THE LAUNCH KICKS OFF NEWLY MINTED COLLEGIATE ‘MILLION DOLLAR SCREENPLAY FELLOWSHIP’

Grand Prize-Winning Screenplay to be Produced as a Feature Film with a Budget of at Least $1 Million, with Eight Student Finalists Awarded a Total of $100,000 in Grants

The LAUNCH, co-founded by Producers Jason Shuman (Rebel in the Rye, Lone Survivor) and Zachary Green (Spartan) is a first of its kind Million Dollar Screenplay Competition for college students, whose mission is to find the next generation of great screenwriters from around the world. The LAUNCH is awarding $100,000 in education grants to the eight (8) finalists, with the grand prize winner having his or her screenplay produced as a feature film with a budget of at least $1 million. This is an international competition open to students who are enrolled in an accredited two-year, four-year college/university or graduate program.

Accepting submissions from Thursday, March 1 through Thursday, May 31, 2018, The LAUNCH will be looking for screenplays with great stories, original voices and honest emotion in any genre. Winners will be announced in August with an anticipated start of production slated for Q4 2018.

The LAUNCH Board of Advisors, which will act as the final judging panel for the competition, includes Award-Winning Casting Director Barbara Fiorentino, Screenwriter Eduardo Cisneros, APA Agent Chris Ridenhour, Educator Madeleine Sherak, PhD, Valor Entertainment Manager Carlos Bobadilla and Actor Caitlin Mehner, amongst additional industry experts.

Co-Founders Jason Shuman and Zachary Green said: “We thank our wonderful donors for bringing The LAUNCH to fruition.  Never before has a screenwriting competition focused solely on students, not only awarding large grants, but guaranteeing at least $1 million dollars to produce the winning screenplay as a feature film.  Our goal is to motivate as many students as possible to pursue their writing dreams.”

ScreenCraft is the presenting sponsor of The LAUNCH competition and will be utilizing the industry-leading technology platform Coverfly to seamlessly manage screenplay submissions, professional readers, and the evaluation and scoring process to determine the finalists

For more information on additional prizes, rules of entry and to submit scripts please visit www.launchscreenplay.com. A reduced fee will be available to early entry applicants from Thursday, March 1st through Saturday, March 31st.

About The LAUNCH

The LAUNCH is a first of its kind Million Dollar Screenplay Fellowship co-created by Jason Shuman and Zachary Green to find the next generation of great screenwriters from around the world. The LAUNCH is awarding $100,000 in education grants with the grand prize winner having his or her screenplay produced as a feature film with a budget of at least $1 million. 

Jason Shuman is a writer and producer with an impressive slate including over 20 motion pictures grossing more than $500 million worldwide, and over 100 episodes of television produced. Past projects include:  Darkness Falls, The Messengers, Bangkok Dangerous, the critically acclaimed Lone Survivor, Rebel In The Rye, Little Black Book and Daddy Day Camp.

Zachary Green is an entrepreneur and film producer with extensive experience in brand storytelling with brands such as McDonald’s, Toys R Us, Warner Bros., Paramount, and more. He is collaborating with Jason Shuman on a slate of feature films and a handful of television shows, which are in various stages of development and production. Currently, Green and Shuman are producing the heist/thriller Panthers, and action/thriller Spartan, both scheduled to begin principal photography in 2018.