Way back in January we had settled on June 8th as a good date for the event – a date we felt wouldn’t clash with anything else important… and then the Prime Minister called a General Election! However, despite all the political excitement, our loyal writers came out in strong numbers to spend a fascinating day in discussion and debate about the matters of interest to their industry.

The festival began with Charlotte Moore (Director of Content, BBC Television) interviewed by Danny Brocklehurst.

One of the great joys of the Writers’ Festival is that established writers get to ask the questions that we would all like to ask to the most powerful voices in our industry. The question of what the BBC was looking for in new writing terms came up. Charlotte told us that: “It’s not about my particular taste… there’s an extraordinary range across the networks, that’s the joy of the BBC”. She also noted that “we want a diversity of the broadest voices in the truest sense” and reassured writers that as long as their idea is a great one, viewing figures would not be a driving factor.

After this opening session, the Festival’s writers had a choice of several different sessions to attend throughout the venue with some delegates complaining that there was just too much choice! And, despite the political manoeuvres of the day, writers travelled from all over the UK to attend the sessions. Silent Witness writer Tim Prager was so keen to attend that he flew straight to the Festival from his play-opening in New York; and we were delighted to see him:

Despite the jet-lag, Tim spoke passionately at the session on underrepresented voices in drama along with guests Sophie Petzal, Vinay Patel and Paul McKenzie.

Indeed, Paul McKenzie had a particularly busy day, running straight to that panel from a fascinating discussion about comedy-drama, chaired by BBC Comedy Commissioning Executive, Claire McCarthy:

They were joined by Sian Harries (pictured above between Paul and Claire) as well as Uncle writers Oliver Refson and Lilah Vandenburgh.

As well as very popular sessions that included Daytime Drama, Children’s Drama, Film and Digital Storytelling, we had some fascinating one-to-one interviews. Here’s BBC Studios Exec, Richard Stokes, chatting to Jed Mercurio about his writing and showrunning experiences.

BBC Blue Room were also in attendance, demonstrating new technology and associated content.

In her blog for About the BBC, Hannah Khalil recalls some gems from the session – well worth a read!

Writer Emma Reeves chats with Sarah Muller (Head of Children’s for Channel 5) about Children’s Drama.

Rachelle Constant (BBC Writersroom) interviews Beth Pattinson (BBC Films) about writing feature films.

Producer Ceri Meyrick hosted the Daytime Panel…

…with guest writers Colette Kane, Sally Abbott, Jude Tindall and Rachel Flowerday

The festival ended with a captivating ‘in conversation’ session, chaired by CEO of Buccaneer Media, Tony Wood.

Industry legend, Hans Rosenfeldt, who is best known in the UK as the creator of the Scandi noir The Bridge was brilliant and entertaining, sharing many secrets about the development and evolution of the show.

Hans discussed the Swedish model of script development and offered some lovely insights into creation and collaboration.

Thanks to everyone involved in the event – organisers, panellists, volunteers, audience members and those who joined in via Twitter. And don’t forget to check out Hannah’s report on the 2017 TV Drama Writers’ Festival in her 'About the BBC' blog!

Read about our recent writers' festivals in Scotland and Wales

More about our TV Drama Writers' Festivals

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WriterSlam helps broadcasters and production companies access new and established writers from ALL backgrounds, with a core focus of providing tangible outcomes for participants. We believe there is a wide pool of dedicated, professional and highly engaged talent – they’re just waiting to be heard.

The TriForce Creative Network now has over 16,000 members and through various programs and initiatives, we hone talent, launch careers and provide support to creatives. Our initiatives focus on creating alternative routes for talent to access opportunities in the industry, helping to find new voices and fresh talent; such as Sophie Petzal who was discovered through our writing initiative with the BBC, ‘All Mixed Up’.

Following the same core ethos of providing access for all that has driven MonologueSlam UK, we’re engaging directly with broadcasters and production companies to provide opportunities (jobs!) that have a direct impact on those taking part.

WriterSlam was launched through our network and with our partners, asking writers to submit ideas for a returning drama series, with a synopsis and just 10-15 pages of a script. We believe not everyone has the luxury of time to sit down and write a full script, and the limited number of pages required ensures we get the widest spread of people and provide as much access as possible. This led to us receiving over 1000 entries from Polish plumbers to African parking attendants and everybody in between and we believe it is these voices that can bring fundamental change to our industry and how it engages with the new wave of creatives.

We held workshops with the finalists (led by the wonderful Michael Jacob) which culminated in an exciting event held at Theatre Royal Stratford East, where the pieces were performed by professional actors so that they could be heard by the judges and industry audience.

The 1st WriterSlam took place in June 2015 with the winner (Lee Coan) receiving a commission from ITV, and two other writers also wining prizes. Tom McKay received a place on the introduction workshop for BBC Continuing Drama, and Michael Wiafe a shadowing opportunity with Tiger Aspect on a new drama. Alongside this, the longlisters will also be receiving feedback directly from executives at the BBC and ITV, ensuring that doors are open to as many people as possible.

WriterSlam will be expanding with the next one in November 2015 (this time the focus will be on comedy) and we are currently talking to broadcasters about more WriterSlams, more outcomes, as well as an ongoing tutoring process so that people at all levels are receiving the support that they need.

You can see more of what we do at TheTCN.com and if you feel you have a voice that needs to be heard – get in touch!

Fraser Ayres
Co-Founder and MD of The TriForce Creative Network

What an extraordinary month it’s been for writersroom, one which I believe sums up what we do and how we work.

First our fantastic new website, which is a real tribute to Fiona and the team who worked tirelessly to make it happen, followed by the announcement of The Scriptroom.  The launch of the first ever Wales Drama Award, a partnership between us, National Theatre Wales and BBC Drama Wales with Russell T Davies and Abi Morgan judging, what more can you ask for the first prize of 10k.  We have an office piled high with lovely brown envelopes we hope of gorgeous comedy gems for Laughtrack. The readers join us next week charged with finding a shortlist for the judges Dawn French, Cheryl Taylor Controller Comedy Commissioning, John Finnemore and Danny Kaluyya. And just yesterday we went live with a brand new Rapid Respose with Studio Strike called Bread and Roses with Paul Laverty judging.

But what else have I been doing?  Well in the past 10 days I have been in Cardiff, Bristol, Newcastle and Manchester, showcasing, platforming new talent, opening events running masterclasses and generally meeting lots of amazing people with a passion for scriptwriting. Some people say well what do you do?
Well here’s what we do we join the creative dots and make the sparks fly. We open the door to talented writer's and then they do the rest with our support.

The writersroom 10 nominated from theatres across the country showcased 10 new plays at Live Theatre, 4 of them will be produced on R3’s The Verb, Wednesday Night we showcased new work from talented students from Salford University, two weeks ago we took away 10 writers to dream up new returning characters for R4, Pilgrim and On Mardle Fen are still going from the last time we did this. Next week we take away 9 writer's to think up new precinct series for CBBC so watch this space.

But to finish let’s celebrate two amazing stories which encapsulate what we do.
Debbie Moon’s 6 part series Wolfblood is being filmed for CBBC as we speak. She was one of the winners from our CBBC competition two years ago and In the Flesh has just been greenlit, for BBC3 written by Dominic Mitchell, his first drama for TV which was the result of the writersroom /BBC TV Drama North Brainstorming and Development Day..

And watch out as next week we lift the lid on this year’s TV Drama Writer’s Festival chaired by the incredible multiaward winning Peter Bowker.

On top of everything I will be on the judging panel for all the opportunities mentioned including Wales Drama Award, Laugh Track and Bread and Roses. 

No wonder my small person gets cross with me I am never home!