Significant Ink: Writer-in-Residence and Regional Coordinator opportunities
Posted by
What is Significant Ink?
Significant Ink is a new talent development initiative led by New Writing North which aims to find and develop brand new voices in UK screenwriting. The initiative will support the Channel 4 and Northumbria University Writing for Television Award, which New Writing North runs as part of the Northern Writers’ Awards. Our aim is to run a programme that will bring writers from BAME, LGBT+, disabled and working class backgrounds to the attention of broadcasters and productions companies and encourage those writers to apply for talent development and award schemes run by New Writing North, Channel 4 and others.
We aim to do this by targeting specific geographical areas in the North and to work in partnership with cultural, community and grass roots organisations in those areas. We want to work with those organisations to identify individuals from the backgrounds listed above who have an interest in writing for TV but who have not yet had their break in the industry. This includes those who are just getting started with an idea, those who have previously lacked the confidence to come forward or the knowledge about how to progress in the industry, as well as those who are actively pursuing a career in TV. In 2017 we will focus this work on Middlesbrough and the Tees Valley, Preston and surrounding areas, and Leeds/Bradford.
We would like to appoint a Writer-in-Residence to lead Significant Ink and a freelance Coordinator to help run it. The appointed Writer and Project Coordinator will lead work in all three areas.
The timeline for the programme is as follows:
December 2016: Partnership development and relationship building with key organisations and individuals in the three key locations. (NWN will work on this to be supported by the Project Coordinator once appointed)
January and February 2017: The Writer-in-Residence, supported by the Project Coordinator will lead an open access screenwriting workshop in each of the three locations as well as targeted workshops with key groups suggested by our partners (nine workshops in total)
March and April 2017: The Writer-in-Residence and the Coordinator will have the flexibility to run tasters, talks or workshops in specific communities or with groups according to intelligence gathered via on-the-ground working (six sessions in total)
May to September 2017: Following this period of recruitment and research, the Writer-in-Residence will run a scriptwriting programme in each of the three locations with a number of invited writers selected from the previous few months’ activity. Participants will develop their scripts supported by the writer over five taught workshops. There will also be an opportunity to programme in masterclasses from visiting speakers including from Channel 4 and partner production companies (15 sessions in total)
Writer-in-Residence
The fee for the Writer-in-Residence is £6500.
This includes delivering the programme outlined above (30 sessions in total) in the three geographical areas, attendance at three planning meetings, regular email feedback to New Writing North and reading work generated by the writers participating in the programme. There will be up to £1000 available to cover travel and accommodation expenses.
Duties and Responsibilities
• To run engaging workshops for people who have an interest in screenwriting, and who will be very early on in their screenwriting experience
• To identify raw talent coming through the recruitment workshops
• To support New Writing North to identify organisations who may assist in referring people to workshops, or hosting a workshop
• Take a flexible approach to running the kind of development work needed for the desired outcome (eg. workshops, roadshows, talks etc)
• To devise and run engaging and developmental screenwriting courses for around 12 writers who are very early on in their writing
• To provide feedback for writers taking part in the programme
• To feedback to New Writing North on the sessions with writers
• To draw on experience and provide advice for budding screenwriters
• To take part in the evaluation of the programme
• To engage in press and promotional activity as the scheme requires
Person specification
• Experienced screenwriter
• Experienced workshop leader
• Strong organisational skills
• Someone with a commitment to addressing under-representation amongst BAME, LGBT+, disabled and working class writers in the media industries
• Must have knowledge of and ideally be based in the north of England
• Willingness to travel across the north
If you are interested in the Writer-in-Residence post, please apply here by Wednesday 23 November.
Significant Ink Coordinator
The fee for the Coordinator will be £3600; that is £120 per day for 30 days between December 2016 and October 2017. There will be up to £1000 to cover travel expenses.
Their job will be to research, develop and deliver partnerships in the three geographical areas to enable us find the most promising talent. They will also set up the workshops, help promote the sessions and attend each of the tasters providing help and advice to the participants and supporting the lead writer to spot talent.
Duties and Responsibilities
• To research and identify partners in the three target areas with whom we can work to identify the most promising talent
• To initiate and build on existing partnerships in the area, through on the ground research and face-to-face meetings
• To promote the opportunities offered by Significant Ink across a range of diverse communities and groups, using digital and social media, face to face meetings and word of mouth
• Organise all Significant Ink workshops and masterclasses, including identifying and booking venues, scheduling writers, leading on the promotion of sessions (with NWN’s support)
• Attend all taster sessions in each of the geographical areas and the first and final sessions of the Scriptwriting development programme
• Support the Writer-in-Residence to provide advice and support for workshop attenders
• Support the Writer-in-Residence to spot the most promising writers in the sessions
• To take part in the evaluation of the programme
Person specification
• Strong organisational skills
• Experience of working with a range of communities and interest groups
• Project management experience
• Knowledge of arts and literature
• Someone with a commitment to addressing under-representation amongst BAME, LGBT, disabled and working class writers in the media industries
• Must have knowledge of and be based in the north of England
• Willingness to travel across the north
The Coordinator can work from home, but must be willing to attend at least three meetings with NWN, and retain regular email, Skype and telephone contact with NWN staff.
If you are interested in the Project Coordinator post, please apply here by Wednesday 23 November.
Although ideally we would like to appoint one Writer and one Coordinator to cover all three areas, if you are interested in the position but only want to cover one geographical area, please contact us. If you have any questions please email [email protected].