It's My Shout
Programme · 2026Prestige 54/100
A produced, broadcast credit on BBC Cymru Wales and S4C. What the writer is paid is not published.
Deadlines & fees
Closed for this cycle
The 2026 round closed at 10pm on Sunday 8 February 2026 and applications are now shut. Do not try to plan around a pattern here: the deadline has moved across January, February, April, May and September in six documented cycles, and the gap between the 2025 close in September 2024 and the 2026 close in February 2026 was roughly seventeen months. The only durable features are a 10pm cut-off and a Sunday close in the most recent rounds. The page limit has also drifted, from 8 to 15 pages in the 2024 and 2025 calls to a maximum of 12 in 2026.
Dates and fees checked against the official site 9 Aug 2026.
Key facts
- Formats
- Short
- Page limit
- 12 pages
- Open to
- United Kingdom
- Required materials
- A script as a PDF, set in Wales, with at least four speaking roles and background actors, to a maximum of 12 pages · Submitted through separate English or Welsh language forms
The published criteria are all about the script rather than the writer: it must be set in Wales, feature at least four speaking roles, include background actors, and run to a maximum of 12 pages. It's My Shout is also keen to see short films with large casts of young people aged 18 and over. No genre restriction, and both English and Welsh language routes exist. IMPORTANT CAUTION ON ELIGIBILITY: the current call states no residency or nationality requirement at all, but the same page carried an explicit gate until at least January 2025, reading that applications were open to any writer who is either Welsh or currently residing in Wales. That line was removed without comment on a site that demonstrably leaves pages stale for years, so do not treat its absence as a confirmed opening to writers outside Wales. Historic calls capped submissions at three scripts per writer; the 2026 call publishes no cap.
Prizes
No cash prize of any kind. The consideration is production and broadcast: your script made as a professional, broadcast-standard short film and shown on BBC Cymru Wales and S4C, plus development with an experienced script editor. TWO SIGNIFICANT GAPS, both unpublished. First, whether the writer is paid a script fee at all is not stated anywhere on the site, in the information guides or in the calls. Second, and more important, no rights terms are published anywhere: no option, licence, credit or exclusivity language appears on any page. A scheme that produces and broadcasts your work on two national broadcasters will necessarily require some grant of rights in practice, and none of it is public. We would ask before submitting.
Judging
Assessed by what the scheme describes only as its panel of industry professionals; no individuals are named. Selected writers are paired with an experienced script editor. No feedback is offered or mentioned for unsuccessful applicants. Be aware that the Script Writer Information Guide linked from the submissions page is badly out of date: it asks for ideas rather than scripts, refers to ten-minute films, and closes with a January 2020 deadline, so a writer following it would submit the wrong thing entirely.
The PreList verdict
A genuinely rare offer: your short film script produced to broadcast standard and shown on BBC Cymru Wales and S4C, with an experienced script editor working on it with you first. Eight films a year, six in English and two in Welsh. For a writer chasing a first professional credit, a broadcast transmission on two national channels is worth more than most cash prizes in this directory, and there appears to be no entry fee.
The honest part is how much is simply not published, and it is more than we are comfortable with. Whether the writer is paid anything for a produced, broadcast script is stated nowhere. And no rights terms exist on the site at all: no option, no licence, no credit clause, nothing. A scheme that films and broadcasts your work will need rights from you, and none of what it takes is public. That is not a reason to avoid it, but it is a reason to ask before you submit rather than after you are selected.
Two practical warnings. The Script Writer Information Guide still linked from the submissions page is stale from 2020, asks for ideas rather than scripts and quotes a January 2020 deadline, so following it would have you submitting the wrong thing. And there is an eligibility question mark: the page carried a rule limiting entry to Welsh writers or Welsh residents until at least January 2025, then dropped it without comment on a site that leaves pages untouched for years. Treat that silence as unresolved rather than as an opening.
Dylian Salvatore, Founder of The PreList · Updated 9 Aug 2026
Frequently asked questions
Do I get paid?
Unknown. Whether the writer receives a script fee for a produced, broadcast film is not stated anywhere on the site, in the information guides or in the calls. There is no cash prize; the return is the production and the credit.
What rights do they take?
Nothing is published. No option, licence, credit or exclusivity language appears anywhere on the site, despite the scheme producing and broadcasting the work on BBC Cymru Wales and S4C. Some grant of rights will be required in practice, so ask before submitting.
Do I have to be Welsh or live in Wales?
Unclear. The current call states no residency requirement, but the same page said applications were open to writers who are Welsh or currently residing in Wales until at least January 2025, and that line was removed without comment. Your script must be set in Wales either way.
When does it open again?
Not published, and there is no reliable pattern. The deadline has landed in January, February, April, May and September across six documented cycles, with a seventeen-month gap between the two most recent rounds.
Is your script right for It's My Shout?
Upload your screenplay and The PreList scores how well it fits this programme: genre, format, eligibility and readiness, before you spend anything.
Similar competitions
ITV Academy Original Voices
Programme · 2026
Closed for this cycle
The 2026 round opened on 11 June 2026 and closed at 11:59pm on 2 July 2026, with no timezone published. IMPORTANT: this is not an annual scheme, despite being long-standing. Evidenced cycles ran in October 2021, August and September 2023, and June and July 2026, and ITV's own run-count confirms no cycle in 2022, 2024 or 2025. The window has moved from October to late August to mid June across those three rounds, with two and three year gaps between them. Do not diarise against it.
Three paid months inside Coronation Street or Emmerdale, learning how continuing drama actually works.
TV Pilot
Checked today
ITV Studios Disabled Writers in Development
Programme · 2026
Closed for this cycle
The 2026 round opened at 9am on 5 May 2026 and closed at 11:59pm on 26 May 2026, with placements starting late July or early August. No timezone is published. IMPORTANT: this is not an annual scheme. Only two windows are evidenced, in August and September 2022 and in May 2026, and we found no evidence of any cycle in 2023, 2024 or 2025. ITV describes the 2026 round as a return. The scheme also changed materially between cycles, from one partner label to four, from one required credit to two, and from a 500,000 pound fund to one million. The cadence is too irregular to predict, so no next window should be assumed.
Twelve months inside a major drama label, and a 21,000 pound writer fee. The highest paid scheme we carry.
TV Pilot
Checked today

The Kay Mellor Fellowship
Fellowship · 2027
Closed for this cycle
Applications for the 2027 Fellow closed at 10am on 1 August 2026. The fellowship is a year-long, part-time paid opportunity for emerging northern writers, run with Rollem Productions, the BBC and Leeds City Council, and recurs annually.
Paid year-long attachment for a Yorkshire and the Humber writer to develop a stage play and a TV pitch.
ActionAdventure+18
Checked today

BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Competition
Contest · 2026
Opens soon
The 2026 TV Comedy call has not opened yet and key dates are to be announced. Early Bird pricing (£58) applies to entries before 9 August, £65 after, with a limited number of free bursary places (applications close 17 August).
BAFTA-backed new writing call. The 2026 strand is TV comedy, with three finalists showcased at BAFTA in London.
TV PilotComedy
Checked 25 days ago

BlueCat Screenplay Competition
Contest · 2027
18 Aug 20269 days left
Long-running screenplay comp. $3,000 cash for Feature and Short winners, plus a $2,000 Fellini Award for non-US writers.
FeatureShortActionAdventure+18
Checked 26 days ago
Channel 4 Writing for Television Awards
Contest · 2026
Closed for this cycle
The 2026 round opened on 15 May and closed at 12 noon on 26 June 2026, with all applicants hearing back by 30 September. New Writing North's index says the awards open again later in 2027 without giving a month. The pattern is consistent in shape but drifting later: opening has been stable at 15 or 16 May, while the deadline has walked from 4 June in 2024 to 16 June in 2025 to 26 June in 2026, always at midday. The production partners rotate annually, so treat the company list as year-specific. A caution if you go looking: the strand cards still display live Enter here buttons and present-tense deadline text after closing, and the dedicated 2026 page carries no closure indicator at all, though the underlying submission forms are genuinely shut.
Three thousand pounds and a long-term placement inside a named production company. North of England only.
TV Pilot
Checked today
