Spreading the word

The 168 Film Project is adding a screenwriters competition, with an eye toward having a script being made into a short to be judged during the annual March film festival in Glendale.

This is the eighth year of the competition that challenges filmmaking teams to create a project in 168 hours based on a Bible verse. The entire project, from writing the script to filming, must be completed within the time frame. Top scripts selected in the new contest, called “Write of Passage,” will be eligible to be made into a film by veteran 168 Film Project producers.

Event organizers are hoping it will increase participants, said Burbank resident John Ware, founder and president of the project.

“Making a film is scary to many people, but there are a lot of people who would be happy to write a 12-page script, so we developed a contest to engage those people,” he said. “It has the ability to reach out to a whole new group of individuals that would be far too intimidated by the prospect of making a film.”

Ware said he hopes some of the writers will jump on a team and get involved in making the film.

Writers will receive a verse just like in the original contest, but instead of writing, shooting and editing a film in 168 hours, they will have that amount of time to write a screenplay, he said.

This year’s theme is “Hearing God,” and there is a $35 fee to enter. Top scripts will compete for awards and $1,000 in cash.

In addition, organizers are searching for regional producers around the country who will recruit writers and also judge the first round of the competition. There is no entry fee, but writing experience is required, Ware said.

The regional producers will choose the top 30% that will go to the quarterfinals, and then those will be pared down to 20 scripts for semifinals.

“There will be three finalists, and the top script gets $1,000 cash and will be critiqued by working Hollywood writers,” he said. “Another benefit for the winning writer and regional producer is they get to meet Ralph Winter, producer of the X-Men series.”

Registration continues until Oct. 18. Writing week will be from Oct. 19 to 26, and winners will be announced in November, Ware said.