Meet our Scripted writer development group for 2024/25

"We’re very excited to announce the 12 exceptional writers selected for our 2024/25 Scripted group!

Chosen through our Open Call script submission window, these writers each bring dynamic, fresh voices across a range of genres.

In the first stage of the Scripted programme, the writers attended a series of tailored workshops and masterclasses, with the aim to sharpen their craft and expand their industry insight. In the second phase of the programme, each writer developed an original spec script, working closely with a Script Editor to produce a standout sample they can share with the wider industry.

It was a pleasure to watch these talented writers develop over the last year, we can’t wait to follow their exciting careers!"

Zahra Al-Sultani, Development Producer, BBC Writers and Audrey McFadden, Assistant Producer, BBC Writers.

Iman Boujelouah

Iman is a writer and actor of mixed Algerian, Pakistani and Indian-Guyanese heritage, from South London.

She started off as an actor, graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2023, where she found writing to be a great compliment and extension of the actor’s craft. Alongside actor training, she was awarded places on the Soho Theatre Writers’ Lab 20/21 and Royal Court Intro to Playwriting 21/22. In 2022 she was also among the twelve chosen for the 4Screenwriting Scheme. On this she wrote comedy-drama pilot RUNAWAY LOVER, about a lovelorn Muslim woman who falls in love with a runaway groom.

Iman finds inspiration in the identities she holds and their endless intersections, speaks to the pressing issues of our time (particularly those concerning the Global Majority,) and of course, from time-to-time, gives a microphone to the ubiquitous feeling that is female rage. But equally, if there isn’t at least a thread of romance in the work, she probably hasn’t written it! #Lovergirl

When she’s not writing, Iman enjoys volunteering with refugee arts charity Compass Collective, ticking countries off her bucket list, and catching the Queen (Beyoncé) whenever she graces the world with a tour.

Tiegan Byrne

Tiegan is a mixed-race writer from Lancashire, now based in London.

She writes to challenge her own opinions and uncover new perspectives. Her work centres on women’s stories, exploring family, resilience, and the search for hope in unlikely places.

Tiegan wrote the Doctor Who audio drama BORN TO DIE for Big Finish Productions, which received critical acclaim. Her debut play GIRLHOOD earned rave reviews in 2024 during its run at Theatre503 and the Edinburgh Fringe and was later nominated for Best New Writing by The Stagey Place.

In 2025, she won the Scribe Lounge Elevate screenwriting competition and was shortlisted for the Studio 21 prize. She has also been a finalist for the BBC Pilot Scheme, the Box of Tricks Playwriting Competition (in collaboration with Sky Studios), Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse New Works, and the Seven Black Women Development Scheme.

Callum Cameron

Callum is a screenwriter and playwright based in London.

His writing is searingly honest and beautifully observant, often using his sharp wit as a way into discussions around complex contemporary issues. His debut feature film, BRACKETS, is in development with 42mp. His short film ENJOY, premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival before winning ‘Best UK Short’ award at the 2021 Raindance Film Festival and British Short Film Awards. It is now available to stream via Disney+.

His writing for the theatre includes NECK OR NOTHING which ran at the Pleasance and was nominated for an Off West End Award for ‘Best Ensemble’, CELEBRATE which ran at the VAULT Festival and THEY BUILT IT. NO ONE CAME. which had a sell-out run at the Pleasance Theatre before touring the UK.

His scripts have been shortlisted for the Channel 4 Screenwriting as well as the NETFLIX Stage to Screen Award. More recently he’s been commissioned to write for The Big House Theatre Company and RADA.

Represented by Jack Gilchrist, Casarotto Ramsay & Associates

Oliver Doone

Oliver is a screenwriter and playwright from the North Coast of Ireland. He writes drama laced with pitch-black comedy, being from this neck of the woods, the inspiration is plentiful.

He was shortlisted for BBC Writers in 2018 and 2020, and was delighted to be selected for BBC Writers Belfast Voices in 2022.

Oliver’s credits include story writer for the hit BBC comedy SOFT BORDER PATROL, and the short film FABLE OF A DITHERER (Creative Ireland). This year he was shortlisted for Screen NI Greenlit, and the Alpine Fellowship.

His first play was shortlisted by Druid Theatre (Galway), and he had the privilege of taking his second play A MATTER OF COURSE to Latitude Festival 2022, with Theatre Royal Haymarket (London).

Oliver’s writing typically explores the often overlooked rural Ireland, its rich heritage, troubled past, and the wonderful, eccentric and esoteric characters who call it home.

Zia Holloway

Zia Holloway is a prolific 26-year old writer.

Her numerous original projects in development include THE DEATH OF WHALES with The Development Partnership and The Immigrant (director Alonso Ruizpalacios is attached to direct), a television adaptation for 5x Media and two feature films in development.

Across the span of her career, she has worked within the UK and US, most recently working on a television adaptation for Fifth Season and Joy Coalition.

Her characterful work focuses on the representation of her generation in an ever-changing world and bringing to screen distinct perspectives, using the genres of propulsive thrillers, grounded sci-fi, horror, and magical realism.

Represented by Penelope Killik at the Artists Partnership.

Alannah Lewis

Alannah is a writer and filmmaker from east London.

As a playwright, her work has been performed in London, Cambridge, and Edinburgh. Her 2019 monologue WEST OF FRANCES won critical praise during its run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, while her play BirthdA reached the final stage of the BBC Comedy Room in 2020.

Alannah studied for the MA in Screenwriting at the London Film School and, upon graduation, was nominated for the Outstanding Screenwriter Award. Her short film LEGS (developed during her time at LFS) won the Goldfinch First Flights award and was subsequently produced by C24 films. LEGS has been selected for (and garnered awards at) several international festivals, and is currently being developed as a feature film. She has also written on TV dramas and developed a feature-length thriller for BlackBox Multimedia, with two projects currently in pre-production.

Alannah’s work typically explores family, food, and female friendship, through a comic/surreal lens.

Jack Maraghy

Jack is a writer from Virginia working across film, television, and video games in London and the US.

His short stop motion animation, MUM’S SPAGHETTI won a student Academy Award in 2023 and his short THE WOLF OF CUSTER won Best Postgraduate Film at the British Animation Awards. Films he’s written have also been shortlisted for The Yugo BAFTA Student Awards, nominated for a Royal Television Society’s Student Television Award, and screened at festivals worldwide.

Jack is currently developing an animated series through the BBC’s Ignite program and a new short film, THE DEPARTMENT OF THEY, with BBC Film. He also works for Fireshine Games as a narrative designer on TALES OF SEIKYU, an immersive RPG video game now available on Steam.

Jack is a graduate of The National Film and Television School’s screenwriting master's program. With a background as a director of photography, Jack brings a distinct visual flair to stories steeped in character, humour, and heart.

Gary Mill

Gary is a History graduate from Edinburgh University and started his creative writing journey as a songwriter and guitarist with a Scottish post-punk band. After gigging home and abroad - and releasing three 12” records (yes…vinyl!) - the band split up. Gary continued as a songwriter and was lucky enough to secure a few international hits in the ‘Euro Pop Dance’ genre. Then in 2010, Gary began studying screenwriting. He enrolled in a series of Film and TV courses and submitted his efforts to the BBC Writersroom.

In 2013 he was fortunate to be chosen as a finalist and invited down to London for a writer’s development session in Grafton House. In the ensuing eleven years, Gary has written twelve novels (all published on Amazon), ten film screenplays, six TV Serials, and has recently completed two 50-minute audio plays. One of his film screenplays (historical bio-pic) is currently slated for production by an award-winning London film company.

Himanshu Ojha

Himanshu was a very well rested actor before studying for a Masters degree in journalism from Columbia University.

He worked for the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Reuters, where he was a data reporter on the investigations and enterprise desk in the US and UK for five years, covering a range of topics from income inequality to corruption in the Russian railway industry to the migration crisis.

Since going freelance, he has enjoyed pursuing stories in very different ways. As a storyteller he has adapted and told Ovid’s TALE OF BAUCIS AND PHILEMON. For the theatre, he has written THE HAND OF HOZAN, one of the stories chosen to be part of James Graham’s Sketching, and the short play ANTECHAMBER. As a participant of the Criterion New Writing programme and BBC London Voices 2023, he has found it a pleasure to hone his craft in the company of kinder, better writers.

He is particularly drawn to character-driven genre stories that resonate with the kind of topics he reported on as a journalist.

Paul Roberts

Paul is a screenwriter and playwright from the North East of England.

He has a feature optioned and in development with BrainTrust (Blue Jean), was a finalist for the C21 Drama Award and the Red Planet Prize, and his first two plays were longlisted for the Bruntwood Prize. COME HOME BADGER GASH was runner-up in the Papatango Prize. His work has been performed at the Soho Theatre and the Southwark Playhouse. He has received a spec commission from Channel 4 for his international/refugee camp situated crime drama, later titled DISPLACED.

Paul is drawn to strange, compelling locations and vibrant communities, and then subjects them to stories with oddly askew criminality at their bloody heart. He revels in the fallout of the desperate acts perpetrated by flawed, broken wretches who are merely trying to pull themselves up from their knees to live like kings, if only for a moment. All with a darkly rich comedy, and a compassionate, lyrical heart.

Cathriona Slammon

Cathriona is an award-winning Irish screenwriter whose work explores themes of identity, trauma and family dysfunction through the lens of drama, horror and surrealism. Her debut feature script WHAT LITTLE GIRLS ARE MADE OF was awarded ‘Best Unproduced Screenplay’ at Raindance Film Festival 2023 and won the Golden Script award, garnering her a mentorship with BAFTA-nominated writer John J McLaughlin, currently in development with Tailored Films.

In 2023 Cathriona was selected for BBC Voices, where she developed her drama TV Pilot, EATER, which has since been optioned by Subotica. EATER went on to be named Overall Winner of the Launch Pad Pilot Competition 2024, and is the first non-US winner of Script Pipeline's TV Writing Award. As of September 2024, EATER was the highest rated script on Coverfly, of any genre, of any format, of all-time.

In 2024 Cathriona was selected for the Writer's Lab in New York, mentored by Anya Epstein. She completed her third TV Pilot, CONCEPTION on the Scripted 2024/25 programme.

Represented by Nick Fenwick of Curtis Brown.

Mark Williams

Mark is a writer from North Staffordshire, whose first script gained him a place in the 2023 BBC North and Midlands Voices cohort. During the programme, he crafted a compelling series outline, which he developed into a script called The GOAT. This darkly humorous story follows a fraudulent televangelist attempt to launder money through a megachurch in Stoke-on-Trent. The script secured Mark a coveted spot on the BBC Writers Scripted programme.

Mark balances his creative pursuits with his family life, and with his work as a GP in a semi-rural practice.

He has written and performed on Radio Four, plus contributed to The Birmingham Dispatch and the British Medical Journal. Mark has authored his debut novel and is actively collaborating with West Midlands-based Common Story Productions.

Additionally, he is in discussions with BBC Audio Drama to explore exciting new development opportunities.