Screenwriter, Navy Veteran and Military Advisor to Film & TV, Dee Chilton, loves to create intriguing, realistic characters of any gender and diversity, but particularly women in female-led stories with a focus on thriller, action and military stories. She is currently working on a feature film screenplay commission from Silver Reel & MediaMusical and was recently commissioned to write two audio drama episodes for Inkjockey’s series The End of the Line. Previously two of her original feature screenplays have been optioned and five of her short film scripts have been produced (three from commissions) with three more in pre-production. One of her produced short films won an award at the British Screenwriters’ Awards.
Dee has won a FilmarketHub TV Pilot Contest and received a special mention for another Series Pilot, and won a ‘New Blood’ Feature Competition, with a script included on the ‘Blood List’. She’s an ‘Athena List’ Finalist, Vertigo Entertainment Award Finalist, an Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition, Academy Nicholl Fellowship and The Writers Lab UK & Ireland Semifinalist. She was a selectee to attend a Black List/Athena Writers Lab in New York as well as various other prestigious mentoring/emerging talent initiatives in the UK and US.
| Television (specs): | |
|---|---|
| Amber |
As Amber O’Neil of the Major, Serious and Organised Crime team (a Manchester-based specialist unit within the British Transport Police) investigates a murder, she is drawn into a toxic relationship with a forensic psychologist, that triggers a dormant predator to kill again, and threatens her life… Pilot script for a returning series. |
| Undercurrent |
A career-driven Navy Police Special Investigator is assigned to lead a new team and handed a ‘poisoned chalice’ case. With all eyes on her, she’s under pressure to close the case simply and quickly, but are things as simple as everyone wants them to be… Pilot script for a returning series. |
| Feature film (in development): | |
|---|---|
| Untitled | Silver Reel & MediaMusical Feature film screenplay commission 1 x 90’ |
| Darken Ship (optioned) | Project with director Fiona Ashe A self-doubting Naval Engineering Officer must battle for her sanity and her life, when she is trapped aboard a damaged, empty warship where she killed four members of her crew in order to save the rest of the ship during a catastrophic fire. SELECTED: Black List / Athena Film Festival Writers’ Mini-Lab 2016 (one of four) WINNER: ‘New Blood’ competition and included on ‘The Blood List’ (one of six) FINALIST: Austin Film Festival Vertigo Entertainment Award (one of ten) SEMI-FINALIST: Academy Nicholl Fellowships |
| Audio drama (produced): | |
|---|---|
| The End of The Line | Inkjockey Commissioned to write two episodes of the podcast fiction series about how we treat women who don’t have kids. Season 2: Jenny, 1 x 15’ Season 3: Roz, 1 x 15’ |
| Feature film (specs): | |
|---|---|
| The Gorge | A guilt-ridden former Army Officer, held responsible for the death of her whole squad, reluctantly takes command of another team and uses her survival skills to try and save them, after discovering they’ve all been targeted as prey for an elite team of ex-military cannibals running a faux escape and evasion competition. |
| Non-Binary Code | Having witnessed an assassination, a teenage girl is falsely accused of being a terrorist and must outrun the police and fight to clear her name before she becomes the killer’s next victim. |
| The Grey Escape | A cantankerous old tough guy reveals his true colours, a Special Ops background, wreaking havoc to lead fellow residents in escaping the murderous warden of a home. |
| Arcadian | An illegally pregnant Policewoman leads an escape from a strict regime where unlicensed childbirth is a crime punishable by death. |
| Short film (produced): | |
|---|---|
| Music to Die For | As humanity faces extinction, a dedicated radio announcer remains at her post for her all friends; even the invisible ones. WINNER: Impact50 Best Film Award – British Screenwriters’ Awards 2018 WINNER: Create50 Impact film competition SELECTED: LSWF Actors Table Read |
| Change Step |
Script commission by Armed Forces Covenant, Somerset Film & NHS SW A military veteran, finding it tough to deal with his transition back to ‘civvie’, is shown the way by someone who’s forged his own ‘unique’ gateway into this new world. Semifinalist: HollyShorts Screenwriting Competition. |
| One Last Outro |
A Welsh radio announcer goes out of her way ensure she is there for her friends at the end, even the invisible ones.
Winner: Accolade Global Film Competition – Best Short Film Award Winner: Accolade Global Film Competition – Women Filmmakers Award Finalist: Carmarthen Bay Film Festival – Best Short Film Made in Wales |
| H2Oh |
A young girl reassures her mother that life will go on, even after all humanity is wiped out. Included in the feature film The Impact which premiered in May 2022. Winner: Create50 Impact film competition. |
| About Face | Script commission – Armed Forces Covenant, Somerset Film & NHS SW As he transitions into a Mime Artist, a Royal Marine reflects upon how we all hide behind a mask. |
| Short film (in development): | |
|---|---|
| Alarm Belle | Two women who despise what each other stands for are trapped in an ancient broken down lift. Will either of them come out alive? |
| Soldiering On | A close-knit village comes to appreciate the horrors of war, and surviving it, when the death of a colourful local character causes mayhem. |
| Selected awards, nominations and training: | |
|---|---|
| Finalist: BBC Wales/S4C ‘It’s My Shout’ initiative. | |
| Selected for the Black List / Athena Film Festival Mini-Lab 2016 (one of four writers to attend). | |
| Awarded a bursary to complete John Yorke’s Professional Writers’ Academy Screenwriting course. | |
| Selected for the Creative Skillset / LSWF Talent Campus. | |
| Selected for the BBC Writers’ Room Screenwriting Masterclass. | |
| Selected for numerous LSWF initiatives, including Barbara Machin’s ‘Crime Writers’ Room’ and Joe Eszterhas’s ‘Writing for Hollywood’ mentoring labs. |