Abi Morgan, Jack Rooke and Nicôle Lecky join Element Pictures’ screenwriting festival

The Split’s Abi Morgan, Big Boys creator Jack Rooke and Wild Cherry creator Nicôle Lecky are among the writers taking part in this year’s Storyhouse Festival, which is backed by Element Pictures.

Also among the line-up of the third edition of Ireland’s annual screenwriting festival is The Brutalist filmmaker Brady Corbet, Pillion writer-director Harry Lighton, Bugonia writer Will Tracy and Sorry Baby filmmaker Eva Victor.

The event, which takes place at Dublin’s Light House Cinema from April 16-17, is founded by Element co-chief executive Ed Guiney.

Further speakers will playwright and screenwriter Ava Pickett, who is co-writing Jehanne d’Arc with Baz Luhrmann for Warner Bros, Christy filmmaker Brendan Canty and Suhayla El-Bushra, writer of Brides. 


The festival will feature panels, keynote talks, interviews and case studies. An accompanying five-day initiative, Storyhouse Lab, will connect 15 emerging screenwriters with industry figures under the mentorship of What Richard Did and 500 Miles writer Malcolm Campbell.

Further programme details will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

Storyhouse is a not-for-profit supported by Screen Ireland, Fremantle, Element Pictures, Coimisiún na Meán, Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet, and is produced in association with the Light House Cinema.


“We are delighted that Storyhouse will return for its third year, once again bringing many of the world’s leading and most exciting screenwriters and creators to the heart of Dublin,” said Guiney.

“The festival has firmly established itself as a creative home for writers, a place where artists can learn from one another, develop ideas, and find inspiration. This year’s lineup showcases an exciting breadth of voices, genres and perspectives, sure to inspire and fuel a new generation of storytellers.”


Colman Farrell, head of skills and professional development at Screen Ireland, added: “This year’s diverse festival lineup promises to offer the Irish screenwriting community exclusive insight into the creative processes of some of today’s most exciting award-winning writers and storytellers working across film and television. We also look forward to seeing the skills-led script development Lab engage with and inspire a new cohort of emerging Irish talent.”

A version of this story first appeared on ScreenDaily