After receiving more than 1,000 screenplays from US-based contestants, organizers of the 2013 Beijing International Screenwriting Competition recently announced a collaboration with the Beijing Film Academy to film the scripts from finalists.

"We will select talented students from our postgraduates and graduates to help shoot final screenplays centered on Beijing," says Xie Xiaojing, vice-president of the Beijing Film Academy.

The screenwriting competition started in March in the US, where US-based writers of all nationalities were invited to submit short and feature film scripts on the topic of Beijing and its multifaceted culture.