Enter the competition that has helped more writers than any other, including dozens of writers staffed on hit shows for Netflix, CBS, NBC and more.
RAISED BY WOLVES | THE MARTIAN | GLADIATOR
“Writers are an integral part of my team and without them I would not be able to do my job, so to be able to work with Launch Pad and provide a new and innovative way for them to get their work out in the world is truly exciting.”
Manager & Producer, Energy Entertainment
“The numbers speak for themselves. Beyond the massive amount of writers who have landed reps from Launch Pad, no other has led to more sales and bidding wars in existence. And beyond that, the success isn’t just here, but these scripts have landed on every major end of year list. This place starts careers!”
Launch Pad Feature Top 10 and writer of UNASSIGNED LANDS
Launch Pad is truly the most influential screenwriting competition out there. Since making Top Ten, without even hearing winning results yet, I’ve had more contact from managers and production companies than in several years of my career so far combined.
The Launch Pad Competitions have led to more signings, success stories and careers than any other screenwriting competition. With nearly a decade of experience in promoting up-and-coming writers, The Launch Pad Competition has firmly established itself as the premier hub for Hollywood to discover fresh voices and new ideas. We advocate for all of our Top 100 finalists, working with them to share their work with the right industry members to advance their career.
Our prestigious juries of industry members include managers, agents, producers and executives at companies across Hollywood. We also offer exclusive partnerships with management and production companies to give writers an extra leg up.
Through these partnerships, as well as our exclusive mentorship opportunities, we seek to provide as many avenues towards success as possible. No competition will do more to help all of their finalists take the next steps in their careers, and no competition has had as much success in helping writers break into the industry. Enter now for a chance to join this tradition of Launch Pad success.
We are committed to helping writers take meaningful steps in their career, and there is nothing more important in developing your craft than thorough, in-depth notes from a trusted source. We are proud to offer our Feedback Notes program, providing 1-2 pages of in-depth notes on your competition entry, with insight into the story, characters, writing and commercial potential showcased in the first 50 pages and synopsis of your project.
Enter with FeedbackChelsea Benson
Echo Lake Entertainment | Literary Manager
Chelsea Benson came to Echo Lake after earning her Master’s Degree in Producing from AFI in Los Angeles. She holds a BA degree in Film Production (with a minor in Literature) and a BFA degree in Dance from the University of Arizona. As a performer, she brings a unique perspective on entertainment as it relates to film and television and provides a fresh approach to the management team at Echo Lake.
Christina Hull
Bad Robot |
Christina Hull grew up in San Antonio, Texas, where she spent most of her childhood escaping the Texas heat at the movie theater. After brief stints in finance and event management, Christina started her entertainment industry career at ICM Partners in 2016. As a lifelong sci-fi and fantasy enthusiast, Christina had always been impressed by the degree to which genre content could provide a unique vehicle for social commentary. To that end, she joined J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions in 2018 and has spent the past three years working in the Features department.
Daniel Brandt
Plain Text | Manager
Formerly a VP at Lotus Entertainment, Daniel Brandt co-founded Plain Text in 2018 with Mark Finley, as a production and management company.
Eric Borja
Alldayeveryday | Literary Manager
Eric Borja is a literary manager at Alldayeveryday managing screenwriters, directors and authors. His clients include David M. Booher (Canto), Karan Sunil (Code-Switched), C. Adele Williams (My Dad the Bounty Hunter) and Daniel Furlong & Zach Posner (The Simpsons).
Jake Wagner
Alibi Entertainment | Manager
After years at Good Fear Film + Management, top manager Wagner is branching out with his own venture Alibi Entertainment. Wagner was an Executive Producer on his client Tripper Clancy’s film STUBER.
Jason Tamasco
Bad Idea Films | Co-Founder and CEO
Jason Tamasco is the co-founder and CEO of Bad Idea. Notable projects in his portfolio include the 2015 official Sundance Film Selection, BOUND TO VENGEANCE (IFC), 2016’s OPENING NIGHT (Netflix) starring Topher Grace, Anne Heche, and Taye Diggs, and 34 episodes of 2017’s EL CHAPO (Netflix & Univision Networks). Most recently he Produced the 2019 cult horror-comedy DEADTECTIVES for AMC’s Shudder.
Jasper Grey
The Vendetta Group | Manager & Producer
Jasper Grey is a Los Angeles based Manager and Producer who runs The Vendetta Group, an independent management company dedicated to championing emergent female and diverse voices in addition to an established roster of award-winning tv and film Writers and Directors. Jasper also represents production companies and financing entities that enable a holistic approach to development and production of content. With a penchant for darker themed material, Jasper is constantly on the look for tomorrow’s Cronenberg, Wachowski or Tarkovski. The team Jasper has built at The Vendetta Group has more than five decades of experience developing and producing some of the world’s biggest blockbusters including 300, V for Vendetta, and Safe House.
Jon Hersh
Housefire Management | Literary Manager
Jon Hersh is an independent literary manager working with clients in both film and TV. Jon created Housefire Management in 2017 with the intent of finding fresh voices with incendiary material. Since then, his clients have gone on to develop film and TV projects with Universal, Lionsgate, Amazon, Paramount Players, Nickelodeon, Spyglass Media Group, Atlas Entertainment, The Jim Henson Company, The CW, and many others.
Kristin Hwang
Imminent Collision | Creative Executive
Imminent Collision is a production company dedicated to developing comedy-forward stories from Asian American perspectives, founded by Fresh Off the Boat Star Randall Park alongside Michael Golamco and Hieu Ho. The company has a first look deal at 20th Century Fox Television. Kristin Hwang was previously a Director’s Assistant on Hulu’s Pen15.
Leif Lillehaugen
Head of Steam Entertainment | Producer
Melissa Rickard
H2L Media Group |
Melissa Rickard began her career at HBO, where she spent six years in both HBO Films & Cinemax Originals, working on projects such as WARRIOR, BANSHEE, and THE KNICK. Prior to joining H2L, Melissa served as a Creative Executive at Brad Weston’s Makeready where she helped develop the film & television slate. Raised in three different countries and five different states, Melissa views material through a global lens, and endeavors to harness the power of storytelling to create emotional connections to cultures other than one’s own.
Rachel Reznick
Weed Road Pictures | Producer / Executive
Weed Road has previously produced THE DARK TOWER, King Arthur: LEGEND OF THE SWORD, LONE SURVIVOR, HANCOCK and I AM LEGEND. Run by Akiva Goldsman, the company has steered critical hits such as the WGN series UNDERGROUND, and the Oscar-winning A BEAUTIFUL MIND. Company is currently in development on the Launch Pad partner’s Inkshares new book adaptation A God in the Shed.
Raquelle David
Elevate Entertainment | Manager
Raquelle David is an Australian producer and literary manager who has worked across film and television for the past nine years. Her multiple film credits have garnered a number of accolades including nominations for Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Australian Academy Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Award and Screen Producers Australia Award. Raquelle has worked for Goalpost Pictures, Seven Network, Screen New South Wales in Australia and Rhombus Media in Toronto, Canada, under the tutelage of producer Niv Fichman (THE RED VIOLIN, ENEMY, BLINDNESS).
Scott Stoops
Good Fear Content | Manager
Scott’s clients have written for such series as SHADOWHUNTERS, ORPHAN BLACK, BRIARPATCH and DEADLY CLASS. Good Fear has signed multiple Launch Pad alumni over the years. Good Fear is producing the upcoming live action MULAN reboot with Disney and produced UNDER THE SILVER LAKE starring Andrew Garfield.
Shiva Nassab
Lionsgate | Production and Development Assistant
Through her love of film and TV content and its potential to entertain, educate and inspire change, Shiva Nassab has spent the last five years working across the entertainment industry. An Australian native, she graduated her Bachelor’s degree in Film, TV and New Media at Queensland University of Technology before moving to Los Angeles in 2016. She has spent time at Such Much Films, Innovative Artists and Lineage Digital, before joining Lionsgate where she is now a proud member of the Motion Picture Development group.
Thomas Carter
Artillery Creative | Manager
A longtime Launch Pad judge and partner, Carter has previously signed several writers from the competitions, and set up LP projects at Paramount, NBC, UCP, HBO and CBS. He is producing the upcoming adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s Hugo and Nebula Award-winning book DAWN with director Ava DuVernay, as well as the upcoming Mahershala Ali project BURN. His clients have staffed for shows on Netflix, NBC, HBO, TNT, USA, CBS, Fox, and Freeform.
Everything the Top 10 receive, plus…
Everything the Top 50 receive, plus…
Everything the Top 100 receive, plus…
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This year’s Guaranteed Signing Partner as Adrian Garcia of Recon Literary. A former talent agent at Paradigm, Adrian Garcia went on to found his management company Recon Literary. Garcia has frequently had writers appear on the Hit List, Black List and/or Young & Hungry List, and has a proven track record of signing Launch Pad writers, including Eric Koenig who sold his Launch Pad winning script MATRIARCH to Paramount in a bidding war.
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This year’s guaranteed option partner is Bad Idea Productions, the production company behind the Netflix series EL CHAPO and TIJUANA as well as the films THE BAD GUYS starring Glen Powell and Mekenna Melvin, and DEADTECTIVES starring Chris Genre and Martha Higareda. Bad Idea will offer a paid option to one project from this year’s competition.
Following her Top 25 placement for her pilot I LOVE COLLEGE, Sarah Lampert signed with UTA and Writ Large and went on to sell her original pilot GINNY & GEORGIA to Netflix.
Fresh off her Top 10 placement in the 2019 Pilot Competition for her script THE DISAPPEARANCE, Jess Harris-Distefano signed with agent Brad Rosenfeld at Culture Creative Entertainment and manager Adrian Garcia at Recon Literary. THE DISAPPEARANCE went on to be set up at Warner Bros. TV with Castle Rock producing and Rob Reiner attached to executive produce.
Elizabeth Guest’s 2019 Launch Pad Pilot finalist FRIENDS 4 EVER led to her being signed by Romark Entertainment.
After placing as a finalist in both the feature and pilot competitions for 2015, Ahmadu Garba went on to be staffed on such shows as HAPPY!, THE SINNER and DR. DEATH, before selling his original pilot NIGERIA 2099 to AMC earlier this year.
The winners will be chosen based on the following criteria: (i) The originality and commerciality of the premise; (ii) The effectiveness of the plot and structure in serving that premise; (iii) The professional quality and creative use of the writing, formatting and presentation; (iv) The use of dialogue to advance the character, story and entertainment value of the project; (v) The originality, believability and emotional investment in the characters and their impact on the overarching story and themes.
Initial reads will be completed by professional industry readers, after which the top scored scripts will be named to a Second Round. At this point, our internal team of readers will read all remaining submissions to allow for extensive internal discussions over the relative merits and weaknesses of each project. Through internal conferences, we narrow down a list of 100 finalists. At this point, writers may be asked to submit supplemental information (a brief bio, a bible for their tv pilot, etc.) to assist in the decision making process.
Further rounds of internal reading and discussion, as well as consultations with our signing and option partners, narrows the finalists down to 10, at which point our panel of industry judges read each script and determine our winners.
Any entrant may be deemed ineligible at the sole discretion of Launch Pad. We reserve the right to amend these rules at any time.
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The best way to learn is by working with experienced writers who have already navigated that path to success. That is exactly what the Launch Pad exclusive mentorship opportunity is set up to do
A Launch Pad alum for her pilot SCHOOLING THE RICH, Elaine recently wrote on the new GOSSIP GIRL reboot for HBO Max and is now writing on DYNASTY for The CW. She was a fellow in the HBO Writers Program, and was named on the Young & Hungry List.
Following her placement in the Top 25 of the Launch Pad Pilot Competition with her script IMPACT, Liz signed with Verve Talent Agency and Romark Entertainment. Since then, she has set up her pilot MER with Awesomeness TV and Avalon TV. She also set up her feature script SHELLY with Ian Bryce Productions, and Karen Gillan and Awkwafina set to star.
After landing in the Launch Pad TV Pilot competition Top 50 for his project MITZVAH, Preston was signed by Verve and staffed on CBS’s sitcom B POSITIVE, a Chuck Lorre Production starring Thomas Middleditch and Annaleigh Ashford.