltimorefilm.com.