Our opportunity for credited and/or agented writers opens for applications between 5th and 26th of September 2023. We spoke to writer Hamish Wright (who was on the scheme back in 2018 when it was called the TV Drama Writers鈥� Programme) about what it meant for his development as a writer.
Some careers go off like fireworks. Mine was more like a fire lit with damp logs. To torture the metaphor a bit more, 大象传媒 Writersroom was a vital squirt of kerosene that kept my fire burning right when it could鈥檝e gone out. Let me explain.
I grew up in Australia an Anglophile, suckled on the best of British TV; Doctor Who, , The Young Ones, , . I moved in 2004. I didn鈥檛 really know anyone, or much about the industry, but I knew I wanted to write. I found a home in Manchester working in the story office, and then script edited and wrote on Casualty. Continuing Dramas (CDS) get a bad rap (unfairly so), but I learned so much writing craft and, more importantly, I started finding my people. What do I mean by that? If you meet someone who shares your taste, who鈥檚 excited by your work, hold onto them tight. They鈥檙e your people.
One of the hardest jumps in our industry is going from writing CDS to original or more 鈥榓uthored鈥� work. In some ways this is pure snobbery on the part of development execs and commissioners, an example of how CDS can brand a writer 鈥� but there can be some substance to it. While there鈥檚 often a great deal of creativity and innovation involved in writing a CDS script, you鈥檙e working within a house style. What happens when you take those guardrails away?
That鈥檚 where I was at when I applied to the 大象传媒 Writersroom scheme that is now called Pilot. I鈥檇 just moved to Belfast, and I was feeling very far from the centre of the industry. I鈥檇 had a few original things optioned by that point, but they were withering on the vine. I was making the vast majority of my income working on continuing drama but it all felt pretty parlous, like I was surviving script by script. So just as I was mulling the seed of an idea 鈥� literally just a paragraph about a lonely young boy writing a letter to a Mars-bound astronaut 鈥� I spotted this 大象传媒 Writersroom deadline and thought, what鈥檚 the worst that can happen?
Spoiler alert: the script that resulted from this idea 鈥� Sunny 鈥� never got made, but I can honestly say that the Pilot process kicked my career to a new level. I was paired with , and ran several outlines and drafts with their brilliant development team. Along with that, I and the other Pilot writers did a series of masterclasses with legends of the industry; , , . There was advice I鈥檝e kept as part of my process to this day: Jed Mercurio talked about looking for the 鈥渓ock in鈥�, the moment in your pilot script that locks your hero into the key action of the series. But the best part of it was forming friendships with the other Pilot writers. Sharing knowledge; good indies to work for, bad indies to avoid, weird stuff in contracts, significant life announcements. It all comes back to finding your people, and I found a bunch through the Pilot scheme.
It took a few more years, and a lot more pushing, before came about. I鈥檇 formed a writing partnership with , the very first writer I edited on Casualty (find your people!) and we鈥檇 just had an agonising near miss with a thriller script that we both still use as a sample. Our exec on that piece, , encouraged us to contact her with any other ideas we might have. Dana had just watched an incredibly unconventional Israeli black comedy about two lonely misanthropes who鈥檝e hit rock bottom (sounds great right?) and suggested it could work as an adaptation. I watched it and agreed. Two years and one pandemic later, Significant Other broadcast on in June 2023. I鈥檓 incredibly proud of the show we made, no matter what one reviewer from The Guardian might think.
So while I would鈥檝e loved to 鈥榤ake it鈥� (whatever that really means) much sooner, I like to think that the time it took, and the relationships I formed along the way, has made my career a wee bit more sustainable. That鈥檚 why I鈥檇 say, if you鈥檙e thinking about applying for the Pilot programme, if you鈥檙e wanting to make the jump to writing and selling your own original work, do it. Definitely.
This year you鈥檙e going to need to send in a TV spec as a sample. So what should you send? The clich茅 goes that you should write something only you can write. I鈥檇 add to that; what is the unique thing your script does that no other script can do? No other show but had that dramatic crucible of Don or Peggy making an ad pitch 鈥� only Fleabag broke the fourth wall in that exact way 鈥� only Significant Other has its main characters meeting while one has a heart attack and the other takes an overdose of pills (sorry, couldn鈥檛 resist). Because it鈥檚 all about bringing something new into the world, right? I wish you the best of luck, and I can鈥檛 wait to see your work on the air.
Applications to Pilot 2024 are open from Tuesday 5th September 2023 at 10am to 12 noon on Tuesday 26th September 2023 for credited and/or agented writers.
Please Note: This is a separate scheme from our open submission Open Call, with more restricted entry criteria.
The next Open Call submission window will be open between 12 noon on Tuesday 7th November 2023 and 12 noon on Tuesday 5th December 2023. Visit the Open Call webpage to find out more about that opportunity