Channel 4 and New Writing North launch Talent Development Partnership for TV writers in the North of England
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Channel 4 and New Writing North have announced a three-year programme of support for new and emerging television writers in the North of England. The Talent Development Partnership aims to identify and support new writers from the North through innovative programming and networks, with a particular focus on supporting writers from backgrounds that are currently underrepresented in the television industry.
Running from 2022-2024, the programme will offer awards, placements with independent production companies, script development, writers’ roadshows and workshops, and the formation of the Northern Talent Network.
An extension of the Channel 4 Writing for Television Awards will mean that from 2022, three writers per year will be offered a placement with an independent production company alongside mentoring and a bursary of £3000.
North-based independent production companies Bonafide Films (Mood; The Last Post) and Lime Pictures (Hollyoaks; Zero Chill) have been long-term partners in the awards. A third production company, Leeds-based Rollem Productions, is also offering a placement. Rollem was set up in 2000 by BAFTA award-winning writer Kay Mellor OBE to produce the ITV drama, Fat Friends, and has gone on to produce shows including The Syndicate, My Left Nut, In the Club and A Passionate Woman.
As well as the three award winners, a further nine writers per year will be accepted on to a Script Development Programme and receive group workshops, a bursary of £500 and script feedback.
In addition, the newly formed Northern Talent Network will offer open-access community events for people interested in taking their first steps into writing for television. The network will also provide a series of specialist masterclasses for emerging TV writers in the region. Sessions will be delivered both online and in-person, particularly taking place amongst communities across the North currently underrepresented in television writing. It will also create a resource for production companies, encouraging them to discover and hire talented writers from the North.
The Channel 4 Writing for Television Awards are now open for entry until 17 March 2022. Eligible writers will be based in the North of England and will not yet have had a script professionally broadcast.
Read more about the Talent Development Partnership here
Apply for the Channel 4 Writing for Television Awards here