RTÉ Storyland

Deadlines & fees

• Submission deadline (strict)Passed
  13 Mar 2026Europe/DublinFree

Dates and fees checked against the official site 9 Aug 2026.

Key facts

Formats

TV Pilot

Genres

Comedy

Eligibility

Free to enterNo credit required

Required materials

A cover page using RTÉ's downloadable cover sheet · A synopsis, maximum two pages · A writer's note · A producer's note · Writer and producer CVs · Emerging or uncredited writers may add up to three sample scenes

THE GATE IS THE PRODUCTION COMPANY, NOT NATIONALITY. Quoted: the submission must be made by a registered production company. RTÉ confirms a writer and producer may submit together, but the submission must still go through a production company, and each idea a writer submits must be routed the same way. There is no cap on how many ideas one writer may submit. No nationality or residency clause is published at all: Northern Ireland writers are eligible and projects may film there, and international writers or teams are admissible where the story explores contemporary Irish life. NO CREDITS ARE REQUIRED: RTÉ invites writers from television, film, theatre, standup comedy and beyond, whether they have written for television or film before or not, and RTÉ links the Screen Ireland and Screen Producers Ireland directories precisely so unattached writers can find a producer. Films must run twenty-five minutes plus or minus 30 seconds and work as standalone stories. Documentation is in English; a subtitled version must be factored into the production schedule and budget. RTÉ states a commitment to diversity and an equal gender balance across all key creative positions.

Prizes

NO FIGURE IS PUBLISHED AT ANY STAGE, and that is the single most important thing to know here. Development and production are both funded, but neither the development fee, the production budget per film, nor any writer minimum appears on any RTÉ or Screen Ireland page. RTÉ addresses the question directly and hands it off: how much the writer gets paid is for the producer and the writer to decide, at both the development and commission stages. The writer is therefore paid by the production company on privately negotiated terms, and RTÉ publishes no floor. Budget is referenced only obliquely, in a note that a writing team is possible if the budget allows. What is certain is the outcome: eight scripts into paid development, three commissioned, produced and broadcast on RTÉ and RTÉ Player. RIGHTS: none published. No option, first refusal, exclusivity, holdback or assignment terms appear in the call-out, and there is no linked terms and conditions document anywhere on the site. The only rights language runs the other way, requiring you to have cleared all rights in any pre-existing format you are adapting. Rights terms are presumably in the production company's own contract, which is not public, so this is a term to negotiate rather than one to read.

Judging

Selectors are not published and no panel is named. Whether feedback is given is not addressed anywhere. Note that anything based on a pre-existing format requires all rights cleared and a plan for the adaptation outlined at the point of submission.

Frequently asked questions