Due to the recent postal disturbances we have a slight amendment to our dates for the Scotland Writes competition. The deadline for submissions remains the same. But in order that we receive scripts potentially caught up in sorting offices, we will start sifting them later than originally planned. And so instead of announcing the winners on December 7th, we will now announce them on December 14th.
Of course you can also send them in a bit early to make sure they're here in good time, just to be sure...
The winners of this year's Windsor Fringe Marriott Award for New Drama writing have been announced, and four of the nine shortlisted authors - Jeremy Fielding, Jenny Klein, Andy McCoy and overall winner Kathleen Kiley - found out about the competition via our BBC writersroom opportunity page.
We've just announced two new Q&As.
Writer/Star Miranda Hart will talk about her new TV series Miranda on the 10 November 2009, while Writer/Director Stephen Poliakoff and Executive Producer Jane Wright will be discussing Stephen's new film Glorious 39 on the 16 November 2009.
Both events will be held at the Soho Theatre in London, and tickets are free.
Find out more about the Miranda Hart Q&A and book your tickets.
Find out more about the Stephen Poliakoff and Jane Wright Q&A and book your tickets.
I just found out about this... Apparently the Arts Council will buy you free theatre tickets if you're aged 25 or younger!
Just go to the Arts Council website, type in your postcode or area, and it'll let you know about the local theatres that are participating and how to contact them.
Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.
For some reason, we're inundated with opportunities in Scotland at the moment. I have no idea why this should be, but thought it was worth bringing to your attention.
Open to Scots Only
Scotland Writes
Ignite 2009
Open to All
Watson's Wind Up
Stand Up Comedy Workshops
Big Village Fringe Show Competition
Michelle Lipton writes about the financial implications of being a writer.
Much more interesting - and scary - than I've made it sound.
Busy Busy
So the course is up and running, and the writers have been working away for three weeks now up at the classroom in Elstree. I won't embarrass them by talking about them, but perhaps I'll persuade one or two of them to contribute to the blog soon. Anyway, it's all going very well. They've had lectures from John Yorke on structure, character, and from others on production, casting, acting and formatting. They've had set visits to EastEnders, Holby and Doctors, and are already working away on their first Doctors script. This morning we've had Richard Curtis in talking to the group - a huge treat.
Last night we had a bit of a reunion of all five years worth of writers. They all still seem to be mostly friends. And the sense of being together as a group each year, still helps them through the toughest commissions. That, and the paranoia that they think everyone else is doing better than they are!
Also today sees the launch of the new Continuing Drama pages on the writersroom website. We've put up a lot of information about the various ways we get new writers on to the shows - through our Shadow Schemes and the Writers Academy. There is also an interview with John Yorke, who talks about what writers need to write for Continuing Drama. We hope the pages will be a source of information for writers and agents alike, and much of what is on there comes from questions asked by regular contributors here. So... thanks.
