News

Screen/Play Award – Longlist Announced 10/12/2020

After our submission window closed on 6 November, 341 pitches from Northern writers have now been read and assessed by our pool of readers for the inaugural Screen/Play Award in partnership with Sky Studios. Following our hunt for Northern talent with electrifying stories to tell, we're delighted to announce the Longlist of 64 writers from those 341 submissions...

Nadia Anim
Shazia Ashraf
Mohammed Barber
Lewis Ian Bray
Valerie Bundy
Lucy Burke
Elizabeth Ann Butler
Tiegan Byrne
Alison Carr
Josie Cerise
Lewis Charlesworth
Will Charlton
Tom Claxton
Louise Coulthard
Allison Davies
Daneka Etchells
Victoria Fayne
Leon Fleming
Scott Fulton
Matthew Gabrielli
Rosa Hesmondhalgh
Jack Hirons
Scott Howland
Chris Hoyle
Conor Hunt
Asif Khan
Tom Kinney
Aisling Lally
Kieran Launder
Mhairi Ledgerwood
Rosie MacPherson
Jasmin Mandi-Ghomi
Lizzy Mansfield
Fraser May
Lauren-Nicole Mayes
Sorcha McCaffrey
Katherine McDermott
Conway McDermott
Joe McNally
Amy Rhianne Milton
Matthew Needham
Paige Neilson
Joanna Nicks
Emily O'Neill
Robbie O'Neill
Emma O’Brien
Laurie Ogden
Olivia Railton
Stefanie Reynolds
Hannah Salt
Elis Shotton
Matthew Smith
Benjamin Spiro-Hughes
Ted Steptoe
Juliana Sumsion
Sarah Tarbit
Ellie Taylor
Francesca Tomlinson
Aidan Watson
Kate Webster
Alex Woolley
Ben Worth
Sophie Wright
Christopher York

“Love hearing people’s ideas in their pitches”
Screen/Play Reader

This has been by far the most successful callout we have ever undertaken; receiving nearly 350 pitches from underrepresented Northern writers assessed by a diverse pool of 23 readers. We have been thrilled with the response – not only the number of submissions but the quality, breadth and ambition of stories – and have thoroughly loved reading writers' ideas.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their story and passion and congratulations to our Longlist!

We will be announcing a Shortlist of 15 writers later this month and the 5 finalists in the new year. Watch this space!