In 2021 YFF took its Residency to the next level. It offered seven new screenwriters the opportunity to write a TV drama, comedy or feature film script commissioned by one of seven broadcasters over a year long programme from June 2021 to July 2022.
They were mentored throughout the programme by a leading industry professional who supported them through the script commissioning process. Between June 2021 and May 2022 they worked with this commissioner as well as participating in online monthly masterclasses and writing sessions with inspiring experts for a period of eleven months.
The programme culminated in a week-long residency in Skye in June 2022. Here, armed with a first draft script, participants met their commissioner and mentor in person as well as other experienced Film and TV writers, directors and producers. Over a week, their scripts were discussed, interrogated and transformed.
Dynamic group sessions, with actors and an experienced director, were run in the studio to help the writers understand how their projects fit into the wider production process with practical acting, directing and editing workshops.
The evenings consist of networking opportunities, film screenings and project work. We offered mentors and participants the exceptional hospitality Skye has to offer, not least as guests of the Torabhaig Distillery.
With our third edition of the residency, it is the first year that major broadcasters in the UK contributed a script commission fee to each of our participants, allowing the writer to experience a 360° commissioning journey.