We are delighted to announce Aislinn Clarke as the winner of the Mammoth Screen NI Writers Award.
Aislinn’s idea was selected from an extremely competitive shortlist of four writers who each received a paid treatment commission to develop an original series idea with Mammoth Screen. Aislinn will now be given a paid commission to develop her treatment idea into a pilot script.
The scheme was run by Mammoth Screen in partnership with BBC Writersroom and BBC Drama Commissioning to search for the most exciting writers with a strong connection to Northern Ireland to develop bold, original drama and comedy-drama television series for BBC network broadcast.
Mammoth Screen commented :
“We hoped when we launched this Award with BBC Writersroom and BBC Drama Commissioning that we would find some really great writing talent, and we couldn’t be more impressed by the incredible talent of everyone who applied. Our four shortlisted writers all brought an original voice and very different perspectives on contemporary Northern Ireland. We faced a very difficult choice in selecting only one to take to script. Aislinn’s pitch won us over with its strong vision and compelling set up, and its dissection of the sunshine and shade of small town Northern Ireland. We are delighted to be working with Aislinn and can’t wait to get started.”
BBC Writersroom commented:
“The Mammoth Screen NI Writers Award has undoubtedly highlighted the brilliant range of both writing talent and stories that speak to the variety and diversity of life in Northern Ireland today. We are delighted to congratulate Aislinn on her success and can’t wait to see how her idea develops.”
Aislinn Clarke said:
“Having long been a fan of Mammoth’s exciting takes on classic Agatha Christie stories I’m delighted to be writing a Mammoth mystery of my own, set right here in Northern Ireland.”
Aislinn Clarke is a Northern Irish writer/director. Her debut feature film, THE DEVIL’S DOORWAY, was released internationally by IFC in cinemas and streaming following a series of nominations and awards at major genre festivals (Sitges, Frightfest, etc) in 2018. In 2019 Aislinn was awarded the Academy of Motion Pictures Gold Fellowship for Women. She is currently show-running 6-part original domestic thriller series BLACK NORTH for ZDF (Germany) with Kindle (UK) Rocliffe (UK) and Underground Films (Ireland). Aislinn is in development with original TV series HYSTERIA headed by producers of THE TERROR. She is also currently writing feature films for Disney (US), Rumble (US), and Protagonist Pictures (UK), and Blinder Films (Ireland), Aislinn is represented as a writer and director by CAA in the US and Dench Arnold in the UK.
