Pitching Competition Open for Entries

The Pitching Competition at the Film Fair, the industry market of the Galway Film Fleadh, provides screenwriters at any stage of their career with an opportunity to pitch their projects in an open industry forum. The Pitching Competition has given new screenwriters a platform to connect with the wider industry while filmmakers at all stages of development have used the Pitching Competition to attach producers, receive mentorship, and win development funding.

All that is required to enter is a 500-word written pitch of your project from beginning to end (no cliffhangers).  Any genre of feature drama, documentary or animation will be considered. Finalists will be selected to pitchtheir project as an ‘Elevator Pitch’ of 90 seconds, in front of an audience and a panel of industry judges at the Galway Film Fair. The winner will be announced at the Film Fleadh Awards Ceremony and will receive a cash prize of €3000 sponsored by Wild Atlantic Pictures.

Previous winners of the Pitching Competition have had their projects produced (Deadly Cuts, My Brothers), while others have received Screen Ireland development funding (Rainsong, What Would Rocky Do?) or been optioned by broadcasters (Billy Rubin + the Shunts). 2024 winner Zoe Gibney was invited to Stowe Story Labs’ Narrative Lab in Vermont with her project Dons Life Goes On. While 2025 winner Carol Murphy said winning the award with her project The Body & Blood “opened doors for me in the BBC, to festivals, producers and production companies in the Republic, the North and in the UK.” 

Click here to read previous winner’s testimonies.

The regular deadline for entry to the Pitching Competition is 23:59 Wednesday 13^th May 2026 and the entry fee is €40. The late deadline is 23:59 Wednesday 27^th May 2026 and the fee is €50.