I had that mixture of excitement and sheer panic when the 大象传媒 Writersroom asked me to submit an idea for a new radio comedy opportunity.
大象传媒 Writersroom celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2020. When the department was originally set up in 2000 by Kate Rowland, the head of 大象传媒 Radio Drama at the time, 大象传媒 Writersroom's remit was to develop new writers for Radio. Although that soon expanded to include TV and online, our track record in gaining commissions for writers in Radio and Audio has continued, with many writers achieving their first broadcast credit this way.
Some of 大象传媒 Writersroom's early successes in Radio included the Sparks scheme, which involved several writers who have gone on to great success, amongst them , and .
Other early Radio schemes included Staging Human Rights which resulted in the creation of a radio play , recorded on location in S茫o Paulo and broadcast on Radio 3 in both 2002 and 2003. was a 2004 opportunity with 大象传媒 Radio Five Live which resulted in 10 commissions and ran a second time for the World Cup in 2006. Broken and Blue was a 大象传媒 Radio 3 and 大象传媒 Writersroom search for original, entertaining and diverse music dramas for radio in 2004 and The Imagine competition for Mark Radcliffe鈥檚 show on Radio 2 in 2006 found stories inspired by imagined meetings with musical heroes.
Radio writers in residence began with Sebastian Baczkiewicz in 2000, followed by others including Rommi Smith on the 2005 Africa Season and Kwame Kwei-Armah and Michael Bhim in 2008. Writer placements included on the daily Asian Network soap Silver Street which ran from 2004-2010.
Mark Ravenhill's Yesterday an Incident Occurred was produced for the 大象传媒 Radio 3 Freethinking Festival in 2007 and was shortlisted for the , while Mike Bartlett's Not Talking from 2007 won both the Imison and Tinniswood awards. Mike Barlett's original stage play had been submitted through the 大象传媒 Writersroom unsolicited submissions system. He has subsequently written Doctor Foster, Press and Life for 大象传媒 One.
From 2000-14 Kate Rowland commissioned the original drama strand The Wire on 大象传媒 Radio 3 with successes including the 2007 Prix Italia award for Ed Hime's The Incomplete Recorded Works of a Dead Body. Ed Hime has subsequently written on shows including Doctor Who and Skins.
More 大象传媒 Writers successes in Radio and Audio
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Alfred Bradley Bursary Award
A 拢5,000 writing bursary for Northern writers new to radio which kick-started the writing careers of the likes of Lee Hall and Peter Straughan. Find out the latest news and about previous winners, plus advice on writing for Radio. -
Atching Tan
大象传媒 Writersroom supported writer Dan Allum from the Romany Theatre Company towards the successful production of Atching Tan, about Romany Travellers. Atching Tan began as a one-off drama in 2010 and went on to be developed into a full series. -
大象传媒 Music Day Monologues 2017
Six short monologues were co-commissioned by 大象传媒 Radio 3 and 大象传媒 Writersroom to mark 大象传媒 Music Day 2017. Each is based on the 大象传媒 Music Day theme The Power of Music and the specially-commissioned works by new writers were broadcast throughout the day on Radio 3 on 15 June 2017. -
大象传媒 Radio Drama Writer in Residence
Archie Maddocks is a writer and comedian who was part of our London Voices writer development group in 2017. Archie went on to gain a placement as our more recent Writer in Residence in 大象传媒 Radio Drama London in 2018-19. -
大象传媒 Radio Scotland - Short Comedies
In 2018 we worked with 大象传媒 Radio Scotland on the production of three brand new short scripted comedies which were broadcast on the Afternoon Show. Listen to all 3 now and hear from their writers. -
大象传媒 Radio Scotland - Short Comedies Series 2
Following a first series in 2018 we were delighted to be re-commissioned in 2019 for four short comedies for radio by 大象传媒 Radio Scotland. -
A Million and Me
Two new 大象传媒 Radio Scotland Dramas created for 大象传媒 Children in Need in November 2020, part of our ongoing collaboration with the teams at 大象传媒 Radio Scotland and Children in Need. -
Monster
What happens when the dead return looking for answers and someone to blame? Turn down the lights, turn up the volume, and prepare to be afraid. Monster is an innovative audio experience for Halloween 2020 created by 大象传媒 Research and Development and written by Brad Birch. Find out more and try it now. -
Murmurs
Murmurs was a new podcast series launched in January 2020. The writers included Eno Mfon, Greer Ellison and Jesse Schwenk who had all been part of our Drama Room writer development group. Murmurs was nominated for Best Podcast or Audio Drama Award in the 大象传媒 Audio Drama Awards 2021. -
Music Monologues for Emerging Artists' Week on 大象传媒 Radio 3
5 writers from across our writer development groups had their work broadcast on 大象传媒 Radio 3. They each wrote a fifteen monologue drama reflecting the power of music as part of Radio 3's Emerging Artists' Week in 2019. -
Short Stories for Grown Ups - new comedy writing for radio from 大象传媒 Writersroom
Three short radio comedy commissions broadcast on 大象传媒 Radio Ulster in 2018. -
This Thing of Darkness
A gripping drama exploring the psychological impact of murder on a victim's family and on the killer, co-written by Anita Vettesse and Lucia Haynes with monologues by Eileen Horne. This scripted podcast was developed at a 大象传媒 Writersroom residential at Cove Park in Scotland in 2017. Episode 7 was nominated for a Tinniswood Award at the 大象传媒 Audio Drama Awards 2021. -
The Verb Dramas
The 大象传媒 Writersroom regularly works in collaboration with Audio Drama North and 大象传媒 Radio 3's The Verb to give writers in our development groups the opportunity to gain a short audio drama commission. Listen to the commissioned writers' dramas and find out more. -
Wales Writer in Residence - Recording the first winning play for 大象传媒 Radio 4
Rhiannon Boyle was the winner of our first Wales Writer in Residence with 大象传媒 Wales and National Theatre Wales in 2019. Part of the award was to have her winning play produced for 大象传媒 Radio 4. Rhiannon reported from the recording, which turned out to be quite a different experience from what she had expected... -
Wales Writer in Residence - Recording the second winning play in lockdown
Faebian Averies was the winner of our second Wales Writer in Residence with 大象传媒 Cymru Wales and National Theatre Wales. Her winning entry 'Lemonade Lads' went on to be produced for 大象传媒 Radio 4 and broadcast in July 2021. Faebian describes how the production took place entirely remotely during lockdown, over on our blog. -
Welsh Voices Monologues 2019
Welsh Voices is our invitational development group which meets monthly for masterclasses, workshops and industry insight. More than that it鈥檚 a creative community and a space for writers to come together. The eleven 2018/19 Welsh Voices were each asked to create a short audio monologue to give you just a flavour of their writing. Meet them and hear their pieces. -
Welsh Voices Monologues 2020
Earlier in 2020 we challenged our Welsh Voices to create monologue pieces for live performance at Machynlleth Comedy Festival. Then Covid hit and life turned upside down. Not wanting to let good work go to waste we developed and made 6 of the pieces which you can listen to now. They were also broadcast on 大象传媒 Radio Wales. -
The Wire
The Wire was 大象传媒 Radio 3's long-running showcase for works that push the boundaries of drama and narrative, created by first-time radio writers and also writers distinguished in other forms. The series ran from 2000 - 2014 and was commissioned by Kate Rowland, the first head of 大象传媒 Writersroom. Many of the writers went onto further success and several episodes of The Wire won awards. Find out more including a complete listing of all episodes, writers and broadcast dates. -
The Writers' Prize
An innovative and prestigious new writing award for Radio Drama which resulted in several commissions for 大象传媒 Radio 4. The Writers' Prize ran in 2013 and 2014.