The Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund is launching a prestigious new comedy writing competition where the winning screenplay will be made into a film funded by the CTBF and the UK Film Council with a cash prize for the writer from Working Title Films.  Deadline for entries is 12th March. 

The scripts will be judged by an 'industry panel' consisting of:-
Kenton Allen - Big Talk Productions, Sally Caplan - UK Film Council, Oscar nominated Screenwriter Dan Mazer - writer and producer of 'BORAT' and 'BRUNO', Amelia Granger- Working Title Films and Sarah Farrell- Comedy Central.

Dan Mazer one of the judges and himself an Oscar nominated screenwriter says: "The opportunities that arise from this competition are brilliant. Just being on set will teach you a million things about how a film is made and directed, how your words translate from the page to the screen - all of that is the same for a short as a feature. The process of the words that you have written on a page becoming real can teach you a huge amount and it is a real privilege as most words don't make it further than the page".

The John Brabourne Awards run by the CTBF were set up to nurture and support talent and are designed to help talented people break into the film and television world. The CTBF's Head of Marketing, Johanna Crotty says 'We are so excited about this award and the amazing support from the industry. We hope that through this scheme we will be able to find some exciting new talent and give them a significant opportunity to break through into these difficult industries'.

Norma Burke who will be Executive Producing the short says: "comedy is one of the most successful genres at the box office but it is also one of the hardest ones to get right. The UK is an amazing hotbed of comedy talent and this award is a fantastic opportunity for new writers or writers from disciplines such as stand up or theatre to show their funny bones on celluloid whilst working with a team of people who will support and nurture them".

The award is supported several major sponsors and has the financial backing of the UK Film Council and Working Title Films.

The Big 5 Commercial Sponsors include:-

Arri Media – who will donate lights and cameras to the project

Technicolor will donate the telecine and processing of the rushes and the visual post production of the film.
Pinewood will donate the sets and the audio post production

Kodak will be donating 10,000ft of 35mm film
N20 Entertainment is the production company that will oversee this project. N20 will also be responsible for appointing a known comedy Director to the film.

Writers will be able to submit their scripts till March 12th 2010. The scripts will be short-listed before being submitted to the industry panel for judging. The winning script will then be put into development and production with N20 Entertainment.

For further details on this competition and many other opportunities please see the website http://www.ctbf.co.uk/johnbrabourneawards