Thousand Films and Grey Seal Media have announced the launch of the latest Thousand Films pilot script scheme, along with plans to take the best scripts from the scheme onto a new funded development slate. The scheme is once again looking for TV drama and comedy pilot scripts from writers without agency representation in the UK and Ireland.
Thousand Films, which was set up in 2019 to find new writers for television and film, particularly those from under-represented backgrounds, has a track record of supporting upcoming off-screen talent. Its first scheme, launched in 2019, discovered the award-winning Disney+ comedy Extraordinary by Northern Irish creator and writer Emma Moran, which recently completed production of its second season.
Thousand Films accepts scripts from all writers without agency representation but has established a rigorous ‘benchmark’ reading process, in which new writers’ work is blindly assessed alongside a sample of professional writers’ scripts. By setting the bar high Thousand Films has shortlisted writers who have taken almost 30 original projects into development with indies in the UK and beyond. A third of those projects have also been taken into funded development by major broadcasters and streamers.
With this latest writing scheme, Thousand Films is expanding its remit into development, and will select the best scripts to be taken into its newly established in-house development slate. This expansion into funded development is a joint venture with specialist media advisory company Grey Seal Media.
“When I saw the sheer number of scripts submitted, and how Thousand Films’ reading process identifies those rare scripts that hold their own beside the work of established professional writers, I saw the commercial viability immediately,” said Clare Hardwick, Founder, Grey Seal Media. “This is not a scheme that finds ‘good amateurs’, but writers that need to be taken seriously as professionals.”
“At Thousand Films we’ve spent several years refining a process which finds the best new writers for TV and film,” added Charles Dawson, CEO, Thousand Films. “Our next objective is to become a development home for new talent, and a place that the industry trusts to bring new voices into the market.”
To spearhead its in-house development drive, Thousand Films has appointed Katie Langridge, a literary agent at Knight Hall for nearly thirteen years, Langridge is known for discovering and nurturing under-represented voices.
“I am thrilled to join Thousand Films, returning to my roots as a producer, and I can’t wait to start building a slate to launch the careers of the best unrepresented writers,” said Langridge. “We’re going to find some very exciting voices, and we’re going to take their best work to networks, streamers, and all TV commissioners who support new talent.”
Scripts between can be submitted to the scheme here until the submission deadline of 3rd December 2023. All qualifying writers over the age of 16 are eligible to enter.
