The
window closes on 24 September 2015. UK residents only!
In
this link here see the sub-section ‘submission windows’
Do
not submit a first draft or a work in progress. Make it the best you possibly
can. This is a highly competitive market.
More details here
Episode
series. Send the first full pilot episode of a series and a brief outline of
1-3 pages of future episodes.
Serial.
Send the first episode and a brief outline of 1-3 pages of the remaining serial
narrative.
Single
drama. Send the complete script.
In
the website’s ‘Terms and Conditions’ you will find a wealth of advice, for
instance:
‘Length
‘We accept scripts that are at least 30 minutes
long, which is a fair length of time to assess a writer's work – it's extremely
hard to judge a writer's abilities with a view to BBC broadcast slots if their
work is shorter than this… The minute-to-a-page measure of classic screenplay
format is a useful rule-of-thumb, but isn't a cast iron formula as it
ultimately depends on the style of the piece. Generally speaking a half-hour
sitcom would come in between 30 and 35 pages, an hour-long drama between 50-70
pages, and a feature film between 70-120 pages. The best way to judge the
length of your script is to time yourself reading it, allowing extra space for
action. A group reading or performance is even more useful since each reader,
like an actor, may deliver their lines of dialogue at different paces...
‘Script Room reading process
‘BBC Writersroom employs professional script
readers to assess all the submitted scripts. They sift the scripts by reading
at least the first ten pages. All eligible scripts are considered in this way.
If a script doesn't sufficiently hook our attention at the sift stage, it will
not be considered further... If a script hooks our reader’s attention, it will
progress to the second sift where the first 20-30 pages of scripts are read by
another reader. If a script is long-listed it will progress to the full read and
feedback stage of the process, where a third reader reads the script and
provides feedback. The reader may then recommend that the script is shortlisted,
which means that it will be read and discussed by senior members of the BBC
Writersroom team and the writer will be considered for further development.’
Also in the ‘Terms and Conditions’ is a
comprehensive bullet point list showing what they do not accept, so make a
point of reading this too. And one of the conditions is that they only accept scripts from those resident in the UK.
The website also contains a large library of scripts to
browse, so you can see how they’re formatted and how the various writers deal
with narrative and dialogue.
Good luck!
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