We’re excited to announce that the guest judge for the 2026 American Zoetrope Screenplay Competition is Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning screenwriter Larry Karaszewski, whose credits include The People v O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, Man on the Moon, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Big Eyes, Ed Wood, and Dolemite Is My Name. Larry brings a wealth of experience working across platforms, genres, and formats.
This year marks the 24th edition of the annual screenplay competition, which seeks to find and promote new and innovative voices in cinema. It is open to both feature-length film scripts and TV/streaming pilots. The winner receives a cash prize, and the winning and nine finalist scripts are sent to top agencies and production companies for consideration.
The 2026 competition opens for submissions June 1. For details, including rules and FAQs, please visit the website. To be added to our email list for competition news and announcements, please send a request to contests@zoetrope.com.