BBC writers | BBC Three

Letter for authors

Long story short is a brand new short film commissioning opportunity open exclusively to writers who have recently taken part in one of the BBC Writers’ key development groups (Write Across Liverpool and Write Across Birmingham and the Black Country; Voices 23 and 24; Scripted 23 and 24; Writers’ Access Group 2 and 3; Pilot 23 and 24 and North-East Voices).

Long story short is a creative collaboration between BBC writers; BBC drama commissioning; BBC Three; BBC iPlayer; BBC Scotland; BBC Northern Ireland; BBC Wales and our film agency partners Creative Wales; northeast screen; Northern Ireland Screen; and Screen Scotland.

We’re looking for original short film and comedy-drama ideas that connect with the core of BBC Three 16 – 34 year old audience.

What do you have to submit?

A script that should be a maximum 12 minutes long and written more for a standalone short film than a pilot episode of a longer series. HoweverWe are interested in discovering ideas, worlds and characters that are rich and bold enough to potentially sustain a series or longer narrative.

We welcome ideas for live-action short films in any genre (e.g. drama, comedy-drama, horror, science fiction, romance, thriller, etc.) and encourage you to interpret the brief creatively and imaginatively.

Please bring us bold ideas and even bolder characters. Above all, we want short films that entertain, provoke and get younger audiences talking.

Young Drama on BBC Three:

The Long Story Short film series is set for release on BBC Three and so we would like you to bring us ideas that celebrate and engage the channel’s young, diverse and British audience aged 16 to 34.

The scripts you submit to us must be distinctly BBC Three-esque in theme and tone, meaning they should be presented from a young perspective, feel contemporary and timely in theme and/or form, and reflect the lives of young people from around the world Great Britain.

With this series of short films, we seek relatable, feel-good worlds and aim to inspire authentic representations from across the country. We encourage you to be inventive and concrete with the worlds and communities you explore in these dramas. The current BBC Three list already includes several projects based in schools and stories that focus specifically on rap music. Therefore, it is probably best to avoid these worlds and areas for this letter.

BBC Three is proud to promote and showcase new voices in drama. Recent successful shows include: Boarders (Daniel Lawrence Taylor); Domino Day (Lauren Sequeira); Mood (Nicôle Lecky); Red Rose (Michael and Paul Clarkson); Wreckage (Ryan J Brown); also the huge success of Normal People in 2020.

Young audience:

Young viewers watch big mainstream dramas (Happy Valley, Line of Duty, The Crown), but that’s it Young drama that really suits them (Stranger Things, Sex Education, Normal People, Derry Girls).

Young dramas tend to have younger protagonists and feature a tone and narrative approach that typically contrasts with more traditional mainstream dramas. These usually consist of the following elements (naturally Not everything listed applies to all young dramas, but this list is intended to give a general idea of ​​what’s connected broadly):

• The salacious elements of young relationships: sex, conflict and heartbreak, rather than the tamer elements of mature relationships and family

• Normal people, sex education, euphoria

• Morally Ambiguous Worlds: The experiences of the anti-heroes are brought to life, rather than those on the side of the authorities hunting them

• Top Boy, Ozark, Peaky Blinders

• A distinctive tone: possibly funny, playful or cheeky

• Killing Eve, Sex Education, Derry Girls, Wreck

• Genre: We are open to ideas that play with the genre, However If you want to explore genre-influenced work, be sure to embrace and embrace the aesthetic of low-budget films rather than mega-budget streamer-style shows
• Host, Unfriended, The Blair Witch Project, Talk to Me

The list above is by no means exhaustive, but should get you thinking about the tastes of this target group broadly. Ultimately, we look for stories and characters that capture young viewers’ imaginations and get them talking.

How to submit your script for Long Story Short:

12-minute short film scripts should be around 10-12 pages long.

Please upload your script as a PDF file using the link below.

Please make sure you read the full text Conditions of Participation before submitting your script. As part of the submission process you will be asked to confirm that you have read them.

The link is open for submissions Tuesday, October 1st – Tuesday, November 26th, 2024 at 12 p.m. We will no longer be able to accept submissions after this date and time.

As part of the submission, we also ask you to answer the following question: Why do you want to tell this story and how do you think it fits into the BBC Three Young Drama brief? (Limit 300 words). With this question, we want to find out why you’re telling this story and why you think it will resonate with the channel’s audience.

Your script will be published by your local BBC Writers Center (depending on where you currently live or, in the case of Voices and Write Across writers, which geographical Voice or Write Across center you have worked with) and ours Read and reviewed by colleagues in BBC Nations and film agency partners. Submissions will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• The originality and potential of the idea
• The creative interpretation of the briefing
• The idea’s appeal to BBC Three’s core audience of young playwrights
• The ability to produce the short film within the available budget (approximately £70,000 per short film)

We will be commissioning seven short films as part of Long Story Short and will therefore aim to develop and produce a wide range of stories and genres for this particular short film series. When writing, please keep in mind that your script can be created on a budget of £70,000 and can be filmed in your specific country or region.

Online information events:

We will be hosting a short series of online events and drop-in sessions in October 2024.

Friday, October 4th, 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.:

Online drop-in: opportunity to talk to the BBC Writers team about the briefing and ask questions.

Tuesday, October 15th 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.:

Writing the short film: The Dramatic Idea

Wednesday, October 16, 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.:

BBC Audiences session: Explore what relates specifically to the BBC Three audience.

Thursday, October 17th 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.:

Writing the Short Film: Short Form Story Structure

What happens next?:

The BBC Writers team will read all scripts submitted through this call and invite a number of writers for an interview where we will discuss the idea and explore how it could be developed further. Participating producers appointed by BBC Writers could also be involved at this stage of the process.

Following the interviews, we will commission seven short films (one from each of the following nations and regions: England: North and Midlands; England: South; London; Northern Ireland; Scotland; Wales; and North East England). Each author will work with a producer from their respective country or region.

The seven selected projects will enter a paid development phase funded by BBC Writers (with writers’ scripts contracted by the respective producer at PACT/WGGB minimum rates).

The seven completed films will be delivered by September 2025 and we hope to give the shorts a festival premiere before broadcasting on BBC Three and iPlayer later in 2025 or early 2026. The Scottish short film will also be shown on digital channel BBC Scotland during the same period.

Timeline (for guidance only, dates are subject to change):

Open submissions: Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Submission deadline: Tuesday, November 26, 2024, 12 p.m

Interview notification: Until the end of January 2025

Selected projects (x7): February 2025

Development period: February – March 2025

Production window: April – September 2025

Delivery: September 2025

Transmitted: Fall/Winter 25