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Each year, one of the greatest privileges of working at Â鶹Éç Writers is the opportunity to read the many scripts submitted to our Open Call and this year has been no exception. In December 2025, we received 5,727 eligible submissions. That's 5,727 stories, voices, perspectives and worlds entrusted to us by writers from across the UK and Republic of Ireland. The fact that so many of you choose to share your work with us is something we never take for granted and reading the scripts shared with us via Open Call is one of the most exciting parts of our year. Across every genre and format, we're continually struck by the creativity, craft and ambition on display. Quite simply, it's a thrill to open each script and discover where it might take us.

Over the past six months the team here at Â鶹Éç Writers and our panel of expert freelance script readers have immersed ourselves in your work. We begin by reading the first ten pages of every eligible script. Work that progresses beyond that first highly competitive stage usually displays some combination of the following: 

• A distinctive voice – writing that feels confident, individual and demonstrates a point of view.
• An original idea – stories that surprise us, introduce us to new worlds or offer a fresh perspective.
• Strong storytelling – the ability to engage a reader through character, world-building and narrative. 

If you applied to Open Call at the end of 2025, you should have recently received an email advising you to to check the status of your submission. Here you will be able to see which stage your script reached through this year’s process and (if it progressed beyond the first stage) where it placed expressed as a percentage of overall submissions. 

Given the volume of submissions we receive the process is exceptionally competitive. Every year, far more excellent scripts are submitted than we are able to progress and, owing to the number of entries we receive, we're unable to offer individual feedback or respond to requests for further information about specific submissions. 

If your script wasn't selected this year, it's completely understandable to feel disappointed. However, it's worth remembering that Open Call represents a single moment in time and is by no means a definitive judgement on your talent or your potential as a writer. Indeed, many of the writers who have gone on to join our Scripted and Voices groups in the past were unsuccessful when they first applied. For some, it took several submissions to Open Call before the right script arrived at the right time. 

Writing careers are rarely, if ever, linear, they are built carefully over time: script by script, draft by draft. So, keep writing, keep refining your voice and keep taking creative risks. Then, when you're ready, we hope you'll submit again. We'd love to read more of your work in the future. 

Open Call 2026 will open on Tuesday 3 November and close on Tuesday 1 December 2026 at 12 noon.