Today Climate Spring announced the cohort of The Hot House 2026 writers’ development lab, this year focusing on world building stories and regenerative storyworld design.
Six new, original pitches will now be created, as the writers have entered an 8-week development phase to work on their long-form TV and feature films ideas. Each project will receive £2,000 from Climate Spring alongside tailored editorial and high-level industry support. As part of the process, Greenacre Films has been paired with Rory D. Bentley on his project SHIELING.
Launched in 2022, The Hot House is Climate Spring’s flagship development programme for nurturing fresh voices and climate stories in film and television. The programme aims to stimulate a pipeline of new, engaging and commercially viable climate stories for film and TV, whilst offering industry exposure and development support to screenwriting talent.
Shieling by Rory D. Bentley (Feature Film): A protopian survival story set approximately fifty years in the future, on the remote northern coast of Scotland.
Rory D. Bentley
Rory D. Bentley is an award-winning writer-director of British-Punjabi heritage, from Leicester and Edinburgh. His feature Amrit, supported by the BFI and casting with Shaheen Baig (ADOLESCENCE), was selected for the BBC Films, BFI and Creative UK iFeatures programme. His series CUTH – Just A Little Bit Brown was selected for the Independent Film Trust x Sony Pictures UK-USA Creative Corridor. He is an alumnus of BBC Writersroom: Scottish Voices.
His 16mm short SURPRI-! premiered at BFI London Film Festival and won Best Super Short at the British Short Film Awards. His 8mm short Jamella, starring Jamie Demetriou, won first prize at Straight 8. His shorts have screened at BAFTA and Academy qualifying festivals including Edinburgh, Cork, Palm Springs and Flickerfest. He served as Second Unit Director on Raine Allen-Miller’s RYE LANE (BFI, Searchlight).
