Frightfest launches search for new horror screenwriters

Barbara Crampton, Dominic Brunt and Travis Stevens will discuss shortlisted work

by Jennie Kermode

Barbara Crampton, seen here in Road Games, will help mentor new writers
Barbara Crampton, seen here in Road Games, will help mentor new writers

The Horror Channel's Frightfest is teaming up with MPI Media, Dark Sky Films and Screen International to search for talented new horror screenwriters in a project dubbed New Blood, it was announced today. Applicants who submit scripts by 4 August will stand a chance of being invited to a special workshop event at Frightfest where they will receive mentoring from genre experts and successful figures in the industry.

"We are looking for original scripts or treatments for feature films which would appeal both critically and commercially to a global audience hungry for bold, diverse new voices in the realm of daring, thrilling, fiercely entertaining genre cinema," said MPI Media Head of Acquisition and Development Giles Edwards. "We want to unearth the UK's Julie Ducournau or Ti West, Jennifer Kent or Simon Barrett, Jordan Peele, Ana Lily Amirpour or David Robert Mitchell."

Edwards will attend the workshop on 23 August, the opening day of the festival, alongside Travis Stevens, Barbara Crampton, Dominic Brunt and others. They will discuss the submitted scripts and ideas with a view to getting them into development. Interested writers can apply on the Frightfest website.

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