I’ll be opening the doors for the third annual Screenwriting Goldmine screenplay contest next Thursday.

Just to remind you why you should definitely enter, here’s a message from Jane Eden, who won the 2013 contest with her movie Script “Gone Away”.

A year ago, I finished my first screenplay – and I sat and wondered if it was any good.

So, I entered the Screenwriting Goldmine for two reasons: 1) If I paid a bit extra, I could get a script report – and find out if my screenplay was any good. 2) If I got through to the final five, my screenplay would be read by top industry people.

As the long list became shorter… and shorter, the excitement grew. When I made it to the final five, that was big. The judges reading the final five were top notch. They are the people who make TV and film – the people who hire writers. Then came the news that I’d won. Sweet… what?!

I’m still taking this in when Phil starts bombarding me with introductions to people who want to meet me. Two weeks later, I’d met with four brilliant agents, and four top production companies.

I signed with Tanya Tillett at Knight Hall. She got my script out straight away, and so yet more meetings arrived in my diary. Amazing. Another four weeks on, and I’d got a place on the prestigious Channel 4 Screenwriting Course. Stupendous.

So, what’s the Screenwriting Goldmine done for me? Well, it’s got me “in.” I’m not looking in from the outside any more, and wondering how it all works. Production companies want to see what I’ve written and what I write next. I’ve been fast forwarded to a position I could never have been in so quickly without the competition. It’s given me credibility and it’s given me a welcome shot of confidence. And because of all of that, it’s given me the possibility of spending my days immersed in stories and characters, and working with people who want to tell those stories. So, yeah, it’s been quite a year.

Thanks for that message Jane.

And this is a message from Tanya Tillett, the agent who snatched Jane up:

I’m very excited to be working with Jane- her script immediately stood out for its sophisticated delicacy and chilling atmosphere – drawing you into a deeply personal story. It’s wonderful that Screenwriting Goldmine is able to bring fresh new talent to the attention of people in the industry from their very first screenplay. The reaction to Jane’s script from execs has been overwhelmingly positive and I’m sure she has a bright future ahead of her with this screenplay and the many to come.

(And of course, Matthew Coombes, who won the first contest back in 2012 with “Once in Royal David’s City” had his script optioned by Island Pictures as a direct result of the contest. So we’re not doing too badly overall…)

If you’d like a preview of our massively expanded Judging panel for this third year, head over here.

You will see that this year’s judges include one of the current producers of Doctor Who, the producer of The Crying Game/Interview With a Vampire/Byzantium, the current showrunner for Coronation Street, and one of the co-creators of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes – and they are just four of the TWENTY-THREE judges who have signed up in what is promising to be an epic year.

The fact that so many top industry names have joined the panel is clear tribute to the fact that this competition does what it claims – uncover great new writers, and get them in front of people who can kickstart their careers.

Once again, the doors open Thursday 6th Feb at 1.00pm London time, and though the submission period will run for a couple of months, that will pass very quickly, so don’t waste any time in getting that script finished.

Once again, you can get a sneak preview of this years’s judging panel by following this link.