Studio21 to build out micro drama partnerships as its script competition final lands at Content London
The final of the Studio21 script competition, designed to find a global scripted series that can be released scene-by-scene on digital and then stitched together to create a traditional longform drama for television, will take place at Content London tomorrow.
The initiative marks the seventh year of the competition, which has discovered some of the most progressive new writers and projects to take to market in association with high-profile coproduction partners.
Studio21 is the C21-backed development producer founded in 2019 in partnership with screenwriter agency Script Angel.
Hayley McKenzie
Studio21 partner Hayley McKenzie said: “The script competition always attracts the most progressive new writers. But this year we are challenging the creative community to think differently, writing each scene as a standalone shortform piece that, when stitched together, makes a longform scripted episode. In many ways, this is not different from the structure of a traditional script, but it means each shortform piece may be slightly different in character.
“In terms of the structure of the pilot episode story, we’re looking for scripts in which every scene turns in some way, has something change within it and makes you want to watch the next one. I’m excited to see how the wonderfully creative screenwriting community respond to this challenge and surprise us.”
From hundreds of entries, six finalists will pitch their projects during Content London, with Studio21 optioning those most likely to succeed for further development.
The finalists are:
Caravan
By Stephen Hunt
Set in present-day UK, and within a climate of police mistrust and brutality, Caravan is a gloriously hyperreal tale of escape, and a study of the sweet release – and problematic outcome – of pent-up, generational revenge.
Cancel Me
By John Dorney
When failed actor Jason Camfield is dropped by his agent, he realises he might become more successful if he could get himself ‘cancelled.’ Jason sets out to make himself a pariah, but how far can he go before his conscience gets the better of him?
Chatbots Don’t Kill People
By Domante Urmonaite and Martynas Mendelis
When Eric’s death goes viral, the headlines scream a juicy story: a chatbot convinced him to commit suicide. But Laura, a tech-savvy yet invisible travel agent, isn’t buying it – chatbots can’t even count the “r’s” in “strawberry.” Determined to uncover the truth, she starts her own online channel. As her following grows, so does the danger – bizarre tech-related crimes start happening all over the place, all seemingly connected to the tech-addiction support group Eric attended. But here’s the twist: Laura is battling her own tech addiction. The dopamine hit of new followers consumes her, straining her real-life relationships. Can she be the hero without her digital armour, or will the very tech she relies on become her downfall? Because while chatbots might not kill people, our obsession with technology? That’s a killer in itself.
Enlightenment Inc.
By Debbie Hannan
Fiery, working-class mum-of-four Daf tips over the wrong side of the poverty line and is humiliated online, so she creates a lucrative ‘wellness’ cult with herself as the leading guru. As Daf’s love of power grows, the con spirals out of control – the cult becomes increasingly exploitative and goes to absurd extremes, ultimately threatening to ruin the family, until Daf’s kids decide to take her down.
The Call of the Fox Children
By Rebecca Ingram
When two fox cubs turn up at the house where her two children vanished three years earlier, Tessa Bainbridge starts to wonder if they could be her missing children, returned home – but as foxes. However, her husband Steve is deeply worried that she is becoming unhinged and avoiding the truth about the shocking discovery the police have just unearthed…
The Real Mistress Elaine
By Susan Bluechild and Sam Uhlemann
This is the story of two generations of women – a mother, a daughter and an aunt. Elaine is just 16. Her parents’ marriage is falling apart. Her life is about to be turned upside down when her drama queen mother decides to open a secret BDSM and cross-dressers business. This creates a burden and disrupts her teenage years. Fast-forward 30 years and Elaine’s aunt finds herself on the brink of homelessness after a series of bad choices. Elaine steps in, reveals her mother’s secret past and, together, they set up shop to roaring success! But this time it’s about taking control, healing long-held family wounds and reclaiming personal agency.
The best of these projects will be added to the Studio21 slate.
Studio21 has partnered with some of the world’s leading producers to take a raft of shows to market.
Spinner & Marie, by Joanne Thomson, is being co-developed with Argo Films. An uplifting geriatric queer adventure, it’s a modern-day love story set against the cinematic backdrop of Scotland and the US, based on a true story.
Mystery thriller Off Grid, by Julie Mayhew, is currently in the works. It tells the story of an isolated British woman who has her secluded existence in the forests of Swedish Lapland invaded by a tenacious new neighbour who has been sent to out her as a ‘dead’ celebrity.
Saffron Cherry Productions has partnered with Studio21 on The Quiet Stones, a returning mystery drama by Alice Burden about a young woman who returns to the ancient hills of her childhood to investigate the disappearance of her best friend. At the same time, a body is found and a mysterious vibration heralds a devastating change for the planet.
Crack of Dawn, a life-affirming comedy-drama about a menopausal woman in the midst of a mixed-orientation marriage meltdown, comes from Grace Link and is in development with Ruby Rock Pictures.
And Studio21 has partnered with Skins producer Balloon Entertainment on Rupture, a comedy thriller series by Sally Jane Pitts. It focuses on an introverted online-dating scammer who is drawn into a twisted mystery when she discovers the people she scams are being murdered.
Several other projects on the slate are currently being packaged and partnered.
Studio21’s head of sales and coproduction, Sally Cronin, will be at Content London discussing further partnerships for six other properties on the slate.
