BBCFilms

Playwright Patricia Cumper and Charlotte Josephine have won the inaugural BBC Screenplay First Award, presented by BBC Films and BBC Writersroom.

The prize was set up to reward UK writers with previous credits in theatre, TV or radio, who have yet to have a feature film produced.

A total of 445 scripts were submitted for consideration, and the entries were judged by Anne Edyvean, head of BBC Writersroom, and Beth Pattinson, development executive, BBC Films.

The top prize went to Charlotte Josephine, co-artistic director of Snuff Box Theatre, who will receive the £10,000 Award and get support from BBC Films development team to develop her original feature screenplay.

Meanwhile, Patricia Cumper, who grew up in Jamaica, with her English father and Jamaican mother, was awarded the runner up prize of £5,000, as well as a development deal with BBF Films.

Judge Edyvean said: “The standard of submissions was incredibly high, making it difficult to decide on the shortlist, let alone a single winner. In the end, we created a Runner Up award so as to offer both Charlotte and Pat a development opportunity with BBC Films!”

Pattinson added: “Charlotte is hugely talented with a brilliantly original voice and really exciting ideas – it was a joy to meet her. Patricia, who has worked extensively in the theatre and on radio, also had a really original and timely pitch and I’m thrilled we’ve found a way of working with her as well. So many of the submissions were of an incredibly high standard, it only goes to show that there’s a fantastic array of talent out there.”

Cumper has been writing for radio and the stage in the UK and the Caribbean for more than twenty years. She followed her parents to study at Cambridge University, for which she won a scholarship, to study Archaeology and Anthropology at Girton College. After graduating, Cumper returned to Jamaica, where she became a playwright, before returning to Britain in 1993 to continue her career. In 2013 she was awarded an MBE for services to the arts. A collection of her plays, “Inner Yardie,” has been published, and she has recently completed a stage adaption of Tony Morrison’s novel Beloved. Although no word on where it’s set up – if it has a producer and theatre attached at this time.

Patricia Cumper

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