Dominic Flint, Lawrence Pumfrey and Claire Tailyour revealed as winners of BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Competition
London, 11 June: The British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA) and Rocliffe have announced the three winners of the nationwide BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Competition for Film, a platform for aspiring screenwriters to have their work showcased and to take their writing career to the next level.
The BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Competition winners for Film are:
- Dominic Flint for The Burning Hill
Genre: Dark thriller
Synopsis: Robbed and shot on Copacabana Beach, a young British soldier sets out to save the kid who nearly killed him from a grim fate.
- Lawrence Pumfrey for Peakland
Genre: Western
Synopsis: An 18th Century British-Western that follows a one-time mining family – now bandits – as they seek revenge by kidnapping the daughter of their wrongdoer.
- Claire Tailyour for Mother Wild
Genre: Thriller
Synopsis: A pregnant woman on the run from a pandemic is forced to raise her half-beast daughter in the wilderness.
The winners will be supported through mentoring and networking opportunities, as well as receiving access to BAFTA’s year-round learning events programme.
The Jury selecting this year’s winning writers included actor Colm Meaney, actor-writer-directors Romola Garai and Clint Dyer, director Annemarie Jacir and Louisa Dent from Curzon, Emma Berkofsky from Lionsgate and Todd Brown from XYZ from a shortlist drawn up by a panel of creatives including execs from Mubi, Film4, and Netflix. See link for full list
The BAFTA Rocliffe-winning film scripts will also be showcased to industry guests later this year, where an extract from each script will be performed by professional actors, previous years’ casts have included Jodie Comer, Himesh Patel, MyAnna Burning, Cyril Nri, Greg Wise, Taj Atwal, Valene Kane and Sharon D Clarke. BAFTA is currently exploring options around delivering a digital showcase event. Previous industry showcase guests who have attended and offered feedback to writers at BAFTA Rocliffe showcases include Amanda Posey, Finola Dwyer, Lucinda Coxon, Richard Eyre, Damian Jones, Julian Fellowes, Matt Greenhalgh and Moira Buffini.
The BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Competition is BAFTA’s flagship writing programme in partnership with Rocliffe. This is the 20th consecutive year that the competition is taking place with BAFTA’s support since 2007. Past winners include Amanda Duke, Zu Quirke, Dan Brierley, Ryan Brown, Javid Rezai, Claire Wilson, and BAFTA nominee and Breakthrough Kayleigh Llewellyn.
Over the course of a two-year period, BAFTA Rocliffe runs four competitions across genres including film, TV comedy, young adult and children’s media, and TV drama.
Today, BAFTA announces the winners for the Film competition, with applications opening for TV comedy scripts on Monday 27 July 2020, and children’s media and TV drama both opening for applications in 2021. To find out more or submit a script for upcoming competitions visit www.bafta.org/supporting-talent/rocliffe.
Krishnendu Majumdar, BAFTA Chair, said: “We’re delighted to introduce and showcase these exciting British film writers to the industry. The program has a fantastic track record in identifying truly talented writers and creators who have gone onto enjoy great success. I look forward to seeing this cohort progress their careers and welcome them into the BAFTA community.”
Farah Abushwesha, Founder of Rocliffe, said: “It is always incredible to see how the jury respond to the scripts on the day, and the fact that these writers have been selected through a completely blind process is very exciting, allowing for a level selection process. Whilst we have three great winners chosen on the strength of their writing alone, we are also able to offer all unsuccessful applicants a detailed script report to help them to develop their writing and story skills.”
Find out more about BAFTA Rocliffe at www.bafta.org/supporting-talent/rocliffe.
For introductions to the writers please email office@rocliffe.com
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