As Blvck Entertainment and Blvck Films continue their pursuit of producing movies this year, Engineers Louie and Grace Cristobal came up with the idea of organizing a new scriptwriting contest. With the help of Roman Perez, Jr. as the commissioned project creative director, the idea came into full operation and was named the Blvck Entertainment Scriptwriting Contest.

“Noong napresent sa amin ng asawa ko ang idea at concept, nagandahan ako tapos tinanong ko ano gagawin natin sa mapipiling top 10 scripts. Sabi nila i-produce na daw namin as movies and ‘yan ang plano namin ngayon na sana mai-produce namin ang sampung scripts na yan para maging pelikula (When my spouse presented the idea and concept to me, I liked it and asked what we would do with the top 10 selected scripts. They said we should produce them as movies, and that is our plan now — to hopefully produce those 10 scripts into films),” says Louie, president and chief executive officer of Blvck Entertainment.

The competition aims to provide a new avenue to continually inspire both aspiring and professional writers to create more stories, whether for mainstream Philippine cinema or digital streaming content. Its goal is to encourage young screenwriters to pursue their dreams of becoming filmmakers through the stories they create. The contest also aims to cultivate stories that reflect the evolving Filipino culture.

Winners of this contest will also have a chance to have their work produced as film content by Blvck Films. The call for entries started last April, and over 150 entries were received. Both professional and non-professional scriptwriters submitted entries, and after weeks of deliberation, the panel of judges selected 10 finalists.

The top 10 finalists and their respective entries are Joseph Abello, Chester’s Eight Birthday Party; Gian Arre, Habang Tulog Ang Mundo; James Ambito, Memories of the Forgotten; Mario Banzon, Tres Marias; Ronald Batallones, Mento; Nash Casiño, Drifters of Britannia; Dustin Celestino, Supremo; Paul Singh Cudail, Huling Korona; Kristofer Ted Navarro, Grrrbage; and Abet Pagdagdagan Raz, Little Miss Hope.

The panel of judges was composed of entertainment industry practitioners: Erick Castro, Mon Confiado, Zig Dulay, John Carlo Pacala, Roman Perez, Jr., Ronald Rios and Raffy Tejada. 

The grand prize winner of the first Blvck Entertainment Scriptwriting Contest was Tres Marias by Mario M. Banzon and was received by Abet Raz

Cash prizes given were: first place, P100,000; second place, P50,000; and third place, P30,000, with P10,000 consolation prizes.

The first Blvck Entertainment Scriptwriting Contest 2024 Awards Night was held on 3 August at B Hotel Grand Ballroom in Quezon City. Blvck Entertainment hopes to continue this visionary and prestigious contest annually.