Kuzmacinema Feature Script Competition

Kuzmacinema, a young and ambitious Moscow based production company, is willing to discover a great independent feature script for the following production.

We decided to launch a worldwide contest without any borders, without entry fee and transportation costs (online entries only). The main reason is а regrettable lack of professional scriptwriters in Russia. So we decided to look for a good screenplay in the wider professional community.

Screenplays must meet standard feature-length screenplay format. Allusions and citations from the world culture legacy are allowed as well as elements of absurdity or poetic manner. The next genres are NOT allowed: Crime, Sci-Fi, Horror, Thriller.

Kuzmacinema Feature Script Competition is open to anyone, anywhere. No entry fee.

Entries must be received by December 15, 2011 using email.

Winner’s script will be bought by Kuzmacinema production company for filmmaking.

Your submission must be written in the English language. A query letter with a log line and a short synopsis must be included for each screenplay you submit. Your submission must be in Microsoft Word (.doc) format and directed to inbox@kuzmacinema.com.

Winner will be notified by February 15, 2012 in the web page http://kuzmacinema.com/contest.html.

Visit our website to learn more about our company, feel free to ask any questions.

Kuzmacinema feature script competition met the deadline for entries.

We are glad to announce that we’ve got over than 400 entries from Russia, USA, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

“At first our competition has met a cautious approach, but we tried to react quickly to any feedback. For example, due to your requests we added entries in PDF format. As a result we've received the great response in the professional community, — said Kuzma Vostrikov, the founder of Kuzmacinema production company. — We are delighted to meet so many excellent professionals. Now we have to define the most interesting artwork for the following production”.

The short list will be announced by January 15, 2012, the winner will be notified by February 15, 2012.

Our heartfelt gratitude to every participant!

Kuzmacinema production company is proud to announce the shortlisted entries.

Over the last four months we've got about 450 entries of different genres in Russian and English. We were sincerely pleased by such amount of the competitors.
Every work was carefully read and analyzed by five judges to avoid any mistakes or misunderstanding. As a result the jury decided to extend the shortlist and the period for forming it as well. The first part of short list was posted by January 15, 2012. The second part was announced by January 31, 2012.

We would like to say again and again how pleased we are by participants' courage. You were not afraid to hurt the sensitive author's self-esteem by the severe contest storm. Now we are close to the final choice and have some secrets to uncover.

The first secret is learning. During this competition we felt the industry as it was. Sometimes the veterans proposed us to run across their screenplay before bedtime, over the contest rules. Sometimes people attacked us with hard criticism saying that we were the certain thieves.

The second secret is rather sad. We almost sank in the featureless texts with cosmic (definitely it wasn't Russian or English) grammar and fantastic formatting. But we honestly read all the texts and this force training made the real men of us, including ladies.
Our English-speaking colleagues demonstrated the usual opinion on Russian business in common. Special thanks to those who risked and supported our invitation! You showed us a desired professionalism.

After exhausting January the jury takes a break for one day. The following two weeks will be dedicated to the choice of the winner. A good news is that we found a lot of excellent artworks to form our shortlist! And here they are:

The Stationmaster by Anna Sagalayeva
The Harvest Fest by Dmitry Ivanov
Where The Gods Stay At Night by Dmitry Ivanov
The Mouse's Celebration by Sighita Mostavichute
A Piece Of Vicissitudes by Evgeny Ermakov
A Good One by Rafat Samigullin
Myron by Maxim Lagunov
Hemingway's Rough Raper by Danil Sukhoryobrov
The Excuse by Alexey Zakharov
Yarmonka (The Village Fair) by Vladimir Golyshev
The Distant Relatives by Andrey Kamyshev
Where Had Gone Leslie Howard? by Maria Rozhdestvenskaya
William!.. by Mikhail Kolomensky
Dear Granny by Alexey Shakhnazarov
Hruschevka (The Slum) by Vadim Novak
A Big President by Eduard Reznick
President Pi by Sergey Lysenko
Eastern Western Or Shoot, The Blind Lenochka! by Grigory Lerin
Tiramisu by Savvah Minaev
Atcha by Rashid Malikhov and Valery Gussev
The Soybean Rings Again by Lee Liu
The Book Of Blizzard by Egor Fedorov
The Best Friends Forever by Ruslan Paushu
Metaphysics by Rafat Samigullin
Richmond by Mark Simborg
Vanya Gadov, The Life Of Killer by Vasily Loza (based on the short story “Groom” by Iouri Mamleiev)
Nina by Maria Excer
Olkhovka Or The Kitten On The Pole by Anna Donatova
A Loner by Natalia Avanova
Human Beings by Evgeny Titkov
The Killer's Glance by Igor Camerzan
Noir by Vadim Novak and Andrey Cravtchenko
THE OBLIGATORY by Randy Lee Gross

Congratulations on the superb work!

We are proud to announce that Dmitry Ivanov has been awarded as a winner in the Kuzmacinema Feature Script Competition for his entry “The Harvest Fest”.
The entry was selected from the shortlisted works as the most sophisticated, deep and solid one.
“This is an excellent screenplay, - says Nikolay Granik, one of our judges. — An eternal tale about youth, ageing, home town and sea. The current story is held by the author's intonation with references to Georgian cinema”. The negotiations on selling script and production has already started.

“The Harvest Fest” has won in the tough fight with the following entries:

The Stationmaster by Anna Sagalayeva
The Excuse by Alexey Zakharov
The Book Of Blizzard by Egor Fedorov
The Obligatory by Randy Gross
Tiramisu by Savvah Minaev
Nina by Maria Excer

We are eager to conduct the next contest, but due to economic situation we have to wait not less than 1,5 years.
Thanks to all participants!