We are delighted to announce the four writers shortlisted for the Mammoth Screen NI Writers Award 2021. Selected from over 135 submissions, each writer will now receive a paid treatment commission to develop an original series idea with Mammoth Screen, and one writer will subsequently be selected for a pilot script commission.
This scheme is run by in partnership with 成人论坛 Writersroom and 成人论坛 Drama Commissioning to search for the most exciting writers with a strong connection to Northern Ireland to develop bold, original drama and comedy-drama television series for 成人论坛 network broadcast.
If you would like further information about any of the writers, please feel free to contact writersroom@bbc.co.uk or their agent.
The four selected writers are:
- Aislinn Clarke
- Des Kennedy
- Bronagh Fegan
- Phil Mulryne
Find out more about each of them below.
Aislinn Clarke
Aislinn Clarke is an award-winning writer and director from both sides of the Irish border. An Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Gold Fellowship winner, her debut feature was released internationally in 2018 following a run of nominations and wins at major international genre and film festivals. Aislinn currently has multiple feature film and TV projects in development with studios and independent producers in the U.K. and Los Angeles, including Disney and Hulu. She lectures at Queen's University, Belfast and lives in Whitehead, Northern Ireland.
Des Kennedy
Des Kennedy has a background in theatre directing. He is the International Associate Director on ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ (West End, Broadway, Melbourne, San Francisco and Hamburg). Other credits include directing the world premiere of Good Vibrations at the Lyric Theatre Belfast.
Last year he directed his first short film The Girl at the Window by Lisa McGee as part of 成人论坛NI/Lyric Theatre Belfast’s Splendid Isolation programme.
He wrote his first TV pilot during lockdown in January and now has an original series in development with Playground Entertainment, and is working as a story consultant on House of Kells a new drama by Lisa McGee and Tobias Beer for Kudos Film and TV.
Bronagh Fegan
Bronagh Fegan is a short fiction writer from Warrenpoint, currently based in London. Her work has featured in collections by Bloomsbury, and in literary magazines such as BRAND, Oh Comely and La Bouche. As a frequent performer and co-host with wordPLAY London, she has been involved with a number of charity spoken word events, including Pacifica/Poetry Parnassus at the Southbank Centre as part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. She has written and produced short films including Cereal (2011) and Alope (2022), and her sitcom pilot Catching Up was produced by Hat Trick Productions for Audible in 2015.
Phil Mulryne
Phil Mulryne is a writer who was born and grew up in Belfast. He first trained as an actor before moving to work within TV drama development and as a script editor.
His writing credits include Holby City (成人论坛 One), and his spec script Switches won the BAFTA Rocliffe TV Drama competition and was a finalist in the C21 Drama Series script competition and the Final Draft Big Break screenwriting contest. He was a founder member of the acclaimed comedy theatre group The Fitzrovia Radio Hour. He has written audio dramas for Big Finish Productions including on Doctor Who and ongoing horror series The Omega Factor, for which he was shortlisted for the 成人论坛 Audio Drama Awards.
Phil’s work as a script editor includes Flesh and Blood (Silverprint/ITV), Black Earth Rising (Drama Republic/成人论坛/Netflix), Doctor Foster (Drama Republic/成人论坛) and King Charles III (Drama Republic/成人论坛).