Skip to main content

2019 Launch Pad Feature Competition

Competition Dates

Early

ENDS JUNE 17, 2019

$65

Regular

ENDS JULY 15, 2019

$75

Late

ENDS AUGUST 5, 2019

$85

Final

ENDS SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

$95

Announcement Dates

Top 100

JANUARY 16, 2020

Top 75

JANUARY 30, 2020

Top 50

FEBRUARY 13, 2020

Top 25

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Top 10

MARCH 12, 2020

Winners

MARCH 26, 2020

Competition Add Ons

Feedback Notes

Learn More
    By selecting the Feedback Notes add-on, you will get an insider look at how your work was read, reviewed and analyzed by our professional readers. With readers for our competition working for several major studios, agencies, management companies and financiers, you will not only receive a high level read just by entering, but now you will have the opportunity to peek behind the curtain to see how your project was reviewed for our competition.
    As an entrant into this competition, for just half the price of our Development Notes option, you will receive 1 to 2 pages of notes, thoughts and analysis from our readers. Use these notes to see why your project advanced, or to learn what kept it from reaching the next stage. Get an idea as to what readers liked, bumped on, or had concerns over as the story progressed. This is a true inside peak into what those reading for the majors really think.
    All Feedback Notes will be returned to each writer via the email address used at time of entry during the week the Top 10 is announced.

    $50

    Mentorship

    Learn More
      will continue with three new mentors joining in the fun and helping our next wave of writers begin their careers with all of the ammo and answers possible to make their dreams a reality.
      How It Works
      Each of our mentors will select a minimum of one writer/project to mentor from those entries that selected the Mentorship Program add-on while entering. The selected writers will work with their mentors to help develop their projects and their careers, as the mentors help answer questions, give advice and offer thoughts on their work. Every mentor is different, and every mentor’s approach is unique, but each will be asked to read your work (which they will select themselves from the entries), and help guide you and your project towards accomplishing the next steps in your career. Each writer will meet with (or chat on the phone if not local) with their mentor and be introduced upon selection. Mentors will serve as a sounding board for all of those questions we know everyone has when starting something new, but are often afraid to ask. Whether it be questions on writing, reps, pitches or career moves, we want you to be ready and confident to tackle Hollywood.
      To be considered by our mentors your entry must include the Mentorship Program add-on. All scripts entering and selecting the Mentorship Program add-on will be considered by our mentors. You do not need to have made any finalist rounds to be considered for this opportunity, as each project will be reviewed outside of the finalist rounds for consideration. That means that even if you do not make the Top 75, you are still in the running to be selected by our mentors for the Mentorship Program.

      $25

      Guaranteed Signing

      Learn More
        Our exclusive representation partner(s) will each select a minimum of one writer to represent from those entries that selected the Guaranteed Signing add-on while entering. Reps will work with their selected writer to help not only develop their work, but their careers, as they forge ahead on the first steps in becoming a professional writer. Whether film, television, or other mediums, each company will help guide your career, your work, and your next steps as they showcase and introduce you and your writing to the world.
        How It Works
        To be considered your entry must include the Guaranteed Signing add-on. All scripts entering and selecting the Guaranteed Signing add-on will be considered. You do not need to have made any finalist rounds to be considered for this opportunity, as each project will be reviewed outside of the finalist rounds for consideration. That means that even if you do not make the Top 75, you are still in the running to win the Guaranteed Signing prize.

        $25

        Guaranteed Option

        Learn More
          Our industry leading partnerships with companies like Michael De Luca Productions, Scott Free Productions, Vertigo Entertainment, Endgame Entertainment, Lee Stobby Entertainment, ESA, and Energy Entertainment, to name a few, give writers even more opportunities to take their writing careers to the next level. Our guaranteed option partner will select a minimum of 1 project from the competition to option with an eye toward developing and producing your work.
          How It Works
          To be considered your entry must include the Guaranteed Option add-on. All scripts entering and selecting the Guaranteed Option add-on will be considered by each company. You do not need to have made any finalist rounds to be considered for this opportunity, as each project will be reviewed outside of the finalist rounds for consideration. That means that even if you do not make any finalist rounds, you are still in the running to win the Guaranteed Option prize.

          $25

          Alongside our exclusive competition partners Vertigo Entertainment and Lit Entertainment Group, we are thrilled to announce the Winners for the 2019 Launch Pad Feature Competition.

          Every year, the quality of submissions seems to get better and better, and this year’s competition is no exception. We are honored to have been able to read such an imaginative, innovative and skillful collection of scripts from writers across the globe, and we look forward to sharing that work with the industry. We want to thank our judges for taking the time to read our finalists and make the difficult decisions that give us this fantastic group of winners.

          With all of that said, we’re incredibly proud to announce our Overall WinnerTop Comedy WinnerTop Drama Winner, Vertigo Entertainment Guaranteed Option Winner, and the three Launch Pad Mentorship Winners.

          Note that the Lit Entertainment Guaranteed Signing Winner will be announced April 23rd.

          Want to receive a notification when the next season opens? Sign up for reminders via Coverfly here.

          Overall Winner

          DEEPFAKE by Alex Payne

          ENEMY OF THE STATE meets MR. ROBOT

          A film school graduate trying to make ends meet takes a job from a mysterious internet user to make a deepfake video, and finds himself being pulled into a dark, global conspiracy.

          Drama Thriller

          Overall Winner

          Top Comedy

          SLATER BERRICKS IS A DEAD MAN by Paul Ashton

          THE TRUMAN SHOW meets THE LOBSTER

          Desperate to pay his mother’s nursing home bills, a man sets up a crowdfunding campaign where people can give money to choose how he will kill himself. When the site goes viral, he is faced with the prospect that he will have to actually go through with his plan.

          Comedy Dark Comedy Drama

          Top Comedy

          Top Drama

          WHERE HE BURIED ME by Joe Bousquin

          THE SIXTH SENSE meets SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

          When her troubled son claims he’s a reincarnated murder victim, a mom with her own traumatic past rushes to solve the mystery of who he was, before his never-apprehended killer returns to finish the job.

          Drama Thriller

          Top Drama

          Vertigo Entertainment Guaranteed Option Winner

          LEVIATHAN by Gabriel Feinberg

          EX MACHINA meets MIDSOMMAR

          A woman grieving the loss of her sister travels to Alaska to visit her eccentric brother only to find that he is building a machine to communicate with the dead.

          Drama Sci-Fi

          Top 75 Vertigo Entertainment Guaranteed Option Winner

          Mentorship Program Winners

          Mentorship Selection – David Rabinowitz

          AMERICA’S NEXT ASTRONAUT by Vittoria Cacciatore

          THE MARTIAN meets UnREAL

          In order to save her home, a financially struggling Walmart employee from Florida joins a reality TV competition show for a chance to go to space and win a million dollars, but despite her popularity among the fans, her own lack of self-confidence threatens to send her home.

          Adventure Comedy Drama Thriller

          Top 50 Mentorship Selection (David Rabinowitz)

          Mentorship Selection – Surjyakiran Das

          LITTLE BOB by Robert Troccolo

          THE DESCENDANTS meets LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

          A family’s attempts to deal with a difficult divorce are complicated when the youngest daughter begins dressing as Bob Dylan and speaking only in mumbles.

          Comedy Drama

          Top 50 Mentorship Selection (Surj Das)

          Mentorship Selection – Chad and Carey W. Hayes

          MAELSTROM by Chris Dennis

          THE PERFECT STORM meets ALIEN

          While fishing a patch of sea with a sinister reputation, the crew of an Alaskan fishing trawler must fight an intense winter storm and a malevolent force of nature that puts them all in mortal danger.

          Action Horror Thriller

          Top 10 Mentorship Selection (Chad and Carey W. Hayes)

          (Listed Alphabetically)

          A GRANITE KISS by Stephen White

          A SIMPLE FAVOR meets THE GHOST WRITER

          An unemployed writer is brought in to ghost-write a billionaire’s book and quickly becomes entangled with the billionaire’s ravishing, untrustworthy wife.

          Drama Romance Thriller

          Top 100

          A MAN DIES by Andrea Jaag

          JUST MERCY meets THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

          A wrongfully accused man is secretly saved from execution and blackmailed into committing a murder in order to save the life of his brother, who is on death row for the same crime.

          Crime Drama Thriller

          Top 75

          A SUSPECT IN ARMS by Selcen M. Onsan

          FRUITVALE STATION meets THE HATE U GIVE

          A white police officer struggles with the implications of testifying against his partner, who fatally shot an innocent black man, and the controversy threatens both his career and his marriage to a famous black writer.

          Crime Drama

          Top 75

          ACROSS THE NEON HOURS by J. Malia Miranda

          LOST IN TRANSLATION meets MOLLY’S GAME

          Unable to face the reality of her collapsing marriage after news that her husband has gambled away a small fortune, a Las Vegas casino manager bonds with a card-playing tourist on one impulsive night under the neon lights of Sin City.

          Drama Romance

          Top 75

          AMERICA’S NEXT ASTRONAUT by Vittoria Cacciatore

          THE MARTIAN meets UnREAL

          In order to save her home, a financially struggling Walmart employee from Florida joins a reality TV competition show for a chance to go to space and win a million dollars, but despite her popularity among the fans, her own lack of self-confidence threatens to send her home.

          Adventure Comedy Drama Thriller

          Top 50 Mentorship Selection (David Rabinowitz)

          BASHERT by Nora Berman

          DISOBEDIENCE meets BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR

          When their best friendship blossoms into a passionate and forbidden love affair, two Orthodox Jewish women must decide whether to remain in the insular religious community they’ve known their entire lives, or to venture out into secular gay Brooklyn — two worlds that co-exist mere blocks away from each other.

          Drama Romance

          Top 50

          THE BEAST OF BEDBURG by Jennifer Grand

          THE CRUCIBLE meets THE WOLFMAN

          In the fall of 1589, a zealous Catholic Bishop is summoned to a small German village where fourteen children have been brutally murdered, spurring a hunt for a possible werewolf.

          Drama Horror Period

          Top 25

          BEVERLY WEST ISN’T DEAD by Craig Donnelly

          SUNSET BOULEVARD meets INGRID GOES WEST

          An aging actress trying desperately to find her next role hires a young screenwriter to adapt her favorite book, but unbeknownst to her, he is only scamming her for a place to live while his friend writes the script. Soon enough, however, her chaotic houseguest has made her into the next big social media star.

          Comedy Drama

          Top 50

          BIG GIRLS by Jackie Cloud

          EIGHTH GRADE meets BOOGIE NIGHTS

          After the death of her father, a teenage girl moves in with her mother who works as an adult film actress, but when everyone finds out about her mother’s occupation, her life becomes hell.

          Coming-of-Age Drama

          Top 25

          BILLY & THE KID by Caleb Stenzinger

          TRUE GRIT meets UP

          An aging Western actor with dementia takes his granddaughter on a misguided trip to Mexico to find her deported father and his lost love.

          Drama Western

          Top 75

          BLUE COMEDY by Vincent Accettola

          FUNNY PEOPLE meets OTHER PEOPLE

          A celebrated gay comedian with Achondroplastic dwarfism becomes a mentor for a young, aspiring black comedian he has developed feelings for.

          Comedy Drama

          Top 50

          BOOST by Andrew Ferguson

          WIDOWS meets OCEAN’S EIGHT

          When custody of her daughter is threatened, an expert safecracker and her sister must perform a lucrative heist for the Corsican Mafia, only to find themselves dragged into an international crime conspiracy.

          Action Crime Thriller

          Top 25

          BORDERLAND by Nathan Wilcoxen

          SICARIO meets NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

          An emotionally scarred border patrol agent teams up with his lawyer ex-wife to rescue the son of a cartel drug lord and bring down the corrupt Americans who do the cartel’s bidding.

          Action Crime Drama Thriller

          Top 10

          BRING ME THE HEAD OF COMFY COZY COW by Caroline Hoover

          TULLY meets JINGLE ALL THE WAY

          When her son loses his beloved stuffed animal in a Las Vegas casino, a mother goes on a desperate quest to find it. But does loving your children mean protecting them from every challenge life throws their way?

          Comedy

          Top 10

          THE C&O by Joseph Enderby

          12 YEARS A SLAVE meets TALL TALE

          In the years after the end of the Civil War, former slave John Henry is unfairly incarcerated and forced to work on the railroad, where he must defeat a steam drill in a race in order to save the jobs of his fellow workers.

          Drama Period

          Top 100

          CALIFORNIA by Adam Seidel

          BADLANDS meets BONNIE AND CLYDE

          When a man murders his brother for sleeping with his wife, he and his wife go on the run whilst attempting to reconcile their relationship, but burying the past is not so easy.

          Crime Drama

          Top 100

             CALL OUT by Nir Shelter

          THE HURT LOCKER meets END OF WATCH

          After a sniper shoots a civilian mother behind enemy lines, two female army medics must carry the orphaned baby back to base through an active war zone.

          Action War

          Top 50

          CARVE by Arun Croll

          YOU’RE NEXT meets GET OUT

          A vegetarian spending Thanksgiving with her boyfriend’s turkey farming family at their isolated home has to fight for her life when the family is taken hostage by animal rights activists.

          Dark Comedy Horror Thriller

          Top 100

          CODE 4 by Jason Michaels

          THE HEAT meets THE NICE GUYS

          When an arrest goes sour, a by-the-books cop is forced to bring on her unpredictable bail-bondswoman best friend and their two bickering ex-cop fathers to unravel a dangerous mystery.

          Action Comedy Crime

          Top 25

          THE DANCER by Anokh Singh Dhillon

          ROCKY meets SCHINDLER’S LIST

          The true story of Johann Rukeli Trollmann, a gypsy boxer whose unique ‘dancing’ style in the 1930s allowed him to rise to the top of German boxing, which garnered the unwanted attention and wrath of the Nazis.

          Biopic Period Sports War

          Top 75

          DEEPFAKE by Alex Payne

          ENEMY OF THE STATE meets MR. ROBOT

          A film school graduate trying to make ends meet takes a job from a mysterious internet user to make a deepfake video, and finds himself being pulled into a dark, global conspiracy.

          Drama Thriller

          Overall Winner

          THE DEFECTOR by Brandon King

          MONEYBALL meets SIN NOMBRE

          A Cuban-born Major League Baseball player tries keep his focus while his family makes the arduous journey to America.

          Drama Sports

          Top 10

          DERBY QUEEN by Wendy Moulton Tate

          WHIP IT meets FREAKY FRIDAY

          A woman joins a roller derby team in a last-ditch effort to stay close with her teenage daughter and prove that she’s cooler than her daughter’s new stepmom.

          Comedy

          Top 75

          THE DESTRUCTION OF SAM PATTERSON by Frank Spiro

          THE TRUMAN SHOW meets YESTERDAY

          A lazy movie theater worker finds out that in the future, she has become a famous filmmaker. However, a man with a time machine has come back and started remaking her movies before she has the chance to make them herself.

          Comedy Drama Sci-Fi

          Top 50

          THE DEVIL’S SYMPHONY by Scott Hamilton

          THE BROTHERS GRIMM meets GRETEL AND HANSEL

          When a 19th century police inspector is dispatched to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a small town’s entire child population, he discovers an ancient supernatural creature responsible for the spread of the black plague throughout Germany, and exposes the sinister origins of The Pied Piper.

          Adventure Fantasy Period

          Top 50

          DIGITAL LOVE by Kevin O’Brien

          HER meets EX MACHINA

          After her tech visionary girlfriend dies, a woman inherits her estate and the artificial intelligence operating system that comes with it, which has been programmed to mimic the dead woman’s personality.

          Romance Sci-Fi Thriller

          Top 75

          DINOSAUR by Oliver Silver

          A STAR IS BORN meets SOMEWHERE

          A Hollywood actor convicted of statutory rape struggles to come to terms with his own actions and subsequent guilt as he desperately tries to salvage his relationship with his daughter upon his release from prison.

          Drama

          Top 10

          DO-OVER

          Karen Hartline

          BLOCKERS meets BRIDESMAIDS

          Eighteen years after a bright high school senior derails her future by getting pregnant, she and her old friends embark on a wild, overnight goose chase to try and stop her daughter from making the same mistake.

          Comedy

          Top 75

          ELSA MILLER’S MONSTER MANUAL by Brian Otting

          KRAMPUS meets A QUIET PLACE

          When a teenage girl visits her Grandma’s Appalachian farm, she learns the family’s strange secret: for generations, they’ve defended the world from vicious creatures that emerge from a cave on their land. Now it’s her turn to join the fight.

          Action Fantasy Horror

          Top 75

          THE END FIGHTERS by Ryan LaSalle

          A QUIET PLACE meets PACIFIC RIM

          In the near future, humanity has been almost wiped out by deadly creatures which roam the planet, but a farm family from the Midwest has adapted to this new world, searching for signs of human life in a fleet of high- tech vehicles.

          Action Horror Sci-Fi

          Top 100

          FIRE PROOF SAFE by Jules Vincent

          HELL OR HIGH WATER meets NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

          After his house burns down, a mysterious man in a small town finds that everyone around him is desperate to learn what he has in the fire proof safe that survived the flames.

          Crime Drama Western

          Top 75

          THE FIRST TO SPEAK by Julie Lynch

          SPOTLIGHT meets A FEW GOOD MEN

          When an obsessive attorney discovers that five alumni from a prestigious private school have committed suicide, she realizes a pillar of her community is a dangerous predator and she must risk everything to save lives.

          Drama True

          Top 50

          THE GIRL WHO COLLECTED SOUND by Steven Benedict

          THE DESCENDANTS meets CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD

          A mute teenage musician helps her dying mother reconnect with her estranged family in a small Nordic island community.

          Drama

          Top 100

          GOING TOGETHER by Laurel Nicholson

          THELMA AND LOUISE meets GOING IN STYLE

          When their son decides to force them into a retirement home, an elderly couple sets out on an adventure so as to die together in a spectacular way.

          Comedy

          Top 50

          GREAT by Christopher Kahle

          THIEF meets THE BLING RING

          Fresh out of prison, a young man falls in love with a criminal and starts performing high stakes robberies with her crew, but struggles to leave it behind when a mysterious benefactor emerges to give him the resources to get an education and go straight. A modern-day Great Expectations set in L.A.

          Action Crime Drama Romance

          Top 50

          GRIP TAPE by Larry V. Santana

          FRUITVALE STATION meets MID-90S

          A man tries to make a new life for himself while recounting all the scars that got him this far.

          Crime Drama

          Top 75

          THE HAIL MARY by Gavin John

          THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS meets PRISONERS

          A sheriff, a doctor, and a psychic have to work together to track down a class of 8-year-olds kidnapped by an escaped serial killer in a desperate play to get a stay of execution.

          Crime Horror Thriller

          Top 100

          THE HAWAIIAN GOOD LUCK SIGN by Dave Miller

          ARGO meets BRIDGE OF SPIES

          In 1968, the USS Pueblo is captured by North Korea and its crew held hostage. As the United States negotiates to bring its soldiers home, the captives secretly rebel against their captors.

          Action Period True War

          Top 100

          HI, I’M SHERYL CROW AND I WORK AT TARGET by Andrew Benedict

          THE CAMPAIGN meets BEING JOHN MALKOVICH

          Sheryl Crow takes some time off from music to work at a small-town Target, her favorite store in the whole world, but when a store manager job opens up, she gets pitted against her ex-best friend for the position.

          Comedy

          Top 50

          HOLD YOUR BREATH by Melina Maraki

          DARK WATER meets THE LODGE

          When a teenager stays at her stepmother’s family lakeside home, strange occurrences force her to seek out the truth behind the lake and the mysterious entity said to inhabit it.

          Drama Horror Thriller

          Top 25

          THE HOMESTUDY by Derek Nicoletto

          MARRIAGE STORY meets THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

          An insecure gay father has to fight for his son when his husband’s infidelity threatens to derail the adoption.

          Comedy Drama

          Top 25

          HOUSE OF THE JAGUAR by Shelley Macbryde

          GORILLAS IN THE MIST meets ERIN BROCKOVICH

          A biographical drama based on the life of Swiss photographer, anthropologist and environmental activist Gertrude Duby Blom, who dedicated her life to the preservation of the Mexican rainforest and its people.

          Biopic Drama Period

          Top 100

          HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS, HOW EASILY IT CAN BE BROKEN by Annie Lann

          AMERICAN BEAUTY meets YI YI

          An upper middle-class immigrant with a thriving fragrance design business sees her whole world turned upside-down over the course of a single summer.

          Drama

          Top 100

          INCARNATE by Annie Lukowski and Bernard Schwartz

          THE BABADOOK meets INSIDIOUS

          A child psychologist is forced to confront her family’s brutal history when she is called in to consult on a case that mirrors the murder of her own brother 20 years before, and discovers that the monsters haunting her past may be all too real.

          Horror Thriller

          Top 25

          THE IRON HORSE OF LUCY STEELE by Paul Zeidman

          GODLESS meets THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY

          A fiery train engineer relentlessly pursues the ruthless outlaw who has stolen her one-of-a-kind locomotive to pull off the biggest heist in US history.

          Action Period Western

          Top 50

          JONNY BLU by Mark Loughlin

          BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY meets LOST IN TRANSLATION

          A struggling American musician working a boring office job reinvents himself and enters the world of Chinese singing competitions. Based on a true story.

          Biopic Drama Music

          Top 100

          KILL OR CURE by Charlotte Cameron

          CAPTAIN PHILLIPS meets CONTAGION

          During an Ebola outbreak in West Africa, a British aid agency doctor is kidnapped with her team by jihadists demanding a rumored Ebola antidote as ransom. Forced to treat their captors’ Ebola-stricken fighters under impossible conditions, the team battle to stay alive and to escape.

          Drama Thriller

          Top 75

          KNOWING ERIC by Matt Koplik

          LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE meets BEAUTIFUL BOY

          After their son dies of an overdose, a divorced couple have to drive his car cross country to return it to the person he stole it from.

          Comedy Dark Comedy Drama

          Top 75

          KOREMATSU VERSUS UNITED STATES by David Case

          ON THE BASIS OF SEX meets TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

          When FDR issues Executive Order 9066, clearing the way for the internment of Japanese-Americans, Fred Korematsu fights back against the unjust law, taking his case all the way to the Supreme Court.

          Biopic Drama Period True

          Top 25

          THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER by Chris Dennis

          MEEK’S CUTOFF meets TRUE GRIT

          When her husband dies on a journey west on the California Trail in 1850, a woman and her son must find their way across the unforgiving wilderness with the help of a kind mountain man.

          Drama Western Period

          Top 25

          LEMON by Beth Curry

          BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD meets ROOM

          After her agoraphobic mother dies, a young girl with no experience of the world sets off in search of her long-lost father, and finds refuge with a depressed man.

          Drama

          Top 10

          LES AQUANAUTS by Damian Fitzsimmons

          THE FLORIDA PROJECT meets MOONLIGHT

          The coming-of-age of two young Haitian-Americans who like to break into the backyards of wealthy white families and swim in their pools.

          Coming-of-Age Drama

          Top 100

          LEVIATHAN by Gabriel Feinberg

          EX MACHINA meets MIDSOMMAR

          A woman grieving the loss of her sister travels to Alaska to visit her eccentric brother only to find that he is building a machine to communicate with the dead.

          Drama Sci-Fi

          Top 75 Vertigo Entertainment Guaranteed Option Winner

          LIBERTY OR DEATH by Whitney Ellis

          DJANGO UNCHAINED meets THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

          The American Revolution is underway and a young Black man is captured by the British and sent to a notorious prison ship, where he struggles to survive and find his way home.

          Action Drama Period War

          Top 75

          THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JACOB WALSTON: AN EPILOGUE by Cerina Aragones

          IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY meets THE SKELETON TWINS

          A teenage girl struggles to come to terms with her beloved brother’s suicide while she deals with her own mental illness.

          Coming-of-Age Drama

          Top 75

          LIKE GOLD DUST by Martin Bell

          RAGING BULL meets PEAKY BLINDERS

          An idealistic and gifted young athlete in 1920s America sets out to become a wrestling champion only to discover a world of corruption, violence, deceit and betrayal. The true story of the Gold Dust Trio who made professional wrestling what it is today.

          Biopic Drama Sports Period

          Top 50

          LINEAGE by Kathy Patterson

          LOOPER meets ZODIAC

          A secretive teen clashes with Scotland Yard and his tragic past when he comes out of hiding to save his kidnapped family from an immortal serial killer – his father.

          Supernatural Thriller

          Top 100

          LITTLE BOB by Robert Troccolo

          THE DESCENDANTS meets LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

          A family’s attempts to deal with a difficult divorce are complicated when the youngest daughter begins dressing as Bob Dylan and speaking only in mumbles.

          Comedy Drama

          Top 50 Mentorship Selection (Surjyakiran Das)

          LOST MOUNTAIN by Nathan Wilcoxen

          WIND RIVER meets THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSOURI

          An unflinching Appalachian woman must confront the violent bigotry of her secretive small town while reconciling with her own past as she sets out to uncover the true killer of her transgender sister after the man convicted of the brutal crime claims his innocence a week before his scheduled execution.

          Crime Drama Thriller

          Top 100

          LOVE SICK by Sherrill Schmidt

          FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL meets UnREAL

          A romantically challenged bachelor returns from being a contestant on a reality dating show, only to fall for his new neighbor just as the embarrassing series begins airing on TV.

          Romantic Comedy

          Top 75

          MAD RUSH by Manfred Lopez Grem

          THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA meets BRIDESMAIDS

          After a Vogue intern “borrows” a $10 million-dollar dress for her friend’s wedding, she and a fellow intern find themselves on the run from the law, the fashion industry, and the wedding party, as everything descends into chaos.

          Comedy

          Top 25

          MAELSTROM by Chris Dennis

          THE PERFECT STORM meets ALIEN

          While fishing a patch of sea with a sinister reputation, the crew of an Alaskan fishing trawler must fight an intense winter storm and a malevolent force of nature that puts them all in mortal danger.

          Action Horror Thriller

          Top 10 Mentorship Selection (Chad and Carey W. Hayes)

          MAGNET by Bill Hanson

          TAKEN meets EX MACHINA

          A PR consultant for a tech company with an app that runs people’s lives in the name of efficiency takes a business trip to Shanghai with her daughter to promote the technology in China, but when the app is hacked, they are put in immense danger.

          Thriller

          Top 100

          MAGNIFICENT by Travis McDonald

          MONEYBALL meets SLAP SHOT

          In 1984, the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins have to try to lose enough games to get the number one pick in the NHL draft so they can select superstar prospect Mario Lemieux.

          Drama Sports

          Top 50

          MAIDENS OF BABYLON by Tony Grady Martin

          SPOTLIGHT meets SUFFRAGETTE

          A prominent suffragette and the father of investigative journalism risk everything when they go undercover into a labyrinth of London brothels to expose the trafficking of young girls and force Parliament to raise the age of consent.

          Biopic Drama Period

          Top 100

          MARTHA by Adi Blotman

          TRAINWRECK meets SPIDER-MAN

          When Martha, an overweight, middle-aged teacher, signs up for an experimental weight loss drug trial, she experiences an unexpected side effect – superpowers.

          Comedy Sci-Fi

          Top 50

          MERIT by Edward Somers

          BILLY MADISON meets ABOUT A BOY

          A man gets a second chance to turn his life around when he takes advantage of a loophole to embark on a quest to receive the final few merit badges that prevented him from becoming an Eagle Scout decades earlier.

          Comedy

          Top 75

          MISDIRECTION by Calvin Starnes

          THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS meets BABY DRIVER

          Only six months out of prison and barely making her child support, a disgraced race car driver learns that there’s no such thing as a free ride when she takes a job teaching an ambitious crime boss’s nephew to be a wheel man.

          Action Crime Drama

          Top 75

          MOB MENTALITY by Eric Landau

          GOOD BOYS meets GOODFELLAS

          A teenage boy who believes himself to be the reincarnation of John Gotti sets out to get revenge on the man who sent Gotti to prison.

          Comedy Crime

          Top 50

          NO ROOM AT THE INN by Sean Kirkpatrick

          EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES meets A BETTER LIFE

          A brilliant Salvadoran scientist who came to America to research a cure for her dying son has to go on the run from ICE when her family is put at risk of deportation.

          Drama

          Top 50

          NOWHERE MEN by Sean Farley

          THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN meets RAIN MAN

          When a mentally ill young man thinks he witnesses a woman’s abduction and the police refuse to believe him, he reluctantly turns to his next-door neighbor – a bitter, retired security guard – to help him find her.

          Crime Drama Thriller

          Top 25

          ON THE CLOCK by Torey Sinclair

          DRAFT DAY meets BEACH RATS

          On the day of the draft, a star college quarterback faces backlash from his family and the NFL community when a picture goes viral that raises questions about his sexuality and jeopardizes his career.

          Drama Sports

          Top 50

          PANGAEA by Rebecca Phelps

          ELYSIUM meets THE GIVER

          In a utopian society where people have been genetically modified not to lie, a woman starts to question the way she sees her world when a refugee family from the outside is allowed into the community.

          Drama Sci-Fi Thriller

          Top 100

          PONY UP by Greta Harrison and Matthew C. Vaughan

          THELMA & LOUISE meets BLAZING SADDLES

          In 1935, a charlatan on the run from a vengeful politician joins a roguish cowgirl delivering books to remote Appalachian families. Inspired by the heroic packhorse librarians of Kentucky.

          Comedy Period

          Top 100

          PRIVATE LIVES by Cate Holahan

          REAR WINDOW meets THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

          When a newly engaged man is attacked in his home and suffers a brain injury, he becomes paranoid and reclusive, installing cameras all over the house and growing increasingly suspicious of his fiancée.

          Drama Thriller

          Top 100

          THE PROMISE by Eugene Roginsky

          SCHINDLER’S LIST meets COLD WAR

          An American musician living in Stalin’s Soviet Union is taken to a prison camp where he falls in love with the wife of a Soviet officer.

          Drama Period

          Top 100

          RESTLESS by Patrick Lazzara

          THE TOWN meets THE USUAL SUSPECTS

          An assistant bank manager is kidnapped by a man she is dating and forced to help rob the bank she works at, but the police are suspicious that she may have been in on the plan the whole time.

          Crime Drama Thriller

          Top 100

          REVOLUTIONARY SPY by James Foye

          THE PATRIOT meets GLORY

          Based on the true story of a slave who became a spy for the Continental Army, going undercover in the British army during the Revolutionary War.

          Action Biopic Period War

          Top 50

          RIDER by Nadia Laaveg and Philip Laaveg

          ATOMIC BLONDE meets JOHN WICK

          When a hit-woman is double-crossed by her boss’s sadistic son, she must tear a crime syndicate apart in order to save her kidnapped girlfriend.

          Action Drama Thriller

          Top 25

          ¿SEGURO? by Marisa Hardwicke

          DOPE meets EIGHTH GRADE

          An 11-year-old half-white, half-Mexican boy starts at a prestigious Silicon Valley summer camp at the same time as his friends get pulled into an East San Jose gang, and trying to keep up with both worlds is harder than he expects.

          Coming-of-Age Drama

          Top 50

          SINS OF MY FATHER by Jane Therese

          THE TALE meets ROOM

          An Irish woman decides to press charges against her father for sexual abuse that he inflicted on her during her childhood, throwing her whole family into chaos.

          Drama

          Top 50

          SLATER BERRICKS IS A DEAD MAN by Paul Ashton

          THE TRUMAN SHOW meets THE LOBSTER

          Desperate to pay his mother’s nursing home bills, a man sets up a crowdfunding campaign where people can give money to choose how he will kill himself. When the site goes viral, he is faced with the prospect that he will have to actually go through with his plan.

          Comedy Dark Comedy Drama

          Top Comedy

          SPLASHDOWN by Don Stroud

          CLOVERFIELD meets RAMBO

          A mysterious space capsule adrift in the Pacific Ocean pulls a disillusioned Air Force pilot into battle against a shadowy paramilitary force hell bent on utilizing the astronauts’ otherworldly cargo to enslave humanity.

          Action Sci-Fi Thriller

          Top 50

          SPROUT by Elizabeth Hrib

          FROZEN meets HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON

          A young prince must learn to harness his magical powers in order to protect his kingdom from giants, but venturing outside the castle walls forces him to realize that not everything he has been told about his people and the war is true.

          Adventure Animation Fantasy

          Top 25

          STAR DEFENDERS by Darius Wadia

          THE INCREDIBLES meets GALAXY QUEST

          When their parents are abducted during a devastating alien attack, three kids learn they are from another planet and are the only ones who can rescue their parents and save the Earth from total destruction.

          Adventure Family Sci-Fi

          Top 100

          THE STEER by Samantha Silvay

          OCEAN’S ELEVEN meets A SIMPLE FAVOR

          A con man travels to Macau where he enlists a hotel worker who is also a hacker to help him accomplish the most elaborate heist of his career, but soon finds himself embroiled in two competing schemes and a tumultuous love triangle.

          Crime Drama Thriller

          Top 75

          SURAYA’S WAR by Andy Patrizio

          THE HURT LOCKER meets ZERO DARK THIRTY

          An Afghani-American woman who fled to the United States as a child returns to Afghanistan as part of the U.S. military, translating for the army and fighting the Taliban, while hoping to reconnect with her lost sister.

          Action Drama War

          Top 75

          THIS OLD MAN by Nicholas Oktaras

          EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE meets UP

          A young boy begins to unravel the mystery of his brother’s death when he befriends a homeless man who believes that he is Death, and that everyone he touches is doomed to die.

          Drama

          Top 75

          THREE HEAVENS by Andrew Wankier

          BOY ERASED meets DISOBEDIENCE

          A closeted senior at a Mormon university is forced to entrap other gay students if he wants to graduate, but when he begins a secret relationship with one of his targets, he struggles through a crisis of faith and risks his entire future.

          Drama

          Top 100

          UNIVERSAL INSURANCE by Jack Lilburn

          GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY meets OFFICE SPACE

          When a rebel fleet is destroyed by an enemy invasion, a lowly spacecraft insurance adjuster is instructed by his corporate overlords to deny the claim, putting the entire galaxy in danger.

          Action Comedy Sci-Fi

          Top 100

          VAN by Kiki Bowman

          BOOKSMART meets PRETTY IN PINK

          A high school student who dreams of being a fashion designer struggles to navigate personal drama and make ends meet as she enters a prestigious competition for a major art scholarship.

          Comedy Drama Teen

          Top 25

          VICTORIA HARBOUR by Megan Cowley

          THE FAREWELL meets STILL ALICE

          When trauma derails her life as a dancer, a woman returns home to Hong Kong and discovers that the grandmother who raised her is suffering from dementia. As she tries to take care of the ailing woman, she stumbles into a new relationship that might provide hope in a difficult time.

          Drama

          Top 10

          THE VIEW FROM UP HERE by Brandon Feldman

          HANCOCK meets SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

          An immortal man living in modern day Los Angeles stumbles upon a woman with the same abilities, and they form an unlikely friendship around the fact that neither of them can die.

          Drama Romance Supernatural

          Top 75

          THE Vth COLUMN by Zahi Farah

          SICARIO meets EASTERN PROMISES

          A veteran Beirut detective investigates the assassination of a Lebanese government minister by a Syrian refugee turned suicide bomber. As he unearths clues that contradict initial reports, the detective must turn his eyes towards his own people to find the truth.

          Action Drama Thriller

          Top 100

          WARRIORS LIKE US by Sara Hammel

          G.I. JANE meets A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

          In 1995, a group of civilian women are selected to participate in a punishing Army strength study to assess whether women can pass the fitness tests required for active combat duty in the military. Based on a true story.

          Drama True

          Top 75

          WHERE HE BURIED ME by Joe Bousquin

          THE SIXTH SENSE meets SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

          When her troubled son claims he’s a reincarnated murder victim, a mom with her own traumatic past rushes to solve the mystery of who he was, before his never-apprehended killer returns to finish the job.

          Drama Thriller

          Top Drama

          WHITE WEDDING by Lina Khan

          MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING meets Bollywood

          A Pakistani-American pediatric resident finally throws her hands in the air and allows her parents to arrange her marriage, but just as she moves forward with the process, the (white) man of her dreams stumbles into her life.

          Comedy Romantic Comedy

          Top 25

          WILD IS THE HEART by Gabriel Moura

          MOONLIGHT meets SICARIO

          When a young piano player struggling with his sexuality falls in love with a waiter in Mexico, their love story is put to the test by tightening US border laws.

          Coming-of-Age Drama Romance

          Top 50

          WONDERFUL WORLD by Melissa Kong

          THE JOY LUCK CLUB meets THAT THING YOU DO

          In the 1960s, a group of first generation Chinese-American girls try to become the first Asian-American girl band and get out of their small Midwestern town.

          Coming-of-Age Drama Period

          Top 50

          WOUNDED KNEE ’73

          Richard Keehn

          BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE meets SELMA

          In 1973, a reporter joins a group of Native Americans in South Dakota as occupy the site of the infamous Wounded Knee Massacre to protest the injustices of the American government.

          Drama Period True

          Top 75

          Alongside our exclusive competition partners Vertigo Entertainment and Lit Entertainment Group, we are thrilled to announce the Top 10 Finalists for the 2019 Launch Pad Feature Competition.

          (As a reminder: If you entered into the Mentorship Program, or signed up to be part of the Guaranteed Signing or Guaranteed Option prizes, regardless of making the Top 10, you are still in contention for those prizes. Those winners are selected from the entire pool of submissions separately from the finalist rounds, and will be announced alongside the winners)

           

          Project

          Writer(s)

          BORDERLAND Nathan Wilcoxen
          BRING ME THE HEAD OF COMFY COZY COW Caroline Hoover
          DEEPFAKE Alex Payne
          THE DEFECTOR Brandon King
          DINOSAUR Oliver Silver
          LEMON Beth Curry
          MAELSTROM Chris Dennis
          SLATER BERRICKS IS A DEAD MAN Paul Ashton
          VICTORIA HARBOUR Megan Cowley
          WHERE HE BURIED ME Joe Bousquin

          Alongside our exclusive competition partners Vertigo Entertainment and Lit Entertainment Group, we are thrilled to announce the Top 25 Finalists for the 2019 Launch Pad Feature Competition.

          (As a reminder: If you entered into the Mentorship Program, or signed up to be part of the Guaranteed Signing or Guaranteed Option prizes, regardless of making the Top 25, you are still in contention for those prizes. Those winners are selected from the entire pool of submissions separately from the finalist rounds, and will be announced alongside the winners)

          Project

          Writer(s)

          THE BEAST OF BEDBURG Jennifer Grand
          BIG GIRLS Jackie Cloud
          BOOST Andrew Ferguson
          BORDERLAND Nathan Wilcoxen
          BRING ME THE HEAD OF COMFY COZY COW Caroline Hoover
          CODE 4 Jason Michaels
          DEEPFAKE Alex Payne
          THE DEFECTOR Brandon King
          DINOSAUR Oliver Silver
          HOLD YOUR BREATH Melina Maraki
          THE HOMESTUDY Derek Nicoletto
          INCARNATE Annie Lukowski and Bernard Schwartz
          KOREMATSU VERSUS UNITED STATES David Case
          THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER Chris Dennis
          LEMON Beth Curry
          MAD RUSH Manfred Lopez Grem
          MAELSTROM Chris Dennis
          NOWHERE MEN Sean Farley
          RIDER Nadia Laaveg and Philip Laaveg
          SLATER BERRICKS IS A DEAD MAN Paul Ashton
          SPROUT Elizabeth Hrib
          VAN Kiki Bowman
          VICTORIA HARBOUR Megan Cowley
          WHERE HE BURIED ME Joe Bousquin
          WHITE WEDDING Lina Khan

          Alongside our exclusive competition partners Vertigo Entertainment and Lit Entertainment Group, we are thrilled to announce the Top 50 Finalists for the 2019 Launch Pad Feature Competition.

          (As a reminder: If you entered into the Mentorship Program, or signed up to be part of the Guaranteed Signing or Guaranteed Option prizes, regardless of making the Top 50, you are still in contention for those prizes. Those winners are selected from the entire pool of submissions separately from the finalist rounds, and will be announced alongside the winners)

          Project

          Writer(s)

          AMERICA’S NEXT ASTRONAUT Vittoria Cacciatore
          BASHERT Nora Berman
          THE BEAST OF BEDBURG Jennifer Grand
          BEVERLY WEST ISN’T DEAD Craig Donnelly
          BIG GIRLS Jackie Cloud
          BLUE COMEDY Vincent Accettola
          BOOST Andrew Ferguson
          BORDERLAND Nathan Wilcoxen
          BRING ME THE HEAD OF COMFY COZY COW Caroline Hoover
          CALL OUT Nir Shelter
          CODE 4 Jason Michaels
          DEEPFAKE Alex Payne
          THE DEFECTOR Brandon King
          THE DESTRUCTION OF SAM PATTERSON Frank Spiro
          THE DEVIL’S SYMPHONY Scott Hamilton
          DINOSAUR Oliver Silver
          THE FIRST TO SPEAK Julie Lynch
          GOING TOGETHER Laurel Nicholson
          GREAT Christopher Kahle
          HI, I’M SHERYL CROW AND I WORK AT TARGET Andrew Benedict
          HOLD YOUR BREATH Melina Maraki
          THE HOMESTUDY Derek Nicoletto
          INCARNATE Annie Lukowski and Bernard Schwartz
          THE IRON HORSE OF LUCY STEELE Paul Zeidman
          KOREMATSU VERSUS UNITED STATES David Case
          THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER Chris Dennis
          LEMON Beth Curry
          LIKE GOLD DUST Martin Bell
          LITTLE BOB Robert Troccolo
          MAD RUSH Manfred Lopez Grem
          MAELSTROM Chris Dennis
          MAGNIFICENT Travis McDonald
          MARTHA Adi Blotman
          MOB MENTALITY Eric Landau
          NO ROOM AT THE INN Sean Kirkpatrick
          NOWHERE MEN Sean Farley
          ON THE CLOCK Torey Sinclair
          REVOLUTIONARY SPY James Foye
          RIDER Nadia Laaveg and Philip Laaveg
          ¿SEGURO? Marisa Hardwicke
          SINS OF MY FATHER Jane Therese
          SLATER BERRICKS IS A DEAD MAN Paul Ashton
          SPLASHDOWN Don Stroud
          SPROUT Elizabeth Hrib
          VAN Kiki Bowman
          VICTORIA HARBOUR Megan Cowley
          WHERE HE BURIED ME Joe Bousquin
          WHITE WEDDING Lina Khan
          WILD IS THE HEART Gabriel Moura
          WONDERFUL WORLD Melissa Kong

          Alongside our exclusive competition partners Vertigo Entertainment and Lit Entertainment Group, we are thrilled to announce the Top 75 Finalists for the 2019 Launch Pad Feature Competition.

          As we enter our seventh year as a premier hub for new talent discovery in Hollywood, the Launch Pad Competitions have led to more than 450 signings, 160 projects set up, 70 writers staffed, 7 bidding wars and 180 appearances on annual best of lists such as the Black List, Blood List, Hit List, and the Young & Hungry List. This year’s Top 75 promise to add to that growing community of successful Launch Pad alumni.

          Now, without further ado, let us introduce you to the 2019 Launch Pad Feature Competition Top 75!

          (As a reminder: If you entered into the Mentorship Program, or signed up to be part of the Guaranteed Signing or Guaranteed Option prizes, regardless of making the Top 75, you are still in contention for those prizes. Those winners are selected from the entire pool of submissions separately from the finalist rounds, and will be announced alongside the winners)

          Project

          Writer(s)

          A MAN DIES Andrea Jaag
          A SUSPECT IN ARMS Selcen M. Onsan
          ACROSS THE NEON HOURS J. Malia Miranda
          AMERICA’S NEXT ASTRONAUT Vittoria Cacciatore
          BASHERT Nora Berman
          THE BEAST OF BEDBURG Jennifer Grand
          BEVERLY WEST ISN’T DEAD Craig Donnelly
          BIG GIRLS Jackie Cloud
          BILLY & THE KID Caleb Stenzinger
          BLUE COMEDY Vincent Accettola
          BOOST Andrew Ferguson
          BORDERLAND Nathan Wilcoxen
          BRING ME THE HEAD OF COMFY COZY COW Caroline Hoover
          CALL OUT Nir Shelter
          CODE 4 Jason Michaels
          THE DANCER Anokh Singh Dhillon
          DEEPFAKE Alex Payne
          THE DEFECTOR Brandon King
          DERBY QUEEN Wendy Moulton Tate
          THE DESTRUCTION OF SAM PATTERSON Frank Spiro
          THE DEVIL’S SYMPHONY Scott Hamilton
          DIGITAL LOVE Kevin O’Brien
          DINOSAUR Oliver Silver
          DO-OVER Karen Hartline
          ELSA MILLER’S MONSTER MANUAL Brian Otting
          FIRE PROOF SAFE Jules Vincent
          THE FIRST TO SPEAK Julie Lynch
          GOING TOGETHER Laurel Nicholson
          GREAT Christopher Kahle
          GRIP TAPE Larry Santana
          HI, I’M SHERYL CROW AND I WORK AT TARGET Andrew Benedict
          HOLD YOUR BREATH Melina Maraki
          THE HOMESTUDY Derek Nicoletto
          INCARNATE Annie Lukowski and Bernard Schwartz
          THE IRON HORSE OF LUCY STEELE Paul Zeidman
          KILL OR CURE Charlotte Cameron
          KNOWING ERIC Matt Koplik
          KOREMATSU VERSUS UNITED STATES David Case
          THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER Chris Dennis
          LEMON Beth Curry
          LEVIATHAN Gabriel Feinberg
          LIBERTY OR DEATH Whitney Ellis
          THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JACOB WALSTON: AN EPILOGUE Cerina Aragones
          LIKE GOLD DUST Martin Bell
          LITTLE BOB Robert Troccolo
          LOVE SICK Sherrill Schmidt
          MAD RUSH Manfred Lopez Grem
          MAELSTROM Chris Dennis
          MAGNIFICENT Travis McDonald
          MARTHA Adi Blotman
          MERIT Edward Somers
          MISDIRECTION Calvin Starnes
          MOB MENTALITY Eric Landau
          NO ROOM AT THE INN Sean Kirkpatrick
          NOWHERE MEN Sean Farley
          ON THE CLOCK Torey Sinclair
          REVOLUTIONARY SPY James Foye
          RIDER Nadia Laaveg and Philip Laaveg
          ¿SEGURO? Marisa Hardwicke
          SINS OF MY FATHER Jane Therese
          SLATER BERRICKS IS A DEAD MAN Paul Ashton
          SPLASHDOWN Don Stroud
          SPROUT Elizabeth Hrib
          THE STEER Samantha Silvay
          SURAYA’S WAR Andy Patrizio
          THIS OLD MAN Nicholas Oktaras
          VAN Kiki Bowman
          VICTORIA HARBOUR Megan Cowley
          THE VIEW FROM UP HERE Brandon Feldman
          WARRIORS LIKE US Sara Hammel
          WHERE HE BURIED ME Joe Bousquin
          WHITE WEDDING Lina Khan
          WILD IS THE HEART Gabriel Moura
          WONDERFUL WORLD Melissa Kong
          WOUNDED KNEE ’73 Richard Keehn

          Alongside our exclusive competition partners Vertigo Entertainment and Lit Entertainment Group, we are thrilled to announce the Top 100 Finalists for the 2019 Launch Pad Feature Competition.

          As we enter our seventh year as a premier hub for new talent discovery in Hollywood, the Launch Pad Competitions have led to more than 450 signings, 160 projects set up, 70 writers staffed, 7 bidding wars and 180 appearances on annual best of lists such as the Black List, Blood List, Hit List, and the Young & Hungry List. This year’s finalists promise to add to that growing community of successful Launch Pad alumni.

          Now, without further ado, let us introduce you to the 2019 Launch Pad Feature Competition Top 100!

          (As a reminder: If you entered into the Mentorship Program, or signed up to be part of the Guaranteed Signing or Guaranteed Option prizes, regardless of making the Top 100, you are still in contention for those prizes. Those winners are selected from the entire pool of submissions separately from the finalist rounds, and will be announced alongside the winners)

          Project

          Writer(s)

          A GRANITE KISS Stephen White
          A MAN DIES Andrea Jaag
          A SUSPECT IN ARMS Selcen M. Onsan
          ACROSS THE NEON HOURS J. Malia Miranda
          AMERICA’S NEXT ASTRONAUT Vittoria Cacciatore
          BASHERT Nora Berman
          THE BEAST OF BEDBURG Jennifer Grand
          BEVERLY WEST ISN’T DEAD Craig Donnelly
          BIG GIRLS Jackie Cloud
          BILLY & THE KID Caleb Stenzinger
          BLUE COMEDY Vincent Accettola
          BOOST Andrew Ferguson
          BORDERLAND Nathan Wilcoxen
          BRING ME THE HEAD OF COMFY COZY COW Caroline Hoover
          THE C&O Joseph Enderby
          CALIFORNIA Adam Seidel
          CALL OUT Nir Shelter
          CARVE Arun Croll
          CODE 4 Jason Michaels
          THE DANCER Anokh Singh Dhillon
          DEEPFAKE Alex Payne
          THE DEFECTOR Brandon King
          DERBY QUEEN Wendy Moulton Tate
          THE DESTRUCTION OF SAM PATTERSON Frank Spiro
          THE DEVIL’S SYMPHONY Scott Hamilton
          DIGITAL LOVE Kevin O’Brien
          DINOSAUR Oliver Silver
          DO-OVER Karen Hartline
          ELSA MILLER’S MONSTER MANUAL Brian Otting
          THE END FIGHTERS Ryan LaSalle
          FIRE PROOF SAFE Jules Vincent
          THE FIRST TO SPEAK Julie Lynch
          THE GIRL WHO COLLECTED SOUND Steven Benedict
          GOING TOGETHER Laurel Nicholson
          GREAT Christopher Kahle
          GRIP TAPE Larry Santana
          THE HAIL MARY Gavin John
          THE HAWAIIAN GOOD LUCK SIGN Dave Miller
          HI, I’M SHERYL CROW AND I WORK AT TARGET Andrew Benedict
          HOLD YOUR BREATH Melina Maraki
          THE HOMESTUDY Derek Nicoletto
          HOUSE OF THE JAGUAR Shelley Macbryde
          HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS, HOW EASILY IT CAN BE BROKEN Anne Lann
          INCARNATE Annie Lukowski and Bernard Schwartz
          THE IRON HORSE OF LUCY STEELE Paul Zeidman
          JONNY BLU Mark Loughlin
          KILL OR CURE Charlotte Cameron
          KNOWING ERIC Matt Koplik
          KOREMATSU VERSUS UNITED STATES David Case
          THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER Chris Dennis
          LEMON Beth Curry
          LES AQUANAUTS Damian Fitzsimmons
          LEVIATHAN Gabriel Feinberg
          LIBERTY OR DEATH Whitney Ellis
          THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JACOB WALSTON: AN EPILOGUE Cerina Aragones
          LIKE GOLD DUST Martin Bell
          LINEAGE Kathy Patterson
          LITTLE BOB Robert Troccolo
          LOST MOUNTAIN Nathan Wilcoxen
          LOVE SICK Sherrill Schmidt
          MAD RUSH Manfred Lopez Grem
          MAELSTROM Chris Dennis
          MAGNET Bill Hanson
          MAGNIFICENT Travis McDonald
          MAIDENS OF BABYLON Tony Grady Martin
          MARTHA Adi Blotman
          MERIT Edward Somers
          MISDIRECTION Calvin Starnes
          MOB MENTALITY Eric Landau
          NO ROOM AT THE INN Sean Kirkpatrick
          NOWHERE MEN Sean Farley
          ON THE CLOCK Torey Sinclair
          PANGAEA Rebecca Phelps
          PONY UP Greta Harrison and Matthew C. Vaughan
          PRIVATE LIVES Cate Holahan
          THE PROMISE Eugene Roginsky
          RESTLESS Patrick Lazzara
          REVOLUTIONARY SPY James Foye
          RIDER Nadia Laaveg and Philip Laaveg
          ¿SEGURO? Marisa Hardwicke
          SINS OF MY FATHER Jane Therese
          SLATER BERRICKS IS A DEAD MAN Paul Ashton
          SPLASHDOWN Don Stroud
          SPROUT Elizabeth Hrib
          STAR DEFENDERS Darius Wadia
          THE STEER Samantha Silvay
          SURAYA’S WAR Andy Patrizio
          THIS OLD MAN Nicholas Oktaras
          THREE HEAVENS Andrew Wankier
          UNIVERSAL INSURANCE Jack Lilburn
          VAN Kiki Bowman
          VICTORIA HARBOUR Megan Cowley
          THE VIEW FROM UP HERE Brandon Feldman
          THE Vth COLUMN Zahi Farah
          WARRIORS LIKE US Sara Hammel
          WHERE HE BURIED ME Joe Bousquin
          WHITE WEDDING Lina Khan
          WILD IS THE HEART Gabriel Moura
          WONDERFUL WORLD Melissa Kong
          WOUNDED KNEE ’73 Richard Keehn

          [/vc_row_inner]

          SUBMISSION PERIOD HAS ENDED

          The competition that has led to more signings, success stories and careers than any other, is back for its seventh year as the premier hub for new talent discovery in Hollywood! The Launch Pad Competitions have led to more than 450 signings, 164 projects set up, 68 writers staffed, 7 bidding wars, and 156 appearances on annual best of lists such as the Black List, Blood List, Hit List, and the Young & Hungry List. And this year, we’re not only expanding our 25 industry member judge pool to include studio execs and agency partners, but we’re also excited to have powerhouse producer Roy Lee and his Vertigo Entertainment join us as the Guaranteed Option Partner, Adam Kolbrenner’s Lit Entertainment join us as the Guaranteed Signing Partner, and to welcome new Launch Pad mentors Chad & Carey Hayes (THE CONJURING), David Rabinowitz (BLACKKKLANSMAN) and Surj Das (THE CONFECTION CONNECTION) join us as mentors.

          Over the past seven years, we’ve watched our Launch Pad writers go on to steer blockbuster franchises, Emmy-winning series, craft New York Times Bestsellers, and set up dozens of projects well beyond their original Launch Pad entries. Now, we’re ready to find the next great wave of success stories and help them to shine!

          WHAT MAKES LAUNCH PAD SO SUCCESSFUL?

          We utilize our deep relationships within the industry to feature such prominent judges as Studio Presidents, Agency and Management Company Partners and Production Company Heads. We have also formed exclusive partnerships with such industry luminaries as Ridley Scott, Michael De Luca, Roy Lee, Joel Silver, Jeremy Garelick, Adrian Askarieh, as well as companies Artillery Creative, Bellevue, Echo Lake, Endgame Entertainment, Energy Entertainment, ESA, Fourth Wall Management, Good Fear Film Management, Heroes & Villains, Inkshares, Lee Stobby Entertainment, Oil & Cattle, Paradigm, UTA and WME – all of whom have previously committed to option material or sign writers out of our competitions.

          Additionally, we continually shake up our judging pool, carefully selecting the judges we feel will best represent each competition, all the while ensuring a consistent balance of hot newcomers and seasoned veterans. Not only do we work diligently to ensure our judges make up a creative mix of representatives who can sign writers with executives who can acquire projects, but we also work to include those who’ve had proven success with our Launch Pad writers before.

          A PERSONAL TOUCH

          For most competitions on the market today, whether win or lose, the finish line usually comes with a brief blog post announcing winners on the competition site, immediately followed by a new competition turning on. For us, that is not even close to enough. Our focus has always been on discovery and elevation. We go to great lengths to ensure those who make any finalist rounds with us are given attention far beyond a blog post. We not only advocate for all of our finalists, and work closely with them to fine tune loglines, bios, and additional works, but we also feature all of our finalists in our highly regarded Launch Pad Alum Booklets, our “Best Scripts of the Year” lists, our industry released Announcements, and we also include them in the end of year Spec Book, Hit List and Young & Hungry List.

          Additionally, we work with every finalist to prepare you for what comes next -crafting your additional works and navigating the series of meetings that inevitably follow, whether representation meetings, pitch meetings or generals. We track every read received through the competition, and we share all of this info with you, working to be sure you put your best foot forward every step of the way.

          A CLOSER LOOK AT OUR JUDGES

          This year our judge pool once again features 25 industry heavyweights covering all areas of representation, producing and executive ranks, and featuring a number of company partners, top reps on the spec market and annual lists, studio execs, and Oscar nominees. With judges stemming from Paramount, New Regency, Vertigo, UTA, Verve, Energy Entertainment, Circle of Confusion, Bellevue, Good Fear, and Mandalay Pictures, amongst others.

          GUARANTEED OPTION PRIZE

          We are thrilled to announce our exclusive guaranteed option partner for the 2019 Launch Pad Feature Competition is Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment. One of the most successful producers in the industry, Lee and his Vertigo Entertainment have steered a number of the largest grossing franchises of all time, including everything from THE RING, THE GRUDGE, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, THE LEGO MOVIE, IT, and GODZILLA, as well as television series like BATES MOTEL, THE EXORCIST and THE STAND, amongst others. His projects have gone on to receive a number of Oscar, Emmy and BAFTA nominations and awards, and his films have grossed more than $1.5 billion worldwide. Lee is currently in development on multiple Launch Pad Alum projects, as well as the upcoming films DOCTOR SLEEP, NIMONA and MINECRAFT, amongst others.

          As in previous competitions, our guaranteed option partner will select a minimum of 1 project from this year’s competition to option. To be eligible for the guaranteed option prize, all entrants MUST select the “Guaranteed Option” add-on at time of sign up.

          GUARANTEED SIGNING PRIZE

          To continue the Launch Pad’s long tradition of helping writers to gain representation, with more than 415 signings to date, we are proud to announce this year’s Guaranteed Signing Partner as none other than Adam Kolbrenner’s newly-minted Lit Entertainment Group.

          A partner and judge since the first LP Competition, Kolbrenner is one of the most successful managers ever on the spec market, and he and his previous company Madhouse Entertainment have signed more than a dozen Launch Pad writers in the past six years. They have not only seen their clients set up some of the largest projects across town, but have consistently landed them at the top of the annual best-of lists. Lit Entertainment’s clients have written projects such as CAPTAIN MARVEL, PRISONERS, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, NOW YOU SEE ME, THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA, FIRST MAN, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, CREED II, POKEMON DETECTIVE PIKACHU, FIVE FEET APART, THE JUNGLE BOOK, 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE, and the upcoming FREE GUY, TERMINATOR: DARK FATE, TOP GUN: MAVERICK, THE ADDAMS FAMILY and SCOOB, amongst others.

          As in previous competitions, our guaranteed signing partner will select a minimum of 1 writer from this year’s competition to represent. To be eligible for the guaranteed signing prize, all entrants MUST select the “Guaranteed Signing” add-on at time of sign up.

          THE LAUNCH PAD MENTORSHIP PRORAM

          Over the years, we have found that one of the most effective ways to help talented new writers take that first step into industry success is by working closely with experienced writers who have already broken in. That is why the Launch Pad is proud to offer exclusive mentorship opportunities for our writers to learn from those who have navigated those difficult waters before and have firsthand knowledge of the rarified air of the industry.

          Our first mentors this year are identical twin brothers Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes, mainstays of feature film writing since 2005, having steered franchises such as THE CONJURING as well as films such as HOUSE OF WAX, WHITE OUT and THE REAPING. They are currently working on a prequel to THE OMEN for Fox, a prequel to DIE HARD, a remake of THE ENTITY, and scripts for Sony, Mark Gordon’s eOne Entertainment, Universal/Amblin and more.

          In addition, we are proud to welcome back Launch Pad Alum Surj Das as a mentor for this year’s competition. Das’ script THE CONFECTION CONNECTION took the top spot in our 2017 Launch Pad Feature Competition, which led to his being signed by UTA and Romark Entertainment, and seeing Ed Helms and his Pacific Electric Company board the film. He followed that up by landing on the 2018 Young & Hungry List and Hit List, and is now currently in development on multiple studio projects, including an untitled project for Sony Pictures.

          Last but certainly not least, we are also thrilled to announce that David Rabinowitz, the Academy Award-winning co-writer and co-producer of the Spike Lee film BLACKKKLANSMAN will be on board as a mentor for this year’s competition. He got his start working as a multimedia producer for the Wall Street Journal and since, he’s worked as a freelance video editor, motion graphics artist, and screenwriter. He and his writing partner Charlie Wachtel are currently penning an action-thriller called THACHER ISLAND for Berlanti Productions, which is an adaptation of the book Animal by NY Times bestselling author Casey Sherman.

          REAL NOTES = REAL FEEDBACK

          Continuing with our commitment to giving writers as many ways as possible to get a leg up, we’re thrilled to announce the return of our Feedback Notes Program. Rather than receiving a few vague disconnected sentences or paragraphs from other coverage services or competitions out there, we’ve struck a deal with our professional readers (reading for places such as Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Sony, Paramount, Universal, Anonymous Content, Circle of Confusion, CAA, UTA, Paradigm, Skydance and more) to provide 1-2 pages of in-depth notes on your competition entry. With an emphasis on initial thoughts, opinions and analysis, get an inside look at what is usually a behind-the-curtain process, and get our readers’ perspectives on the story, characters, marketability, and ideas for where the story could go. Was it a page-turner? Did we want to see more of a character? Was the dialogue believable? Get the actionable notes and insight you deserve.

          The 2019 Launch Pad Feature Competition Prizes

          The Launch Pad Competition is focused on identifying, discovering and helping launch the careers of our writers. Whether you make the quarter-finalists or win it all in any of our competitions, we work with you to help polish your work, prepare for meetings, craft you pitch, identify your follow up projects, and prepare yourself for anything that comes your way on the journey to becoming a professional writer.

          (As a reminder, if you select any add-ons at time of entry, regardless of where you place in the competition, you will still be in the running for those add-on features.)

          Adrian Askarieh

          Prime Universe Films

          Adam Kolbrenner

          Lit Entertainment

          Alana Wright

          New Regency

          Andrew Childs

          Vertigo Entertainment

          Brandon Loureiro

          Paramount Players

          Brooklyn Weaver

          Energy Entertainment

          Casey Minella

          Circle of Confusion

          Charlie Ferraro

          UTA

          David Boxerbaum

          Verve

          Derrick Eppich

          Lee Stobby Entertainment

          Jake Wagner

          Good Fear Film + Management

          Jason Tamasco

          Bad Idea

          Jeff Belkin

          Zero Gravity Management

          Kegan Schell

          Echo Lake Entertainment

          Matthew Goldberg

          Mgold Productions

          Michael Sauvage

          UTA

          Mike Blutstein

          John Goldwyn Productions

          Nicole Poritzky

          Mandeville Films

          Noah Rosen

          Writ Large

          Samantha Shear

          Zoic Studios

          Steven Snyder

          Innisfree Pictures

          Tom Carter

          Artillery Creative

          Travis Mauk

          Smart Entertainment

          Will Raynor

          Mandalay Pictures

          Zack Zucker

          Bellevue Productions

          • All scripts must be submitted with a cover page containing ONLY THE SCRIPT TITLE, without any of the writer(s) names or discernable marks, including but not limited to WGA Registration numbers.
          • All scripts MUST BE submitted as a PDF.
          • All feature scripts over 130 pages will be charged an extra $1 per page for the entry.
          • Do not submit any form of pitch document with your feature script.
          • Scripts with multiple writers are allowed (however, all entry fees must be paid under one account).
          • All scripts must be the sole property of the writer(s).
          • All scripts will be read blind, with no names, or title pages allowed. We choose this option so that each script is judged by the work, and the words alone.
          • Pilots or features with a prior option are allowed, but at the time of submission and for the duration of the contest, must remain exclusively the writer’s property.
          • The only scripts not allowed to be entered are those which have already sold, have previously earned our “TB Recommends” honors, or received a top 25 placement in a previous Launch Pad competition.
          • Each script may only be entered one time.
          • The Launch Pad and all judges/readers will utilize whatever criteria they deem appropriate in deciding a winner.
          • All scripts will remain the property of the writer(s) throughout the contest (at no point will anyone from the judge’s panel, or Launch Pad ever attach themselves to your work without your consent).
          • Entrants may be contacted as a result of the contest by Launch Pad, the judging panel or other industry professionals in regards to representation, production, sale and/or option of the entered work.
          • Entrants are under no obligation to sell their work or otherwise attach themselves to representation in any form.
          • General script entries will not receive feedback, however, you can opt to upgrade and receive feedback on your script submission.
          • The contest is open to entrants 18 or older. It is an international contest and open to entrants worldwide.
          • The Launch Pad reserves the right, at our sole discretion, to change or modify these terms at any time without notice.
          • By entering this competition, you agree to receive periodic emails from The Launch Pad and The Tracking Board and. You may unsubscribe to these at any time.
          • During the Finalist rounds of the competitions The Launch Pad Partners and Judges will have exclusive access to entries.
          • All entrants understand and agree to allow Launch Pad to post details on their script (title, writers name, logline, genre, and competition details) as well as regarding the writer (biography, picture) to their site, or sister site to help promote the entrants work.
          • All purchases and submissions are final. No refunds will be issued.

          Feedback Notes

          • Feedback MUST be purchased with submission order and cannot be added on later.
          • Feedback notes, if purchased, will be returned to writers following the announcement of the Top 10 Finalists.

          Choose your Entry

          Be considered for Guaranteed Mentorship, Signing, and Publishing prizes

          Upgrade with Add-ons in checkout