Content London is the world’s leading drama event, with leading players from all corners of the world coming together to discuss the creative and commercial issues surrounding the international scripted business.
Perks & Prizes
From the pool of submissions made between 1 July 2020 and 30 September 2020, a shortlist of the top 21 scripts will be selected and six finalists will be chosen.
Each finalist will win the opportunity to present the project to the global drama community at Content London.
The script competition finalists will then be invited to participate in the C21 International Drama Summit as part of Content London, which will take place at The St Pancras Renaissance Hotel and Kings Place in London, December 1-4 where the final round of the competition will take place: the scripts will be shared with conference delegates and each finalist will present their script & series to a panel of judges in front of conference. Or the digital edition should the live event not happen.
Once each finalist has presented their pitch, our shortlist of judges will select a winner of the script competition. The winner will receive a £10,000 (ten thousand pounds) cash option development prize from Studio21.
The winner receives:
- £10,000 project script option from Studio21 (which includes purchase of the pilot script) to develop the project in and connect with leading drama producers in the global scripted business.
- Exposure at Content London to all executives in attendance.
- A complimentary ticket to the three-day Content London event or digital altrernative.
Six finalists receive:
- Exposure at Content London to all executives in attendance.
- A complimentary ticket to the three-day Content London or digital altrernative..
- A meeting with Script Angel to discuss feedback on their submitted project.
Who can apply?
- Anyone with a great series idea, and a burning desire & talent for writing. Aspiring writers and experienced writers alike are welcome.
How to apply?
- The script competition is open for entries between 1 July 2020 and 30 September 2020.
- Entries should consist of a pilot script and a 1-3 page document along with at least one industry reference (guidelines described below).
- Submissions should be made through the online submissions form which can be found here.
Pilot guidelines
- Each entry should be supported by a reference at the top of the treatment. This should take the form of a single paragraph which says “I support the entry of ‘writer name’ for ‘script name’ and include contact email or phone number for the reference. This referee can be: Literary agent, producer, development executive, drama commissioner, script editor, experienced screenwriter or screenwriting course tutor.
- The script must have been written within the last 2 years.
- The script must be fully available and not under any option
- The script must be no longer than 60 pages
- The script must not have been sold at any point to a studio, network, production company, or any other third party.
- For scripts that are based on underlying material, they must:
- Be based upon content that’s in the public domain (or)
- Be based upon intellectual property that has been optioned/is controlled by the writer submitting to this competition.
- Script subject matter is unrestricted but a priority of the competition is to identify and support pilots which, through their themes, will have global appeal.
- It is mandatory for the 1-3 page document to include a 1 paragraph description at the top that succinctly states your series concept. Other things you might include are:
- A personal statement about why you wrote this show and what makes it stand out.
- The themes you’re hoping to explore in the show
- Marketability of the show – looking around at the TV landscape, is anything like your show already on the air? In what ways is it unique and different and needs to be viewed by millions.
- Tell us something about your passion for writing or writing experience.
Rights
- Writers must be able to demonstrate they own the rights to the story.
- Writers will retain all intellectual property rights of their submitted project unless it is optioned during or as a result of Content London.
