This year the DC Comedy Fest has upped the ante on staying fresh and discovering new talent. For the first time, the festival will feature a Comedy Screenplay/Teleplay Challenge, plus a Comedy Shorts Competition.

Screenplay/teleplay finalists will have their work read by a panel of industry judges. The winners will receive dramatic readings of two scenes from their scripts before an industry audience at the festival, a trip to the dccomedyfest 2008 and 3 months of representation for the piece by Rain Management Group.

As for the Comedy Short contest, the Judge’s Award and On-Line Audience Award winner will have their short feature on dccomedyfest’s site, air time on an industry leading video portal, screenings during festival shows, and $250.

Judges include actress Daphne Zuniga, Adult Swim big wig Nick Weidenfeld, and LA manager Jonathan Baruch. The deadline for submissions is July 3rd. Check out the details on the fest’s official site.

It’s no primary, but it’ll be full of people you’re not sick of. The festival runs Aug.7 - 9.