Submit a script, web series or short film today to the Fade In Awards Thriller Competition.
Early Deadline
May 31, 2025
Regular Deadline
June 30, 2025
Final Deadline
July 20, 2025
Winners Announced
July 25, 2025
First Prize
Robert Calder Sheppard & Charlotte Mae Sheppard
THE COMPLEX
Grand Prize
Chad Wellinger
TRICK SELFIE
Second Prize
Clarence Williams IV
THE MISCREANTS
- +20 Greenlightmymovie submissions*
- *$750 value
- Meet with
- 200 A-list Hollywood Buyers + Reps
- *+ $1,000 Cash, Next-Level Scribe Mentor Session, Expert Script Analysis, Project Marketed to Buyers & Reps.
ENTER HERE
- +15 Greenlightmymovie submissions*
- *$450 value
Our Winners Work!
“I owe my success to Fade In. These guys don’t just promise access – they deliver it!” – Frank Baldwin, Your Honor, Cold Pursuit
The 29th Annual Fade In Awards, bringing you nine specifically tailored contests. Submit a script, web series or short to the Fade In Awards Thriller Contest. Twenty-eight years experience jump-starting the careers of aspiring screenwriters and filmmakers, by first mentoring then introducing them to some of the most important industry contacts of their lives. Fade In Award winners have gone on to sign with major Hollywood talent agencies Gersh, Paradigm, UTA, IPG, CAA & WME; write/direct hit feature films and television shows (e.g., The Marksman (2021), Cold Pursuit (2019), Your Honor, Preston Tylk, Adam, Clay Pigeons, If Only, The Blacklist, Blades of Glory, Adam. and; be nominated for Academy Awards (Culture). What’s more, we don’t use third-party readers!
“After winning [the Fade In Awards], we optioned [our award-winning] script to a prominent producer who had made one of the Speed films. The award gave us motivation and encouragement, which has huge value when starting out.” – Danny Kravitz, The Marksman
“The most important moment in my career.” – The Blacklist Executive Producer/Creator Jon Bokenkamp
“When CBS Studios producer Todd Nelson encouraged me to submit, my inclination was to say, ‘No.’ I remember thinking there was no way I could afford it. But my script Preston Tylk won and got me an [CAA] agent. It was huge for me.” Bokenkamp went on to work with Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry on Taking Lives and Perfect Stranger, respectively.
The Fade In Awards Thriller Competition is open to aspiring screenwriters and television writers of screenplays and teleplays, and filmmakers of both web series and short films. Judges are looking for compelling, genre-bending material (e.g., Psychological, Supernatural, Suspense, Political, Action, Tech) grounded, character-driven, elevated and written in a unique voice or filmed with an attention to detail.
The Fade In Awards deliver by working closely with finalists to make sure their contest submission gives them the best chance at launching their filmmaking career. That’s why Hollywood’s A-list buyers and reps call the Fade In Awards one of the best screenplay contests and short film competitions in the world.
