Announcing the New Writers Network 2026
Twelve aspiring screenwriters in Cornwall and Devon have been offered the opportunity to develop their Short Film Script with expert guidance.
The New Writers Network 2026, offers aspiring screenwriters the chance to develop their short film scripts under the mentorship of experienced script editor Laura Jayne Tunbridge, as well as building their creative networks in the region. Screen Cornwall’s New Writers Network programme, supported by BFI NETWORK South West, runs in parallel with the Peninsula Producers Network 2026 in partnership with Exeter Phoenix.
Cordelia Angel Clarke
Cordelia Angel Clarke is a writer-director based in Cornwall. She creates visually striking, female-centred films with a strong focus on production design and costume. Her work draws from lived experience, reimagining memory to build resonant worlds grounded in truth and vulnerability.
Cordelia studied at Falmouth University, where she directed Muddied (2025), Woman Made of Clay (2023) and False Awakening (2023). The films were selected at festivals, including Novella and won Best Student Film at Cornwall Film Festival. Cordelia acted in the FylmK Cornish-language short Keskows (2025) and has collaborated with various South West filmmakers as a production/ costume designer.
She was commissioned by Screen Cornwall and Sound/Image Lab to direct Structure (2025), exec. produced by Laura Giles, Laura Canning and Dean Puckett (The Severed Sun), and colour-graded by Lionel Kopp (Amélie, La haine). Cordelia has a number of projects she intends to develop through the New Writers Network programme.
Darcy Vanhinsbergh
Darcy is a Cornish actor and writer who has worked in TV, film, and theatre while also exploring his passion for writing and creating characters, whether through scripts, music, or spoken word.
His most recent film, Drog Ew Gena Vy. A’th Kar, is a Cornish language production currently on its festival run. Crafting the film in his native tongue was a real pleasure, and he looks forward to doing so again in the future.
Darcy has been fortunate to collaborate with an incredible group of artists, actors, musicians, and creatives from across Cornwall on a film inspired by the street festival Montol. Having celebrated many Montols in Penzance, he feels honoured to be part of this project.
Although he has had no formal training as a writer, Darcy is eager to develop his craft through the Screen Cornwall Development Programme.
Hattie Collins
Hattie is a Devon based playwright writing about current issues from the perspective of local community. In 2023 she wrote and self-produced Kindle, a play that was awarded Arts Council funding and toured to venues in the South West and was nominated for the ORIGINS award at VAULT Festival in London. In 2024 she was recipient of a writer’s residency with Exeter Northcott Theatre. She was one of the Paines Plough mentored writers with their Tour The Writer scheme, and was recently seed commissioned to write a short/micro play for Exeter Northcott. Over the last eight years Hattie has developed her voice as a playwright, and The New Writers Network will allow her to transition into a screen capacity.
Heidi Dorschler
Heidi is a film actor, with her roots in immersive, site based and devised theatre making.
In 2023 Heidi not only acted in but was dramaturg and co-produced 'Of Sadness & Deceit,' chosen for Cornwall Film Festivals ‘Best of the West’. Enthused by the process of creating film on a low budget, and with subsequent success writing her own monologues, (winning Best Actor in Cornwall Monologue 2025), she is excited to be developing her own writing, feeling there is a dearth of decent parts for women in their 50s in film, which are usually incidental, leaving their stories largely untold.
Heidi is passionate about the sea, nature, and equality.
Looking to hone her writing skills for film and seeking to meet other film makers with similar passions, to create film that, through story, investigates environmental impact, whilst looking at our responses when under stress to those around us.
Holly Janem
Holly Janem is a Cornwall based writer and director. After taking part in a BFI Academy at college she went on to study Film Production at the University of Gloucestershire. In 2022 she directed ‘Peach Fuzz’ a poetic documentary exploring women’s relationships with their body hair, which went on to have a small international festival run. Holly is very interested in amplifying women’s voices in the creative space and telling stories from otherwise overlooked perspectives. In September 2025 she finished her first narrative short film ‘Language of Life’ supported by Screen Cornwall and the BFI Network, centering around grief and generational divides and has most recently directed ‘Stand Up: Stand Together’ an anti-VAWG campaign film with M.A.N. Culture and Plymouth Argyle. She is looking forward to being part of the 2026 New Writers Network cohort to gain more industry insight and develop her next script.
Laith Alobaidi
I recently completed my MA in Creative Writing at the University of Exeter, where I produced a feature-length screenplay, which I am now adapting into a short proof-of-concept film. The project centres on an intimate and urgent story of a father struggling to care for his young son while contending with the destabilising influence of online misinformation. Alongside this, I am developing a slate of short films as a writer-director, including “A Threat of Violence”—a realist examination of male violence and victim-blaming that challenges audiences to reflect on their own role in shaping online narratives.
I hope to gain guidance, industry knowledge, and creative connections from the New Writers Network. I’m eager to refine my projects and deepen my understanding of screen storytelling. I look forward to connecting with other South-West creatives, building lasting professional relationships, and contributing to a thriving regional filmmaking community.
Lydia Jenkins
Lydia is a writer-director based in Cornwall. Previously, she has been commissioned to write and direct short films by Screen Cornwall, BFI Film Academy and Exeter Phoenix. The latter’s subsequent film, ‘Nacre’, premiered at Two Short Nights Film festival and has since been screened in BIFA-qualifying festivals. Recently, she was selected for the 2025 cohort of BFI Director Lab and The Writer’s Block ‘Stageplay Writing for Commission’ workshop. Her work is focused on personal experiences, social issues with colourful analogies and takes inspiration from the iconic south-west landscape.
Primrose Bigwood
Primrose is a West Country based Actress, Writer and Director who has performed within various TV, Film and stage projects, such as BBC Three’s ‘Mood’ by Nicôle Lecky and ‘The Ghosts of Borley Rectory with Colin Baker and Julian Sands. She has worked on a number of Devon and Cornwall based productions, most recently 2 films where she speaks Kernowek and enjoys working on stories that unfold through the Cornish Language. Continually embracing their roots and where she grew up around the South West, Primrose has built a solid, network of creatives within the local area over the years and amongst others, is determined to act against the lack of opportunities for local, performers and is incredibly passionate about working on and championing regional productions and talent. Alongside developing her writing with this initiative, Primrose has recently finished directing Stowaway Theatre’s ‘Cluck’ for the Exeter Northcott’s Elevate festival and is also acting in a number of upcoming, Cornish based films in the New Year. She is committed in her own writing to provide opportunity and look to hire solely from the South West where possible, to further embrace the incredible, creatives on our doorstep and offer opportunity to rural talent and crew.
Samuel Bestwick
Samuel Bestwick is an artist and filmmaker based in West Cornwall. His films explore the intersection of narrative, landscape, and social history, reframing these subjects within contemporary contexts. His most recent short film, ‘Dowr Tamar’, which explores the history of the Tamar River, was awarded the ‘South West Award’ at the BAFTA-qualifying Encounters Film Festival in Bristol. Samuel has taken part in an internationally funded artist residency in Japan as well as artist residencies throughout Cornwall. His current project, ‘Lyonesse’, is an experimental documentary that examines the British Isles’ history of spirituality and its relationship to contemporary climate change, specifically rising sea levels. Going forward, Samuel aims to develop his screenwriting skills so as to create more character-driven stories.
Sarah Drummond
Sarah Drummond is a writer and director based in the South West, who founded film production and creative studio Anthro Bricolage. Her debut feature doc, currently in development, Don't Say Gay, was selected for the 2024 BFI London Film Festival work in progress showcase and is backed by Screen Scotland.
Sarah's work explores Queer histories and themes of justice and oppression, which have inspired her first written short, Tamed, a Queer folk horror set in the South West.
Her debut short documentary, Stonewall Postal Action Network, showed in 4 continents, winning East London’s LGBTQ+ Film Festival Documentary Award, opening Genesis Cinema’s festival and was selected for BAFTA qualifying SQUIFF, amongst several UK LGBTQ+ festivals.
She co-founded Scotland's largest service design studio and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Glasgow School of Art and Google Fellowship for innovation in technology and democratic innovation
Victoria Bolt
Victoria is an Actor and Writer living in Cornwall. On screen acting credits include Netflix's Toxic Town, the International Emmy Nominated-The Devil's Hour, the BAFTA nominated Meet the Richardson's and the BAFTA award winning Peter Kosminsky's, The Undeclared War. On stage she has worked with the acclaimed directors Matthew Dunster and Alexander Zeldin. Her writing reflects on women and children's experiences. Victoria is currently developing a short film, a feature film and a play as part of a trilogy.
Peter Clark
Peter enjoys writing character-driven dramas, exploring how central characters resolve inner cocharacters resolve inner conflict to overconct to overcome external events. While this is a hallmark of good storytelling, he has recently become particularly interested in characters who resist the conventional paths most protagonists take.
This theme is central to Elowen, the short film script he is currently writing. The story follows Millie Morwenna, a teenage girl who finds herself in an undesirable situation when her family’s business faces adversity. Set in 1804, Elowenmarks Peter’s first attempt at writing a period piece—an experience he is thoroughly enjoying, especially the historical research. He aims to craft a visually expressive script that uses montage and sound to carry the emotional weight of the story. One of the key challenges he faces is maintaining engagement as Millie travels alone across the moors, spending long stretches of time in her own company.
Peter is thrilled to be part of the New Writers Network, viewing it as a valuable opportunity to collaborate with other writers, share challenges, and grow creatively as part of a supportive community. He is particularly grateful for the chance to have his work reviewed through a professional lens and looks forward to completing a final draft of Elowen in the coming months.
