Breaking in isn't just about talent. It's about access. We're giving you both, in collaboration with AFM, one of the most powerful film markets in the world.
A Career-Launching Experience at AFM and Beyond
Top entries are considered for the ISA Development Slate, where our team champions your script to literary representatives and industry executives from companies like CAA, ICM, Sony, Netflix, Amazon MGM Studios, Lucky Chap, and more.
It all begins with a professionally directed live staged reading with seasoned actors that transforms your screenplay into a presentation-ready industry asset.
Past Table Read winners have been staffed and their projects have been optioned, premiered at Cannes and been nominated for Oscars among other successes.
Turn Your Script Into a Professional Industry Asset, AND Get it Seen at AFM
The Table Read Experience:
A trip to AFM in Hollywood + live table read by seasoned actors
Industry Visibility:
Your script shared with producers, reps, and decision-makers
Career Advancement:
Recorded performance + producer feedback you can use in pitch meetings
Development Opportunities:
Top Entries get ISA Development Slate consideration
More Than a Moment:
Build an industry-ready showcase asset even if you don't travel
The Caliber of Talent We Attract
Table Read Winner Success
Nelson Downend
Staffed on Netflix Series
Mary Elder
Signed to Literary Agent
Derek Asaff
Script Optioned
Angie Comer
Script In Pre-production
Grand Prize Winner Gets to Pitch at AFM
Past Pitch Panelists have included some of the industry's most respected producers and executives, including Effie Brown, Cassian Elwes, Jeffrey Greenstein, Elizabeth Haggard, Lorelle Lynch, and Michael Ryan
About the American Film Market® (AFM®)
The AFM is where the global film and television business comes to life every November. The only independently produced international sales market, hundreds of finance, production, sales and distribution companies and thousands of professionals from every segment of the industry, convene at AFM for six days of discovery, development, deal making, networking, marketplace discussions and world-class conferences.
The AFM is produced by the Independent Film & Television Alliance® (IFTA®), the global trade association for independent film and television production, finance, distribution, and sales companies. The organization represents the independent sector before governments and international bodies and provides significant entertainment industry services to independent companies around the world. For more information, please visit americanfilmmarket.com and ifta-online.org.
Grand Prize Winner
Flight and Accommodations
Hollywood, CA During the American Film Market
American Film Market Pass
Access to screenings, events, panels and more
Live Table Read of Your Script
With professional director and actors, recorded for podcast and video
Pitch at AFM
Past Pitch Panelists have included some of the industry's most respected producers and executives, including Effie Brown, Cassian Elwes, Jeffrey Greenstein, Elizabeth Haggard, Lorelle Lynch, and Michael Ryan
Meeting with an ISA Development Exec
Access to our industry contacts' current mandates plus development of a personalized producer outreach plan
Consideration for Acceptance onto the ISA Development Slate
Development Slate writers are championed to top agents, managers and producer contacts
Top 10 Finalists
Consideration for Acceptance onto the ISA Development Slate
Development Slate writers are championed to top agents, managers and producer contacts
1-Hour Consultation Session with Suzanne Gundersen of ScreenwriteNOW
Suzanne mentors screenwriters and industry creatives to clear the path that lets their writing flow
3-Month Scriptation Industry Pro Subscription
A premium toolkit which unlocks all the advanced features Scriptation has to offer
6-Month ISAConnect Membership
Access to the most comprehensive platform for screenwriters
Logline Review
By an ISA executive
Table Read Winner Success
Annika Pampel
Slated for Production
Elaine Loh
Staffed by Major Networks
Kirk Weddell
ISA Development Slate Invitation
Emily Wahlund
Shopping Agreement
Shane Elizabeth
Hired to Write
Rachel McClard
General Meetings
Allegra Oxborough
Slated for Production
Aaron Rollins
Gained Representation
Deadlines
Submit a 2nd screenplay for $19
Mega-Early:
May 14th - $39
Early:
June 4th - $49
Regular:
June 25th - $59
Final:
Aug. 6th - $79
Announcements
Quarter-Finalists
Sept. 10th
Semi-Finalists
Sept. 24th
Finalists - Top 10
Oct. 8th
Grand Prize Winner
Oct. 15th
Why Every Screenwriter Needs a Table Read — And How It Launches Careers
There’s a moment in every screenwriter’s journey when the script on the page needs to become something real. You’ve stared at the words, revised them, heard them in your head a thousand times. But it isn’t until those words are spoken by real actors, in real time, that you truly understand what’s working and what isn’t. That’s where the table read becomes an invaluable tool in the development process.
Whether you’re fine-tuning dialogue, assessing pacing, or discovering new dimensions of your characters, a table read provides insight no software, structure book, or screenwriting course ever could.
And when it’s done right, with professional actors and a high-quality recording, a table read isn’t just a tool. It’s a proof of concept. That’s the powerful idea behind Table Read My Screenplay. This unique competition turns your screenplay into a presentation-ready performance and puts it in front of the very people who can help bring it to life.
Here are 8 key reasons why a table read may be the most important next step for your screenplay:
Unparalleled Career Development
As the Grand Prize Winner, you'll be considered for acceptance onto the ISA Development Slate where our team will get you and your script in front of producers, agents and managers.
Over 100 scripts from ISA Development Slate writers have been produced, optioned or sold.
Our industry partners include:
The Table Read Experience
“Winning Table Read…changed the trajectory of my career and amplified my hard work in ways both wonderful and unexpected. I’ve pushed deep into the space where my writing goals have been – I found some amazing representation at Magnet Management and been hired to write two TV movies.”
~R.B. RIPLEY (TRMS NEW ORLEANS)
Sponsored by:
- This competition is open to anyone except all employees, directors, associates, and immediate families of the Table Read My Screenplay Competition.
- We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, color, sex, age, veteran status, or disability. It is our intention that all qualified submissions be given equal opportunity and that selection decisions are based on script-related factors alone.
- Promotional discounts offered may only be utilized at the time of submission and no partial refund for a promotional code may be issued after an entry has been officially submitted.
- Promotional discounts or waivers offered may not apply on all submission platforms (i.e. ISA, Film Freeway).
- Once material has been entered, no substitutions of new drafts or corrections will be considered past 24 hours from original submission time and date. After this time the writer may fill in an entry form and pay the appropriate entry fee to submit any script revisions or changes as many times as they like up until the deadline.
- The writer understands that feedback can take up to 90 days turn-around time and may not be received before the end of the contest.
- TRMS Grand Prize winners from previous seasons may only submit to a contest city outside of the city in which they won and may only submit with a new screenplay.
- TRMS 2nd-10th Place Finalists may submit again with a completely different screenplay. Those who have placed as a top 10 (2nd-10th place overall) winner three times with three different screenplays in two different cities (3 in each city for a total of 6 placements) are ineligible to submit in any future contest season.
- Adaptations from other works are permissible provided the writer has the original author's written permission to adapt the work.
- Adaptations of works in the public domain are permissible, however the writer is responsible for the legalities of this.
- Collaborative work is eligible; the writers are responsible for the distribution of the contest prize(s).
- Writers under the age of 18 years old must have parent or legal guardian’s permission to participate.
- The work or submitted material must not be in a current option agreement, or may not have been previously sold or produced for profit.
- Writer understands and accepts without reservation that he/she is an independent contractor and that the contest administrators are not responsible for withholding any taxes or payments on prize money to any government agency, at any level, be it state, local or federal.
- Writer understands that it is his/her sole responsibility to register material with the U.S. Copyright Office and/or with the Writers Guild of America West or the appropriate agency in his/her country.
- Recommended length of work:
Feature – (70 – 120 pages), TV Pilots – (10 – 60 pages) - If a screenplay is submitted for feedback and is over 120 pages, an additional fee of $1 per page will apply and the contestant will be contacted and billed separately for the extra, or only the first 120 pages will be read.
- All entries must be received by Final Deadline. TRMS reserves the right to extend the contest deadline up to 90 days.
- TRMS is not responsible for late, lost, unacceptably formatted, corrupt, or incorrect submissions.
- Contestants may submit their screenplay to any other person, contest, producer, agent, publisher, and/or organization.
- Contestants retain all rights to their screenplay, subject to the terms and agreements contained herein.
- TRMS will only accept submissions if the writer assures us that to the best of their knowledge they are the sole originator of the idea and that they have the legal right to submit it for judging to TRMS.
- The writer understand that their logline and / or screenplay will be reviewed by our employees and/or our panel of Industry Judges for evaluation. The writer also understands that any one of these employees or judges may have been or may be exploring ideas similar to the submission and hereby waives any claim that TRMS, its employees or judges may have misappropriated any ideas or portions of the submission logline or script.
- No agreement for compensation, other than the TRMS prizes listed, has been implied.
- If the writer wins an ISAConnect membership, the membership will auto-renew after the free term if they do not cancel it, and they will be billed the regular monthly fee.
- TRMS intends to submit the Finalists to respected producers with the writer's permission, which will be granted upon clicking the ‘I have Read and Understand the Contest Rules’ button. The writer can withdraw from this process at any time.
- When the writer's screenplay, application, and payment have all been received, they will be notified by email only. If the writer's email address changes, it is their responsibility to let us know.
- By entering this contest and in the event the writer / their screenplay places in the competition, they understand and accept that TRMS will be free to use their name and likeness for advertising or promotional purposes without additional consideration.
- If the writer is a GRAND PRIZE Winner, they agree to give TRMS permission to post their video or audio Table Read on its web site.
- All contest participants understand and agree with the following:
- TRMS reserves the right to award a cash prize, at its discretion. A Grand Prize Winner is under no obligation to accept the associated prizes but will not be awarded or owed a cash replacement upon electing not to move forward with prizes offered. This includes local winners.
- International flight not to exceed $1,500. Domestic flight not to exceed $800. There is no cash reimbursement for flights that cost more than the limit nor will there be a disbursement of the difference for flights that are less than the $1500 / $800 limit.
- TRMS may develop a series or documentary style program based on the inner workings of the contest and the production resulting there from. TRMS reserves the right to contact contestants with offers to participate in any such production. Contestants are under no obligation to participate therein.
- Contest applicants must accept without reservation the decisions rendered by the judges.
- There are no refunds for submissions at any time for any reason.
- TRMS has the right to change or add to the prizes at any time, without notice, and/or substitute prizes of equal or lesser value.
- There are no refunds for submissions at any time for any reason.
- Additional rules may be amended at the sole discretion of TRMS.
- By submitting to this contest, the writer's email address will be added to the contest database as well as the International Screenwriters' Association newsletter for weekly updates, contest promotions and other notifications. The writer may unsubscribe at any time.
- It is our full intention to fulfill all prizes as posted. However, due to any unlikely “force majeure” event (whether an act of God or otherwise), we reserve the right to update or edit prizes in our sole and absolute discretion, including, without limitation, the right to move any prizes and/or packages to an online format.
- By selecting ‘I have Read and Understand the Contest Rules’ on the entry page and submitting, the writer agrees to all of these rules.