Scratch Me is a new filmmaking lab for people who don’t make films. Yet.

It’s a talent development programme for writers and writer-performers from a range of disciplines who want to experiment with the moving image. You might be a comedian, spoken word artist, scratch performer, theatre maker, social media storyteller or DIY filmmaker. Whatever your existing practice, the most important thing is your creativity. Scratch Me will help you realise your ideas on screen.

Scratch Me is all about characters. Exciting, original, can’t-look-away characters. Over the course of a two-month programme of workshops, mentoring sessions and writing challenges, lab participants will develop a fully-formed character who has the potential to lead to a short film, TV series or feature film. At the end of the programme, our writers will collaborate with a team of emerging filmmakers to create a short scratch monologue film which will be presented to industry executives at a special showcase event. You’ll leave Scratch Me with a powerful new addition to your creative portfolio and the confidence to develop your film and TV skills further.

Scratch Me runs from October 2020 - January 2021. Applications are open now and close at 6pm on Tuesday, 29 September. More information on how to apply is below. We’re also hosting a series of information sessions from 9 - 11 September for creatives who want to find out more about Scratch Me and if it’s right for them. You can sign up now.

Alongside the filmmaking lab, Scratch Me will deliver a public programme of online events featuring top industry talent discussing the process of character development and the craft of film and TV. Our first public event is a celebration of the unconventional talents and idiosyncratic storytellers behind top British web series, curated and hosted by Pilot Light TV Festival. Join us on Tuesday, 8 September.

Scratch Me is open to all writers and writer-performers. We actively encourage applications from writers in other creative disciplines who want to transition their work to film and TV. You don't need any formal filmmaking experience to take part. All necessary training will be provided during the lab.

If you already work in film and TV as a director, there's still an opportunity to get involved with Scratch Me by directing one of the monologue films. Applications for directors are open now.

To be eligible for Scratch Me as a writer/writer-performer, you must:

Scratch Me is an inclusive programme. Participation is free and we'll make adjustments to ensure participants get the most out of the lab.

To apply to Scratch Me, complete the online form linked below. The application form gives you a chance to tell us about yourself, your creative background and the character you'd like to develop through the lab. 

You'll also be asked to share some of your previous work in support of your application. This could be a writing sample, a recorded performance or whatever best sums up your creativity. If you're providing a recording of a performance, don't worry about production value - something shot on your phone or computer is fine.

If you'd like to prepare offline before completing the online form, we've put together a downloadable list of the questions asked for reference.

Scratch Me is a Film Hub North and BFI NETWORK project delivered in partnership with Screen Yorkshire and SIGN (Screen Industries Growth Network). Scratch Me is designed to feed into the wider Flex talent development programme to be launched by Screen Yorkshire in early 2021. Both programmes will contribute to SIGN’s overall aim to enable and empower sustainable growth in the TV, film and games industries of Yorkshire and the Humber.