主播大秀

On behalf of 主播大秀 Comedy Commissioning I am delighted to announce that the second year of the Felix Dexter Bursary has just kicked off! We began our talent search to find comedy writers from under represented backgrounds in July 2018 and we were blown away by the calibre of talented writers who applied.

We really had a tough job on our hands to pull two worthy recipients from such a talented pool but with the help of the 主播大秀 Writersroom, we did and Nathan and Phoebe (pictured above) should be very proud of themselves for making the cut.

We had the honour of being invited to the St Kitts and Nevis High Commission on 17th October to celebrate the life of writer and comedian , who sadly passed away 5 years ago, but the occasion was far from sombre as his friends and former colleagues took turns recounting the many ways Felix touched their lives and influenced the writers and performers in the room to up their game, hone their craft and not give up.

On the night I was joined by this year’s bursary recipients as well as last year’s bursary winners  and who both have programme pilots in development with 主播大秀 Radio and productions. A great number of positive things have happened for them in the past year and both are very close to fulfilling their dreams of landing their first commissions.

Please watch this space as we report more about how Nathan and Phoebe handle being put through a writer boot camp during their first two weeks followed by a programme of talks, masterclasses, placements and of course, lots and lots of writing!

Find out more about Nathan and Phoebe below:

Phoebe Roy is a graduate of the University of Birmingham and University College London. After a brief flirtation with academia and a spell in academic publishing, she decided to focus on writing. She won the SceptreLoves short story prize in 2017 for her story It was Summer, and her story Iridescent Adolescent was selected for inclusion in the anthology A Change is Gonna Come, an anthology of writing by BAME authors for young adults which was later given a special mention by the YA book prize. Her work has also appeared in the first issue of the new literary journal The Good Journal. She is currently working on her first novel, developing her sitcom script and tormenting friends with her constant clowning.

Nathan Roberts is a graduate of the University of Westminster, the Royal Court Young Writers' Programme, Soho Theatre Comedy lab, and the DiVA Graduate Scheme. Nathan began his career working in the development department of Ruby Films, and has spent the past few years working as a Script Reader for an impressive roster of companies including Studio Canal, Focus Features, and the BFI. Nathan has written several successful short films, with his last project having been awarded Best Film at the 48-Hour Sci-Fi Challenge. As well as writing comedy for screen Nathan is an award nominated stand-up comedian, and currently working on his much anticipated Edinburgh debut.

Find out more about the Felix Dexter Bursary

Read blog posts by last year's Bursary winners and