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Comment by Catherine Edwards on May 27, 2010 at 1:42

tenacity 5.pdfHello,
If there are any West Midlands-based writers here, I thought I'd give you the heads up on a series of writer development activities we've programmed over the summer. These include workshops, writer labs, networking and devising theatre, held at venues across the West Mids. Full details can be found on our website:
http://www.scriptonline.net/stage.html

Comment by Sian Owen on May 11, 2010 at 23:58

Thanks so much for your post Alan. Congratulations on getting on and thanks so much for sparing us the time to let us know how it was.
It is really interesting to hear what it was like and great to hear it was so useful.
Sian

Comment by Alan Harris on May 11, 2010 at 21:36

Hi Rick (and other fellow writers), I attended the BBC writers’ week – here’s a brief run-down of what we did. The week was in fact three nights at a very nice hotel/B&B in the Gower. The nine of us were met at Swansea station on the Monday morning and we left again on the Thursday afternoon.
The days were structured so that we would have a masterclass, then some writing/thinking time, another masterclass after lunch, some more writing time and then a discussion or talk after dinner.
We met, took advice from and questioned people from the writersroom, BBC Radio Wales, BBC TV Drama, a development editor from Holby City, John McGrath and finally a session with Kate Rowland, the BBC’s Creative Director of New Writing in which we had to present to her our action plan for future development.
In between we had a talk from the writer Esther Wilson, watched some BBC drama, chatted a lot and ate far too much.
There was no specific pitching session – though we did present our initial ideas that we sent in with our application to Paul Ashton, of the writersroom, and John McGrath and discussed these ideas as a group.
It was a very varied group of writers, including playwrights, telly writers and a novelist.
For me it was a chance to explore a little deeper the possibilities of writing for TV (and to meet other writers who know lots more than me about other disciplines). It was great to hear Esther Wilson speak so openly and passionately about her experiences working firstly in theatre and then going on to write for The Street with Jimmy McGovern.
Hope that helps Rick (or anyone else who was curious about what the week entailed). If they hold another one I’d urge you to go for it. It was an encouraging and positive experience. Very best, Alan

Comment by National Theatre Wales on May 11, 2010 at 2:49

Hi Ieuan and Catherine. The writing week went ahead in April. Nine writers were chosen from a very substantial group of applications - so a lot of really good writers couldn't be included. The important thing about the week was that it was an opportunity for the writers to get to learn more about the different dramatic forms they could be working in - radio, TV drama, TV series (like Holby), and of course theatre. There were masterclasses in each form, and a chance for writers to discuss their ideas, but not really a direct pitch. I'm hoping that NTW and the BBC will be able to work together in this way in the future again - and reach more writers with what was certainly a very rich opportunity.

Comment by Ieuan Watkins on May 11, 2010 at 2:15

Good question - and one I'd like to hear the answer to. I did try to ask at the time of submission whether they were looking for ideas for a series or a one-off, as this wasn't clear from the brief, but didn't get a reply.

Comment by Jan Watts on April 14, 2010 at 21:56

Pleased to hear that the BBC Writers'Room masterclass was good. The one in Birmingham last year was very disappointing. No information was given that wasn't available on the website.

What does masterclass mean? One at the NT London last year was very mickey mouse - and to be fair many of the people there were thinking about writing a play rather than playwrights.

Comment by Othniel Smith on March 18, 2010 at 6:10

For those who might be interested, the latest commissioning guidelines for BBC radio drama should be downloadable from this link:
BBC_Radio_Drama_Commissioning Guidelines 2011-12.doc

Comment by Othniel Smith on March 3, 2010 at 0:07

The Writers' Guild of Great Britain is pleased to announce a meeting with Kate McCall, Senior Producer, Radio Drama BBC Wales.

Kate will be talking about her work at the BBC, her relationship with writers and the current radio drama market. There will be an opportunity to ask questions.

The meeting will take place on Wednesday 17th of March at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, at 7.30pm prompt. (The venue is Platform One on the ground floor of Market House opposite Chapter's main entrance.)

Comment by Robert Harper on February 1, 2010 at 3:12

Nice article about the issue of 'Can creative writing ever be taught?' http://bit.ly/bcCsqT

Comment by Rhiannon Cousins on January 27, 2010 at 4:46

Thank you Derek. Much appreciated.

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