WildChild are excited to announce the six brand new, under-represented writers chosen for WriteWild 2022: Sebastian Rex, Liv Woodward, Gail Egbeson, Alice Lazar, Yvonne Shelling and Beth Westbrooke. Over the next twelve months these writers will be provided with bespoke mentorship, resources, script development sessions and opportunities to pitch their work to leaders within the world of TV and theatre headed up by lead mentor and WildChild founder Oliver Lansley (writer of Amazon Prime television series Flack). The scheme will begin June 2022 for one year finishing with a final showcase to pitch to industry leaders. WriteWild 2022 is supported by Hat Trick Productions and Tiger Aspect Productions.
These new writers follow in the footsteps of the successful WriteWild 2021 which saw the writers win TV commissions and paid script development work, accept on prestigious schemes (BAFTA, Oxford Playmakers, BFI Flare, CBBC mentorship), sign to top literary agents, presented their work to industry leaders at WriteWild’s showcase at Park Theatre, London, and receive their first TV writing credits.
The WildChild company was formed by established theatre-makers Christa Harris & Oliver Lansley (Les Enfants Terribles) in 2019 after identifying a severe lack of social mobility for generations of young creatives and has patrons that include esteemed talent; Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster), Lucian Msamati (Game of Thrones) and Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You). The aim of the organisation is to provide opportunities that under represented writers currently have less access to due to their backgrounds. WildChild is not a charity. It is an investment into our cultural future. Homogeny is destructive to the creative industries and we know a diverse arts culture is a powerful arts culture.
Meet the 2022 WriteWild cohort…
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Alice Lazar
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Liv Woodward
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Yvonne Shelling
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Gail Egbeson
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Sebastian Rex
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Beth Westbrooke
Alice Lazar
Alice Lazar is a writer and filmmaker from south London
who has worked in the industry for five years. In her
writing she uses dark comedy to navigate her way
through topical female led stories and has a keen interest
in exploring the social repercussions of income inequality.
Alice’s inspiration comes from the last thing she watched
that made her truly forget herself yet learnt something
new about her world, she’s determined to tell such stories
herself.
Liv Woodward
“I’ve always had a passion for writing, whether that be
through music, film or television and I’m so excited to
have been selected for this year’s WriteWild Scheme! I
mainly write comedy scripts as I feel that comedy is a
great way to really champion unheard voices on-screen
as it’s so enjoyable and easy to watch, and I’d love to be
able to bring light to people; especially given the fact that
we live in such uncertain times, I believe that comedy is a
welcome relief to everyone. Also as a queer, disabled
woman, writing complex and authentic characters is
something that is always at the heart of everything that I
create. My writing style is quite realistic and observational
as I love listening to the way people interact with
each-other and I always like to make a note of funny
things that people say to put into scripts.”
Yvonne Shelling
Writer, director, musician, and fine artist, Yvonne Shelling
is engaged with the investigation of perception and
identity within society and in art. Hailing from Walworth in
South London, Yvonne’s writing style is both reflective
and inquisitive. Always concerned with the what if’s he is
dedicated to putting Black characters into positions that
the average viewer would never expect to see them.
Always intent on subverting expectations while
maintaining emotional vulnerability, Yvonne takes a lot of
inspiration from the likes of Jordan Peele, Banana
Yoshimoto, Jesse Armstrong, debbie tucker green and
Zadie Smith. Having previously been longlisted for the
BBC Writer’s room and shortlisted for the BFI Film Fund,
Yvonne is hoping to take his career to the next level.
Gail Egbeson
Gail Egbeson is a black British writer who thrives in
comedy. Since writing her first play on 2019, the inspiration
of her work stems from finding experimental approaches to
the concept of right and wrong in our modern day lives.
Gail is also an alumnus of the Mercury playwright program.
Sebastian Rex
Sebastian Rex is a writer, director, dramaturg,
choreographer and translator. With over a dozen works
produced on stages in the UK and abroad, Sebastian has
been nominated for three OffWestEnd Awards (Offies)
and has had plays published by PlayDeadPress and
OffTheWall.
Supported by the Peggy Ramsay Foundation, Sebastian
has been described by former Times critic Jeremy
Kingston as “a playwright with important messages to
convey and with the skill and imagination to do this so
vividly that the images created stay long in the mind.”
With a distinctly unique writing style, Sebastian’s works
span across absurd and abstract socio-political comedies
exploring the darker side of humanity. Challenging form
and playing with language by subverting norms and
notions, the plays explore the rejection of naturalism, and
since the innovative play Spare in 2009, Sebastian has
been developing a gender-neutral writing style.
Apart from writing and directing, Sebastian currently runs
The Literal Challenge, a social enterprise and worldwide
community designed at encouraging writing for all levels,
which has seen over 5,000 programme participants from
almost 100 countries worldwide.
Beth Westbrooke
“I’m a neurodivergent writer and performer with chronic
pain from The Wirral. I’d describe my writing style as
rooted in the real world, but through the eyes of a mad
hatter. I love writing about the disabled and
neurodivergent experience, but also love writing non
disabled stories without shying away from the darkness or
humour in a situation, because I firmly believe life is
always funny. I have a lot of inspirations including but not
limited to; Phoebe Waller Bridge, Michaela Coel, Sophie
Willan, Bill Hader and Alec Berg, Russell T Davies, Steven
Moffat, The League of Gentlemen, Jack Thorne, and
Taylor Swift, but Doctor Who was what made me want to
be a storyteller, and my dream job is to write for Doctor
Who, and/or be the companion.”
Nicola Sindler OBE, Executive Producers, Quay Street Productions says
“Wildchild offers talented young writers who might not normally be given the chance to learn their craft and bring different and diverse voices into their industries.”
David Simpson, Head of Comedy, TIGER ASPECT says
“It is fantastic news that Wildchild are continuing their brilliant work from last year with WriteWild 2022. The support and guidance Wildchild provides is unrivalled and that, along with the camaraderie of the writers themselves, make this scheme a wonderful environment and an amazing opportunity to learn and grow for professional writers.”
WriteWild 2021 writer Florence Espeut-Nickless says
“I could never have imagined the impact WildChild would have on my career and the extent of the support i’ve received” Florence has since gone on to gain agency at Curtis Brown, is one of the writers on Homer’s Odyssey at the National Theatre and receiving 5 stars touring her play ‘DESTINY’.
Co-founder Oliver Lansley (writer of Amazon Prime television series Flack) says
“After the overwhelming success of WriteWild’s first year, we are thrilled to announce the new intake for 2022. We have no doubt this really exciting group of writers will be the next to take the world by storm.”
