Entries Now Open for Pride Films and Plays' Women's Work Contest

Pride Films and Plays has announced that submissions for the Women's Work Contest are being accepted from January 15 to April 1.

This is an opportunity for creative women of all ages to have their candid voices heard! Women's Work aspires to honor excellence in work written by women for screen or stage with lesbian characters, history, or themes. The contest has three categories: Stage (includes plays, performance poetry, etc.), Screenplays (includes writing for film and television), and Shorts (works under 30 pages for the stage or screen).

Winning writers also earn a cash prize ($400 for full-length scripts, $100 for shorts) and the authors will be invited to Chicago for up to ten hours of rehearsal with directors and actors from the Pride Films and Plays Artistic Ensemble prior to the performance.

The entry fee is waived if the entry is received between January 15 and January 31, 2013. The fee is $25 for entries received between February 1 and February 28, 2013. After that, the fee is $30 and the final deadline is April 1. To make the final deadline, scripts must be received via email by 11:59 pm Central Time on April 1, 2013. Only electronic submissions will be accepted.

Writers may enter as many scripts as desired, but each entry form can be accompanied by only one (1) script. Each additional entry will require a separate entry form and separate entry fee. Only one free application may be submitted. If submitting a second script there is a $10 discount for the second entry fee. The full entry fee is due for all entries made after that.

Scripts will be read and evaluated by a panel of stage and screen professionals. Past judges include Barb Lhota, Brenda Webb, Ebony Joy, Katherine Brooks, Ky Dickens, Lindsay Bartlett, Marga Gomez, Michelle Paradise, Rebecca Kling, Rolla Selbak, Tara Mallen, Vanda, and Wendy Jo Carlton.

The judges will name up to five finalists in both the stage and screenplay categories for full-length submissions, based on a scoring sheet found in the contest rules. The top two scoring scripts in each category will receive a cash prize of $400, and will be performed as staged readings September 12 to 15, 2013 during the Women's Work Festival at the Hoover-Leppen Theater at Center on Halsted in Chicago. Writers will be invited to participate in up to ten hours of rehearsal with the cast and director prior to the performance.

In the shorts category, up to 8 screenplays and plays will be selected to be performed during the Women's Work Festival, and each writer whose work is presented will receive a $100 cash prize. Authors will be invited to participate in one rehearsal with the cast and director prior to the performance.