Why choose TAPS?

With so many courses aimed at up-and-coming screenwriters, it’s a fair question. TAPS is more than just a training programme and you can’t just buy a place in our workshops. From all the applications, we select only the most promising, talented writers and from the workshops to the showcases, we invest a lot of time in them.

Our goal is to find the best raw talent, polish it and expose it to the industry through our showcases. We want to help you succeed.  

What are the showcases?

The showcases are what sets TAPS apart from every other training organisation. They are a measure of our faith in the writers’ abilities as well as a valuable calling-card for the showcased writers.

The showcases are, essentially, performed readings filmed with a professional cast, producer, director and technical crew in a professional television studio environment. The results are edited, again by an industry professional editor, and put on DVD.

Who will see them?

A filmed showcase is meaningless if no-one who matters is going to watch it. That’s why we aim to hold screenings to which we invite heads of drama, heads of comedy, commissioning editors, story editors, agents, respected writers and anyone we know who could help our writers if they like what they see.

In addition to the screenings, we produce DVDs that we distribute to our network of active industry contacts.
By only taking on the best writers, the industry is able to trust TAPS to help them find the new talent they are always hungry for.

What’s your success rate?

It would be ridiculous for us to guarantee your instant success. That said, writers have found agents, made valuable contacts, had commissions, been accepted for industry shadow schemes and so much more all on the strength of their showcases.

TAPS also receives regular enquiries from the industry regarding recommended writers. We look at our pool of writers, no matter whether they were showcased this season or 10 seasons ago, and put forward those we know would be right, helping writers find work they would never hear about otherwise.

So, we won’t promise you success but we can guarantee to show your work to the people who can change your life. Your success is our success and we are committed to making your dream a reality.

TAPS promotes the writer, not just their work.

But I only want to write for the cinema…

If winning an Oscar is the dream, writing for television is not only a well-paying reality but also the best way of making a name for yourself.

With countless channels needing hundreds of hours of programming between them every week, there is a constant search for new talent. TAPS can help expose you to the people who can make every writer’s dream come true—make a living doing the thing you love.

Are bursaries available for your courses?

TAPS workshops and showcases are heavily subsidised by our sponsors—Skillset, ITV, BBC, BBFC— so no bursaries are available through TAPS.

There are, however, numerous Screen agencies and scriptwriters’ organisations throughout the country that have provided full funding for previous delegates.