Scriptwriting competition celebrating women over-50 now open

"We can't wait to meet the complicated and interesting characters and creators in this year's short script competition"

The Women Over Fifty Film Festival (WOFFF) today calls for submissions to its annual short scriptwriting competition in partnership with Shedunnit Productions.

The Best Short Script prize is open until 21 July 2021 and calls for as-yet unproduced, complete short drama scripts, under five minutes and either centring on a woman over-50 or written by a woman over-50.

The competition brings together WOFFF’s mission to get more women over-50 to be both on-screen and behind the camera with Shedunnit Productions passion for supporting the creation of female-focused, intersectional stories.

This is the third year that WOFFF has recognised international scriptwriting talent. Previous winners have been Love Is by Dylanne Corcoran (2019) and Three Down by Denise Deegan (2020).

In the run-up to the seventh year of the Women Over Fifty Film Festival in September, judges will consider up to 50 short script submissions and award prizes for the top five.

The winner will receive a script consultation and mentoring with Helen Jacey, founder of Shedunnit Productions and author of the international best-seller The Woman in the Story: Writing Memorable Female Characters, as well as prizes including a bottle of Mother’s Ruin handmade gin.

Nuala O’Sullivan, founder of WOFFF said, “I’m thrilled we’re able to work with Shedunnit Productions for the third consecutive year. We hope to discover some fantastic, older female characters on and off the page. It’s a real talent to create compelling and memorable stories in just a few short pages. Legendary screenwriter Nora Ephron said, 'I try to write parts for women that are as complicated and interesting as women actually are.' We can't wait to meet the complicated and interesting characters and creators in this year's short script competition."

Submissions are open until 21 July 2020 or when 50 scripts are received, whichever comes first.

The script must be written by or about a woman over 50 and you can submit no matter where you are in the world, as long as the script is in the English language.

Click here to visit WOFFF’s Filmfreeway page to read the full details of the competition and apply.