Orthodox writer Jez Freedman has been honoured with the Sir Peter Ustinov award for television scriptwriting.

The award is handed out annually by the International Academy of TV Arts & Sciences to non-American novice writers under the age of 30. It is designed to offer recognition and encouragement, and help winners to pursue successful TV careers.

Mr Freedman, 29, will be presented with the $2,500 prize at the International Emmy awards gala dinner in New York later this month, where his prize-winning script, The Storyteller, will be given a public reading. "I hope this will give my career a real boost, or at the very least, a nudge in the right direction," Mr Freedman tells People.

Graduating from London's Westminster University, he went on to complete a master's degree in screenwriting at the London College of Communications. He has since set up his own scriptwriting and reading company and regularly blogs, offering advice to other would-be TV script-writers. Last year, he was shortlisted for the Red Planet prize, a top screenwriting award in the UK for a fictionalised drama based on the exploits of the 43 Group -- an anti-fascist organisation set up by Jewish ex-servicemen after the war.
But he is particularly proud of his latest triumph. "Winning this award is certainly my biggest achievement to date," he says.

Home is in Edgware, North London, where he attends Netzach Yisroel.