Roadmap Writers' UK & Republic of Ireland Screenwriting Initiative 2025 Rules, Guidelines, and Scoring

Roadmap Writers' UK & Republic of Ireland Screenwriting Initiative 2025 RULES, GUIDELINES, AND SCORING:

Register for only  HERE!

ELIGIBILITY:

• Must be a resident of the UK or the Republic of Ireland.
• Must be 18 years of age or older to enter Roadmap Writers' UK & Republic of Ireland Screenwriting Initiative 2025.
• Scripts submitted in the competition must NOT have been previously optioned, purchased, or produced at the time of entry.
• Must be an original idea/work, free and clear of any copyright issues, and the original work of the submitter(s).

WRITING TEAMS:

• Material written by writing teams (or multiple writers) must be submitted by one of the writers, with the consent of the other(s).
• Please list all additional co-writers.
• If a writing team places in the competition or is chosen as a winner, prizes will be given to the person who submits the project. Each writing team is responsible for dividing or sharing the prize benefits.

SUBMISSIONS/SCRIPT FORMATTING:

• Each writer/writing team is permitted to submit only 1 script for consideration. Any additional script will be disqualified.
• The competition is open to feature and pilot scripts of all genres.
• No TV spec episode scripts may be submitted (i.e. a spec episode of  FLEABAG or PEAKY BLINDERS).
• Must be written in English in 12-point courier font and must adhere to standard industry margins and formatting.
• Pilot scripts must not exceed 65 pages. Feature scripts must not exceed 120 pages.
• Do NOT “cheat” in an effort to reduce your page count. Your script will be disqualified. As a standard rule, 1.5” left, 1” right, and 1” top and bottom dimensions are acceptable. Using screenwriting software can help with this.
• All submissions must be in PDF format.
• You must submit your script with a cover page that includes your script title ONLY.
• The cover page does not count towards the overall script page count.
• It is recommended that you do NOT include your name, WGA registration number, and/or copyright information.
• All submissions are final. No substitutions of pages, drafts, or scripts will be allowed.
• Do not include any additional documents with your submission (i.e. pitch documents, series bibles, look-books, etc). They will not be reviewed.

JUDGING:

• The Judgements and decisions made by our Roadmap Writers panel are final and binding in all respects.
• Submissions will be evaluated by experienced independent industry experts and judged on the following criteria: Premise/Concept, Characters, Dialogue, Story, Structure, and Voice/Style. Submissions will receive multiple evaluations based on the competition's proprietary scoring system.
• The Screenwriters of the Top 10 scripts will be invited to a 15-minute interview.

LEGAL/RIGHTS:

• To enter Roadmap Writers' UK & Republic of Ireland Initiative 2025, you must agree to its Rules & Guidelines.
• Roadmap Writers reserves the right, at our sole discretion, to change or modify these terms at any time without notice.
• Announcement dates are tentative and subject to change.
• All scripts submitted will remain the property of the writer(s). Neither Roadmap Writers nor any of its judges, partners, and/or their respective companies assume any attachment to your work.
• Neither Roadmap Writers nor any of its judges and/or competition partners investigate or confirm the authenticity of an entrant’s authorship rights or claim. If it is found out that a writer or writing team has falsely claimed authorship, they will be disqualified from the competition and Roadmap Writers reserve the right to ban any or all of the writers from future initiatives, competitions, and from any other Roadmap Writers services.
• Only one script may be submitted.
• Roadmap Writers is not responsible for any technical issue(s) that may arise from electronic submission.
• While it is not a requirement, we encourage writers to register their script with the U.S. Copyright Office and/or Writers Guild of America.

PRIZE PACKAGE:

• Writer/Writing Team that wins the first place is responsible for the costs associated with transportation to and from the Roadmap Screenwriting Retreat in Scotland.
• Writer/Writing team is permitted to attend Week 1 of the Roadmap Screenwriting Retreat in Scotland. If the first-place winner/winners is unable to attend, the opportunity will be offered to the second-place winner. If offered to the second place winner and they are not able to attend, the prize will be offered to the third place winner/winners.
• The winners will meet with marketing once a month for 6 months for marketing strategy and outreach.

PROMOTION, MARKETING, OUTREACH:

• Entrants may be contacted as a result of the competition by Roadmap Writers, a member of the judging panel, or other industry professionals.
• By entering the Roadmap Writers UK & Republic of Ireland Initiative, you agree to receive competition updates via email and marketing emails from Roadmap Writers. 

• You may unsubscribe from our emails at any time—BUT if you do so, you won’t be notified if you place in the initiative. You will have to check the competition announcements on our blog at your own convenience. 

   

ENTRY SCORING:

Submissions will be judged by independent industry experts based on the following criteria. The explanations of each criterion below are by no means exhaustive. They are examples of some of the questions readers and judges consider in each category.