Subscribe
Currently Closed. Subscribe to receive a notification when the next season opens on April 1st.
Apr 30th
Final
The Writers Lab
The Writers Lab UK & Europe
2025
Active Since 2021
A four-month script development programme for features/pilot scripts by women and nonbinary screenwriters 40+ in 5 regions of the UK & Europe.
Subscribe
Currently Closed. Subscribe to receive a notification when the next season opens on April 1st.

About

1st Week of September: Intensive Days
September - October: Script Development
November - December: Industry Support
Dates and details subject to change.

The Writers Lab is the only programme in the world devoted exclusively to script development for women and nonbinary screenwriters over 40. 

Submissions of both Feature and Pilot scripts (choose 1-hour OR ½-hour format, as fits best) in English will be considered. We will select approximately 8 promising feature and pilot writers who, collectively, reflect the diversity of the populations across Austria, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

During the Intensive days at the beginning of the Lab, writers engage in rigorous script-development work through meetings with Advisors and the TWL Team, focused work in peer groups, panel discussions, and more. In the following months of ongoing development, we guide writers through the revision process and offer development and industry support. The lab aims to build skills, confidence and community, and to prepare writers for collaborative work and market demands.

Questions? Email ​submissions@twlstories.org​ ​or go to our​ ​FAQs.

The Writers Lab UK & Europe is produced by TWL co-founders Elizabeth Kaiden and Nitza Wilon, with UK & Europe-based partner Untamed Stories, helmed by producers Julia Berg and Ruth Spencer. 

The Writers Lab Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit institution supported by Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Natalie Portman, the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation, the Lynch Hall Charitable Fund and the Lisa Cleff Kurtz & Michael Kurtz Foundation.

Benefits

Over four months, approximately 8 screenwriters from across Austria, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales will receive deep script development work and revision guidance from the experienced TWL team and some of the industry’s best writers, producers, financiers and commissioners in one-on-one and group sessions. They will build craft and career tools and strategies to achieve success. For details about the programme and mentors, please visit The Writers Lab UK & Europe.


Writers gain:

Individualized feedback, insights and guidance on their selected project and their craft;

Understanding of industry standards, practices, and expectations and strategies and resources for navigating them;

Extensive ongoing alumnae support, including a community of peers and a network of relationships that can extend well beyond the program;

Exposure and opportunities beyond the Lab;

Resources and year-round supplemental programming of The Writers Lab;

Pending finance from the participants’ country of origin, selected writers will be issued a Stipend totaling £1,000 per project to cover costs of travel or accommodation for any in-person days during the scheme, and to contribute to expenses incurred due to allocating time to the Lab.


The Lab aims to build skills, confidence and community, and to prepare writers for collaborative work and market demands.


The Writers Lab network of producing, partnering and supporting entities has included:

TWL co-founders Elizabeth Kaiden and Nitza Wilon

Untamed Stories producers Julia Berg and Ruth Spencer

TWL UK & Ireland: Dirty Films, Dancing Ledge Productions, Screen Scotland, Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Northern Ireland Screen, Birds’ Eye View and Ffilm Cymru Wales & BFI NETWORK with funding from the National Lottery 

TWL Europe: Fremantle, HBO Max Nordic, Wildside, German Films, The Netherlands Film Fund, Screen Ireland, The Austrian Film Institute, ORF, FISA - Film Industry Support Austria, Aurora Studios from Finland, Rabbit Films, Film Tampere, City of Helsinki, screen.brussels, and Odeon Fiction, with Drehbuchforum Wien, Women in Film and TV (WIFT) Finland, Women in Film and TV International (WIFTI), and Women in Film TV & Media Italy (WIFTM Italia) 

TWL Int’l: New York Women in Film & Television, Writers Guild of America, East, The Black List, Falco Ink, FilmFatales, Roadmap Writers


Writer Success

Being part of The Writers Lab UK & Ireland 2021 is one of the best experiences I've had as a writer. This is a program that delivers on everything it offers, including detailed script analysis and development, mentorship and industry introductions, all with a view to getting the script into development. There is also ongoing support from both the Lab and other participants via the peer group network. I consider myself fortunate to be selected as a participant for this program and could not recommend it highly enough.
Sylvia-Anne Parker
2021 Winner
competition insights image
Coverfly Program Insights
Coverfly vets all programs on its platform, but not every program is right for every writer. Program Insights help you decide where to submit your work.

2023 Honourable Mentions on Coverfly

Top 2%
Letters to Mrs. Sebbane
Feature  · Historical  · 129 Pages
The lives of two feisty lovers, a widow, a hopeful prisoner, and a stern boy, intertwine in four tales of love and annihilation during the Holocaust. - as told by the researcher whose quest to reconstruct the victims' lives from last letters, eventually destroys her own.
by Sarit Zadok 10 Accolades Other
Sarit Zadok
Ollioules, -select-, FR
Tri-national (American, Israeli, French). 1st gen immigrant. Singer-songwriter. Divemaster. Mountain climber. Globe trotter. 2X Nicholl. Austin. Page. Self-taught screenwriter. Mother of 2. Marseille Web Fest. Mentored by Ben Harris and Gabor Krigler at the Midpoint Institute's Writer's Room. Sundance scholarship Crafting Your TV Pilot 2021 mentored...
Show more
Request
View
Top 13%
GENESYS
TV Script  · Sci-fi  · 67 Pages
When a vindictive environmentalist stumbles upon the origin of our genetic code in an archaeological site at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, she teams up with a misunderstood genius to decipher the secret message written in our DNA and defeat the ancestral beings who want to erase humanity from planet Earth... again.
by Francesca Tatini 2 Accolades
Francesca Tatini
San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy, IT
In the last four decades Francesca has been a dancer, a scientist, and a teacher, but not all those who wander are lost and Francesca found in writing grounded Sci-Fi that sparkle of magic she was looking for. She loves discussing existential stuff with Pallina, her cat, and, despite living in a small village in Tuscany with her husband and daughter...
Show more
Request
View
Invisible
Private
TV Script  · Drama  · 66 Pages
Following life-changing injuries in the line of duty, a female detective discovers being disabled is her super-power.
by Kaite O Reilly 1 Accolade
Kaite O Reilly
No bio available.
See Other Placements

Announcements

Aug 1st
Finals

Rules

At the program's request, Coverfly will automatically remove your title page for you if you include one when submitting to this program.

ELIGIBILITY

1. Applicants must be residents of Austria, England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales (or citizens of Wales living abroad).

2. Applicants must be at least 40 years old on or before the Lab: born on or before September 1, 1985.

3. Because The Writers Lab serves women and non-binary writers over 40, applicants must identify as women or non-binary. We honor the fact that gender is personal and specific and seek to create an inclusive and supportive community.

4. Submissions must be feature-length screenplays OR pilots (choose 1-hour OR ½-hour format, as fits best) in English. NO script fragments, treatments, synopses, shorts, stage plays, book excerpts, or documentaries. (A per-page surcharge will be levied on feature scripts 130+ pages and on pilot scripts 75+ pages.)

5. Scripts by more than one writer will be considered, but all writers must meet all eligibility requirements, including age and gender.

6. Each Applicant may submit up to three (3) scripts, with a separate application for each script submitted.

7. The Lab seeks a broad selection of scripts across all genres of fiction (drama, comedy, horror, action, thriller, science fiction, animation, musical, etc.). Scripts may be about any topic and don’t need to be specifically about women, but we appreciate scripts that feature women characters, especially if they transcend cliches and/or challenge norms.

8. The Lab seeks submissions from all racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural groups.


REQUIREMENTS
The following materials are required for your application and must be submitted electronically:
1. Contact information (name, email address, contact phone number)
2. Biographical and demographic information, including birth date
3. Script information, including genre, log line, format
4. Responses to all questions in the application
5. PDF of a feature-length or pilot narrative screenplay (with the writer's name removed)
6. Acceptance of Terms & Conditions, Payment

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
1. The script must be in PDF format. PDFs must be labeled with the project title only. DO NOT include the name of the screenwriter(s) ANYWHERE on the PDF. REMOVE YOUR NAME FROM ALL PAGES OF YOUR SCRIPT, including the cover page, before uploading.
2. Complete the electronic application filling in ALL fields. You will be asked to complete questions in text boxes on the application. We recommend that you draft your answers, then cut and paste the final text once it has been completed to your satisfaction. 
3. Agree to the Terms and Conditions.
4. Pay the non-refundable application fee. (If you are unable to pay the fee, please contact submissions@twlstories.org for a fee waiver. You will need to provide proof of need - please consult our FAQ.)

TWL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1. I am submitting a script (Material) to The Writers Lab (the Lab). In connection with the Material submitted by me, this constitutes the agreement between The Writers Lab, Untamed Stories, (herein "you"), and me, the undersigned.
2. I request that the panel convened for purposes of determining entry into The Writers Lab read and evaluate said Material, and you hereby agree to do so, and you will advise me of your decision with respect to the Material.
3. I acknowledge that the only obligation undertaken by you in consideration of my submission is to accept the Material for review and consider me, based on the Material submitted, for The Writers Lab. No other obligation or duty on your part shall arise from or be implied by this submission.
4. I warrant that I identify as a woman or non-binary person born on or before September 1, 1985, and understand that proof of age may be required. 
5. I warrant that I am the sole owner and author of said Material, that I have the full and exclusive right and authority to submit same to you upon the terms and conditions stated herein, and that I acknowledge your request that I register this script with a legally recognized guild or copyright office. I will retain all rights to my Material during and after submission to You. If the submitted script is not legally registered for copyright protection, The Writers Lab, Untamed Stories, its directors, officers, employees, agents and representatives will not be held liable for any infringements that may be perceived to result from the submission of said unregistered intellectual property. 
6. I agree that any part of said Material which does not in itself constitute protectable literary property may be used by any member, officer, agent or employee of those participating in the selection process, The Writers Lab, or Untamed Stories without any liability, and nothing in this agreement or the fact of my submission of said Material to you shall be deemed to place you in any different position than anyone else to whom I have submitted said Material.
7. The Writers Lab is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible or misdirected Material, which will be disqualified. The submission fee will not be returned or adjusted. Submissions that do not comply with the submission requirements will be disqualified, and the submission fee will not be returned or adjusted.
8. I understand that the Internet is not a secure medium and information submitted online may be accessed by third parties. I indemnify The Writers Lab, Untamed Stories, their directors, officers, employees, agents and representatives, and those participating in the selection process and The Writers Lab to which I am applying for any digital breach or infringements that may be perceived to result from the submission of said Material and information. Further, I acknowledge and agree that the Lab receives numerous submissions of ideas, stories and scripts, and that my submission, and the ideas and stories embodied in the submission, may be similar or identical to other material already received and/or developed by the Lab and that I am not entitled to any compensation or credit for use by the Lab of any such other material.
9. In return for participation in the Lab, if my selected project is produced at any budget level on or before December 31, 2030, The Writers Lab will receive a credit line and logo placement in the film's end titles. Further, I understand that I am asked (not required) to make a tax-deductible contribution to The Writers Lab if the participating screenplay is produced. 
10. I specifically acknowledge that you may refuse to accept, consider or otherwise evaluate my Material in the absence of my acceptance of the provisions herein.
11. In further consideration of your evaluation of said Material, I and my successors or assigns hereby release The Writers Lab, Untamed Stories, their directors, officers, employees, agents and representatives, from any and all actions, claims and demands which I had, now have, or hereafter may have, by reason of any matter in connection with this submission and, if accepted, my participation in The Writers Lab to which I am applying.
12. I understand that if my project is accepted into The Writers Lab, the script must remain exclusive to the Lab and its partners during the 4-month development process and cannot be shared outside the lab (e.g., production companies, producers, other development programmes) until 1 January 2026.
13. I have read and understand this agreement. No oral representations of any kind have been made to me and this agreement states our entire understanding with reference to the subject matter herein. Any modification or waiver of any of the provisions of this agreement must be in writing and signed by both of us.
competition logo
Website Contact