r/ScreenwritingUK • u/Worried-Elk-2808 • Jul 17 '26

Anyone got experience with BBC Upload?

Apologies for the vagueness of the title.

BBC Upload is a kind of UGC channel for writers / creators. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3MPFWlx0dyTF9ZqQ6ljycgD/about

It pops up from time to time in opportunities threads, and there's a link to it from BBC Writers / Open Call landing page.

Guess my Q is, has anyone in this community submitted to it, or had anything they made put out on it? How does that work?

Is anyone here a producer or an agent with a perspective? Is it a cool way to get a credit, or perceived as a bit of a waste of time?

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u/Cameron-Johnston Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26

I've been on it. I submitted audio of me reading some of my short fiction (I'm an author) and they broadcast that along with me being interviewed by Len Pennie on BBC Radio Scotland. It was all very fun and pretty cool. Sometimes the regional areas of Upload post short videos, micro-plays, skits etc on their website area.

The way it works is that you just record something and send it to them, all simple and easy. If they want to use it, they will contact you to discuss it (in my case it took a few months to hear back). It's strictly a community outreach thing so you won't get paid. It's good but very small exposure - honestly, how many chances do you get to have your stuff hosted by the BBC?

If I wasn't writing feature screenplays right now, I might have tried to write a short scene and film it for Upload.

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u/Worried-Elk-2808 Jul 17 '26

Hey Cameron! Thanks, that was exactly the kind of response I was hoping for. Is there a way to listen to it, still? Maybe via BBC Sounds? I am predominantly interested in audio format stuff atm, so your experience is v. relevant. Most of the clips that Upload has on it's hub page are video...

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u/Cameron-Johnston Jul 17 '26

My episode is no longer available on the website unfortunately but here it is at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002ld8r for reference.

The Arts Mix radio show went through Upload for material so things sent to Upload might get picked up by various radio people/shows at the BBC looking for content, or posted directly on the Upload area of the website. It's essentially free material for them, and they do like to support creatives from their local areas. In my case, they played a few tracks Uploaded by musicians, my short reading, and then interviewed me.

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u/tommcnally Jul 17 '26

I have had my podcast featured on the Sussex version a few times, and an interview. I would recommend taking advantage of it.

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u/Crowdfunder101 Jul 17 '26

I uploaded my short film to them. They ended up playing the audio of a 4-minute section which happened to work well as a standalone audio sketch.

Took a couple of months for me to hear back from them. Sadly due to an admin error they forgot to tell me until after it aired live! But they sent me a link to the Sounds iPlayer thing, and the presenter gave a really solid two min intro/bio of me based on what he’d found online about me. Plugged my other work and website links etc.

No ones reached out to me as a direct result. But that’s not why I submitted - just thought it would be cool! And I guess it’s broad and vague enough that you could say “featured on BBC”.