Well darlings, dust off your typewriters and polish up those punchlines – because the Popcorn Writing Award is back and it’s tastier than ever! 🍿 Yes, the fabulous folks at Popcorn Group are now accepting submissions for their 2025 prize, and if you’re a Fringe writer with a script that’s bold, brilliant and just a little bit bonkers – this one’s for you.
With a sizzling £6,000 prize fund directly in the writers’ pockets (no middlemen, thank you very much), this award is all about celebrating the fearless and the fresh. And that’s not all – winners also get cosy chats with BBC writers and a golden ticket into the BBC Writers Voices 2026 pipeline. So if your play’s got grit, guts and a good dose of genius, consider this your official nudge from Grace’s satchel to get that script in.
Submissions for the Popcorn Writing Award, run by film and theatre production company
Popcorn Group, are now open for 2025. This unique award celebrates bold, imaginative new
writing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, offering a £6,000 prize fund that goes directly to writers
recognised for their notable, groundbreaking scripts. Further to the prize fund, winners are also
granted valuable support from the Popcorn Group and BBC writers, offering mentorship
meetings and consideration for the BBC Writers Voices 2026 programme.
Established in 2019 by the Popcorn Group, the Popcorn Award champions fearless writing that
playfully and artistically tackles current affairs, questions societal norms, and contributes
positively to public debate. To be eligible, plays must be new writing with fewer than seven
preview performances prior to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe and must be staged at one of the
award’s partner venues.
As part of the award, all shortlisted writers are offered valuable mentorship meetings with the
Popcorn Group. In addition, those based in the UK and Ireland will be eligible for a one-to-one
meeting with the BBC Writers team. Eligible longlisted writers from the UK and Ireland will also
be invited to submit their scripts for consideration as part of BBC Writers Voices 2026.
Popcorn Group’s founder and filmmaker Charlotte Colbert comments, I’m thrilled that the
Popcorn Writing Award will be back in 2025 at the Edinburgh Fringe, an extraordinary space
where new voices are heard and brave storytelling thrives. Each year, we’re reminded how vital
it is to celebrate the power of theatre to ignite change. It’s a joy to support writers who are
exploring new ideas and tackling real-world themes with originality and courage.
Past finalists and winners have gone on to be commissioned by major broadcasters, been
accepted onto BBC Writers programmes, and transferred their work to stages in both London
and New York.
Now, before you go thinking this is all pie-in-the-sky promise, let me spill a few kernels of truth from years past…
The 2024 Popcorn Writing Award wasn’t just awarded — it was shared, darling! A rare and rather glamorous twist. Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair took a bow for their electric piece VL, while Weather Girl by Brian Watkins soared from script to Soho Theatre success and is now fluttering its way into telly-land. Talk about a forecast of fame!
And the talent didn’t stop there – finalists like The Book of Mountains and Seas by Yilong Liu and Knock on the Roof by Khawla Ibraheem proved that the Popcorn shortlist is practically a prophecy. Khawla’s piece even made its way to the hallowed Royal Court! Meanwhile, Pop Off, Michelangelo! by Dylan MarcAurele got a cheeky special mention and is now strutting its stuff in an extended run at Underbelly Boulevard in Soho. Mwah! Bellissimo.
Past winners also include heavy-hitters like Bryony Kimmings, Karim Khan, and the fabulous Sabrina Ali, whose 2023 show Dugsi Dayz earned a seat at the Royal Court table as part of David Byrne’s debut season as Artistic Director. That’s what we call a full-circle fringe-to-fame fairytale.
Each year, the Popcorn shortlist is handpicked by a panel of industry glitterati, assembled in partnership with BBC Writers. We’re talking seriously seasoned talent – think Golden Globe winner Ruth Wilson, Tony winner Enda Walsh, Oscar-winner Gonzalo Maza and BAFTA’s own Wunmi Mosaku. No pressure, right?
Winners for 2025 will be announced by the Popcorn Group during this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival – so sharpen those pencils, darling scribes, because submissions are now open until 10am on 8th July 2025. And just between us? I’ve got a good feeling about your script…
Submissions are OPEN until 10am on 8th July 2025. Plays are eligible if they:
1) Are new pieces of writing with fewer than seven performances prior to the 2025
Edinburgh Fringe.
2) Are being staged during the Fringe at one of the partner venues – Assembly, Gilded
Balloon, Pleasance, theSpaceUK, Summerhall Arts, Traverse, Underbelly, Greenside,
Paradise Green or ZOO Venues.
To be considered, writers must send their piece of new writing, a 50-word summary of their
play, a 10-word tagline, and a list of the show’s previous performance dates (if any). These
materials should be submitted to the programming team at their respective venue with the
subject line: “Popcorn Writing Award 2025 // Title of Play // Writer’s Name // Venue
Associated”
By the way did you know? Now here’s a group that doesn’t just make popcorn – they pop off in every direction! 🎬✨
Popcorn Group, the creative brainchild of filmmaker Charlotte Colbert (yes, that Charlotte who teamed up with horror legend Dario Argento – I mean, can you imagine the dinner parties?), has been setting stages and screens ablaze.
Their debut feature, She Will, starring the hauntingly fabulous Alice Krige and a cast glittering with Kota Eberhardt, Malcolm McDowell, and Rupert Everett, nabbed a Golden Leopard at Locarno and had its UK debut at the London Film Festival. Oh, and did I mention it was BIFA-nominated? Mic drop.
Next up in their cinematic bag of tricks was Dalí Land – with Sir Ben Kingsley rocking that iconic moustache, alongside Suki Waterhouse and Andreja Pejic, all under the slick direction of American Psycho’s Mary Harron. The film strutted its stuff at Toronto Film Festival before heading to the big screens via Magnolia Pictures.
Then came Timestalker – a time-hopping, heart-throbbing sci-fi rom-com by the unstoppable Alice Lowe. Featuring Jacob Anderson (Game of Thrones), Aneurin Barnard, Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education) and the always-iconic Nick Frost, it lit up SXSW with its world premiere and left critics swooning.
But darling, they’re not just about the silver screen. Popcorn Group also leapt into theatre with the West End transfer of Fleabag (you know, that small cult show by some writer named Phoebe Waller-Bridge? Heard of her?), and went viral with the hilariously sharp Leading Lady Parts for the BBC – featuring an ensemble so star-studded it should’ve come with sunglasses: Emilia Clarke, Gemma Arterton, Gemma Chan, Catherine Tate, Felicity Jones, and Tom Hiddleston. Over 50 million views. Not too shabby.
They also brought Mum by Olivier-winner Morgan Lloyd Malcolm to life, co-produced Penelope Skinner’s feminist firecracker Angry Alan, and gave us the brilliant, bonkers musical Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder – which still has me humming the theme tune on my rounds.
And they’re not done yet – Popcorn Group is currently stirring the pot with a bubbling slate of new films and telly treats in the works. Trust me, whatever they do next, I’ll be the first to shove it in my satchel.
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