AUSTIN LOW
Author, Playwright & Screenwriter

As an author, stage and television writer, Austin has written one novel, over seven hours of television and 16 plays / live shows. His specialities are comedy, drama and science fiction.

In 2014 Austin graduated from Glasgow Caledonian University with a Masters in TV Fiction Writing. He won a personal scholarship from executive producer, Brian Park, of Shed Media, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Austin passed with distinction and his final project, the science fiction drama MIRROR, DARKLY, under the mentorship of renowned producer Mal Young, was awarded the MATV Script of the Year Award. He also had his original TV drama, IMPORT/EXPORT, shortlisted for the Red Planet Prize 2012.

Austin was the creator of the ZOMBIE SCIENCE stage series, a trilogy of spoof lectures and tutorials that combined genuine science with character based comedy and survival horror. The first of these shows, ZOMBIE SCIENCE 1Z was commissioned in 2010, and toured UK theatres, quickly gathering five star reviews and a cult following. Publisher, Severed Press, approached Austin to write a novel based on the show, published in 2011. The subsequent shows, WORST CASE SCENARIO (2012) and BRAIN OF THE DEAD (2014) found even greater success with the former headlining the legendary SCI-FI WEEKENDER event in front of over 2,000 people and the latter achieving a sold out run at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival 2014.

Austin had his first break on television in 2007 after being talent spotted by a producer from BBC Scotland whilst performing stand up at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival. He was hired as a staff writer for upcoming celebrity sketch show, HEDZ, writing over 70 sketches for the hugely popular series; going on to win two BAFTA awards. This led to multiple TV commissions, including; NINA & THE NEURONS, GET 100, and LAZY TOWN. In 2009, Austin’s first original series, the stop-motion sketch show OOGLIES, was commissioned by CBBC for two 13 episode series and went on to be nominated for a BAFTA, Celtic Media Award and the Priz Jeunesse International 2010.

His career began in 2004 when two of Austin’s online comedy sketches were purchased for the series ONLINE NATION by CW Network, USA and his first play CHE GUEVARA ON THE FRINGE debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The play, an Orwellian adaptation of Evita, had sold out audiences and met with critical acclaim from publications including The Scotsman, who described it as, " "the funniest treatise on festival funding arrangements you'll probably ever see".