Have a great idea for a movie? Why not write it up – 125 words (or less) and enter our short story competition? This is a short story competition with a difference. We will circulate your story to film industry professionals. We will champion the top ten stories to industry professionals.
The Rules
Please ensure that submissions are original, not previously published and exactly 125 words or less (not including the title). Don’t forget to include your full name, address, email and daytime phone number when filling in the form. We may use entries in all print and electronic media. Contributions become world copyright of Raindance.
Entry is open only to anyone anywhere. It is not open to employees of Raindance, its subsidiary companies and all others associated with this competition, their immediate families and relatives living in an employee’s household.
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Terms and conditions: There are three categories—one for adults, one for children aged 12–18 and one for young adults 18 – 25.
In the adult category, the winner will receive £1,000 and two runners-up will each receive £250.
In the 12–18s and under-12s categories, the winners will each receive a Fire HD 8 Tablet and a selection of STAEDTLER products worth £50, plus two STAEDTLER classpacks of pencils for their school. The two runners-up in both categories will each receive a Kindle E-Reader.
Please submit your stories below by 5pm on February 19.
The editorial team will pick a shortlist of entries, which this year will be combined into a short-story anthology and published by our partner lulu.com. The book will be entered into Lulu’s retail channels and promoted for one year. Winners of the categories will have an opportunity to write a longer version of their stories for inclusion in the book.
The three best stories in each category will be posted online at readersdigest.co.uk on February 27. You can vote for your favourite, and the one with the most votes wins the top prize. Voting will close at 5pm on March 19 and the winning entries will be published in our
RAINDANCE COMPETITION
#125 Words
Move Your Story Forward
Title:
Intro Blurb:
Hints and Tips:
Start Date:
End Date & Time:
Prize: ideas: RD weekend masterclass, one week writing retreat to progress novel/script, free editing for a finished piece of work, winning story turned into a film short (By film students ??), Cash/an item (donated by Sponsor) Elliot Grove “how-to” books. Interview with EG posted online.
Judging: Shortlisted by in house judging panel. Top X posted for public voting (comments enabled). Panel vote on winner & runner up – and say why won.
Judging Panel: Strategic choices
Rules:
No previously published work (specify “published”), 125 exactly excl. title, (no more no less). Can enter more than once.
Determine if UK only or International – maybe create a template and have each Raindance territory run their own? Test the market.
If international will submissions be in English?
Entry open to residents of the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland. It is not open to employees of Raindance, families/relatives etc.
Entry Details:
Name
First name
Last name
How did you hear about the comp.
Email address
Phone number
Address
Post code
Your story
Title
newsletter/news promo sign up box
T’s&C’s: … click to agree. Copyright etc
Create a timeline: Factor in publicity.
Social sharing: usual stuff #125words #125wordstory #125wordscript #flashfic #mircofic #raindanceflashfic #Quickscript
Mechanics:
Upload to Raindance site – monitored. Set a word upload limit with prompt. Web designer to configure.
Or a Facebook upload? Simply copy and paste words. (word count control would be tricky)
Collaborations
A publishing company – promote through their channels. Create a book of the best.
Editing company
Publicity
Newspaper / magazine
International
Social Media
Sponsor channels etc etc
Find a Sponsor – create sponsor benefits doc.
Tablet Company (HP)
Moleskin Books
Energy drink co.
Tech co.
WHSmith
Coffee shop chain
Publishing company
Benefits for Raindance:
About Elliot Grove
Photo Credit David Martinez / BIFA 2018
Few people know more filmmakers and screenwriters than Elliot Grove. Elliot is the founder of Raindance Film Festival (1993) and the British Independent Film Awards (1998). He has produced over 700 hundred short films and five feature films: the multi-award-winning The Living and the Dead (2006), Deadly Virtues (2013), AMBER (2017), Love is Thicker Than Water (2018) and the SWSX Grand Jury Prize winner Alice (2019). He teaches screenwriting and producing in the UK, Europe, Asia and America.
Elliot has written three books which have become industry standards: Raindance Writers’ Lab: Write + Sell the Hot Screenplay, now in its second edition, Raindance Producers’ Lab: Lo-To-No Budget Filmmaking and Beginning Filmmaking: 100 Easy Steps from Script to Screen (Professional Media Practice).
In 2009 he was awarded a PhD for services to film education.
