Script Swap

Script Swap

A New Opportunity for Screenwriters

The Script Swap program provides local and national screenwriters with an opportunity to receive constructive feedback from their peers to strengthen screenplays for production or grant applications. The six nominated screenplays will also have the chance to win the Best Screenplay Award at the 2024 Adelaide Independent Film Festival.

How to Participate

Please email your screenplay(s) to aiff@auteursforum.com between 27 - 28 July 2024.

You’ll receive an email with the assigned screenplay to review on 18 August 2024.

If you prefer to use a USB and live in South Australia, please contact us for more information.

Best Screenplay Award

All screenplays entered will be in consideration for the Best Screenplay Award. The AIFF will nominate six screenplays to be reviewed by a Jury.

The six screenwriters nominated will be notified on 15 September 2024. The winner will be announced at the 2024 Adelaide Independent Film Festival.

2024 Timeline

27 - 28 July: Submissions open

18 August: Screenplays assigned for feedback

14 September: Feedback due

15 September: Nominated screenwriters notified

17 October: Screenwriters provided with feedback

19 October: Best Screenplay Award winner announced

Are you working on an application to fund your next short film and need to polish your screenplay before submitting it?

Are you approaching principal photography and need to refine your screenplay to avoid shooting unnecessary scenes?

Jury

Ruth Estelle

Ruth Estelle’s most recent work ‘Behind The Seams’ (released in 2023 on FaceBook, Instagram, and TikTok) won the LA Script Awards, and Best Series Pilot at the Sydney Indie Short Festival, in 2022. As well as an extensive slate of projects with Word Ninjas, Ruth has written shortlisted plays and a memoir. Her screen projects range widely across genres and formats – including a TV musical 'Sharehouse', co-created and written with Pete Monaghan. Ruth’s clients have reaped rewards from her writing and script editing: TV movie Suka (on Go! 20/12/23), feature films My Eyes and Vigilantes, and most recently Wishes - a co-written preschool animation with Karu-Karu selected for Annecy-MIFA Pitches 2024.

Jonathan Champ

Jonathan is an early-career screenwriter developing projects across film, television, online and narrative audio. He explores themes of change, loss, identity and place.

An AFTRS graduate (Postgraduate Certificate Screen – Screenwriting, 2017), he has been a script consultant for the US-based Finish Line Script Competition in 2019 and 2020. He was a finalist in the 2020 NYC Midnight Short Screenplay Challenge and the 2023 Screenwriters Network Short Screenplay Competition for his work Writer’s Voice. The micro-doc Actual Size (2017) that he conceived and co-wrote at AFTRS was a finalist in the Made In The West Film Festival and has been screened at The Other Art Fair, and at Blacktown Arts One Night At The Museum.

FAQs

  • The Script Swap is a new initiative that provides local and national screenwriters a platform to receive constructive feedback from their peers, aimed at strengthening their screenplays for production or grant applications. There is also an opportunity to win the Best Screenplay Award, which will be presented at the 2024 AIFF.

  • Participating screenwriters submit their screenplay(s) to the AIFF and we’ll swap it with another screenplay in the program. Each participant is required to complete the dedicated feedback form by 14 September 2024. A copy of their feedback will be provided to the screenwriter at the end of the program. Screenplays should be 15 pages or less. For information about the Best Screenplay Award, please refer to the section above.

  • Yes! We don’t charge any fees to participate.

  • To participate in the Script Swap program, please send us an email with your screenplay(s) attached between 27 - 28 July 2024. If you prefer to use a USB and live in South Australia, please contact us for more information.

  • Of course! Follow the ‘How do I submit my screenplay for feedback?’ process to get started. The Script Swap program is open to all screenwriters across Australia.

  • As long as each screenplay is no longer than 15 pages, you can submit as many as you like.

  • We’ll assign your screenplay to a screenwriter participating in the program and vice versa. If you’re an established screenwriter, we’ll make an effort to pair your screenplay with a screenwriter who has similar strengths.

  • For this opportunity to function successfully, all participants are required to provide constructive feedback on the dedicated feedback form. Your completed feedback form is due no later than 14 September 2024. If you submit multiple screenplays, please be prepared to complete additional feedback forms.

  • The AIFF has no intention of producing your screenplay without going through the Option Purchase Agreement process and legally obtaining the rights. We also have strict rules that each participant must adhere to throughout the program.

  • Of course you can. We’ll assign your screenplay to another student (if available) in the program to review and vice versa.

  • Please use one of the free software programs or format your Microsoft Word document to match the industry standards. If your screenplay is not formatted correctly, it’ll be considered ineligible for the program.

  • We’ll send the feedback associated with your screenplay via email on 17 October 2024.

  • Absolutely! Please ensure that your feedback form is submitted by 14th September 2024. If you complete it before this date, you’re welcome to send it to us earlier.

  • If we’ve not received your feedback form by 14 September 2024, you'll be ineligible for the Best Screenplay Award.

  • Yes. If your screenplay is considered a first or second draft or not quite ready for a production or grant application, you can still participate in the program.