Climate Spring’s The Hot House development lab returns

Climate Spring announces the return of its The Hot House development lab for scripted long-form TV and feature film projects.

Following a hugely successful 2023 run with nearly 500 submissions, this year’s lab spotlights ‘stories of the climate transition’, incentivising screenwriters to craft engaging and relatable climate stories set in a near future without fossil fuels and polluting practices. The initiative is run in partnership with BBC Writers and Film London.

Launched in 2022 as part of Climate Spring’s writers’ development offering, The Hot House aims to stimulate a pipeline of new, engaging and commercially viable climate stories for film and TV, whilst offering industry exposure and development support to screenwriting talent. In 2023, successful projects were shared with a range of production companies and industry stakeholders, with several active negotiations currently underway for further development.

Recognising the power of storytelling in how we see and shape our world, this year’s The Hot House development lab focuses on stories of the climate transition. This brief has been chosen to encourage the creation of  entertaining and engaging stories on how humanity can navigate through this crisis collectively, as a counter to the dominant ‘doomsday’ narrative frequently encountered in the climate discourse.

Josh Cockcroft, Director at Climate Spring, said: We’re delighted to bring back The Hot House development lab, this year with a focus on stories of the climate transition. There is an ever-increasing demand from screenwriting talent to tell the greatest story of our time; the story of the climate transition. With The Hot House, we want to empower our industry’s diverse and creative minds to craft compelling new stories that shine a light on the incredible transitions that are already underway, as we move away from polluting, damaging practices to a more regenerative economy.”

Jess Loveland, Head of New Writing for BBC Drama Commissioning and BBC Writers, said: “BBC Writers is thrilled to be partnering with Climate Spring again on the second iteration of the Hot House Lab. The inaugural lab last year uncovered some incredible climate-focused stories and storytellers and we can’t wait to see what this new call-out brings.”

Laurence Johnson, Sustainability Manager at Film London, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to once again partner with Climate Spring. After the success of last year’s The Hot House: Shorts competition, we’re looking forward to seeing how long-form screen content can help open up our cultural discourse around climate. While the current challenges posed by the climate crisis are clear, this is a unique opportunity to help inform and shape a more environmentally and socially connected future. By supporting diverse and skilled talent through the programme’s development lab, the initiative will help voice narratives on the climate crisis which highlight the potential for a healthier and more equitable future.’’

For this year’s The Hot House development lab, six final projects will be selected to each receive an award of £1,000 and three months of development support. This includes editorial input from Climate Spring on how to successfully weave climate into the storylines, advice from industry partners on how best to best develop the projects as well as on how to pitch the project. At the end of the lab, the projects will be showcased to producers and will be considered for development funding from Climate Spring, in partnership with production companies.

Applications will open on 22nd April 2024 at 12pm, and will close on 30th June 2024 at midnight.

Climate Spring will hold an information webinar in May to provide more information about the creative brief and application process.

To find out more about The Hot House development lab 2024, visit here.