Newsletter February 2007


	SCRIPT is the West Midlands agency for dramatic writers.

SCRIPT NEWS - FEBRUARY 2007

SPECIAL FEATURES

Don't forget Script has a very useful Script Reading Service.

Have your play or screenplay read by our professional readers and get a clear view of what works, what doesn't and where you need to take it next.

Also, Kate Wyvill talks about writing and producing her first play whilst coping with three boys under the age of six.

Click here or go to our Special Features

WRITE LIVE 2007 - GET ATTACHED TO THE REP AND SEE YOUR WORDS ON STAGE!

Script and Birmingham Repertory Theatre are working together to offer a variety of exciting opportunities for West Midlands based playwrights...

You could:

Be selected for the Birmingham Repertory Theatre's Attachment Scheme for Playwrights

Have your work developed by Script through mentoring and showcasing

Deadline for applications: 11th May 2007

Click here for full details.

OPPORTUNITIES, TRAINING AND COMPETITIONS...

STAGE...

SIX MINUTE THEATRE
You become a mother. The world ends. You miss the bus. You change your mind. A lot can happen in six minutes.
Total Beast's Six Minute Theatre is a competition looking for original new dramatic works no more than six minutes in length. These can be complete plays or self contained scenes from longer plays.
The winner will receive a prize of £200, and the best entries will be performed at a special event in London in 2007.

Entry fee £5

For more information visit: www.totalbeast.co.uk

Deadline: 20th March 2007 (extended)

NEW PLAYS SOUGHT BY EMERGING THEATRE COMPANY

Resister Theatre Company is seeking new plays to be considered for production in 2007. Formed in 2004 by a group of actors, Register's aims are to reach communities and wider audiences that wouldn't normally go the the theatre, or couldn't afford to, and to explore plays with pertinent subjects for women.

The piece will need to resonate with the company's aims and will ideally be for five actresses and one actor.

Send CVs and plays/suggestion:littleresister@hotmail.com

RAW: RHYTHM AND WORDS
The New Writing/New Work Department are looking for submissions for their monthly pitch parties.

The title RAW: Rhythm and Words in Theatre emphasizes the fact that Contact’s new writing department will concentrate on all forms of writing for theatre – including lyrical writing, and experiments with other artists, as well as plays.

To find out further information: /www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/

email punamramchurn@contact-theatre.org.uk
Deadline: Ongoing

NEW WRITING EVENING IN STOKE ON TRENT: UNDER WRAPS

Reveal Theatre Company are establishing a scratch night of new writing at the

Queens Theatre, Stoke on Trent

22 February 2007

They are currently looking for submissions for this informal sharing of new work . Visit www.revealtheatre.co.uk for details or call Robert Marsden on 01785 286 603.

THE WINDSOR FRINGE MARRIOTT AWARD FOR NEW DRAMA WRITING

Amateur playwrights are invited to submit unpublished one-act plays for the fourth Windsor Fringe Marriott Award for New Drama Writing. Three winning scripts will be selected for performance during Drama Nights at the Windsor Fringe in September or October. One of the three scripts will be chosen for the £500 prize.

Only amateur playwrights are eligible; only one script per author will be accepted. Each play must be an original work by the entrant, and submitted scripts must not have been previously published or performed.
Each play must be no more than 30 minutes long, have a cast of no more than six actors, and be suitable for staging in a studio theatre.

Deadline: 2 March 2007

To find out more: www.windsorfringe.co.uk

WANTED: WRITER OF MONOLOGUES/ DUOLOGUES

to write 4/5 original duologues/monologues for new acting/writing showcase to be staged in February/March 2007 in central London.

For more info, email: mary_brooksbank@hotmail.co.uk

YOUTH MUSIC THEATRE

Feb 2007 National Auditions

Open to any young person aged 11-21, auditions will be a 2-hour workshop at a venue near you.

Successful candidates will attend a residential project in full-board accommodation.

Potential for being in one of four productions.

Get all details from: www.youth-music-theatre.org.uk

KING'S CROSS NEW WRITING AWARD 2007

Playwrights can send up to two unpublished and unperformed scripts. Entry fee £5 per play. Winning entry will be contracted to the Courtyard Theatre. Visit www.thecourtyard.org.uk

Deadline: 2 April 2007

THEATRE IN THE POUND

The Cockpit Theatre run a monthly scratch night to enable new plays to be seen and developed. Theatre in the Pound is principally a not-for-profit night. The audience pay only £1 for their tickets!

For more information visit: www.cockpittheatre.org.uk/pound

or email:pound@cockpittheatre.co.uk

RADIO...

THE PLAY'S THE THING - CHANNEL 4 AND 4TALENT

Channel 4 Radio and 4Talent are launching the first ever commercial radio nationwide search for new radio playwrights as part of the channel’s The Play’s The Thing initiative. The competition will give four aspiring writers the opportunity to have their words brought to life, with their scripts professionally produced and broadcast on Channel 4 Radio.

submit your entries via www.channel4.com/theplay

Deadline:Monday 26 March, 2007

STAFFROOM MONOLOGUES

Staffroom Monologues is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for anyone working in education - paid or voluntary - to flex their creative muscles and show us what they can do. We're looking for fictional monologues between 800 and 1,000 words in length on any aspect of school life from the perspective of someone who works in a school.

The four winning writers will have the chance to spend time developing their script with one of the UK's top scriptwriters, Tony Marchant. We'll cast leading actors for the four winning monologues, and the successful writers will be invited to see their work being filmed for broadcast by Teachers' TV later in the year. The winners will also receive £200 in prize money and a contribution to their travel and accommodation expenses.

Deadline: 26 February 2007

Find out more: www.teachers.tv/monologues

WATSON'S WIND UP

a topical weekly radio show broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland, is inviting submission of topical sketches drawn from the week's news.

Rules: Sketches must relate to that week's news.

Ideally sketches should have Scottish slant but not essential for bigger news stories

Deadline: midday on Thursdays (for recording Fridays and airing Saturdays)

Duration of sketches: 20 seconds to 2 minutes

Send to: philipdiffer@comedyunit.co.uk (put your name on every page of material)

SCREEN...

COMING UP

COMING UP is the only talent scheme currently in the UK where emerging film-makers have the opportunity to make an authored drama with a guaranteed network broadcast. Now in its seventh year, IWC and Channel4 continue their commitment to innovation, experimentation and new voices.

We will make up to 8 challenging and individual films from the best fresh talent in the UK. Each film will be for a half-hour hour C4 slot and we are looking for:

Bold ideas, Strong voices, Originality, Ambition, Wit, push boundaries in a way that wouldn’t / couldn’t be done in mainstream drama, contemporary, can be shot in 4 days on a limited budget

This is not an entry level scheme.

For more information and to download the application form, visit: www.iwcmedia.co.uk/television/drama_prog_1.html

Deadline: 22nd March 2007

SUBCULTURE FILMS SEEKS SCRIPTS

Newly formed production company Subculture Film is looking for a number of scripts to take forward to their private investors. Subculture is looking for dialogue/story-driven scripts from £150,000 budgets to £1.5million.

As well as your script, a treatment or story (no longer than 6 pages) should be included.

Please post your script and treatment to: Subculture Films, 95 Herkomer Road, Bushey, Herts, WD23 3LS

To find out more go to: www.subculture-films.com

COULD YOU MAKE IT AS A TVDRAMA WRITER

The Insider’s Guide To Writing For TV
Adrian Mead's classes are brilliant - exciting, informative and
inspirational. Nobody does it better!
Alanna Knight Crime Novelist

The Insiders Guide To Writing for TV is aimed at anyone who is interested in a career as a professional drama writer in TV. The class attracts a wide range of attendees everyone from brand new, aspiring screenwriters to award winning short film-makers, novelists, playwrights and journalists. It always receives excellent reviews.

Date: Saturday, 17th March 2007

Location: Holborn, London

For more information: www.meadkerr.com

ARMENIAN DRAMATIC ARTS & SCREENWRITING PRIZE

The Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance (ADAA) announces the inauguration of its annual contest for a play or screenplay based on Armenian themes. The winning writer will be honoured with a $10,000 award in the Fall of 2007. The contest will be administered by the Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance, which will establish a panel of noted film and theatre professionals to select the winning script. Scripts must have an Armenian theme, but writers are not required to be of Armenian descent.

For information about the Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance and how to contribute to its important mission, please visit the website: www.armeniandrama.org

or call: 001 617-871-6764

Deadline: 15 May 2007

EURO SCREEN STORY COMPETITION 2007

Now in its 11th year, the Euroscript Screen Story Competition 2007 is an opportunity for screenwriters to develop their scripts in a rigorous script development programme. They are looking for writers with powerful story ideas and original voices. To enter you need to submit a two page prose outline of the story plus ten pages of a sample script (which must include a mixture of action and dialogue).

For further information log onto :www.euroscript.co.uk

Deadline: 31 March 2007

PAWS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT GRANTS 2006/7

£5000 is available for leading writers. The PAWS (Public Awareness of Science and Engineering) organisation has made some fundamental chances to its approach to supporting writers and producers with new TV drama ideas that feature science and technology.

Applications for research and development grants are invited until May 2007

For more information visit: www.pawsdrama.com

BBC Writers Room

BBC writersroom identifies and champions new writing talent and diversity across BBC Drama, Entertainment and Children's programmes. Always a useful place for resources and information.

Website: www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom

FILM SHORTS WANTED

A north west film-maker is looking for scripts around 10-12 minutes long with a strong story and a good visual potential. Minimal budget, so ideally just something with 2-4 characters, just a few locations and nothing too adventurous in terms of stunts, effects etc. She is also interested in short stories and theatre or radio pieces that could be adapted into a short film format.

If interested please email: penny_962@yahoo.co.uk

EVENTS...

LOCAL WRITERS ON THE RADIO

First Bite of the Air, by Stephanie Dale, a drama-documentary about the closure of the Kerseley colliery in Coventry, produced in Birmingham by Peter Leslie Wild and Sara Conkey, with Terrence Hardiman and Robert Wilkinson, Radio 4, 2.15pm on Monday 26 February.

What is Missing From Your Life:The Men,Stephanie Dale's, drama-documentary based on replies to that question, produced in Birmingham by Peter Leslie Wild and Sara Conkey, with Zoe Waites and John Flitcroft, Radio 4, 2.15 on Monday 5 March.

White Open Spaces by Ian Marchant, Richard Rai O'Neill, Sonali Bhattacharyya, Rommi Smith and Kara Miller. Produced by Kate Chapman and Peter Leslie Wild

A series of short plays written in response to the question of whether a "passive apartheid" exists in the English countryside. Produced in partnership with Pentabus Theatre Company.

19 - 23 February BBC Radio 4 10.45 am and 7.45 pm

Dr Pfeffer's Lonely Hearts Club by Craig Stephens, Jake Oldershaw and Derek Nisbet.

Produced by Kate Chapman
A series of late night musical encounters. Consider the mysteries of romantic love and have your heart soothed by the inimitable Dr Pfeffer.
21/28 February 7/14 March BBC Radio 4 at 11pm

Tiaan by Rupi Dhami and Annalisa Hounsome.

Produced by Kate Chapman
Two sisters travel across the globe to visit their mother in India for the festival of Tiaan celebrating the bond between mothers and daughters.
20 February BBC Radio 4 at 2.15pm

Zubeda by Naylah Ahmed.

Produced by Kate Chapman
An epic tale of an ageing henna artist who has spent her life attending brides but never married herself.
10 March BBC Radio 4 2.30pm

In Form by Louise Ramsden and Tim Jackson.

Produced by Peter Leslie Wild and Rosie Boulton
Two drama documentaries looking at musical form, focusing on pieces by Saint Saens and Beethoven.
12 and 19 March BBC Radio 4 at 2.15

Any of the above can be heard for a week after broadcast on the BBC's excellent listen again service.

LIVE LIKE US

Live Like Us, a brand new black comedy inspired and performed by young adults from the Belgrade Theatre's Acting Up group, will tour to a number of local venues this February.

Live Like Us was written by Vanessa Oakes along with the Acting Up group and

Upcoming Shows:

20 Feb 2007 20:00
AEUW 1, Corporation St (next to the Belgrade Theatre)

COVENTRY, Midlands

21 Feb 2007 20:00
TBC, Birmingham BIRMINGHAM

22 Feb 2007 20:00
African Caribbean Centre for Young People, Hillfields COVENTRY, Midlands
23 Feb 2007 20:00
Jardine Crescent Young People’s Centre COVENTRY, Midlands
24 Feb 2007 20:00
Henley Green Community Centre COVENTRY, Midlands

For more information: www.belgrade.co.uk

THE MEDIA VAULT

New funding is now available so that media vault continues to support the region's existing and start-up media businesses.
The courses are only available until the end of March 2007.

For more information go to: www.mediavaultonline.com

or email: stephen.houston@tic.ac.uk

ADVANCED SCREENWRITING WORKSHOP
Castano del Robledo, Spain 2007
This residential workshop is for writers who have already written a first draft of their screenplay and have received some feedback and development from one of our previous courses or from another similar course or organisation, or through a producer, script editor, or script report. The aim of the advanced workshop is to help writers to take their script to the next level .

For more information go to: www.euroscript.co.uk/workshops.htm

or call: Anne Woods on 07803 369 414

THE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION

The Hungarian Cultural Association and Light House present the timely exhibition 1956: The Hope of Freedom. Consisting of tableaux of archive images and written commentaries, the exhibition explains the political background to the momentous events of October 1956.

22 January - 22 February

Light House, The Chubb Buildings, Fryer Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1HT

www.light-house.co.uk

Admission Free

OTHER NEWS

ARTS COUNCIL DEBATE

The Arts Council England want to hear your views on five key questions that they believe should be the subject of a national debate.

What do you value about the arts?
What principles should guide public funding of the arts today?
What are the responsibilities of a publicly funded arts organisation?
When should an artist receive public money?
Should members of the public be involved in arts funding decisions?

Visit: www.artsdebate.co.uk to have your say

Consultation period ends on 11 May 2007

Arts Council England (ACE) - Shropshire

is offering Grant application advice and guidance in Shropshire

21 February 2007, between 2-8m

Stone House, Corve Street, Ludlow

Each session will last between 30-45 minutes and is an opportunity to discuss your ideas and proposals for applications to ACE, Awards for All, local authorities or trusts and foundations. Bring along your draft proposal or project idea and a draft budget if possible.

Contact Jenny Henrywood to book a session

01584 813 190 or email: jenny.henrywood@southshropshire.gov.uk

WONDERING HOW TO FIND AN AGENT?

If you're looking for advice on how to approach an agent, and which are the best to target, then ScriptScout have just added a new article to their website with everything you need to know.

For more information: www.scriptscout.co.uk

LOOKING FOR ACTORS?

Equity are keen to help publicise work which can be done through their Equity meetings which occur once a month. Also through the monthly newsletter (deadline is usually 20th). They can also send a direct request to those members that have email and this can be sent anytime - which can be handy for short notice. Equity will only promote work that is paid at the correct rate and on a contract.

Contact Equity secretary: Su Hallcroft on email: birminghamequity@blueyonder.co.uk.

DO YOU HAVE SOME NEWS YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE SCRIPT MEMBERSHIP? If so, then e-mail info@scriptonline.net by the end of the month and it will go into the following month's Newsletter. Next Newsletter will be February 2007.

DISCLAIMER

Script asks you to note: These listings are drawn from varying sources, all current at time of publishing.

Script endeavours to investigate and validate all information and opportunities listed here. We advise you to make contact with companies before submitting scripts.

ARCHIVE

To view previous editions of Script News, please click on the links below

April 2005

May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005