It seems like there is a new film festival popping out of the woodwork on an almost daily basis. Perhaps not new, but the word is getting out about these treasure troves of local films and independents, special guests, panels, and everything a film aficionado could want.

Some of these festivals go beyond the showing and talking and have competitions for those aspiring filmmakers. The Waterfront Film Festival in Saugutick, Michigan has a screenplay competition. Prior to this year, the competition had a geographic restriction for entry. This year they are rescinding that requirement, meaning that wherever you happen to live, if you have an appropriate screenplay, you can enter.

I have to say that this is very cool. I have never tried my hand at a screenplay writing, although I have had some ideas. Wait, I take that back. There were a couple of college classes that had me writing short scripts. What I turned in could hardly be qualified as such. Frankly, my attempted screenplays were just flat out awful. My ability to write dialogue was severely lacking, not to mention my ability to introduce any sort of pacing. Anyway, this isn't about me.

The Waterfront Film Festival is entering its ninth year. In addition to the promotion of independent films, and being a popular Midwest festival location, they feature Midwest premieres of Academy Award-winning and -nominated documentaries. The festival showings may not be a competition, but they do have the screenplay competition, which has been growing in popularity.

"The popularity of the screenplay contest continues to grow, and expanding its reach was a natural, evolutionary step," said Kori Eldean, co-founder of WFF. "With the new Michigan Motion Picture Incentives, which were signed into law this year, the state has demonstrated that it is ready and willing to welcome the film industry."

The competition is not only sponsored by the festival, it is supported in part by the Writers Guild of America and SAG INDIE. It looks to me like a fantastic opportunity to get your screenplay read, and potentially produced. If I was an aspiring screenwriter, I would jump at the opportunity to get my name out there.