Rooster Teeth, Austin Film Festival Unveil Screenwriting Fellowship With $5,000 Prize

Rooster Teeth and the Austin Film Festival are looking to bolster emerging screenwriters with a new award — complete with a cash prize and mentorship opportunities.

The winner of the Rooster Teeth Fellowship Award, which will be bestowed at the 26th annual Austin Film Festival (AFF) later this year, will receive $5,000 and one-on-one mentoring from the Rooster Teeth team — including feedback from a top company exec and a week-long, all-expenses-paid trip to Rooster Teeth headquarters Austin. Submissions are currently open on the AFF website in a variety of content formats, including feature films, TV pilots, digital series, and fictional podcasts.

Rooster Teeth says the winning entry will incorporate comedy and genre filmmaking with a low budget/high concept feel — preferably about ordinary people in extraordinary situations, the company says, or coming-of-age stories. In addition to one winner, Rooster Teeth will also offer development deals to three other finalists.

“We’ve always believed in investing in the Austin entertainment scene and developing projects here,” Rooster Teeth’s head of development, Ryan P. Hall, said in a statement. “We can’t wait to see what stories come our way.”

The deadline for entry is May 15, and the Austin Film Festival will be held in October. Prospective participants can visit the festival’s website for additional rules and eligibility info.