After several months of sifting through a record number of over 6500 entries involving unique stories, memorable characters, and exemplary dialogue, we have finally narrowed down the field to the celebrated Second Rounders (top 10%) and the Semifinalist scripts that are still in contention. The full results will be posted on our website next week but in the meantime, notification letters should be arriving in mailboxes before then. Regardless of the outcome, you have already taken an admirable step in your writing career by completing a story and putting it through the gauntlet. Evaluating screenplays at this level is a complicated process that is, by nature, extremely subjective. The measure of your success as a writer is not forecasted only by the outcome of a competition. Whether this was your first or nineteenth time submitting in AFF, rejection is never easy but it is an important part of growing as an artist. Without rejection, there would be no incentive to improve and no reason to push further to succeed. And when you do succeed, the rewards are far greater and the experience much sweeter. To those of you who advanced in the competition this year, congratulations on receiving a distinction that is achieved only by few. As a writer, you are of course only as good as your next work. If writing is your passion, please continue to pursue it.
– Matt Dy
Screenplay & Teleplay Competition Director