Challenge Submissions

LL: After his family gifts him a new phone for his birthday, an old widower perceives a series of mysterious texts as communication with his deceased wife.

This is the first draft of a script I wrote specifically for this challenge. I don't have any intention of expanding this into a feature or a series or anything like that. This is merely practice and an exercise in storytelling. I like it as a short and wrote it with the intention of fitting within the 10 page limit stated in the Guidelines.

I wrote this story earlier this week after I found out about the site. I didn't intend on rushing it but I realize the longer I wait to submit a screenplay, less feedback it is open to receive. And that's all I really want. Just someone to read my writing and share their critically-thought observations.

Thanks,
Dev

Create a character and show us their response to receiving a text message from an unknown sender that includes one of the following prompts: "I'm here" / "Remember me" / "Your time is up" / "Don't look back". Select a genre for your submission (horror, sci-fi, thriller, comedy). Write a scene/sequence or shoot a video and include the prompt that inspired your work.

SUBMISSION LIMITS

Your written work cannot exceed 10 pages and short films should be under 8 minutes.

Deadline to submit: July 31, 2019 at 5PM PT

CHALLENGE RULES

Our monthly challenges are open to everyone in the Sundance Co//ab community. One entry per person, per challenge. All submissions will be viewable to the community. Each person who participates will receive a completed feedback form on the work they submit by one of our Sundance judges. All submissions will be given equal consideration and the final winner will be determined by the consensus of the designated Sundance judges.

Only those submissions that meet the criteria outlined in the submission guidelines will be able to be selected as the winner.

The challenge closes on July 31, 2019 at 5PM PT.

PRIZE

The winner will receive a Sundance Co//ab subscription for one year, a one-on-one mentoring session with a Sundance Advisor, a free master class, and will be featured prominently on the site.

Submission Guidelines

One entry per person, per monthly challenge. The limits for monthly challenge submissions are the following: scripts – 10 page limit; video – 8 minute limit; audio/podcast– 8 minute limit

Technical Details

Videos: Accepted video file formats: AVI , FLV, MOV, MP4 or MPEG-2. Note: If you choose to upload a .MOV file make sure that it is not using the Apple ProRes compression. We do not support reading Apple ProRes files or raw camera formats like ARRI and RED at this time.

Scripts: PDF format only, please

Other: If your file format fits outside of the video, pdf, audio file category, please contact us and we will see if we can accommodate it.

(Please do not use copyrighted material without permission as part of this monthly challenge.)

Tanuj Chopra

Juror

Tanuj Chopra is writer/director/producer and television showrunner from Northern California with 5 feature films to his name. His first feature film PUNCHING AT THE SUN about South Asian teenagers coming of age in post 9/11 Queens premiered at the 2006 Sundance and Tribeca film festivals + won the grand jury prize at the San Francisco International Asian American Film festival. Tanuj's most recent award winning feature STAYCATION won the grand jury prize at the 2018 LA film festival in the Muse section. He’s currently showrunning and executive producing season 2 of DELHI CRIME for Netflix. more...

ManSee Kong

Juror

ManSee is a filmmaker and cultural worker born and raised in NYC. She is a co-founder of cultural collective Chinatown Art Brigade, and a co-founding member of Gòngmíng Collective for Language Justice. more...

Marta Effinger-Crichlow

Juror

Marta Effinger-Crichlow is an interdisciplinary artist whose body of work reflects her mission to fuse social issues, culture, and history. She has worked as a freelance dramaturg in cities like Chicago, Louisville, Pittsburgh, and New York. more...

Ann Kaneko

Juror

Independent filmmaker Ann Kaneko is known for her personal films that weave her intimate aesthetic with the complex intricacies of political reality. Often involving subjects in other parts of the world, Kaneko poetically probes the intersection where power impacts the personal. She has screened internationally and been commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Getty Center. more...

Bebe Nodjomi

Juror

Bebe Nodjomi currently works as an Admissions Administrative Aide at NYU’s Tisch Special Programs. She manages all incoming applications, interviews, auditions, and inquiries for a variety of programs including study abroad, summer high school, online programming, and more. more...

Myles Connell

Juror

Myles Connell has worked as a screenwriter, director, script doctor, and musician. His first film IN UNCLE ROBERT'S FOOTSTEPS – a 24 minute short - premiered at New Directors New Films at the Museum of Modern Art and subsequently played at Sundance. He wrote and directed THE OPPORTUNISTS – an independent feature starring Christopher Walken, Vera Farmiga, and Cyndi Lauper - which premiered at Sundance and was theatrically released in the USA, France, and Italy. He has worked as both a screenwriter and director for the BBC and Independent Television in the UK, and for NBC in the USA. He has taught screenwriting and directing, and is a Screenwriting and Directing Fellow of The Sundance Institute and a member of the Director’s Guild of America. more...

Challenge Submissions

Don’t look back, script read submit.

UNKNOWN

The Message

Mystery Sender Challenge

Don't Swipe Right

What is Spam?

I'm Here

Im Here

Chasing the heat

Falsified

Don't Look Back!

The Eurydice Voyage

The Savior or The Victim

Unlocked

I'm Here

FLOP

AMERICAN JUNGLE

Mystery Sender

HELL AND BACK

Back Booth. Yellow Sweater.

You Were Once Here

Always With You

Doomsday Code

THE POWER OF LOVE

Not the News

Running from Time

It Was Written In The Stars

MAISON'S SECRET

Virtually Blind

Watch The Tithes

The Ruinion

Engrossed

Remember Me?

Midnight Run

Rachel? Yeah.

Greyout

The Conversion

Winner

What is Spam?

DeVonté Sanchez

Director

Submission Guidelines

Technical Details

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