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SCRIPT
NEWS - December 2008
Script
is continuing work on the re-focusing of the organisation
following the Arts Council's decision to cut funding
from March 2009. Efforts are underway to
ensure the continued survival of the organisation
as an agency for dramatic writers. As part
of this process, it would be useful for us to
know what Script means to you as a writer; what
services you value and what you would like the
organisation to offer in the future?
CURRENT
PROJECTS
Approaches
to Writer Development: The European Model
Playwrights
Alan Pollock, Arzhang Pezhman and Stephanie Dale
have taken part in work placements to Druid Theatre
(Galway), Fishamble Theatre (Dublin) and Riksteatern
(Stockholm) to look at the culture of new writing
in Ireland and Sweden. For full details
of their experiences, please visit the blog at:
http://scriptonline.blogspot.com
Two
further placements are planned for March 2009
Poised
for Flight
The
4-day screenwriting course for writers with disabilities
was due to be held in November, but has been postponed
until March
For
further details, please contact info@scriptonline.net
OPPORTUNITIES
AND COMPETITIONS...
STAGE...
Travelling
Light 2
Applications
are invited for up and coming dramatists to take
part in a new writing project at the award-winning
Aberystwyth Arts Cente.
The
process will be led and mentored by writer Kaite
O'Reilly and will include structured workshops
and one-to-one dramaturgy with Kaite and other
guests.
The
process will lead to rehearsed readings of your
wcripts at the Arts Centre with a professional
team.
Please
send a CV together with a covering letter outlining
why you are interested in writing and developing
a one act play. Plus an extract of your
work, either radio drama, theatre or a film/tv
script: 10-20 pages in length (double-spaced)
to:
Sarah
Morton
Project
Co-ordinator
Aberystwyth
Arts Centre
Penglais
Aberystwyth
SY23
3DE
Deadline:
8th December 2008
The
Search Party
The Search
Party is the Royal Exchange's brand new playwriting
project for young people of Muslim heritage aged
16–25.
The project
has single sex and mixed workshops for individuals
and tailor-made sessions for community groups,
and will result in two evenings of readings and
performances of play scenes by professional actors
at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester during
Spring 2009.
To find
out more call Ben Turner on 0161 615 6792, or
email him at ben.turner@royalexchange.co.uk
.
Deadline:
10th December 2008
Script
in Hand
Bristol
Old Vic is looking for five new and previously
unperformed scripts by South West based writers
for rehearsed readings in February 2009.
Chosen
scripts will receive three days development in
a rehearsal room with a director and actors leading
to a script-in-hand reading in the Bristol Old
Vic Studio with an audience.
During
the first week in February the theatre will be
given over exclusively to a company of writers,
directors, and performers for the development
and performance of five new pieces of work.
The
final script choice will be made by a panel of
experiences producers and directors from Aardman
Animations, the BBC, and Theatre West.
Scripts
can be one act or full length but please not more
than one and a half hours long.
Please
send two bound copies of your script to:
Sharon
Clark/ Charlotte Summerford
Script
in Hand
Bristol
Old Vic
King
Street
Bristol,
BS1 4ED
Deadline:
12 December 2008
STAGE
International Script Competition
STAGE (Scientists,
Technologist, and Artists Generating Exploration)
is a collaboration between The Professional Artists
Lab and the California NanoSystems Institute at
the University of California, Santa Barbara.
They are
offering a prize of $10,000 for the best play
about science and/or technology.
The prize
will be awarded at a public event with distinguished
professionals from the worlds of theatre, film,
science, and technology, in conjunction with a
staged reading/ performance/ demonstration with
a cast of professional actors.
Submitted
plays must explore scientific or technological
stories, themes, issues or events, and science
and technology must figure prominently in the
script in either form or content. Biographical
dramas, history plays, and medical dramas are
discouraged unless they significantly employ science
and/or technology.
Authors
are strongly urged to avoid the stereotypes often
assigned to science, technology, and those who
engage in these disciplines, and the competition
is not open to plays written in the genre of science
fiction.
To find
out more, visit
the STAGE website .
Deadline:
15th December 2008
Word
of Mouth Media Productions
Word
of Mouth is looking for scripts which explore
at least one of the following themes: Confinement,
Mental Health, Identity, Injustice
Scripts
must be performable by a maximum of four actors
and should have at least one strong female role
playing age 25-40. Word of Mouth offers
royalties and good payment terms for existing
scripts and will consider commissioning a piece
if it offers a suitable idea.
Please
send all scripts or treatments to:
Diana
Thomas
Word
of Mouth Productions
31 Anstey
Road
London
Deadline:
31 December 2008
Nameless
Theatre Submissions
Nameless
Theatre are looking for new plays for their successful
play reading event, One Night Stands, held monthly
in the heart of Soho.
Over
the last year One Night Stands have premiered
10 new plays and offered writers the opportunity
to hear their plays read by professional actors,
receive feedback from a live audience and written
notes, if requested, from the artistic directors
James Farrell and Francesca Seeley.
Plays
should last no longer than 90 minutes and should
have a cast of no more than six, but can be of
any topic or style.
If you
would like your play to be considered, please
send a printed copy of the script along with a
brief synopsis and character breakdown to:
ONS
Readings
59 Parkhurst
Road
Friern
Barnet
London
N11
3EN
If you
would like your script returned, please enclose
a S.A.E. Please ensure that your play is page-numbered.
Deadline:
31st December 2008
Acid
Theatre Playwriting Competition
The
Acid Theatre Playwright Competition is looking
for 30-60 minute monologues or 2 handers based
loosely around the theme of 'Freedom of Speech
in the Theatre'.
Special
emphasis should be placed on religion and religious
influences in society.
The winning entry will be performed / produced
by AcidTheatre.
Contact:
theatreacid@yahoo.co.uk
Deadline:
5 January 2009
Theatre
Trails Writers Competition
The
Arundel Festival Theatre Trail, conceived and
presented by Drip Action Theatre Company, is now
in its ninth year. It performs at the end
of August, on each of the Festival's eight years,
eight short plays at eight different venues all
over Arundel - last year, for example, in a living
room, a kitchen, an art gallery, and a pub.
Writers
are invited to submit plays for next year's Trail.
Plays
should be 30-40 minutes long, suitable for day-time
performance with practicable cast and props.
One
play only per entry, in hard copy (not email).
Please enclose an SAE if you'd like your play
returned. The Drip Theatre committee will
select the plays that will be performed, with
the best submitted play receiving the Joy Goun
award of £200 at the Theatre Trail launch
in May 2009.
Each
successful playwright will receive a £150
writer's fee.
Submit
your entries to:
Drip
Action Theatre Trail 2009
1 Norfolk
House
28 High
Street
Arundel
West
Sussex
BN18
9AB
Further
details: 01903 885250 or email: dripactioninfo@btinternet.com
Deadline:
31 January 2009
The
Kings Cross Award for New Writing 2009
The
Courtyard is delighted to announce the launch
of the 5th King's Cross Award for New Writing.
The Award, which is open to writers of all levels
of experience resident in the UK or Republic of
Ireland, seeks imaginative, original work which
explores the unique possibilities of writing for
the stage.
The
winning playwright will be awarded with a full
professional production by leading directors and
designers at our New Courtyard Theatre in Hoxton.
Full
details may be found on the Courtyard's website:
www.thecourtyard.org.uk
Deadline:
1 May 2009
RADIO
The
Alfred Bradley Bursary Award
BBC
Radio Drama is looking for talented writers based
in the North of England with compelling stories
to tell. You could win a bursary of up to
£5000, have your work produced on BBC Radio
4, secure a six-month mentorship with a Radio
Drama Producer and have the opportunity to develop
future commissions - so get your creative juices
flowing and get writing!
The
biennial award was set up to commemorate the life
and work of Alfred Bradley, the distinguished
BBC Radio Drama Producer. It's the most
prestigious radio drama prize in the country and
encourages new radio writing in the North of England,
in collaboration with BBC Radio 4.
You
can apply if you were born, are currently based,
or have previously lived in the North of England
for a minimum of five years. You must also
have never had a play produced by BBC Radio Drama
To enter,
send a hard copy of an original 45 minute radio
drama (7000 words maximum), along with a covering
letter containing your name, address, and contact
details to:
Alfred
Bradley Bursary Award
BBC
writersroom
379
Euston Road
London
NW1
3AU
Full
Details: www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/alfred_bradley.shtml
Deadline:
27 February 2009
RADIO
4 COMMISSIONING GUIDELINES
If you've
ever thought about writing for Radio 4, take a
look at the BBC's Commissioning Guidelines:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/commissioning.shtml
SCREEN...
Flat
Pack
From
11-15 March 2009 the Flatpack Festival will once
again be taking over venues across Birmingham
with a heady stew of shorts, animation, music
documentaries, artists film and video, live cinema,
independent features and plenty more besides.
They are currently seeking submissions for the
short film programme, up to 15 minutes in length.
Flatpack
3 is produced by 7 inch cinema and supported by
Arts Council England, Screen WM and the UK Film
Council.
For
more info and a downloadable form, please go to:
www.flatpackfestival.org.uk
Deadline:
5 December 2008
Skins
Channel
4 are looking for a talented young writer to create
a mini episode for the web featuring some of the
Skins 3 cast, which will be screened online in
summer 2009.
To be
in with a chance, you need to write a short comedy-drama
which doesn't use any existing Skins characters.
The producers are looking for a good sense of
structure and comedy, appreciation of story, believable
dialogue, complete characters, and passionate
storytelling.
You
must be a UK resident aged between 18 and 23 at
the time of entry.
The
winner will be paid a fee for visits to the writer's
room and time spent attending meetings and shoots.
Travel and accommodation (if necessary) will also
be provided.
To find
out more and apply, visit the Channel
4 website
Deadline:
9 December 2008, 6pm
TRAINING
AND EVENTS...
SPECIAL
PEOPLE
Warwick
Arts Centre
Thursday
4th December, 8.30pm
Enlisted
to teach a class of wheelchair-users about film-making,
the neurotic Jasper gets a little more than he
bargained for. His charges seem to know
more than he does about his subject; they;re not
impressed by his own heartfelt social realist
oeuvre; and they meet his every suggestion with
the blank indifference peculiar to the streetwise
adolescent.
Extended
from his own 2005 short film, local film-maker
Justin Edgar's engaging, smartly-written feature
questions condescending outreach projects, self-defeating
attitudes within the disabled community, and the
vacuity of the film business - all with a sly
wink and a healthy helping of self-parody.
Box
Office: 02476 524524
Tickets:
£6.25
MICHAEL
DEELEY: A PRODUCER MASTERCLASS
The
Electric Cinema
Friday
5th December, 6pm
Renowned
Oscar-winning film producer Michael Deeley will
be in Birmingham to offer a master class to regional
producers. Deeley, who is behind the cult
classics Blade Runner, The Deer Hunter
and The Italian Job, will be discussing
his career with journalist and author Matthew
Field in a conversation illustrated with clips
from an incredible body of work.
The
Producer's Forum are hosting the event at The
Electric and it is a really exciting opportunity
to hear from and ask questions of one of Britain's
most successful producers. It is also a
chance for fans of The Italian Job to
get to see this classic film on the big screen
on the eve of its 40th Birthday in 2009.
Box
Office: 0121 643 7879
Tickets:
£10
writernet
in acssociation with Graeae and Arcola Theatre
presents:
IT
ISN'T FIXED
Arcola
Theatre
Sunday
7th December, 10am-10pm
writernet
is winding up after 10 years, with 13 years backstory
as New Playwrights Trust. In that time we
have witnessed and participated in the ever-evolving
ways in which playwrights work, nationally and
internationally.
As a final event, we are bringing
together playwrights and those who are passionate
about playwriting to celebrate the diversity of
the practice; to question orthodoxies, and to
ask what next?
The
day will grow from artists in conversation; through
provocations, out to an Open Space and end with
the writernet party. It will be a day of
visioning: of ideas and discourse around playwrights
and playwriting: of future challenges and possibilities.
For
more information on the event, go to: www.writernet.co.uk
Tickets:
£40 (£25 concessions) includes
lunch and entry to the party.
Box
Office: 020 7503 1646
AN
ACT OF LIFE
A
short film written and directed by Vanessa Oakes
Nuneaton
Museum & Art Gallery
until
22nd February
A response
to the search for a lasting memorial to the millions
of people who died during WW1 - written for an
ensemble cast of 21 young people from King Edward
VI College, Nuneaton
Commissioned
by Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council as
part of the Fit for Heroes exhibitionat
Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery - funded by
Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council, Museums,
Libraries and Archives Council and The Big Lottery
Further
details: 02476 350720
Friction
Theatre presents
THE
SONGS OF JAKE THACKRAY sung by Will Morgan
The
Old Joint Stock Theatre
Wednesday
10th December, 8pm
Friction
Theatre is delighted to welcome a local talent
to The Old Joint Stock Theatre. Will Morgan
- raconteur and folk singer - is well known at
festivals up and down the country and appears
regularly at Brewood Folk Club. He will
be presenting an evening of Jake Thackray's most
endearing and funniest songs.
Jake
Thackray is a much-missed singer-songwriter who
used the English language as skilfully as any
major poet. He observed the idiosyncracies
of English life, and brought to audiences characters
and situations which were funny, sad, tragic,
irreverent and frankly bawdy.
Box
Office: 0121 200 0946
Tickets:
£10 (£8 concessions)
Amnesty
International and iceandfire
PROTECT
THE HUMAN
The
Door, Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Wednesday
10th December, 8pm
To celebrate
International Human Rights Day and the 60th Anniversary
of thr Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
the Rep presents the Winning Play from the Protect
the Human playwriting competition.
Out
of three finalists, listed below, selected from
over 125 scripts, one play will be picked as the
winner of the 2008 competition. This play
will be announced on 9 December and will receive
a rehearsed reading, directed by William Bowry.
Tickets:
Free
There's
Loads of Them in Burnley, Thais
by
Anna Clarkson
After
the Accident
by
Julian Armistead
Lullaby
by
Dominic Leggett
BLOGS...
A new
section where we highlight a few blogs that might
be of interest to writers. The first is the Script
blog, which was launched to chronicle the Leonardo
Mobility Project:
http://scriptonline.blogspot.com
The
second blog is designed to generate debate and
discussion in the lead-up to It Isn't Fixed,
writernet's celebratory event to be held in December.
Please feel free to add your comments and thoughts
on the future challanges and possibilities around
playwrights and playwriting:
http://itisntfixed.blogspot.com
The
third blog to be featured this month is a collection
of advice, tips and ruminations of a professional
screenwriter. Practical, constructive and
above all, truthful, the blog provides a valuable
insight into the film-making industry.
http://scriptdoc.blogspot.com
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.
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
2003-2007
January
2008
February
2008
March
2008
April
2008
May/June
2008
July/August
2008
October/November
2008
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