Does winning a screenwriting contest mean agents will want to read your script?

Every year, tens of thousands of screenwriters pay to enter contests. A major selling point for them is that winning (or placing highly) will mean that the right people will finally read your script.Some competitions directly provide top scripts to influential industry people during or just after the competition runs. Beyond that, the implication is that having placed well in their competition will be a mark of quality you can use to get people to notice you.Final Draft’s Big Break says:Enter the contest that has been launching screenwriting careers for over 20 years. Winners and finalists have signed with agents and managers, sold and optioned scripts, and been staffed in TV writers’ rooms.Is this the year for YOUR Big Break?The PAGE International Screenwriting Awards say:many dozens of our past winners have secured representation, landed paid writing assignments, signed option agreements on their work, and many now have movies and television shows in production, on the air, and in…