Announcement of the British Council New Zealand/New Zealand Writers Foundation UK Scholarship
An exciting new scholarship created by the British Council New Zealand and the New Zealand Writers Foundation gives two
local scriptwriters or developers the opportunity to spend six to eight weeks with two of the world's most successful
film and television production companies: the UK's Working Title and Box TV.
Working Title is the UK's most successful film production company, responsible for producing Bridget Jones's Diary,
Billy Elliot, Notting Hill, Fargo, Elizabeth and Four Weddings and a Funeral. Earlier this year The Observer commented
that Working Title co-chairmen New Zealander Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner were the most powerful London-based film
producers in history. No one in the British film industry has an international hit-making track record that comes close.
Bevan believes the critical moment in the life cycle of a film is getting the script right. "Everyone thinks the big
moment is when a film starts shooting but if you get the script right, then you get the cast right, you get the right
people to produce it and shooting is just a process."
Box TV is one of the UK's most innovative and ambitious independent production companies, delivering high-impact and
original projects that have both international and mass-market appeal. In its first two years it has produced over eight
projects and is developing further projects with most of the top writers in the UK. Headed and founded by award-winning
producer, Gub Neal, formerly head of drama at both Channel 4 and Granada Television, the Box TV staff include former
commissioning editors and business affairs executives who between them have been responsible for some of the UK's most
successful and significant dramas of the past decade, including Band of Gold, Queer as Folk, Moll Flanders and
Shackleton. Neal established Box TV to create an environment in which some of Britain's top creative talents could work
and produce television programmes of the highest calibre, quality and vision for markets around the world. The British
Council New Zealand/New Zealand Writers Foundation UK Scholarship offers two exciting development opportunities for a
period of approximately six to eight weeks in early 2003. The first is a place within Working Title's script development
team, and the second is a place in the development arm of Box TV. The Scholarship was created to encourage professional
and creative development in feature film and television scriptwriting and to encourage further opportunities for the
recipient through an environment of cultural exchange.
Each recipient will be awarded a travel scholarship to the UK to the value of $7,500. The deadline for applications is
Thursday 21 November.
British Council New Zealand promotes the sharing of knowledge and information, creating opportunities for, and
contributing to, the development of people and organisations at all levels. Their work covers many activities, but
focuses particularly on education and training, the arts and science, with the overall aim of building lasting
relationships between the UK and New Zealand.
The New Zealand Writers Foundation is a joint project of the NZ Writers Guild and the NZ Film Commission that provides
and promotes professional training, development and resources for New Zealand screenwriters. It has been established to
foster excellence in storytelling through the creation of outstanding scripts.