Channel 4's 4Screenwriting announces drama writers for 2024

2 July 2024

Now in its fourteenth year, Channel 4 today announces the twelve talented writers who have won coveted places on the drama screenwriting course, 4Screenwriting. From over 2000 scripts entered, Channel 4 pairs an aspiring writer with an experienced script editor and works with them on a series or serial pilot script over a five-month period. This includes motivational, creative and practical advice to kick-start their careers, with two weekends of talks and feedback from high-profile writers, producers, directors and from members of the Channel 4 commissioning team.

Previous 4Screenwriting alumni have gone forward to write on multiple Channel 4 drama shows including Hollyoaks, Ackley Bridge, On The Edge, Screw, Truelove and Queenie with several of the recent course projects in active development with Channel 4 drama. Others are now writers with their own authored shows, writers on established series going into production or in major writers’ rooms with ITV, BBC, Channel 5, Sky, Amazon, Netflix, Apple TV and Disney+.

Recent successes from the course include Cat Jones who has written and created upcoming Jenna Coleman drama The Jetty, Theresa Ikoko, who wrote Grime Kids, a drama that premiered last year inspired by a hit memoir about the birth of grime, and William Mager who has penned Reunion starring Rose Ayling-Ellis and Anne-Marie Duff, all of which were or will be produced by the BBC. Grace Ofori-Attah has written and created two series of Malpractice for ITV starring Niamh Algar and Anna Symon has written upcoming Sophie Turner fronted new drama series Joan for ITVX.

This year, the twelve writers who were selected and have completed the course alongside their serial scripts, are:

Tamara Lois Ansah (The Shepherd)
Tom Hanham (Lash)
Jack Holden (Revolting)
Hannah Kennedy (Knickerbocker Glory)
Alexcia Lee (Picturehouse)
Martha Loader (Coasting)
Warda Mohamed (Night Shift)
Danny Moran (Grace of God)
Lare Oyefusi (The Square)
Kate Reid (Zero Day)
Samuel Rossiter (Welcome Back)
Nathan Lucky Wood (Fresh Start House)

A further fifteen writers were also recognised. As part of the scheme, they were also partnered and mentored by someone working within the industry:

Indigo Hinton (mentored by Claire Russell)
Rory Platt (mentored by Nancy Napper Canter)
Neevon Khayati-Daryan (mentored by Thara Popoola)
Aled Roberts (mentored by Gina Moriarty)
Bryony Cunningham (mentored by Jack Kauffman-Harding)
Sophie Sims (mentored by Matthew Hirons)
Tory Frost (mentored by Rebecca Roughan)
Sophie Peacock (mentored by Mike Mitton-Davis)
Miranda Mackay (mentored by Celia Morgan)
Ben S. Hyland & Kate McCoid (mentored by Sam Tomlinson)
Rabiah Hussain (mentored by Adam Usden)
Carly Mills (mentored by Nadine Flynn)
Rebecca Brewer (mentored by Maya Yousif)
Katie-Elin Salt (mentored by Cicely Hadman)

Guest speakers on this year’s course have included Russell T Davies, (It’s A Sin, Doctor Who), Kate Leys (Churchill, Benjamin), Petra Fried (Truelove, Misfits), Hilary Norrish (Top Boy, Little Birds), Karen Cogan (Bad Sisters, Holding), William Mager (upcoming BBC drama Reunion), Amy Trigg (Ralph & Katie), Jessica Stewart (literary agent at Independent Talent), Gillian Clarke (Head of Development at leading independent production company Dancing Ledge) and Adam James (4Screenwriting Alumnus 2023 & script editor at Wall To Wall North) alongside Ben Wadey and Sarah Stack from the Channel 4 drama commissioning team.

This year the course script editors are Imogen Greenberg, Rachel Harvey, Philip Shelley and Joel Singer. Alongside this, the course also trains four script editors who were Lauren Blumfield, Josephine Frankel, Archie Goldsmith and Anna Krylander.

Ben Wadey, Channel 4 Drama Commissioning Executive, says: "4Screenwriting continues to be a vital launchpad for the next generation of writers and storytellers, and the talent emerging is a testament to the vibrancy of the UK's writing scene. We're incredibly proud of the diverse voices that Philip Shelley and the 4Screenwriting course has nurtured, and the quality this year is as high as it’s ever been.”

The 4Screenwriting course is open to applicants without a screenwriting credit and provides the opportunity to work with a dedicated script editor to write an original script. The course is run for Channel 4 by Philip Shelley who runs his own Script Consultancy Service. Philip works with individual writers, producers and production companies.

Entries for the 2025 4Screenwriting course will be open in September.

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PRESS CONTACT:
Harriet Wilson, Publicity Lead, Channel 4 Drama, Comedy & Acquisitions
hwilson@channel4.co.uk