Winners get international festival exposure

Comedian Tommy Rowson and Uncle producer Izzy Mant are among the winners of a Bafta competition to find Britain's most promising new comedy writers.

Mant and her writing partner Neil Warhurst, who also penned the 2009 film Beyond The Pole, will be flying to America to have their work performed at the New York Television Festival in October.

They will be joined by John Sheerman and duo Nicole Paglia and Daniel Brierley after they were all selected for the Bafta Rocliffe New Comedy Showcase.

Meanwhile Rowson, pictured and his writing partner Nick Beasley will have an extract of their work performed in front of a similar line-up of British TV executives at the Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival next August. A script by Karen Reed has also been selected for this showcase.

The winners were selected by a jury of comedy professionals from the UK and US including writer David Quantick, Horrible Histories producer Caroline Norris and writer and actor Tom Basden

Andrew Newman, chairman of Bafta’s television committee and chief executive of Objective Productions, said the festival appearances will offer 'invaluable exposure and a fantastic learning opportunity for the writers'.

Lisa Campbell, director of Edinburgh TV festival, added: 'Not only will these new writers have their work performed at the Edinburgh TV Festival, they will also be able to learn from some of the greats in our masterclasses, from Jed Mercurio and Jeff Pope to Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney, as well as US showrunner Ronald D Moore. We hope this once-in-a-lifetime experience bolsters their chances of success.'

Published: 16 Oct 2014