This is
Rían Smith’s Website

he claims to be a Writer, Dramaturg, and Script Editor

Who does he think he is?

I’m a writer, dramaturg, script editor, and sometimes script doctor, for TV, Film, and Theatre.

I’ve worked across many genres and tones, on shows for adults and children, from horror to comedy to social-realism, telling the stories of vampires, the marginalised, and of a magic postman and his robot sidekick.

In my own work, I tell stories about people finding hope and connection in the darkest places.

I love storytelling and the process of making a narrative experience as compelling as possible.

Things he says he’s done

  • Education / Early Career

    I studied Film and TV Production at the National Film School in IADT. Loved it. From there, I read scripts for companies such as RTÉ, Vico Films, Samson Films, and Fantastic Films, developing my dramaturgical skills. Loved it. After moving to New York, and working for multi-platform companies Triptyk Studios and Talos Films (and skipping meals to afford Broadway tickets), I fell in love with theatre.

  • Dramaturgy / Script Consultancy

    I’ve been continually involved in helping creative teams to develop their projects. I’ve worked as an external consultant for Irish Film/TV company ParkFilms, and then for many years at Industrial Scripts (a leading script consultancy firm in the UK). However, my favourite project has been with Macalla Teo, joining a 4-person team to develop Dizzy Deliveries, a show centred on teaching and normalising the early-age Irish sign language Lámh. 
I am currently Literary and New Work Associate at the Abbey Theatre, engaging with new and upcoming writers. (If you’ve submitted a script to the Abbey in the last 3 years, I’ve probably read it.)

  • Writing

    * Selected for BBC Writers Voices 2025, as part of the Belfast hub.

    * Selected for Greenlight Screenwriting Lab 2025, ran by Philip Shelley (of the Channel 4 Screenwriting Course), for the National Talent Academy Film & TV, in association with Danú Media and Greasán na Meán Skillnet.

    * Selected for Storyhouse Lab 2025, an intensive writing week (co-ran by Element Pictures), with guidance from Creative Mentor Malcolm Campbell.

    * Selected for Screen Ireland’s Stage to Screen Spotlight Scheme 2024, on which I developed my anarchic political thriller The Window Smasher.

    My prior writing work includes:

    * The family drama Broken Light (selected for the 2019 Lyric Theatre Belfast’s New Playwrights Programme).

    * The comedy radio play The Boy in the Basement (placed 3rd in the 2019 RTÉ PJ O’Connor Awards for Radio Drama, and reached the top 1% of the 2020 BBC’s Comedy Writers Room scheme) https://www.rte.ie/radio/podcasts/21717528-the-boy-in-the-basement-by-rian-smith/

    * The existential thriller The Only Way (shortlisted for the 2020 Theatre503 International Playwriting Award).

    * The radio drama Endless (shortlisted for the 2021 Papatango Prize).

    * The tiny play Incomplete (published by Fishamble).

    * Worked as a script doctor for Industrial Scripts, reworking scripts, several of which have been theatrically released.

    * Worked across many episodes of children’s TV shows Bright Sparks and Dizzy Deliveries.