Preview
Application form preview
This is exactly what applicants see and fill in for both stages of the commission — nothing on this page is saved or submitted.
Stage 1 — Apply
About you
You may leave this blank.
Town or city, and country.
We are interested in your voice rather than a list of credits. What kinds of stories are you drawn to, and what shapes the way you write? Why are you the person to tell the story you're pitching?
Up to 150 words (0/150)
This is optional and helps us consider diversity, access and support. It is not a scoring criterion.
Up to 150 words (0/150)
Eligibility
The commission is open to writers who:
- are applying as the sole writer of the project
- are over 18
- are available for the published residential and development period (14–18 March 2027, and March to May 2027)
- have no personal, professional or financial relationship with an assessor, commissioner or partner organisation connected with this process
Proposals must:
- be your own original work, with full control of the rights to any material on which it is based
- be credibly producible within a 12A audience classification
- engage with at least one biblical text, theme or interpretative lens provided in the brief
Your film
Up to 50 words (0/50)
Show us the protagonist, central conflict, development and resolution.
Up to 300 words (0/300)
Your approach
You may refer to tone, point of view, structure, setting, genre, visual ideas or the use of sound.
Up to 200 words (0/200)
What demographic do you think will resonate with this film?
Up to 50 words (0/50)
We are interested in creative engagement, not theological fluency. You do not need to hold a particular faith position, reach an approved doctrinal conclusion or retell a biblical narrative literally.
Up to 250 words (0/250)
Up to 150 words (0/150)
Your writing
Share one example of your writing — a short screenplay, a stageplay, or a continuous extract from a longer screenplay. Up to 10 pages.
We use it to get a sense of your voice, your visual writing, and how you handle character and dramatic craft. It doesn't need to have been produced.
If your extract comes from a longer work, add up to 100 words of context on the first page. Upload a pdf to Google Drive or a similar service and ensure anyone can view.
Your recording
Record a short video and share it as an unlisted YouTube or Vimeo link. Keep it to 70 seconds.
Production quality isn't assessed — a phone or webcam is fine, and you don't need editing, music or titles. You're welcome to glance at notes, but please don't read your written answers aloud.
What did you begin with, what did you notice in the biblical material or commissioning lenses, and how did that encounter shape or change the idea? Don't repeat your synopsis — we're interested in your creative process.
Unlisted YouTube or Vimeo link.
Beyond the short film
These are additional to the short-film commission and do not affect your assessment.
Confirm and submit
Stage 2 — Develop
The screenwriting exercise
Write a short screenplay scene in response to the prompt below, and share it as a link (3–5 pages). Every applicant at this stage receives the same prompt.
It must be completed individually and submitted by the stated deadline. We're assessing dramatic and visual storytelling.
This section holds the confidential screenwriting exercise prompt, given to shortlisted applicants once Stage 2 opens.
Your developed project
A developed treatment or expanded outline, 3–5 pages. It should show the protagonist and point of view, significant characters, dramatic progression, key turning points, ending, tone and cinematic approach — and how your engagement with the biblical material is embodied in the film. This is not a screenplay and doesn't need production detail or a budget.
Identify the choices that have materially strengthened, focused or complicated the proposal.
Up to 200 words (0/200)
In character, tension, image, structure or ending. We are assessing how the material generates creative choices, not personal belief or theological fluency.
Up to 250 words (0/250)
Audience
You identified a demographic for this film at Stage 1.
Up to 200 words (0/200)
Your recorded reflection
Record a reflection and share it as an unlisted YouTube or Vimeo link, up to 2 minutes. Production quality isn’t assessed — a phone or webcam is fine.
If commissioned, what would you most be excited to explore further, and what will you test or strengthen through development? Please don't repeat your written development note.
Unlisted YouTube or Vimeo link.
Previous work
All optional. This is context, not a gatekeeping requirement — you aren't expected to have produced work.
A screenplay, film, short or other piece of work that helps us understand your writing or storytelling.
Only if you've supplied an example above.
Up to 150 words (0/150)
Credits are welcome as context, not as a prerequisite.
Up to 150 words (0/150)
Due diligence and access
Optional. Use this if any of the confirmations above need explaining.
Up to 150 words (0/150)
For the residential, the selection process or the commissioned development period. This will be used to consider reasonable support and will not be scored.
Up to 250 words (0/250)