New opportunities for budding Scottish writers

Hot on the heels of yet another vibrant Edinburgh TV Festival and a hugely successful inaugural Writers Factory Screenwriting course, SMG TV Productions and the Writers Factory Screenwriting Programme have announced two exciting new television internships for up-and-coming writers in Scotland.
The exclusive placements are part of a pioneering industry-led development programme providing budding new writers with access to creative and career development within SMG TV Production’s thriving Children’s Programming genre.
Both internships will be Glasgow-based in SMGTV’s Children’s Department and will run for six months. One intern will concentrate on developing drama and comedy ideas and the other will focus on adventure and thriller genres.
The Writers Factory Screenwriting Programme is an innovative partnership between Scottish Screen, Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Enterprise, designed to develop and support the skills of Scotland¹s screenwriters.
Elizabeth Partyka, Managing Director of SMG TV Productions and Ginger TV Production,s said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with the Writers Factory Screenwriting Programme on this ground-breaking initiative. SMG is a business that believes development of the wealth of talent within Scotland is vital to our indigenous screen industry and we are confident that the internship programme will be a huge success.”
Alison Butchart, Head of Training and Education at Scottish Screen and Project Director of The Writers Factory Screenwriting Programme, added: “This is an excellent opportunity for two screenwriters to develop their talent within the field of children’s television. This is a growing sector and this initiative will give the successful interns a real chance to launch their careers in this field.”
Gavin Wallace, Head of Literature at Scottish Arts Council, said: “Forging new alliances with broadcasters is at the heart of our development of the Writers' Factory initiative. This very welcome partnership with SMG TV Productions reflects exactly the type of opportunity we aimed to create for Scottish screenwriters and we look forward to watching the careers of our home-grown talent progressing to the small screen.”
(GB)