The Writers Lab UK&I 2022
CONGRATULATIONS!
13 SELECTED PARTICIPANTS FOR THE 2022 EDITION ANNOUNCED
“Big Shoes,” Nk’iru. Njoku (1-hour comedy, England)
“Black Other,” Stephanie Pearce-Power (½-hour drama, England)
“Disconnected,” Esosa Ighodaro (½-hour comedy, Ireland)
“Gadflies and Mischievous Little Girls,” Lisa Baker and Anne-Marie Margerison (feature action, Wales)
“Hidden,” Rosalind De Aragues (1-hour thriller, England)
“Lone Woman,” Lisa Keogh (feature thriller, Northern Ireland)
“Marie’s Wedding,” Claire Duffy (feature drama, Scotland)
“Northern Lights On An Old Road,” Nicola Baldwin (feature sci-fi, England)
“Planet Rising,” Tamsin Larby (1-hour drama, England)
“Sabrina Healey,” Samara MacLaren (1-hour drama, Scotland)
“Saviours,” Rosie Toner (feature horror, Scotland)
“Smashers,” Bernadette Rowe (½-hour comedy, Ireland)
“Wings,” Julie Moggan (feature coming-of-age, England)
The 12 Honorable Mentions Of The Writers Lab U.K. & Ireland 2022 Are:
“And For Your Information,” Denise Deegan (feature drama, Ireland)
“Boy,” Amber Trentham (feature drama, England)
“De-Bra,” Heather Brown (½-hour comedy, Northern Ireland)
“Donor 1070,” Bethan Marlow (1-hour comedy, Wales)
“The Eighth Wonder,” Denise Devoy (1-hour sci-fi, England)
“Influence,” Olivia Hannah (1-hour Comedy, England)
“The Lift,” Lorien Haynes (feature sci-fi, England)
“Margaret’s Wardrobe,” Ita Fitzgerald (feature comedy, England)
“Me and Jimmy Rogers,” Leia Vogelle (feature drama, England)
“Over the Rainbow,” Joanne Dunphy (feature comedy, England)
“Scattered,” Karen Martinez (feature comedy, England)
“Wild Atlantic,” Ruth Earley (feature drama, England)
The first programme of its kind devoted exclusively to script development for women and non-binary writers over the age of 40, in partnership with Untamed Stories who join forces with Cate Blanchett’s Dirty Films to bring its pioneering Lab to the UK and Ireland.
The Writers Lab UK&I 2022 is presented in association with Dancing Ledge Productions (THE RESPONDER), Screen Scotland, Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Northern Ireland Screen, Birds' Eye View and Ffilm Cymru Wales & BFI NETWORK with funding from the National Lottery.
The Writers Lab US is supported by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman.
SEPTEMBER 2022-FEBRUARY 2023
Submissions of both Features and Pilots (both 1-hour and ½-hour) in English will be considered. We will select approximately 12 promising feature and pilot writers who, collectively, reflect the diversity of the populations across the UK and Ireland.
During the Virtual Intensive, Writers engage in rigorous script-development work through one-on-one meetings with Mentors, focused work in peer groups, panel discussions, and more. In the following 6 months of ongoing development and industry support, we guide writers through the revision process and offer development and market support with a team of partners, acclaimed screen industry leaders, our development team, and talented peers. The lab aims to build skills, confidence and community, and to prepare writers for collaborative work and market demands.
Partners.
The Writers Lab UK&I 2022 is presented with support from Cate Blanchett's Dirty Films, in association with Dancing Ledge Productions (THE RESPONDER), Screen Scotland, Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Northern Ireland Screen, Birds' Eye View and Ffilm Cymru Wales & BFI NETWORK with funding from the National Lottery.
Participants selected for
The Writers Lab UK & Ireland 2021
Claire Barclay, Return Her (½-hour drama)
Alice Clark, The Munitionettes (1-hour drama, Scotland)
Angela Franklyn, Mozart’s Don Jane (feature, drama)
Kit Hui, Black Dust (feature, drama, England)
Rachel Mars, Slacks (½-hour comedy, England)
Catherine McGrotty, Off Season (½-hour fantasy, N. Ireland)
Anna Merritt & Deborah Wiseman, Is This It? (½-hour comedy, Ireland)
Lydia Mulvey, Solas (½-hour sci-fi, Ireland)
Sylvia-Anne Parker, 600 Steps (feature, drama, England)
Leyla Pope, One Last Holiday (feature, drama, Wales)
Dorothy Jane Stewart, The Story of Me and You
(feature, drama, Scotland)
Ali Taylor, My Boy (1-hour drama, Scotland)
FINALISTS
Litza Bixler, Blood, Water, Dust (1-hour horror, EN)
Mai Davies, Prime (1-hour drama, WS)
Liz Gill, English Rose (1-hour drama, IE)
Simone Glover, Dirt (feature, historical, EN)
Vanessa Haynes, McIntyre (1-hour dramedy, NI)
Marie James, Great Swingford (feature, drama, EN)
Kerena Marchant, Ben Johnson Day (½-hour drama, EN)
Niamh O’Connor, A Murder of Crows (1-hour drama, IE)
Stella Papamichael, Green Lanes (1-hour thriller, EN)
Jenny Roche, Dysphoria (feature, dramedy, IE)
Carolyn Saunders & Shelagh McLeod, Invisible (1-hour sci-fi, EN)
Jaye L. Swift, The Lost Beacon (feature, horror, WS)
SEMIFINALISTS
Tara Byrne, Head (½-hour, comedy, EN)
Dee Chilton, Darken Ship (feature, thriller, EN)
Rebecca Crookshank, Morag (½-hour drama, EN)
Mai Davies, The Truth Post (1-hour drama, WS)
Rebecca Ellson, Ark (feature, sci-fi, EN)
Emily Harris, Ronnie Vee (feature, drama, EN)
Maggie Innes, Death Nell (1-hour drama, EN)
Sidra Khan, Untold Story of the Rebel Muslim Women (½-hour drama, SC)
Gillian McCormack, Rewind (½-hour comedy, SC)
Sophie Merlo, The Punch (feature, action, EN)
Nicola Mills, Up Yours! (feature, drama, EN)
Raman Mundair, Skin Deep (1-hour drama , SC)
Francesca Nider, The Sins of Our Mothers (feature, drama, EN)
Sarah Olley, The Wingspan of an Albatross (feature, drama, EN)
Carina Rodney, Faithless (½-hour thriller, EN)
Charlotte Thompson, Tuesday (1-hour drama, EN)
Charity Trimm & Anne-Marie Draycott, Shelf Life (½-hour comedy, SC)
Carol Younghusband, The Truth (1-hour thriller, EN)
“The incredible work that The Writers Lab are doing in providing a platform for underrepresented creative voices resonates deeply with all of us at Dirty Films, so we jumped at the opportunity to support their expansion to the UK and Ireland. We’re excited to see the results of this year’s lab and we look forward to working with Untamed Stories, NYWIFT and The Writers Lab to discover some of the amazing untapped talent in this region.”
— Cate Blanchett, Andrew Upton & Coco Francini, DIRTY FILMS