Tuesday 21 July 2009

Jury Duty

I've been invited to be a juror for this years Sir Peter Ustinov Scriptwriting Award. Whilst by no means an obligation, it's a tradition that the previous winner serves on the jury the following year.

And although it's going to be a bit time consuming over the next few weeks, I jumped at the chance. Firstly, because I wasn't going to pass up the chance to give something back to the people who made me so welcome in New York last November. But also because I thought it would be a fascinating experience and a chance to see what writers are working on from not only England, but Wales, Australia and Denmark to name but a few.

I can't say too much about it now because the scripts have only just arrived in my inbox. (And no, I won't be marking any scripts by people I know!)

But after the winner is announced, I will probably be in a position to give some Ceri Meyrick/Paul Ashton/Writersroom style feedback on things I noticed, the qualities and common mistakes etc, which will hopefully benefit writers for the 2010 award!

In the meantime, good luck to all those who have entered for this year. I know from various emails that there were a few all nighters being pulled so I really hope all the hard work has paid off for one of you.