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Shore Scripts
Shore Scripts Short Film Fund
The Short Film Fund offers an opportunity for emerging screenwriters and filmmakers to receive mu...
DeadlineOct 30, 2026 PDT
TV Writer Mentorship Program
ClosedShore Scripts
TV Writer Mentorship Program
The 8-week Shore Scripts TV Writer Mentorship Program prepares writers to get staffed or have their pilot picked up, while offering behind the scenes looks at working on top TV shows. This isn’t your typical screenwriting contest! It’s a one-of-a-kind, game-changing professional experience to level up your TV writing career.
Packages
10 options
Season
2026 TV Writer Mentorship Program
Overview
In an intimate, small group setting writers will get an insider’s look at what it’s really like to work in a TV writers' room, develop the pitch-perfect presentation to help them land rep and writing gigs alike, and get their most pressing questions answered with direct mentorship from established industry pros. Plus, writers will be part of a close-knit community of TV Pilot winners and Shore Script staff who will support you every step of the way. This experience is a career-defining opportunity that will open doors and shape writers’ future in the TV industry!
TV WRITER MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
This year, SIX standout TV writers will earn a coveted spot in our 8-Week TV Writer Mentorship Program – an immersive, career-launching experience designed to help you break in and level up fast. Over the course of the program, you’ll get unprecedented access to the people who actually hire, buy from, and champion TV writers, including:
– TWO Showrunners! BRIDGERTON Showrunner Jess Brownell & ARROW Showrunner Beth Schwartz, revealing exactly what it takes to land – and keep – that coveted staff writing job
– Director of Development Duane Luu (Peacock) sharing insider strategies for pitching a series that sells
– 1:1 mentorship with working TV writers (NCIS: ORIGINS, ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING, RINGS OF POWER, etc) who were once in your shoes and have made the leap to the professional ranks
– Agents and Managers pulling back the curtain on how to find (and sign with) the right representation for you
– 1:1 personalized guidance from our Writer Development Manager, delivering honest, actionable career feedback tailored to your goals
And that’s just the beginning. This isn’t a lecture series – it’s a series of personal meetings to help build a road map to a real TV writing career. If you’re serious about breaking in, you don’t want to watch this from the sidelines.
Prizes
Top 3, 1/2 Hour Pilot Winners
Comprehensive 8-Week TV Writer Mentorship Program
This year, 3 winners in each ½ hr and 1-hour pilot category will win spots in our career-changing Shore Scripts TV Writers Mentorship Program. The Program will include weekly Zoom sessions over 8-weeks in the fall of 2026 where participants will have sessions with showrunners, development execs, mentors, agents and managers, and more.
All of our Winners will have the opportunity to participate in our Writer Development Program receiving one-to-one support from our Writer Development Manager who will send out scripts to our roster of over 300 Managers, Agents, Producers, and Directors. This bespoke and personal approach to script circulation, built on knowing what our roster members are looking for, and what our writers wish to achieve, is what makes Shore Scripts stand out from the crowd, and has enabled us to help launch the careers of over 100 screenwriters to date.
Top 3, 1-Hour Pilot Winners
Comprehensive 8-Week TV Writer Mentorship Program
This year, 3 winners in each ½ hr and 1-hour pilot category will win spots in our career-changing Shore Scripts TV Writers Mentorship Program. The Program will include weekly Zoom sessions over 8-weeks in the fall of 2026 where participants will have sessions with showrunners, development execs, mentors, agents and managers, and more.
All of our Winners will have the opportunity to participate in our Writer Development Program receiving one-to-one support from our Writer Development Manager who will send out scripts to our roster of over 300 Managers, Agents, Producers, and Directors. This bespoke and personal approach to script circulation, built on knowing what our roster members are looking for, and what our writers wish to achieve, is what makes Shore Scripts stand out from the crowd, and has enabled us to help launch the careers of over 100 screenwriters to date.
Top 10 Finalists (5 half-hour pilots, 5 one-hour pilots)
5 Additional Finalists in each of the ½ hr and 1-hour pilot categories will be invited to attend an online mixer as part of the TV Writer Mentorship Program. The mixer will include Shore Scripts Staff, Mentorship Program winners, and special industry guests. Get your questions answered, network, and become part of a larger TV Writing community!
All of our Finalists will have the opportunity to participate in our Writer Development Program receiving one-to-one support from our Writer Development Manager who will send out scripts to our roster of over 300 Managers, Agents, Producers, and Directors. This bespoke and personal approach to script circulation, built on knowing what our roster members are looking for, and what our writers wish to achieve, is what makes Shore Scripts stand out from the crowd, and has enabled us to help launch the careers of over 100 screenwriters to date.
Rules & Guidelines
01
Rules & FAQs
* ½-Hour Pilots should be within 20-35 Pages. 1-Hour Pilots should be within 40-65 Pages.
* Writers can exceed the recommended limits by up to 15 pages, with an additional fee of $1 per page.
* Please only submit the first episode/pilot of your TV series.
* Writers from all countries are welcome to enter. All scripts must be written in English.
* The script must be the writer’s original work. Adaptations are accepted but the writer must own all copyright. At no point will Shore Scripts ever have any rights over your work.
* All ages are welcome.
* Each writer, or writing team, may not have earned more than $50,000 in screenwriting fees in the preceding 18 months. This clause is in place to help us support emerging talent. (Contest & Fellowship awards and writing fees received outside of fiction screenwriting do not count toward this total).
* Please only include the Script Title on the cover page.
* You may enter a newer draft of an already submitted script. There will be a small additional fee as the script will be reread. You may re-enter your script through the Resubmission page.
* A writer can enter as many scripts in as many categories as they wish.
* If a script is optioned or purchased during the competition, then it will no longer be eligible for the contest.
* Scripts should be in standard formatting and submitted electronically as a PDF.
* We accept all genres, including animation. It’s absolutely fine if your script is a combination of multiple genres or sub-genres. If that’s the case, use the Scrybe Genre dropdown to indicate the main genre on your submission, and make a note of other Genres, and any other information you feel will be relevant to the reader in the Comment to Reader field.
* The winners consent to Shore Scripts using their name, script title, and any other relevant information for promotional purposes on their website. This will be used to inform other contestants and the media of the results.
* If Shore Scripts helps a writer gain representation, option, sell, or have his/her screenplay produced, then we are entitled to state this on our website and on any other platform, whenever we see fit.
* This schedule can be subject to change based on our guest speaker’s schedules. If anything needs to be adjusted, it will be of equal value.
* Shore Scripts staff and associates are ineligible to enter.
* The decision of Shore Scripts is final. By applying to this contest each participant agrees to hold Shore Scripts, our judges, and sponsors immune from any competition disputes, claims, liabilities, and expenses.
* By entering Shore Scripts, you authorize us to use any trusted third-party online, cloud-based, and email services and databases for hosting, managing, and/or sending/transmitting your submission file(s).
* If we see fit, we can extend the final deadline for the competition. (Please note that this has never yet happened).
FOR ALL THE RULES & FAQ:https://www.shorescripts.com/rules-faq/#tv-rules.
Jury
SEAN CHARLES
Producer
ALLBLK, an AMC Networks property
Sean Charles is a Development & Production Manager at ALLBLK an AMC Networks property. He is responsible for producing and developing all original content for the streaming service, in addition to assisting in acquisitions and scheduling. Sean most recently worked in Corporate Communications working across internal and external communications from the Sundance Film Festival. He also formed and led the inaugural Black employee resource group, Vested Interest in Black Employees (V.I.B.E) from 2018 through 2021, as Co-Chair.
PETER MOHAN
Writer, Producer
Peter has more than 600 hours of dramatic programming for network television. His credits as a writer and Executive Producer include THE HARDY BOYS, ORPHAN BLACK, THE LISTENER, LOST GIRL, MUTANT X, DUE SOUTH, and BLOOD TIES. In addition, Peter has twice served as the Showrunner in Residence for Norman Jewison’s prestigious Canadian Film Centre.
JOSEPH MALLOZZI
Writer, Producer
Joseph is a writer and producer known for STARGATE SG-1, STARGATE: ATLANTIS, DARK MATTER, and TRANSPORTER: THE SERIES. In 2012, he co-created the comic book DARK MATTER with Paul Mullie and made it into a TV series with Mallozzi and Mullie co-writing. A renowned and respected sci-fiction writer, Joseph has written on scores of TV shows, including projects as diverse as THE ADVENTURES OF PADDINGTON BEAR to RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
BILL THOMAS
Showrunner, Director
Bill is a drama showrunner and documentary maker for various channels including Investigation Discovery, National Geographic, and the BBC. Bill also directs feature films and TV series – most recently an adaptation of THE THREE MUSKETEERS for Signature Entertainment and AMERICAN MONSTER for Arrow Entertainment. Bill began his career in film and TV art departments, working as a prop maker on various movies, including STAR WARS, five of the HARRY POTTER films V FOR VENDETTA, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, JAMES BOND, and THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.
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