Joanna Pickering's BEACH BREAK Awarded Full Scholarship to Adapt to Screenplay

Joanna Pickering is awarded a full scholarship to adapt her play "Beach Break" for screen.

The play centres on two girls who go away to a party holiday island to escape some boy trouble at home. Within 72 hours they've spent all their money, taken class A drugs, and attended a Fiesta, where something terrible happened. Something that will have serious repercussions.

A trip in paradise soon becomes a trip in hell. In a who believes who?

"The gender wars have never looked so stark," director Phil John (Downton Abbey, Marvel).

Pickering is a British playwright and actress (The Vagina Monologues, The Rope In The Cross) with 3 Arts Entertainment.

In 2018, she debuted "Beach Break" as a short play with Primitive Grace Ensemble Duende Series, at The Bridge Theater in New York, directed by Luke Edward Smith, and under artistic directors Paul Calderon and David Zayas. Pickering and Anna Tempte (The Orient Express) played the two female leads.

As a one act play 'Beach Break' was a top five finalist and live radio broadcast for HBO's ITV 2018 festival (now Catalyst Content), official selection for Screencraft stage plays, and aired on British radio, Bad Punk, Resonance FM, in 2019, with the same cast and Pickering directing.

In 2019, the full play was picked for a semester by The Dramatist Guild Institute. In 2020, it began rehearsals at The Actors Gym workshops with Academy writer and director Bobby Moresco, and Amanda Moresco directing. Actors Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years, Lombardi) and Whitney Andrews (Yale School of Drama) have read parts for the workshop rehearsals. Immediate production plans are halted due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

However, Pickering is awarded a full scholarship for her proposals to write the play for screen. The scholarship is awarded to one writer per retreat by The Rocaberti Writers (rocabertiwriters.com). Pickering will work with Kelly Edwards, HBO Vice President of Talent Development and Programming, and alongside Jen Grisanti, the Writing Instructor for NBC's Writers on the Verge, among other notable industry executive mentors (full list on website).

The scholarship was awarded by Claire Elizabeth Terry, CEO of Rocaberti Writers. She started successfully nurturing the career of talented rising Hollywood writers in 2016. Rocaberti are currently accepting applications for virtual attendance for 2020 and physical attendance in 2021.

Joanna also teaches playwriting courses online for Roadmap Writers commencing summer 2020.

Playwriting with Joanna Pickering begins soon on https://www.roadmapwriters.com/. For more information about her work visit www.joannapickering.com.

To apply for writing opportunities visit https://rocabertiwriters.com/.

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