The Writers Lab UK & Europe 2025

For the first time ever, the UK & Europe Lab Intensive was held in person in London, at the offices of partners Lee & Thompson. During the 2-day lab intensive in September, 10 writers from Austria, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales engaged in rigorous script development through one-on-one meetings, small group discussions, workshops and more to develop their scripts and their craft, and to build tools and strategies to achieve industry success.

In the subsequent Development and Market Strategy Phases, we continue to guide writers through the revision process and offer market support with a team of partners, acclaimed screen industry leaders, and our development team.

The Participants

Natalie Arle-ToyneApphia CampbellJennifer DavidsonManon EamesDawn Frances ElrickCaroline FarrellAfsaneh GraySavina KanagasabayJulie Tosh-ColesKlara von Veegh

Ban Sith (One-Hour Grounded Folklore Thriller)Natalie Arle-Toyne

When orphan and reticent mother-to-be NOVAH (38) dies during childbirth and wakes as a Banshee, she resists her new life, railing against the news of her child’s death; but through her Banshee clan, Novah ultimately finds and fights for the family she has always craved, all in the face of an impending war – a war that only she can stop.

Playing With Fire (Half-Hour Drama)Apphia Campbell

An African American woman who works in a department store and lives in Edinburgh with her mother deals with her pyromaniac impulses when a woman she despises gets a promotion at work in her place.

Meet Cute (Half-Hour Rom-Com)Jennifer Davidson

Edith’s a romance novelist with a secret. She’s never had sex. When her novel is slated as passionless, she decides it’s time to prove everyone wrong.

Rhiannon (Feature Historical Drama)Manon Eames

1960’s rural Wales: an event which changes the course of Welsh politics forever seen through the eyes of one woman, and the devastating choices she must make.

Malt of the Month (Half-Hour Rom-Com)Dawn Frances Elrick

It takes two to ceilidh. An unlikely pair make a deep connection against the stunning backdrop of the Scottish Highlands.

Iona’s House (Feature Horror)Caroline Farrell

KATE has a terrible secret; her baby’s death was her fault, and attempting to hide from the world, she rents ‘Iona’s House’ from elderly shopkeeper MR JORDAN, a man with secrets of his own, their worlds colliding to transform Kate’s future with a chilling sense of purpose.

Saltwell (One-Hour Dramedy)Afsaneh Gray

To get her parents to sell their seaside rental and give her a deposit for a home of her own, a 30-year-old boomerang kid must figure out why house prices are going up in a town condemned by climate change. And why dead bodies keep washing up on their beach…

Sold Down the River (One-Hour Thriller)Savina Kanagasabay

Arna’s quiet life in Wales is shattered when a dead body is discovered in London revealing long buried family secrets connecting her to one of the most infamous dictators the world had ever seen.

The Tweak (Feature Sci-Fi)Julie Tosh-Coles

A tinkering old widow transforms her caretaker robot into her dead husband, but her granddaughter and researchers go into a tizzy when the widow and the robot fall in love, proving that robots have a heart.

Ballast (Feature Coming-of-Age Drama)Klara von Veegh

At ten, Leo exists in the in-between—not quite child, not yet woman; suspended between innocence and awakening as the world around her shifts with unstoppable force, she carves her own path and begins to build bridges between the seen and the unseen, the living and the lost.