Wattpad and Screen Queensland collaborate on new opportunity

15.07.20

Online storytelling platform Wattpad has announced a new collaboration with Screen Queensland which will offer up to three Queensland writers or writing teams the opportunity to write and produce a trailer or pilot for a TV/film adaptation.

Developed in Canada, Wattpad began as an app for readers, featuring free and paid stories. Like a combination of a fan-fiction site and Goodreads, any writer can upload a story, which users can then read, rate, review, and comment upon. Now, with a reported audience of over 70 million users globally, and successful TV/film adaptations of stories such as After, and The Kissing Booth, Wattpad has become a multi-platform entertainment company, funding its own film projects and publishing stories via Wattpad Books. 

The partnership between Wattpad and Screen Queensland will offer Queensland writers and screen industry creatives the opportunity to pitch their ‘take’ on one of three popular Young Adult stories from the app. Writers must provide a pitch outlining how they would translate that story to screen, and up to three of these concepts will be selected for further development, with $50,000 investment from Screen Queensland.

Opening and closing dates for applications are yet to be announced - further details about the opportunity can be found here.

While some writers who have published their work on Wattpad have found an audience for their work and achieved success through offers of publication by traditional publishers, offers of publication from Wattpad Books, inclusion in the Paid Stories program, or TV/film adaptation of their work, the vast majority of stories on the platform are uploaded and delivered freely. It is unclear what authors are paid for their work when they are selected for the Paid Stories program, and the ASA is yet to hear back from Wattpad about royalties and contracts for Wattpad Books and their TV/film projects. For more information about Wattpad, click here.