In April 2020, with the UK in the midst of the first wave of the Covid 19 pandemic, Script6, a Norfolk-based writers’ collective, teamed up with award-winning scriptwriter Nicholas McInerny to launch a short film scriptwriting competition – ‘THIS COVID LIFE’, looking for ten minute scripts based around online facetime conversations during lockdown.

At the time it felt like the vast majority of online competitions were prioritising stories of cheerful reassurance and resilience as we all dealt with our new reality.

We knew even then this wasn’t the whole truth. We wanted to find those stories that explored the darker side of life under Covid restrictions: tales that would possibly reveal a more complicated truth about ourselves, our hopes and fears, as the stress of lockdown inevitably exposed faultlines and gave us an insight into who we really are.

We received more than 300 entries and from these we chose five winning 10-minute scripts.

LET’S MEET UP by Ed Birch
A COUGH AND A SPIT by Richard Stoneham
ASH by Bettina Gracias
VIRTUAL FIRST DATE by William Fowkes
SAMMY by Zoe Hunter Gordon

Determined to celebrate our winners’ achievement we decided to produce filmed versions under lockdown. These were completed in compliance with all social distancing and Covid restrictions. Four of the five films are available for viewing with original music composed by Fred Robinson.

Here you will find stories of bittersweet desire, gallows humour, family feuds, edgy first dates, and maybe even a touch of madness, which span race, culture, and identity: all the crazy colours of the pandemic….so far!

NM / 28 Jan 2021



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