Screen Queensland Escalate 2026: Six Paid 3D Animated Feature Screenwriting Places — 29 October Deadline

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3 days ago

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Screen Queensland and the Australian animation studio Like A Photon Creative (LAPC) are seeking six screenwriters to develop original scripts for 3D ANIMATED FEATURE FILMS. The initiative, Escalate: Feature Focus Writers, involves professional writers' rooms, producing and international script mentoring, and delivery of a full polished first draft for a studio-supplied story concept.

APPLICATION DEADLINE — THURSDAY 29 OCTOBER 2026 at 5:00pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST). The organiser's initial application is on its linked SmartyGrants form. This is a short, live window, not a 20 November open-call deadline; 20 November is a later outline deadline for shortlisted longlisted applicants only.

STRICT APPLICANT GATES — You must be an AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN OR PERMANENT RESIDENT, at least 18, and have lived in QUEENSLAND for at least six months before applying. FULL-TIME STUDENTS are not eligible. This is not an unrestricted global animation writing competition open to every remote screenwriter.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED — You must show one specified credited or comparable screen/story achievement, such as a short film selected at a recognised prestige festival, narrative lead on a widely received digital game, successfully received web series, commissioned television/fully funded feature work, attached long-form production, or significant related film-industry experience. Check the complete list rather than assuming one personal short story is enough.

INITIAL WRITING SAMPLE — Applicants submit an EXISTING DRAFT SCRIPT representing at least 30 minutes of screen time and a short personal statement covering background, creative plans and interest. The script can belong to any genre; the initial sample need not be for animation. Subsequent longlisted writers create a one-page feature outline from LAPC's provided premise by Friday 20 November, with interviews in early December.

DEVELOPMENT AND REMUNERATION — Successful six candidates will work on two writers' rooms in February and March 2027, treatments and a completed first-draft screenplay through July 2027. Screen Queensland explicitly confirms REMUNERATION for work completed during the initiative at standard industry minimums. There is no public fixed amount that should be invented as a grant prize.

IP AND CREDIT — A candidate retains intellectual-property ownership in their initial submitted material but grants Screen Queensland a non-exclusive fee-free evaluation licence. LAPC owns the premise supplied for the follow-up outline. Continuing production writing and actual feature-film screen credits remain contingent on further selections and development: they are not guaranteed for every successful participant.

ORGANISER TRACK RECORD — Screen Queensland is the state's public screen industry agency, and Like A Photon Creative is a Queensland-based animation company whose animated feature The Pout-Pout Fish is highlighted in the programme materials. The opportunity is career development and paid professional creation, not a film's public casting call.

OFFICIAL INSTRUCTIONS — https://screenqueensland.com.au/initiatives/escalate-feature-focus-writers-initiative/ . The page links to SmartyGrants, Terms of Trade and detailed application rules. Checked 23 October 2026. Note that Screen Queensland is closing its old grants portal on 2 November, AFTER this initiative's October 29 application deadline.