Writers inspired by Missouri’s history and beautiful landscapes are matched with the opportunity of a lifetime.
Kicking off its 13th year on October 1, the Missouri Stories Scriptwriting Fellowship is an international competition for screenplays and television pilot scripts with storylines set in Missouri. The contest was inspired by the Sundance Screenwriters Lab to encourage and celebrate writers telling Missouri Stories.
“I made lifelong writing connections with the other fellows and received guidance I couldn’t have gotten anywhere else from the mentor,” says Chloe Casey, Missouri Stories Fellowship alum. “It made me go ‘I can do this. Film can be my life.’”
Writers do not have to be from Missouri to submit their scripts to the Missouri Stories Scriptwriting Fellowship, but all scripts must be based in Missouri. The scripts are read and scored by a group of more than 40 Missouri-connected industry reading judges who pick the top 10 finalists. A committee of alumni then interview the finalist and choose the 3 winning fellows. However, all writers receive feedback from the judges, whether their script is selected as a winner or not.
“The fellowship has really trained me to seek out those ideas that are naturally set in Missouri, as well as look for ways to adapt stories so that they could be set in Missouri,” says Jefferey Field, Missouri Stories Fellowship alum. “The state has so many great locations- we have big cities, college towns, small towns, farms, hills, rivers, woods, we have everything. And I haven’t even mentioned the wide range of people that live there. It’s very fertile ground, and we’ve just barely scratched the surface.”
“The art form of film is powerful, you can reach so many people,” said Andrea Sporcic-Klund, director of the Missouri Film Office. “It’s a cultural exchange, as well. These scripts hold the potential – when made into films or TV shows – to show the way things are in Missouri, our history, even just the way Missouri looks, with the world.”
The three winners will be awarded an all-expense-paid trip to a concentrated fellowship experience in the spring of 2027, dependent on the winners’ schedules. Submission deadlines for the competition are Nov. 2 (early), Nov. 23 (regular) and Dec. 7 (late). Winners will be notified in early 2027.
Access the 2026 submission form, sample scripts, Missouri Stories workshop recordings and more at mofilm.org/MoStories
