EXCLUSIVE: The TV pilot scheme that unearthed Disney+ hit is launching a funded development slate to help shepherd projects without agency representation from script to screen.
From this year, the best scripts from the Thousand Films and Grey Seal Media program will make their way onto the in-house slate, with Thousand signing former Knight Hall agent Katie Langridge to spearhead the drive.
Charles Dawson’s Thousand and advisor Grey Seal’s program launched in 2019 for UK and Irish scripts from up-and-coming writers, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds. Emma Moran’s Extraordinary, which launched on Disney+ in January and has already been recommissioned, is the most high-profile to come from the program.
Thousand Films accepts scripts from all writers without agency representation, but has established a ‘benchmark’ reading process, in which new writers’ work is blindly assessed alongside a sample of professional writers’ scripts. Since launch, it has shortlisted writers who have taken almost 30 original projects into development with indies. A third of those projects have also been taken into funded development by major broadcasters and streamers, the company said. Thousand has worked with Netflix, Sky, BBC Studios and Extraordinary producer Sid Gentle.
“At Thousand Films we’ve spent several years refining a process which finds the best new writers for TV and film,” said CEO Charles Dawson. “Our next objective is to become a development home for new talent, and a place that the industry trusts to bring new voices into the market.”
Grey Seal Founder Clare Hardwick added: “When I saw the sheer number of scripts submitted, and how Thousand Films’ reading process identifies those rare scripts that hold their own beside the work of established professional writers, I saw the commercial viability immediately. This is not a scheme that finds ‘good amateurs’, but writers that need to be taken seriously as professionals.”
The application deadline for scripts closes on December 3 and all qualifying writers over the age of 16 are eligible.