Congratulations to the Finalists in the 2024 Studio21 Scene-by-Scene Drama Series Script Competition as they head to Content London to pitch their shows to the global tv drama business.
The Studio21 Scene-By-Scene Script Competition is designed to uncover compelling contemporary stories that can reach a 21st century audience across platforms, with a shortform episodic (micro drama) release across digital platforms, followed by a longform window on traditional television.
The competition connects emerging writers with the global content business, offering the winner a £10,000 prize to option or acquire the script and the unique opportunity to connect with the global drama business through C21Media’s Content London in December.
The Winner will be announced at the C21 International Drama Awards on Thursday 5th December 2024.
Cancel Me by John Dorney
When a failed actor is dropped by his agent, he realises he might be able to get more successful if he gets himself ‘cancelled’.
John has been writing scripts for over 20 years. His first stage play, Cowboys, was put on as one of the winners of the Royal Court Young Writers Festival. He won the BBC’s Show Me the Funny and Sketch Factor competitions. He’s written over 100 scripts for Big Finish’s licensed Doctor Who audio dramas, winning a BBC Audio Drama award and an Audie for his work. He’s sometimes an actor and co-wrote the book Best Pick – A Journey through Film History and the Academy Awards.
Caravan by Stephen Hunt
After a traumatic run-in with a Metropolitan Police Officer, Van and his sister Cara continue on their planned escape from the city for the wilds of the British countryside. Only now they have one of London’s finest boys-in-blue bound and gagged inside their motorhome, and they’ll soon discover that they can never truly leave the shadows of the life they hoped they’d left behind. Set in the current-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.
Stephen is a ‘country boy’ from the Somerset hills who ran away to London as a teenager to pursue a future in design. Now at nearly 50 years of age and after having recently made a conscious decision to switch careers, Stephen regards himself as a ‘new’ writer with a strong desire to tell stories from a working-class perspective. As well as being chosen as a finalist for the Studio21 Scene-By-Scene Drama Series Script Competition, this year has also seen his work shortlisted for BBC Open Call 2024. His previous drama Reparations was also shortlisted for the All3Media New Writers Collective in 2023.
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 armor, 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.
Domante and Martynas write thought-provoking stories that navigate our tech-warped reality with both heart and humour. They sharpened their voice at Torino Serieslab, Sundance Screenwriters Workshop, Midpoint TV Launch, The OWL and Berlinale Talents. Their collaboration across Europe includes companies such as Sky Italia, Newen Studios. In 2023, TV series Troll Farm (Dansu, LRT, Telia Play+), written and co-created by Domante and Martynas, was selected by Berlinale EFM (Series Market Selects), Transilvania IFF and Serial Killer, and was among top 12 CEE TV Series at NEM Zagreb.
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.
Debbie writes and directs for stage and screen. They have been developing and directing new plays for 15 years, alongside their own writing and screen work, and are known for bold, heightened work, focusing on LGBTQ+, disabled and working-class stories, with a love for dark, social satire. They are currently associate director at the National Theatre of Scotland and have directed at theatres such as the Royal Court Theatre, the Young Vic, the Bush Theatre, Soho Theatre, the Royal Exchange (Manchester), the Citizens Theatre (Glasgow) and the Traverse Theatre (Edinburgh), and with companies such as Complicité, Clean Break and Paines Plough, including winning an Olivier as associate director for Best Revival of Constellations on the West End.
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.
Finalist for BBC & World Productions Welsh Scriptwriting Award, twice for the Australian Writers Guild’s Monte Miller Scriptwriting Award, and SPAA’s Ones to Watch, screenwriter Rebecca Ingram also has several of her high-concept series in advanced development with prominent European and Australian production companies. Rebecca has consistently attained significant development financing for her shows and has been selected for several US film labs and Hollywood showrunner masterclasses supported by Australian screen agencies. Rebecca is also an experienced development producer, having developed high-end drama series for production company Magpie Pictures for several years. Her TV production credits include Swift Street (SBS, 2024), Seachange (Channel 9), and the AACTA-winning series Deadlock (ABC TV).
The Real Mistress Elaine by Susan Bluechild and Sam Uhlemann
Elaine is 45, unemployed and left stuck after a string of bad relationships; with nowhere else to turn, she decides to revive her estranged, late mother’s BDSM career, eliciting the help of her timid, soon-to-be-bankrupt sixty-eight year old Auntie EM. Together they make a splash in the sometimes high, sometimes low-class world of the London BDSM scene.
From Dublin, Susan spent her formative years performing in youth theatre but later gravitated towards music. A successful singer songwriter with top-10 hits in her native Ireland plus music in US TV shows, she later turned her songwriting skills to her childhood passion for writing scripts and enjoys exploring complex narratives. Still acting in theatre and television and trained with Euroscript London, she has co-written her current TV comedy drama project The Real Mistress Elaine, which is based on her own personal experiences and is also currently running as a successful podcast.
Sam has been crafting stories for over a decade. His journey began with producing several short films, culminating in establishing his production company, New Stage Films. Having attended the prestigious script editing course at FAMU International, one of Europe’s oldest film schools, Sam then joined the inaugural class of Screen Ireland’s New Writer Development Scheme. In 2020, Sam released his first feature film, The Edge of Chaos, funded by Screen Ireland. The film premiered at the Cork International Film Festival and went on to screen at numerous festivals worldwide, garnering several nominations, including Best Film, Best Actress and Best Actor at the 2021 Richard Harris Film Festival.
