Wipst

Premier Screenwriting Competition 2009
‘From page to screen’
Writers International Premier Screen Talent

TWO JUDGES ANNOUNCED FOR Wipst COMPETITION

Writers International premier screenwriting competition, Wipst, have announced two more eminent members to the judging panel. Wipst has welcomed Simon Harris, a talented writer and director, along with Allan Cook, who spent over 30 years as a senior producer for the BBC.

Vibe TV’s director, Sue Powell-Reed said, “I’m delighted to have both Simon and Allan on board.  They bring extensive experience to the competition, they’ve been there and done it so to speak, and certainly know what to look for.  This competition is a wonderful opportunity for raw writing talent, and the winner will benefit enormously from the opportunity of meeting and talking to these professionals already working in the industry.”

Simon’s current projects include a thirty minute television film called The Good Soldier commissioned for the ITV network, writing a new stage play and directing a variety of new theatre productions for 2009.  He has more famously and recently written episodes for the BBC’s production of Crash, a hospital drama set in  Cardiff .  It’s been proven a raging success amongst many. As a graduate of University College of London, Simon then trained as a professional actor at RADA.  His CV is overwhelmed with prestigious theatrical roles, having been the Artistic Director of the national company for new writing in  Wales and founding the multi-award-winning Sgript Cymru. Simon offered his talent to the prestigious Clore Leadership Programme, considered as quite an achievement as only a small number of directors have done so.  After University, Allan Cook trained with the Arts Council of Great Britain at the Citizens’ Theatre in  Glasgow under Michael Blakemore. A tour of Rep theatres and a stint in the west end led him to become Administrator to the Billingham Forum Theatre. From there he became Company and Touring Manager to the Lincoln Theatre Royal and then the Welsh National Theatre Company. When the WNTC gave up touring to go into the Casson studio he moved into television “for a year or two”. The year or two became thirty years and he was a senior producer at the BBC in both Childrens and Drama Departments. Since leaving the BBC he has worked on Crossroads, for Peak Viewing Tranatlantic. He has also kept his hand in theatre productions and recently directed “Dandelion” for On the Edge, as well as a national tour of Michael Frayn’s ” Copenhagen .”  Wipst has been created to seek out undiscovered raw talent in the film and television industry, giving hope to young professionals in the field. With just under four weeks to go until the closing date, it’s important that you send your entries in now. It is so difficult to break into the business, to get seen or heard, but with a short movie/television programme to show, you can enter film festivals or send it to directors and producers and all the people that make things happen.

The closing date is November 30th 2009, and the overall winner will be announced on January 18, 2010.  A pilot (10 minutes) will be commissioned to promote the screenplay which will be filmed in March/April 2010 at an appropriate location for the film/television screenplay.   Contact editor@vibetv.tv for more information, or visit our website at www.vibetv.tv/competition.aspx and click on the Wipst competition icon.