C21 script competition finalists named

 

The finalists in the C21 Drama Series Script Competition, produced in association with leading independent studio Entertainment One (eOne), have been announced.

The competition is designed to find the next big thing in international drama by uncovering an outstanding pilot for a one-hour drama series from fresh writers who have got what it takes to create a primetime series.

Five finalists, chosen from more than 250 entries, will pitch their projects to a panel of judges at the C21 International Drama Summit, part of Content London, on November 29.

The winner will receive a US$10,000 prize and a development deal with eOne.

The finalists are:

Face to Face
By Hazel Allan

A lot can happen in one day. Matriarch Stella, survivor Claire, downtrodden Audrey, ditzy Cassie and outsider Ross are all nuts off the Adams family tree. Without crossing paths they embark on their day, oblivious that they will be different people by the end of it.

With stories ranging from the hilarious to the heartbreaking, this six-part drama follows members of one family over the course of a day. Their stories stand alone but are subtly interwoven by one external event, an armed robbery that occurs on the periphery but somehow alters the course of their day. It is only when tragedy strikes that they are brought together for an explosive finale.

Face to Face came from the notion of having two characters interacting in each episode. It felt like an interesting challenge to tell their stories using mainly dialogue. Over time this concept evolved to include incidental characters, helping to enrich and enliven the scenes. Face to Face also encompasses each of the characters being confronted with personal demons.

The stories delve into the human condition and exposes emotions most people can relate to. This is one ordinary family on one ordinary day when extraordinary events take place.

Traded
By Spencer Honniball

Traded is a hard-hitting drama about human trafficking and the devastating effects it has on those exploited by it, seen via the victims’ forced involvement in gangland activities.

While essentially dark and edgy in nature, the proposed series’ exploited characters seek freedom to bring light into their bleak worlds and it is this that keeps us rooting for them. Who will escape their forced slavery and what will they have to do in order to achieve it?

I wrote Traded because I think human trafficking is a seriously unrepresented, neglected area, despite it being extremely prevalent in societies throughout the world, involving the movement of countless peoples. I wanted and believe I have managed to craft, a strong, likeable protagonist, Blake, who despite being forced to commit atrocious acts in order to stay alive, retains the inner decency that prevents total contamination of his soul.

The themes I explored in Traded are, largely, entrapment and, in sharp contrast, the innate human desire for freedom – both universal themes that people from all walks of life can relate to. It is also about love and the manner in which humans cannot suppress inborn emotions, hardwired into us, despite the dangers involved.

Euthanasia In Suburbia
By Philip Lawrence

Death is a bitter pill. Would you like a chocolate?

Welcome to 9 Magnolia Avenue, New Malden, one of the larger houses in this leafy, sleepy, residential street. Right now its chintzy, dusty rooms are full of clutter and emotional baggage.

Still, set back from the road, it’s the perfect hideaway for a secret bed and breakfast for visitors on a once-in-a-lifetime trip who need some assistance on their way.

The bed may still be warm from its previous guest but breakfast is homemade chocolate bonbons laced with a little something to help you go with dignity.

A grieving daughter, her HIV-positive ex-husband and his secretly necrophiliac boyfriend hope to deal with their own issues about mortality by opening an illegal euthanasia B&B in a quiet residential street. Soon, through an underground online forum, they find themselves inundated with willing, desperate candidates. But surrounded by a nosey neighbour, a suspicious pharmacist, a blackmailer and a local policeman, how far will they go to keep it secret?

With heart, humour and hope, Euthanasia In Suburbia is a life-affirming exploration of death.

777
By Marlek A al-Habib

A year after surviving the car wreck that killed his family, a man starts to believe that dark forces are at work when he learns the fate of other people who suffered near-death experiences the same time as his.

 

 

Harker & Son
By Jonathan Davenport

Following the characters of Bram Stoker’s Dracula 20 years on, Harker & Son focuses on the coming-of-age story of an adolescent boy becoming a man and a vampire.

When 17-year-old Quincey Harker suddenly realises that everything he believed about his life has been fabricated by his God- and vampire-fearing father Jonathan Harker, he yearns to find out the truth.

As dangerous forces, both human and supernatural, pile up around him, Quincey must decide what it really means to be good, whether it is possible for a vampire to be humane and what he really is: human, vampire or hero.

The winner will be announced at The International Drama Awards on the evening of Wednesday November 30.

For the latest information about the competition and the International Drama Summit follow us on Twitter using the hashtags #C21DS and #C21Script.