The Stage

Red Planet Prize gives new screenwriters a chance to be heard

Published Tuesday 1 July 2008 at 17:15 by Matthew Hemley

Hustle creator Tony Jordan has unveiled details of a second screenwriting competition run through his own production company, Red Planet Pictures.

The 2008 Red Planet Prize will see one new writer win £5,000 and a script commission, and follows on from last year’s inaugural competition, which attracted more than 2,000 entrants.

Jordan, who is also the creator of HolbyBlue and is EastEnders’ former chief scriptwriter, said the initiative emphasised Red Planet’s commitment to investing “in new writing talent from across the country”.

“As last year’s competition proved, there is a wealth of fresh, unique voices out there, but in the current climate there are few chances for them to get themselves heard. The Red Planet Prize offers an exciting opportunity for aspiring writers to get their screenwriting talent recognised and develop their ideas into potential series ,” he said.

Last year’s competition was won by lexicographer Joanna Leigh, whose entry was Sam J, a script about the life of Samuel Johnson and how he came to produce his dictionary masterpiece.

Writers wanting to enter this year’s competition are asked to submit the first ten pages of a one hour pilot script that has series potential.

Entrants should also include a page submission about how it could work as a series and the writers that impress Jordan and his panel of judges the most will be asked to submit a full one hour script.

Application forms can be downloaded from www.redplanetpictures.co.uk. Deadline for entries is September 30.