2019 Awardees:

David Benioff (Game of Thrones, The 25th Hour, The Kite Runner)

D.B. Weiss (Game of Thrones, Lucky Wander Boy)

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All awards will be presented to the Writer of the winning films, with the exception of the Documentary awards, which will be presented to the Director. The Jury Awards will be presented on Saturday, October 26, 2019, during the Austin Film Festival Awards Luncheon. Awards are based on overall merit of the entries. Jury members reserve the right not to grant an award.

AUDIENCE AWARD

All films screening are also eligible for an Audience Award in their respected categories. Award winners are announced within one week following the Festival. The Audience Award is based solely on audience voting at the film’s screening(s).

JURY AWARDS

Prizes
Each Competition Filmmaker receives two film screenings, October 24 – 31, 2019; five complimentary tickets to each of the film’s screenings; one ticket to the AFF Awards Luncheon (if in attendance, it is the preference of AFF that the writer be provided this ticket); the film featured in the AFF Program Book; and two complimentary Producers Badges to the Austin Film Festival (if in attendance, it is the preference of AFF that the writer be provided one of the complimentary Producers Badges).

Feature Films
1st Place Winners in both the Narrative Feature Category and Documentary Feature Category receive a cash prize of $2,500; reimbursement (up to $500) of one round-trip airfare to Austin to attend AFF; reimbursement (up to $500) for stay at an AFF hotel during the Festival; and the AFF Typewriter Award.  The 1^st Place Winner in the Dark Matters and Comedy Vanguard Feature Category receives a cash prize of $1,000; reimbursement (up to $500) of one round-trip airfare to Austin to attend AFF; reimbursement (up to $500) for stay at an AFF hotel during the Festival; and the AFF Typewriter Award.

Short Films
1st Place Winners receive a cash prize of $1,000 (Narrative Short Category only) or $500 (Narrative Student Short, Documentary Short, Animated Short Categories); reimbursement (up to $500) of one round-trip airfare to Austin to attend AFF; reimbursement (up to $500) for stay at an AFF hotel during the Festival; and the AFF Typewriter Award.  In addition, the winning films in the Narrative Short, Animated Short, and Documentary Short categories are eligible to be nominated for an Academy Award®.

All Awards are presented during the Austin Film Festival Awards Luncheon*. Those advancing to the Semifinalist level or beyond will have the option to attend exclusive panels hosted by participating panelists. They will also be included in the Producers Book, distributed to competition judges and other industry professionals.

SCREENPLAY COMPETITION PRIZES (ONE WINNER/CATEGORY)

*Awards Luncheon tickets are only available to Producers and Conference Badge holders.

The winner of the Scripted Digital Series Competition will receive a $1000 cash prize; AFF’s bronze typewriter statue; reimbursement (up to $500) of one round-trip airfare to Austin to attend Austin Film Festival & Conference; reimbursement (up to $500) for stay at an AFF hotel during the Festival. Additionally, all filmed series finalists will be screened publicly at the Festival.

Three finalists from the Playwriting Competition will have staged readings during the festival which will be performed in front of an audience including the industry professionals already in attendance at the Conference. One winner will be selected and will receive a $1000 cash prize, AFF’s Bronze Typewriter Award, and reimbursements of up to $500 for travel and up to $500 for lodging if used during the Festival.

The Fiction Podcast Script Competition Winner receives: a $1000 cash prize, AFF’s Bronze Typewriter Award, reimbursement (up to $500) of one round-trip airfare to Austin to attend AFF, reimbursement (up to $500) for stay at an AFF hotel during the Festival.

Directly following each screening, viewers will be given a Hiscox Insurance Audience Award ballot in order to judge each film on its overall quality and courage. Audience Awards will be awarded to Best Marquee Feature, Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Comedy Vanguard Feature, Best Dark Matters Feature, Best Texas Independent Feature, Best Stories From Abroad Feature, Best Heart of Film Feature, Best Narrative Short, Best Narrative Student Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Animated Short, and MOST COURAGEOUS FILM. Don’t forget to vote!

It takes courage to tell a great story, because without risk, nothing great can happen. This is why Austin film Festival and Hiscox Insurance are proud to present the Courage Award

The Hiscox Courage Award will be presented to the film that best showcases the most courageous story.

Selected by the audience, the Hiscox Insurance Courage Award will be presented to the one film that best embodies the virtue of courage and to the filmmaker who best embraced the risk to tell the story.

The Capri Fellowship hopes to provide a place where writers can find their voice and tell the stories they want to tell. The winner of the Drama Feature Screenplay Award will be provided the opportunity to stay at the Capri Residency in Marfa, Texas for 2-3 weeks – stay must be scheduled from November 2019 – December 2020. Schedule stay to be determined by the winner(s) based on Capri Residency Availability.

This new opportunity will provide a one-on-one mentorship in Los Angeles for two fellows – one writer or writing team with a feature script and one writer or writing team with a teleplay pilot – selected from the Final Round of this year’s competition. Fellows will be chosen based on the writers and scripts that imbue the most promise for development.

Finalists in the feature and teleplay pilot categories of the Script Competition will be invited to apply and AFF will select the top writers for Josephson Entertainment to further review. The selected fellows will be announced and presented by a representative from Josephson at the Awards Luncheon on October 26, 2019. Each fellow will be flown to Los Angeles to be mentored by various executives from Josephson Entertainment to take their writing to the next level. A maximum reimbursement of $500 for airfare and maximum of $1200 for hotel will be provided per selected script for each fellow.

The Rooster Teeth Fellowship Award is open to original comedy scripts in the following categories: features, TV pilots, digital series, and fiction podcasts. The fellowship will be awarded to the project that best fits Rooster Teeth’s voice by incorporating elements of comedy and genre filmmaking and accomplishing a low budget/high concept feel. Rooster Teeth is looking for stories about ordinary people in extraordinary situations, coming-of-age stories, and other engaging journeys of self-discovery.

The winner of the Rooster Teeth Fellowship Award will receive a $5,000 prize along with a one-on-one mentorship with Rooster Teeth. This will include feedback and notes from a Rooster Teeth representative on the winning Fellowship script and a week-long mentorship in Austin. In addition to the Fellowship Award, Rooster Teeth will offer development deals to three (3) finalists, who will be given the chance to develop an original concept in conjunction with the Rooster Teeth team. Rooster Teeth will review the top scripts submitted to the category and will determine the finalists and one winner. Finalists will be given the opportunity to meet with representatives from Rooster Teeth during AFF’s Writers Festival.