Submissions open: The Hot House 2026 Writers Development Lab

The Hot House 2026 writers development lab for scripted longform TV and feature film projects is now open for applications.

Part of Climate Spring’s writers development offering, and run in collaboration with BBC Writers and Film London, the 8-week lab supports screen writing talent in creating engaging and commercially viable climate stories for film and TV, while offering industry exposure and expert guidance.

Championing visions of a regenerative future, this year’s The Hot House focuses on inspiring world building stories and regenerative storyworld design. This brief has been chosen to help creatives craft stories that allow us to imagine, see and feel the future we’re fighting for.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?‍

The Hot House 2026 is open to individual writers and writing partnerships. All applying writers must be over 18 and not in full time education, and must be resident in the UK.

Writers must have or have done at least one of the following:

• An agent.
• Have written a short film that has been screened at an Academy Award-qualifying short film festival or a BAFTA qualifying short film festival.
• Have written a stage play which has had at least a two week run in a theatre or festival, including fringe festivals.
• Have a writing credit for a produced feature film or TV series.

Applications will be accepted from writing partnerships of up to three individuals. For writing partnerships, at least half of the writers in the partnership must fulfil the criteria above.‍

Who tells our stories matters and we recognise that creators from underrepresented backgrounds have faced structural barriers to working in the screen industries, limiting the perspectives and stories we see on screen. We therefore particularly encourage applications from writers from underrepresented backgrounds.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

• Applicants must submit up to two pages of a pitch accompanied by a writing sample of a full length screenplay (80-150 pages) or teleplay (30-60 pages). The writing sample can be a further development of the pitch, or be a sample from another idea entirely.
• Writers can submit up to two projects.
• Pitches will be assessed and paired with production companies.
• Six projects will be selected for the development lab and each receive a payment of £2,000 for their time on redrafting their synopsis, following initial feedback from judges.
• Over 8 weeks (April and May 2026), lab participants will receive development support, delivered remotely. This includes editorial input from Climate Spring on how to successfully weave climate into the storylines, worldbuilding masterclasses, regular check-ins with their assigned production company, advice from industry partners on how best to develop the projects as well as on how to pitch the project.

OVER 8 WEEKS YOU’LL GAIN

• Access to online workshops and resources, exploring climate storytelling themes, including a regenerative world building workshop, led by Climate Spring.
• Access to 1:1 development time with a Climate Spring development executive
• Working relationship with a production company to bring your idea to life.
• Peer to peer exchange and discussion.
  
  

CREATIVE BRIEF

The world around us is changing fast. The old orders are being upended, industries and societies are in major transition. The climate is rapidly changing, and with it, the consequences on health and infrastructure. It is easy to feel stuck in fear and anxiety about the overwhelming loss and scale of change we are collectively facing. However, the future is not yet set. Scientists tell us that we have all the solutions we need to transition to a more sustainable, healthier, more equal society. Most people aren’t aware of what the solutions are, or truly believe that it is possible to turn things around. In order to chart our way through this change, we need depictions of the future that allow viewers to see and feel the beautiful future we’re fighting for. The stories we tell illuminate pathways out of the chaos, showing us where we could go. We want writers to show us how exciting, beautiful, inspiring and liberating life could be if we lived within planetary boundaries. This is no utopia, but draws inspiration from the concepts of Protopia or Thrutopia.

We’re calling for longform film and TV story ideas set in near futures (between 5 years to 50 years), depicting a society that has successfully transitioned through the challenges presented by climate change. We are not just interested in the adaptations to climate, but what a post-fossil fuel, post-extractive society would look like.

The time for dystopian and apocalyptic visions has passed. Filling the void instead, should be a new wave of more inspiring stories, providing regenerative visions of the future. 

After all, Amsterdam wasn’t always a city built for cyclists! 

This is the power of story and screen, they weave worlds that feel real, and those storyworlds can lead to change in the real world.

Climate Spring will support you with world building, providing expert and creative support to understand the existing technologies, social habits, innovations and solutions that our climate experts know already exist, or are coming into being in the next decade. You don’t have to invent the solutions, you just need to envision a great story.

We’re looking for exciting, focused scripts that leave behind a world of fossil fuels, in search of a brighter, more inspiring future.‍

INSPIRATION

• Humans
• Back to the Future
• Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower
• Wilding/Kiss the Ground
• Black Panther
• Black Mirror 

HOW TO APPLY

Please submit your application via this Google Form by 30th of January 23:59.

Writers can submit up to two projects.

DATES AND DEADLINES

The deadline for applications is 23:59 GMT 30th of January 2026.

Selection process will take place in February 2026, with participants to be announced in early March 2026.

The development lab will be held between April and May 2026.

ENQUIRIES

If you have any questions regarding please email enquiries@climate-spring.org.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Full terms and conditions are available here.