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"We are incredibly excited to announce the writers we have been working with in our Belfast hub this year. Talented, passionate, funny, and endlessly creative; their enthusiasm has been infectious and we have loved working with them to develop their ideas during the programme. It’s been brilliant to see what they have achieved over the course of the past six months, and we can’t wait to see what fantastic things they’ll go on to do next!"

Heather Larmour, Commissioning Executive

Dean Conway

Dean Conway is an award nominated writer/director from Lurgan, County Armagh. Influenced by independent and realist cinema, Dean has a particular interest in telling authentic, observational and naturalistic stories that resonate with audiences. His funded short film work has been programmed at BIFA, BAFTA and Academy Award affiliated festivals such as Foyle Film Festival, Belfast Film Festival and BFI Future Film Festival - where he was nominated for Best Writer in 2024.

Dean previously participated as a writer for Northern Ireland Screen's New Shorts Focus 2020 scheme for six months and in 2021 he was selected as one of the 21 Artists for the 21st Century by the Northern Ireland Office for their prestigious mentor programme. Here he was supported by BAFTA and Oscar winning filmmakers Ross White and Tom Berkeley while making his first short film. After the success of his short films SHEA AND HANNAH (2021) and DOUBLE VODKA AND BLACKCURRANT (2023) his follow up screenplay - RAT FACE - placed in the top 1% of 4,643 script submissions for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Writers Open Call 2024. Most recently, Dean completed production on his debut feature film project as a director which is currently in post-production.

Bridgid Galvin

Bridgid Galvin is from Cork, where she works as a secondary school teacher. In recent years, family reared, she had time to get back to her love of writing, seeking out opportunities to learn the craft. She was selected for mentoring for Scripts Playwriting Festival Birr and was one of 30 playwrights to take part in Fishamble Theatre Co. ‘A Play for Ireland’ mentoring process. Her work was chosen by Fishamble as part of Online Tiny Plays and for performance as part of Abbey Theatre ‘Dear Ireland Continues’. Playwriting awards include The Billy Roche International Short Play Competition and Youth Theatre Ireland George B. Miller Award. Her full length play DROP was part of Druid Debuts in 2023. Bridgid has had two short screenplays, BLAZE and AARASH, reach semi-finalist stage in Waterford Film Festival.

Basma Khalifa

Basma Khalifa is an award nominated Director and Writer born in Saudi Arabia, from Sudan, raised in Northern Ireland and Scotland and now based in London. 

With a colourful upbringing, Basma is passionate about stories which explore the nuances in cultures and identities and how they shape our present and future. With a background in fashion styling, Basma went on to front her first feature length documentary INSIDE THE REAL SAUDI ARABIA for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Three and ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ One which earned her a nomination for "Newcomer of the Year" at the Edinburgh TV Festival. 

She has since directed and written her first short film HENNA which is on the festival circuit, has directed and self shot her first feature length documentary which is in post production and shadow directed on Apples’  SLOW HORSES. A Keen writer and live TV broadcaster, Basma regularly contributes to news outlets covering topics such as social injustice, pop culture, diversity and film. Basma is currently developing her first scripted series based on her life story which earned her a place on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Voices and through the voices programme Basma is currently working on a psychological drama based on a friendship group gone wrong.

Gareth Lyons

Gareth Lyons is an Irish Screenwriter splitting his time between Cork and London. He writes drama. He writes comedy. Whatever he writes though has to have some madness.

Starting out in animation, he wrote and directed the Screen Ireland funded short film PORK about an omniscient pig narrating the doomed relationship between the man who killed them and the woman who served them as an in-flight meal. It played at festivals world wide, notably the BFI London Film Festival.

His dark comedy drama script WE PROSPER about a small town councillor who decides to build a pyramid to himself following the visitation of three Egyptian Gods was in the top 9% of all eligible scripts received for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Open Call 2024.

Following ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Voices, he is looking for representation to help him in his efforts to become a full-time screenwriter.

Robert Herbert McClean

Robert Herbert McClean is an Irish Writer / Director, Poet and Audio-Visual Artist. Robert’s debut book of poetry, PANGS! was published by Test Centre in 2015. His prose chapbook, SKRUBOLZ GARBILLKORE, was published by BookWorks in 2018. In 2019, Robert was a finalist for the ARTS FOUNDATION FUTURES AWARDS in Poetry. In 2020, Prototype Publishing released Robert’s third book, SONGS FOR IRELAND, an interdisciplinary project of poetry and film. Robert is producing new poetry, TRAP MEMES, funded by Arts Council NI.

In 2020, Robert wrote and directed his debut narrative short, GRAVEST HIT, funded by NI Screen and BFI, with an international premiere at LA Shorts International Film Festival 2021 and a national premiere at Belfast Film Festival 2021. After further international screenings on the festival circuit, GRAVEST HIT was selected In Competition for Best International Short, at Diametrale Film Festival 2023.

Robert’s spec pilot, BLUE CROONER, earned him a place in the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Writers Room, where he is currently developing an ensemble, comedy drama series, PHONY PONY. Robert likes to write smart, compassionate, proletarian misfits overcoming chaotic odds against narcissistic sociopaths that are prone to violence. He likes deadpan naturalism in off-kilter worlds. He is open to agent representation.

James McCleary

James is an award-winning screenwriter currently based out of Dublin, Ireland. He graduated with an Honours B.A. in English Literature & Film Studies from Trinity College Dublin in 2021, before going on to complete a postgraduate cert in TV Drama at the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology.

At present, James produces regular entertainment content for broadcaster Virgin Media Television, while simultaneously developing a number of scripts in collaboration with production companies like Samson Films and Newgrange Pictures, including a series pilot with filmmaker Alan Friel attached to direct. Previously, James has also worked on several independent Irish short films such as WHITE ROSES, STATE OF THE UNION and LENKA.

With a range of options and shopping agreements in his portfolio, James aims to bring a fresh and vital Gen-Z perspective to each new project he undertakes. His taste in drama is eclectic but emotionally driven, incorporating plenty of comedy and occasional genre tropes as a means of exploring underrepresented socioeconomic or LGBTQ+ subjects and narratives.

Brenda McNeill

Brenda is a Belfast-born screenwriter with a sharp wit, a distinctive Northern Irish voice, and a passion for telling women’s stories with warmth, honesty, and humour.

Her debut script REMEMBERING, a deeply personal comedy-drama inspired by her father’s dementia diagnosis, was a semi-finalist and placed in the Top 10 of the UK’s Female Pilot Club 2025. She is currently developing a new comedy-drama series through the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Voices programme.

Brenda brings a unique blend of emotional depth and comedic flair to her work, with a talent for uncovering humour in life’s most intimate and challenging moments. Her writing is shaped by a rich background in journalism, having worked across television, radio, and digital media in New York, London, and Belfast for over a decade.

A graduate in Broadcasting from the University of the West of Scotland, she also trained in Screen Acting at The New School University (NYC) in association with the Actors Studio, New York. As a professional actor for more than 25 years, her screen credits include ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s THE FALL and BLOODLANDS.

Brenda is currently seeking representation as a screenwriter.

Tom Moran

Tom Moran is a Big Fat Filthy Disgusting Liar – and he's made a career out of it! After his brutally honest solo show snagged The Fishamble New Writing Award, Ireland's National Theatre came calling. Now it's conquered stages from Off-Broadway, to Australia, to Toronto, to the Edinburgh Fringe - because audiences worldwide are masochists!

Tom's currently crafting his first ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ commission, THE KNOCKS – a six-part Gaelic Football Western (actually true) with producer Tom Sherry. Think Friday Night Lights meets Yellowstone, or so he keeps telling the commissioners!

Tom specialises in dramatic comedies or comedic dramas where messy families fall apart in gloriously self-destructive ways. When not crafting feel-good ensemble chaos, he's suffering as a Spurs fan (the ultimate tragic comedy) and adapting his hit show for TV with Deadpan Pictures.

*Fun Fact Corner: Tom is a former bingo rave host (yes, it's a thing), turned singer for a mediocre Riverdance rip-off. He's getting married in October to the beautiful Rosie – she's campaigning hard for a sausage dog, he's campaigning harder against it.

Tom is represented by Lily Williams and Mark Starling at Curtis Brown.

John Moriarty

John Moriarty is a musician and writer of fiction, theatre and radio drama. Originally from Dublin, 2025 is his sixteenth year living in Belfast, the first decade of which he spent lecturing and researching work and employment. His stories often begin in workplaces, with characters navigating the boundaries between roles, relationships and private uncertainties.

John's debut play MS BARKER is set during the political aftermath of Watergate and during the 1970s wave of irreverent cult cinema. Debuting at the 2025 Cavan Arts Festival, the play explores the impact of artists' work on their family and community. His short story DOWN UNDER, following the journey of an Irish emigrant home for the burial and, from there, into the past itself, aired as part of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio Ulster’s STORYTELLERS. His writing has appeared in The Honest Ulsterman, Humour Me and The Belfast Review. He holds an MA in Creative Writing from Queen’s University Belfast and was selected for the Irish Writers Centre's NEW VOICES NORTH mentorship programme.

John is also a songwriter and his screen projects harness his love of music, sports, comedy and drama to explore our relationships with friends, family and with our own bodies.

Joanne Ryan

Joanne Ryan is a Limerick-based theatre and screenwriter. She writes across both drama and comedy and her work handles prescient, challenging themes with humour and heart.

Her critically acclaimed debut play EGGSISTENTIALISM toured extensively and won the Lustrum Award for Theatrical Excellence at Edinburgh Fringe, The Melbourne Fringe Tour Ready Award, The Strollers Network Award, The Sydney Fringe Critics’ Pick Award and was nominated for Best Performance at Melbourne Fringe.

Her radio adaptation of EGGSISTENTIALISM for RTÉ Drama on One won the 2023 Writer’s Guild Award for Best Radio Drama Script.

Joanne’s second play IN TWO MINDS was produced by Fishamble: The New Play Company in 2023 as part of Dublin Theatre Festival and won the 2023 Green Room Award for Best New Play. It ran at the Traverse Theatre as part of Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2024 where it enjoyed a slew of 4 and 5-star reviews and was nominated for The Mental Health Foundation Fringe Award. It had an Off-Broadway run in New York’s 59E59 theatre earlier this year where it was nominated for Best Production in the First Irish Festival.

Joanne is currently developing a number of new theatre and screen projects.

Rían Smith

Rían Smith is a writer and script doctor from Dublin, Ireland. He is a graduate of the National Film School at IADT, having majored in Screenwriting. He has worked across many genres and tones, from horror to comedy to social-realism, telling the stories of vampires, the marginalised, and of a magic postman and his robot sidekick. In his own work, he writes about people finding connection in the darkest of places. He also loves to write stories about liars – spies, thieves, people having affairs.

His plays have been shortlisted for such awards as The Papatango Prize, Theatre 503’s International Playwriting Award, and RTÉ’s PJ O’Connor Award for Radio Drama (his radio play THE BOY IN THE BASEMENT was produced by RTÉ, starring Stephen Jones and Seána Kerslake). In 2024, he was selected for Screen Ireland Spotlight: Stage to Screen, where he developed his feature-length anarchic thriller script THE WINDOW SMASHER. In 2025, he participated in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Writers’ Voices as part of their Belfast hub, and was selected as part of Storyhouse Lab. Most recently, he was chosen for the Greenlight Screenwriting Lab, run by Philip Shelley, on which he is developing a psychological thriller pilot.   

Sasha Smyth

Sasha Smyth is a screenwriter from County Down who writes drama and emotionally grounded speculative fiction. Her work explores themes of memory, identity, and survival, often set in imagined futures that remain deeply human.

A native of County Down, she is driven to tell Northern Irish stories that haven’t yet been heard through narratives shaped by place, history, and a voice that is both personal and political. Her debut feature film script, THE LAST PASSENGER, placed in the top 9% of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Writers Open Call 2024. Her ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Voices project, WE ARE THE MOMENT, is a sci-fi inflected relationship drama set in a near-future Northern Ireland where memories can be edited, erased, or replayed via neural implant. The story examines heartbreak, collective memory, and the courage to move forward.

Sasha holds a Diploma of Higher Education in Film Studies and Screenwriting with Merit from the University of Winchester. Outside of writing, she enjoys sipping whiskey, story-driven games like The Last of Us, and rewatching Derry Girls, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Say Nothing. She’s always chasing stories that leave a mark.