And Here Are The Winners!
Melanie Lieberman Rejected Vernon, CT Rockville High School Victoria Nordlund Charlene Rose Rau Thomas Robinson: Master Thief Rockport, TX Rockport Fulton High School Fay Mayo Jonathan Ayala Beethoven Was Deaf El Paso, TX Eastwood High School Chris Towers Beau Buccilli All in a Day's Work Cheswick, PA Fox Chapel Area High School Sally Moyers Catherine Fehre Mannequin Englewood Cliffs, NJ Dwight-Englewood School Jane Sharp Joe Hill Is It Worth It? Bergenfield, NJ Dwight-Englewood School Dwight-Englewood School Daniel Lomask The Narrator West Hartford, CT Conard High School Erin Mahon-Moore Samantha Meroney Walls and Webs Merced, CA Golden Valley High School Mr. Blanchard Rachel Norman The Four Fates Vernon, CT Rockville High School Victoria Nordlund Berlin Williams Science Killed the Bumblebees Los Angeles, CA Seven Lakes High School Rudy dela Rosa
(You can find a list of previous winners here)
Rules for The Drexel University 2009 High School Ten-Page Playwriting Contest
WRITE A TEN PAGE PLAY--
WIN A FIVE THOUSAND DOLLAR SCHOLARSHIP!
WHAT KIND OF PLAY CAN I WRITE IN TEN PAGES?
It’s up to you! Ten pages are long enough for love to be found and lost (or lost and found), an immovable object (or person) to be moved, an argument to be started (or ended). Long enough for the decision that changes a life. Can you give us characters that we can care about? Can you tell us a story from beginning to end?
CAN AN ENTIRE PLAY REALLY BE WRITTEN IN TEN PAGES OR LESS?
Yes. It’s true. Trust us. What we want to know is: Who can do it well? Who among the high school students reading these words has the potential to write plays that can move an audience? If you think you have that potential, sit down and write for us. Write a short play – no more than ten pages of dialogue, no less than three – and send it to us neatly typed in standard play format with a cover page and a character page (don’t include these in your page count). Make your play interesting. Make your play fun.
WHAT CAN I WIN?
1st Prize: $5,000 Drexel University scholarship
2nd Prize: $3,000 Drexel University scholarship
3rd Prize: $1,000 Drexel University scholarship
Special Recognition: The top five scripts will be given staged readings in a public showcase at Drexel University in the spring of 2008.
Honorable Mention: Professional notes and feedback to the writers of the ten best plays.
NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO PARTICIPATE OR WIN.
VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW
All scholarship awards are conditioned upon the winners applying and being admitted to Drexel University's Screenwriting & Playwriting Program during the normal application cycle. Scholarship awards must be redeemed within 3 years of receiving the scholarship award. Winners are solely responsible for all federal, state, local or other applicable taxes with respect to prizes awarded by Drexel.
DOES IT COST ANYTHING TO APPLY? Not a cent. Well, postage.
WHO'S ELIGIBLE? Any student enrolled as a junior or senior at an American high school during the 2008-2009 school year.
WHAT'S THE DEADLINE? All entries must be postmarked no later than December 1, 2008.
WHAT IF MY PLAY RUNS MORE THAN TEN PAGES? We won't even read it. No more than ten pages, no fewer than three pages, proper play format. That's the law. No excerpts-- make it a complete story (And no fair submitting on legal-size paper, or in little teeny fonts, either.)
CAN MY PLAY BE AN ADAPTATION? Nope. We want something original.
DO I NEED A COVER PAGE? Of course you do, and it better have your name, phone number, email address and any other way we can contact you. Not to mention-- it must also have your play's title.
CAN I SUBMIT MORE THAN ONE PLAY? Nope. Take your best shot and hold your breath.
WHEN DO I FIND OUT IF I WON? We'll let you know by January 15, 2009.
DO I GET MY PLAY BACK? Alas, no. Please don't send your only copy!
WHO ARE THE JUDGES? First-round judges: junior- and senior-level students in Drexel's Screenwriting & Playwriting Program. Finalists: Faculty of Drexel's Screenwriting & Playwriting Program.
WHAT WILL I BE JUDGED ON? How well you can hold our attention in ten pages. Whether we think you have something interesting to say. Whether we think your writing will work well on a live stage, with live actors. How well you are able to make us laugh, feel sad, think, or have some other response that stays with us after we finish reading your play.
WHAT IS THE SCREENWRITING & PLAYWRITING PROGRAM, ANYWAY? Glad you asked. We're a comprehensive four-year undergraduate program aimed at teaching everything we can about writing for the stage or screen, along with providing a good grounding in the basics of show business and film and video production, while simultaneously giving students a first-class liberal arts education. Whew. Our faculty is made up of pros-- people who write movies and TV for a living. We're here to teach what we know about the way things really work. You can find out a lot more about our program and our courses by taking a look around our website.
OKAY, SO HOW DO I APPLY? Send us the following:
Your screenplay (don't forget the title page)A self-addressed, stamped postcard so we can tell you we received your entry
A copy of the completed entry form.
SEND IT TO:
2008 TEN-PAGE PLAYWRITING CONTEST
DREXEL UNIVERSITY - UCROSS 051
3201 CHESTNUT STREET
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19104