Exclusive: The Oslo Showrunner Summit unveils new Vision Award

Bloodline

London-headquartered consultancy MediaXchange is to launch a new award at The Oslo Showrunner Summit later this month that will recognise an up-and-coming lead writer or showrunner from the region.

The Vision Award recipient will be selected by a jury of six leading industry showrunners and writers, including The Oslo Showrunner Summit country representatives from host nation Norway.

The monetary award has been gifted by Bloodline creator Todd A. Kessler and is intended to encourage a talented writer to further pursue their career. It will be presented by Oslo Showrunner Summit keynote speaker and Homeland co-creator Howard Gordon during the welcome reception of the event on September 24.

Kessler said: “Starting out in a career always has its challenges and being around people who are living it and not just talking about it hugely inspired me when I began my writing/producing/directing career.

“The Oslo Showrunner Summit uniquely captures this spirit, bringing together a wide range of showrunners to share their knowledge from the frontlines of production. Helping remove a possible financial obstacle for a talented writer/future showrunner to benefit from the experiences of current showrunners will hopefully kick start the evolution of their own career as a showrunner.”

The Oslo Showrunner Summit, revealed by TBI in August, will take place on September 25 during Oslo Series Days, and includes a program featuring local and visiting experts who will share their experience and knowledge of creative processes and techniques with delegates.

Katrina Wood, CEO of MediaXchange, added: “The Oslo Showrunner Summit is a forum to bring together lead writers and showrunners to distil the best practices from the varied creative models for this important role.

“As an industry we’re all so aware of the need to support and encourage the next generation and we are enormously grateful to Todd and our jury for helping us to put that in motion.”