$2,500 Scholarship fund shared among all student writers on the winning script.
Two Runner Ups: $1,000 film production grant + $500 scholarship fund shared among all
student writers on each finalist script
Seven Semi-Finalists: $250 grant for their school’s AV/arts program.
Note:All grants and scholarship funds are awarded to participating writer(s) and/or their legal guardian(s).
Competition Calendar
Announcement Date: December 1, 2025
Video Tutorial: January 5, 2026
Submission: February 2 – February 8, 2026 [11:59 pm PST]
Round 1: February 9 – March 1, 2026 [11:59 pm PST]
Round 2: March 2 – March 8, 2026 [11:59 pm PST]
Round 3: March 9 – March 15 2026 [11:59 pm PST]
Winner Announcement: March 16, 2026
Video Tutorials
Get Your Big Break! The Kinolime High School Screenplay Competition
Short Scripts 101: Everything You Need to Know!
What Makes a Winning Script? NXT Competition Submission Tips
Formatting Your Screenplay for Success!
Why Enter?
Winner gets a $5,000 film production grant
Scholarship funds for all participating winning writers
National recognition and industry exposure
A platform to showcase creativity and school spirit
A competition that develops talent, creativity and 21st-century
skills - while giving students a real opportunity to turn their script into a film
Eligibility
Open to accredited U.S. high schools at $0 cost of entry. Entries must be submitted by a teacher/mentor on behalf of the student(s).
From Homeroomto Hollywood
OUR HIGH SCHOOL
SHORT SCRIPTWRITING CHALLENGE
How It Works
High school storytellers can submit a 5–15 page short script through their school for a chance to win $5K in production funding and the opportunity to develop their script into a movie + $2,500 scholarship for winning writers of the script. Kinolime NXT showcases the strongest stories and the audience chooses which script wins the grand prize.
