Your story remains yours.
Upcoming season
Summer
The Story Discovery summer cycle. Original full-length feature screenplays and original short stories across the six competition genres. Regular entry $50 feature / $30 short; late entry $90 feature / $70 short. Opens May 1, 2027; late pricing begins August 18, 2027; entries close August 31, 2027.
The cycle
Make the pages count.
Submission windowMay 1, 2027, 12:00 AM PDT - Aug 31, 2027, 11:59 PM PDT
Regular entry$50.00 feature · $30.00 short story
Late pricing beginsAug 18, 2027, 12:00 AM PDT
Late entry$90.00 feature · $70.00 short story
Prizes$1,000 Grand Prize · $500 genre winners
Finalists announcedOct 15, 2027
Winners announcedOct 29, 2027
The rules
Your story stays yours.
Entering the competition does not give Midas an option.
Semi-finalist: no competition-created exclusivity.
Finalist: a 90-day exclusive negotiation period, beginning only after you separately accept finalist status.
Grand prize winner: a 180-day exclusive negotiation period, beginning only after you separately accept grand prize winner status. That period replaces any remaining finalist period.
Any actual option, acquisition, development, production, financing, or other rights require a separate written agreement.
If no agreement is signed before that period ends, and there is no written extension, the competition exclusivity ends on its own.
Development opportunities are not guaranteed. Any potential shopping, development, option, acquisition, representation, financing or production arrangement is subject to Midas’s discretion and, where applicable, a separate written agreement.