Prestigious Screenwriting Goldmine Awards Open For Application. Fees Apply. Deadline January 31st 2017

TV bosses are on the hunt for new home grown writing talent with the fifth annual Screenwriting Goldmine Awards.

Founded by writer and former BBC Script Editor Phil Gladwin, the Screenwriting Goldmine Awards is one of the UK’s most prestigious screenwriting contests with judges from Sky, the BBC, Channel 4, HBO Europe and ITV on the panel.

They are joined by development executives and producers from some of the country’s most successful independent production companies such as Tiger Aspect (Peaky Blinders, Ripper Street), World Productions (Line of Duty), Left Bank Pictures (The Crown) and Lenny Henry’s Douglas Road Productions.

‘Some of the biggest TV companies in the world are taking part. Each of the judges is guaranteed to read every single one of the short-listed scripts and those writers will get to meet them. This is the real magic of the contest. It sweeps away years of knocking on doors by directly connecting writers to the power brokers,’ says Phil Gladwin.

Final Draft, the industry leaders in scriptwriting software, are sponsoring the contest.

Jane Eden, winner of the 2013 contest, went on to land an agent, get a writing gig on CBBC’s The Dumping Ground and work on Sky Atlantic’s Fortitude.  ‘Things happened quickly. I got a brilliant agent, a place on the C4 screenwriting course and the script I wrote for the competition was optioned. I am now developing other ideas with independent production companies,’ she says.

Entry Procedure

• Before you go any further, have you checked the rules and FAQs? They give you vital information about how long your screenplay should be.

• After that, there are just a couple more things to think about: Make your layout as professional as you can. So, standard outputs from CeltX, Final Draft, or Movie Magic Screenwriter are fine. It makes your screenplay easier to read, which makes it easier for us to appreciate your ideas.

• Your script must be your own work: Any screenplays using other people’s stories or characters will be disqualified. For instance, we would disqualify adaptations of Dickens’s novels, or new Star Trek stories. However, we WILL accept retellings of ancient stories, like Beowulf or Robin Hood. Stories based on real events – like the sinking of the Titanic – are fine too.

• Filename format: Your submission MUST have a filename in the format – yourname-yourscreenplaytitle

• Script Feedback: You can order feedback on your script at any time. This is completely independent from the judging process and will not affect your position in the contest. The feedback is given by experienced script editor Danny West. Danny currently script edits for EastEnders and has performed the same role for BBC’s Casualty. Before that he assisted on Dickensian (BBC) and Hooten & The Lady (Sky One) for Red Planet Pictures. Danny’s feedback costs costs £79.99, and in four pages gives you: A logline | A short summary of your screenplay to show you how your story is coming across. | Ideas on what’s working | Ideas on what needs work. Find out more here

Entering your script:

• Step 1: The first step is to make sure you have an active and current subscription to Open Door.
  If you are not a current member go to this page to remedy that. Subs cost £7.50 and can be cancelled at any time.

• Step 2: Email us your first, free script to awards@screenwritinggoldmine.com – Make sure you mention the name of your script and your name and address in your email – and make sure you give us the name with which you signed up to Open Door! This first entry is free.

• Step 3: For additional entries and re-entries only – If you are entering another script beyond your free entry, then use this button to send your entry fee of £42. Then email your script to awards@screenwritinggoldmine.com
  Once again, make sure you mention the name of your script and your name and address in your email – and make sure you give us the name with which you signed up to Open Door!

For full submission guidelines, rules and regulations to to the Goldmine website.

The Judges:

Lindsay Salt, Head of Development, Sky Drama | Julie Gardner MBE, Co-Founder of Bad Wolf Productions | Sharon Batten, Series Producer at EastEnders, BBC | Anne Brogan, founder of Kindle Entertainment | Anna Davies, Senior Drama Development Producer at CBBC Productions |  Jyoti Fernandes, Development Producer, Douglas Road Productions | Sue Gibbs, Creative Director, Chrysalis Vision | David Hancock, Script Executive, Left Bank Pictures | Alexis Hood, Development Executive at, World Productions | Oliver Kent, Executive Producer for Holby City and Casualty, BBC Drama | Jonathan Lewsley Development Executive BBC Drama Commissioning | Kirstie Macdonald Head of Development, World Productions | Colin McKeown MBE Founder LA Productions | Steve Matthews, Executive Producer, Drama Development, HBO Europe | Adrian Banyard Development Producer at STV | Catherine Moulton Development Executive Tiger Aspect | Simon Nelson Development Producer BBC Writersroom | Lorraine Newman, Executive Producer BBC Drama | Oliver Rance Development Executive Hat Trick Productions | Aimee Rowling, Head of Development, Bentley Productions | Adam Sales, Script Editor, Emmerdale, ITV | Ben Stoll, Series Script Editor on Britannia for Vertigo Films/Neal Street/Sky 1 | Angus Towler, Script Editor, The Dumping Ground, BBC | Lisa Walters, Development Co-ordinator Channel 4 Drama | Nikki Wilson, Producer BBC Drama.

Agents:

Nick Barron, Literary Agent, The Writers’ Company | Matthew Bates, Literary Agent, Sayle Screen, London | Meg Davis, Literary Agent, Ki Agency | Lucy Fawcett, Literary Agent, Sheil Land Associates Ltd. | Edward Hughes, Literary Agent, Linda Seifert Management | Jonathan Kinnersley, Literary Agent, The Agency | Julie Press, Literary Agent, Kitson Press Agency | Tanya Tillett, Literary Agent, The Agency | Julia Tyrrell, Literary Agent, Julia Tyrrell Management

Judge for the qualifying rounds:

Phil Gladwin, Writer, Editor, Founder of Screenwriting Goldmine.

The Screenwriting Goldmine competition deadline has been extended to January 31st 2017.

Find full information here