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The 2026 SCRIPTWRITERS & CO INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL, which we hope will again be sponsored by FINAL DRAFT, will once again be the grand culmination of our scriptwriting competition. The festival and awards ceremony will take place at the RONDO THEATRE in Bath, UK, on Sunday 12 April 2026. Renowned for its Roman Baths and Georgian architecture, Bath is one of only a handful of entire cities to be inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and we're very proud to be based here.

Our guest speaker in April 2026 will be Justine Hart, Co-Director of The Script Factory, who offers training, development and events programmes to support emerging screenwriters. She loves nothing more than helping writers get to grips with the screenwriting craft tools that will enable them to share their own unique voice with the world. With over 20+ years' experience in the film industry, she's had the privilege of creating training and development schemes with industry partners that include the UK Film Council, Creative Skillset, BAFTA, BFI, Screen Australia, Film Distributors Association; plus, she devised the curriculum for and taught the first Post Graduate Diploma in Script Development at NFTS. Alongside running The Script Factory, Justine is the Development Consultant for The Pitch Film Fund and 'scribbles away' on her own writing projects. 

Our guest speaker in 2025 was ASHLEY PHAROAH, best-known for the BBC's 'Life on Mars', plus follow-up 'Ashes to Ashes' and ITV's 'Wild at Heart'. 

In 2024 it was esteemed horror and paranormal screenwriter STEPHEN VOLK.

In 2023, our first guest speaker was JOHN HODGE, BAFTA award-winning screenwriter of films including Trainspotting; T2 Trainspotting; A Life Less Ordinary; The Beach; and Shallow Grave. Additionally, he's a playwright whose first piece for the stage, Collaborators, won the Olivier Award for Best New Play. The second was LUCY V HAY of writing consultancy BANG2WRITE, talking about 'WRITING AND SELLING THRILLER SCREENPLAYS'. Lucy's a script advisor, consultant, editor/reader and novelist, renowned for sweary, no-nonsense writing and networking tips well as her excellent blog. Her non-fiction books include 'Writing & Selling Thriller Screenplays', Writing & Selling Drama Screenplays' and 'Writing Diverse Characters for Fiction, TV and Film'. One of her novels, 'The Other Twin', was featured in The Sun and Sunday Express as well as Heatworld and Closer magazines, and Lucy is currently adapting it for Emmy-nominated producers Free@Last TV.

And in 2022 we were thrilled to welcome Jon Hodge, famed for the adapting Trainspotting into a screenplay, as well as writing many other scripts, as well as the excellent Dominic Morgan, aka Scriptfella, who stunned our audience with his analysis of 'How to Sell to Hollywood'.

Additionally, our magnificent S&CO ACTORS, who garner acclaim for their Zoom performances at our Scratch Nights, perform  selected excerpts from finalists' work, from micros to pilots to features.

The contest is open to playwrights and screenwriters worldwide, and offers a choice of page counts and prices to suit everyone. We're committed to making this competition accessible to talented writers at any stage of their journey into or through the industry. Moreover, this isn't a 'fur coat and no knickers' event. There are trophies for winners of major categories, plus possibly career-changing opportunities if we nominate your script to be read by our partners at FILM FACTORY.

Thanks to repeat sponsorship from FINAL DRAFT, the winners of all categories will receive a licenced copy of the world's industry-leading  scriptwriting software, FD13.

'We were treated to inspirational speakers, extracts from an impressive variety of work entered for the competition, capped off by the tension of announcing runners up and winners.' Mark Ralph-Bowman, playwright

'Zanna, Alex and all the team at ‘Scriptwriters and Co' staged a fantastic day with inspiring speakers. It was also a great opportunity to network with fellow writers and see the work of the finalists performed by the S&CO team of actors. I would especially recommend this festival to emerging writers as the extensive categories for shorter scripts make it very accessible to writers who might not yet have a full TV script, stage play or feature film completed.’  Linda Jane Butler, playwright/screenwriter

'As with all Scriptwriters & Co events, the festival was entertaining, informative and inspiring. Great speakers and great networking opportunities. I'm already looking forward to next year!’ Graham Newton, screenwriter

'My confidence as a scriptwriter has grown through engaging with S&CO, who’ve always been encouraging and supportive. Bravo to all the organisers, winners, finalists, writers & performers. Looking forward to the next one!’ Nilgin Yusuf, playwright/screenwriter