Writing for Performance

The Blaine Brothers Award Nominated Short Films

2011-12-05T12:00:00.002Z

"0507" was nominated for the British Independent Film Awards last night. It was also nominated for the Christopher Wetzel Award at the Just For Laughs Festival and been selected for festivals such as Austin Film Festival, Roof Top Films (NY), LA Comedy Shorts and Shanghai International.

Also check out “The Maestro”, starring Robert Bathurst as Beethoven, at the BBC Comedy website. It has already picked up a nomination for the Aesthetica Short Film Festival shortlist.

Blaine Brothers YouTube channel

Back Up Your Data Day (01/12/2011)

2011-12-01T13:25:00.001Z

It's the first of the month which means it's Back Up Your Data Day (although it should be done day-to-day!).

We can also use this day to delete stuff we no longer need and de-fragment our hard drive(s) to keep our machine lean and clean - if you know what I mean?

Windows guide to defragmenting
Mac guide to defragmenting

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15 Amazing Apps for File Storage in the Cloud

"In a new age of online solutions, it didn’t take long for a diverse range of internet entrepreneurs to target one of the most common problems for almost every computer user; hard drive failure. Suddenly, someone had the idea of allowing people to backup their files in the cloud and the rest is history.

I’ve brought together the best revolutionary new apps that allow you to store your precious files in the cloud and (in some cases) even share them with others!"

Article in full

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A reminder about Matt's simple and effective back-up:

"I have never been able to get the hang of proper backup software and procedures. I always end up getting into a complete pickle about the various full backups, interim backups and how the bloody hell I'd back everything up if my hard-drive became shot with the backup software on it. So these days I just have a complete clone of My Documents on a portable drive and use Microsoft's Synctoy to keep the files up to date."

However I would suggest backing up your entire Documents and Settings folder and not just the My Documents part of it as it which would include emails and favourites/bookmarks. This link has more details.

I asked Lee about the Mac equivalent:

"Things like emails, bookmarks, fonts, templates, RSS feeds, Applescripts - anything used by an application, but not created by it when you hit Save - are kept in your Home folder, in the Library. In Mac speak, that's ~/Library. Apple apps such as Mail, Safari, and iTunes may have their own folders. Non-Apple apps like NetNewsWire, Montage, Final Draft, Scrivener etc, will keep all their stuff in ~/Library/Application Support. The truly paranoid might want to back up their preference files as well. I know I do. These are in ~/Library/Preferences.

For safety's sake, back up the entire Library folder, it's probably only a few hundred megs."

There are also mac apps: Jason Sutton recommended: Time Machine and Sam recommended Genie Timeline.

Thank you Matt, Lee, Jason and Sam!

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Don't delay, do it today. It's Back Up Your Data Day, hooray!

Script Reader Gripes

2011-10-03T13:32:00.003+01:00

Script Reader Gripes: #1 What does your character want? Apart from a re-write.

"Ask any script reader and if they are being honest they will tell you that the majority of scripts they read are poor (read like first drafts and by page ten the reader wishes they had been good at maths at school), the rest are average (readable, competent but dull) and the small minority are works of genius. Script readers read a lot and they can go months without reading a script that stands out.

Before the writers among you see us script readers as the enemy and a whiny bunch at that, remember this - as a writer you should also be a script reader. If you don't read and analyse other peoples' scripts, (whether you are getting paid or not) you are doing yourself a serious injustice.

You can learn from the good scripts but I always think you can learn much more from the bad - and that is what these 'Script Reader Gripes' posts are going to aim to achieve; an insight into the lessons that can be learnt from years spent reading those bad/average scripts."

Read more

Script Reader Gripes: #2 A little goes a long way.

"Often in scripts the little things get over-looked but when you add them all up those little things become big fat hair-pulling things of super annoyance. This is my own personal list of 'little things' that get in the way when reading scripts. You may have written the best script the world has ever seen, so please don't blight it with the following..."

Read more

Follow the writer on Twitter

A Day In The Life of John Lasseter

2011-07-17T09:52:00.001+01:00

YouTube

Movie Checklist

2011-06-01T13:04:00.005+01:00

Here's a quick Movie Checklist - make sure you know the answers to these questions before you write your treatment.

Title:
Genre:
Goal:
Arc:
What’s the wound/flaw which has prevented my character from achieving this arc before the beginning of this story?
How does my characters appearance/speech/environment change to reflect this character arc?
Character’s name:
Rough age:
Poor/middle/rich:
Expertise of the movie:
Intriguing relationship in the film:
How does this relationship change as my character moves through his/her character arc?
What is the hook? Describe the front titles sequence.
What am I going to set up in the first ten pages?
What’s the inciting incident and how is this going to be shown in a dramatic way on screen?
What’s my character’s problem at the end of Act I?
What’s my character’s goal at the end the beginning of Act 2?
What’s my character’s plan to achieve this goal at the beginning of Act 2?
Make a list of things which are going to go wrong.
How does my character’s plan change as he/she’s confronted with each obstacle?
At the mid-point on page 60, what happens in the scene during which my character realises ‘there’s no turning back’ on his/her character arc.
By page 75, what’s the list of things that have gone wrong so that my character is feeling as hopeless, miserable as I can possible make him/her? The death scene, do I need one?
At the beginning of Act 3, what final, incredible plan does my character make not only to save himself or herself, but, now, to save the community, the world, in fact the entire universe?
What’s the amazing climactic sequence at the end of the film?
What’s my character’s reward for achieving his/her character arc?
What happens in the ‘breathing space’ end credits sequence?
What the point of my film? What’s it say about the world in which we live? What’s the premise?
My film described in three short sentences.
NOW DRAW THE POSTER.

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Via:

Roundtable Discussion with the Coen Brothers

2011-05-21T09:58:00.001+01:00

Talking Funny

2011-04-25T10:03:00.002+01:00

Comedy's biggest names — Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Ricky Gervais, and Louis CK — sit down for a revealing (and hilarious) chat on this HBO special. The four stand-up legends get serious about comedy, discussing how they first got into the business, the merits of on-stage profanity, and the science behind getting a laugh.

John Sullivan - 23/12/1946 - 23/04/2011

2011-04-23T14:13:00.005+01:00

Obituaries

Guardian

Telegraph

Independent

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John Sullivan: A master of comedy - Telegraph

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Only Fools and Horses writer John Sullivan OBE dies - BBC News

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John Sullivan - Wikipedia

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John Sullivan interviews - BBC

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John Sullivan Interview on Rock & Chips - OFAH.net

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John Sullivan Green, Green Grass interview - Times

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Sullivan's Del Boy doubts - The Sun

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The Making of Only Fools and Horses: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

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Just Good Friends YouTube playlist

Stuck in the Middle of your Screenplay?

2011-04-19T13:12:00.005+01:00

by Fenella Greenfield

Central character emigrated to Zanzibar?

Most exciting plot point collapsed into 'Who wins the Knitting Competition?'

Kitchen floor been washed so much you can see the joists through the threadbare lino?

Here are ten ways to come un-stuck when you've come unstuck:

Abandon the middle and go to the end.

Write the last scene. And then the second-to-last. And so on. In other words, go backwards for a bit. If you're lucky you'll bump into yourself writing forwards and bingo! Finished screenplay!

Stuck for some plot?

Try re-telling your story from the point-of-view of a couple of the secondary characters. What happens when they're the central character? This usually generates new plot.

Stuck on your Character Arc?

In two columns describe what your character LOOKS LIKE at the beginning of the story and, in the second column, by the end. How has their hair-style changed? How do they dress by the end of the film? Visual changes will give you clues to their emotional change. If they look identical you've got a problem - put them in totally different clothes and ask, 'What would have had to have happened for them to change their look to this?'.

Buy some post-its.

Throw out your index cards and buy some post-its. Using different colours, summarise the plot, goal and character arc in short story beats then stick them up on your wall. Your entire screenplay structure will be on display and the faults will be easier to spot. If you suffer from insomnia because you wake, every night, with a brilliant idea for a brand-new screenplay, which is ten times better than the one you're working on at the moment, stick the post-its on your bedroom wall; when your brain sees how much work it is to complete a screenplay it will go straight back to sleep and never wake you in the middle of the night again.

Buy an expensive notebook.

Half way through Act Two you can become disheartened if you feel your writing's getting sloppy. So get sloppy on the computer, but in your brand-new, leather-bound, cost-a-packet notebook, re-craft those sloppy scenes in your best handwriting (enhanced by the brand-new, cost-a-packet fountain pen you just bought for the purpose). Make sure these scenes are the High Art you know you're capable of - to be typed back into your computer when you need some serious displacement activity The computer equals THE VOMIT DRAFT; the brand-new notebook equals RETAIL THERAPY.

Do different writing tasks at different times of the day.

If you find you're rewriting the first 30pp endlessly rather than getting on with Act Two try allocating jobs to different times of the day. Over your lunch-break you're allowed to fiddle with Act One to your heart's content; after supper you've got to fill blank pages.

Write in half-hour chunks.

If you've got a day job, it's hard to find time to write. Instead of saying to yourself, 'I'll write for four hours every evening when I get home from work', or 'I'll take an exotic holiday in the Caribbean and write for eight hours every day while I'm there', say, 'I'll write for half-an-hour when I get up and half-an-hour when the kids are in bed'. That's an hour - and if you're writing a page an hour in three months you've written a draft of a screenplay.

Write in ten-page chunks.

Sometimes when you're on page 30, page 120 can seem like the other side of the universe. So instead of promising yourself an exotic holiday in the Carribean when you've finished your script, promise yourself a luxury gift every time you get to the end of a ten-page chunk. The benefit of doing this? Twelve holidays instead of just one . . .

Keep to a rigorous timetable.

Always, always write at the same time every day - because even if you don't want to write, your brain will kick into gear. This is because Brains are creatures of habit, whereas Human Beings are lazy slobs who'd far rather be surfing YouTube.

Write something! Anything!

If you're stuck, write shopping-lists, write your Oscar-winning speech, but write something, anything. Maths is good: working out how much you spend on breakfast muffins every month soon bores you enough to get you back to work.

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via

Courses and Events

Developing your career

When Harry Met Sally 2

2011-04-08T10:40:00.000+01:00

When Harry Met Sally 2 with Billy Crystal & Helen Mirren from Billy Crystal

Script Frenzy

2011-03-29T08:00:00.000+01:00

Script Frenzy is an international writing event in which participants attempt the daring feat of writing 100 pages of scripted material in the month of April. As part of a donation-funded nonprofit, Script Frenzy charges no fee to participate; there are also no valuable prizes awarded or "best" scripts singled out. Every writer who completes the goal of 100 pages is victorious and awe-inspiring and will receive a handsome Script Frenzy Winner's Certificate and web icon proclaiming this fact.

Even those who fall short of the word goal will be applauded for making a heroic attempt. Really, you have nothing to lose—except that nagging feeling that there's a script inside you that may never get out.

The 5 Basic Rules of Script Frenzy

1) To be crowned an official Script Frenzy winner, you must write a script (or multiple scripts) of at least 100 total pages and verify this tally on ScriptFrenzy.org.

2) You may write individually or in teams of two. Writer teams will have a 100-page total goal for their co-written script or scripts.

3) Script writing may begin no earlier than 12:00:01 AM on April 1 and must cease no later than 11:59:59 PM on April 30, local time.

4) You may write screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, comic book and graphic novel scripts, adaptations of novels, or any other type of script your heart desires.

5) You must, at some point, have ridiculous amounts of fun.

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Script Frenzy How to Guides

"Don't Look Back", advice by Alex Epstein

How To Comedy Videos

2011-03-28T09:00:00.002+01:00

How To Be a Stand-Up Comedian on Howcast

How To Write a Joke on Howcast

How To Tell a Joke on Howcast

How To Overcome Stage Fright on Howcast

Movie Titles in Movies

2011-03-21T12:21:00.000Z

Free complete university screenwriting course

2011-03-09T08:00:00.000Z

"Our screenwriting unit is designed to build your knowledge about story telling and focuses on the writing of TV, radio, short film and feature film scripts. Whilst primarily dealing with forms of dramatic fiction, you'll also look at documentary and documentary drama. You'll analyse different forms of script writing and screen writing, the elements they have in common and the specific tools that can help to deliver better scripts in each medium." University College Falmouth » Courses » MA Professional Writing » Screenwriting Unit

h/t Filmmaker IQ

"The Test of Fear - Just a girl in a hotel corridor"

2011-03-06T21:36:00.002Z

Hidden camera show shows the importance of tropes. The audience is already pre-scared.

The UK film industry's leading mentoring programme is open for applications

2011-02-17T21:03:00.003Z

Guiding Lights, the UK film industry's leading mentoring programme, is now open for applications.

We're delighted to be running the scheme for a fourth time and are looking for twelve writers, directors and producers who would benefit from the support of a high-level industry mentor to help them move to the next level in their careers. Previous mentors include Danny Boyle, Sam Mendes, Barbara Broccoli, Alex Garland, Kenneth Branagh, Alison Owen and Kevin Macdonald.

The deadline for applications is 2pm Friday 11 March.

A call out for applications is attached. We are pro-actively seeking applications from all sections of the community across the UK so it would be fantastic if you could please help disseminate this information to anyone you think might be suitable and would benefit from this type of high-level professional development support.

Further information about Guiding Lights, including previous participant case studies and FAQs can be found at http://www.guiding-lights.org.uk>

Interested candidates already familiar with Guiding Lights should be aware that a number of changes have been made to the scheme. Details of these are contained in the guidelines on the Guiding Lights website.

Screenwriting Tips free ebook

2011-01-23T19:00:00.000Z

"A selection of blog posts by script reader Lucy V Hay on various craft & feedback issues that may affect your draft screenplay"

Screenwriting tips

Shine Pictures announces Big Idea winners

2011-01-11T13:20:00.002Z

(Via Screen Daily)

"Shine Pictures, the joint film venture between the UK’s Kudos Pictures and US producer-distributor New Regency, has announced the two winners of its ‘Big Idea’ screenwriting competition.

Nick Alderton & Sam Callis’ romantic comedy Three Nights In Fiction and Stephen Keyworth’s sci-fi screenplay Youngstown have been chosen from over 700 entries. Both winning projects will receive $39,0000 (£25,000) towards developing their screenplays into features, with the help of the Shine Pictures development team.

The ‘Big Idea’ competition was launched in September. Sci-fi and Fantasy concepts were the most popular submissions accounting for 35% of entries, followed by romantic comedies (28%), action adventure (22%) and family comedies (15%).

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According to those stats, there was no drama submitted or such a small amount it wasn't worth adding up.

Lots of people in the industry recommend not writing drama for features. However, while there's no doubt it's a hard genre to sell and unlikely to do bumper blockbuster box office, there is a sizeable audience for it. If the drama is cheap then it can still make a huge profit.

127 Hours linkage

2011-01-02T15:15:00.001Z

Book extract
The extraordinary story behind 127 Hours - Guardian

Daily Telegraph director interview
Guardian set visit
Independent on Sunday director interview

Screenplay

Win, Luck and Fail Video Compilations

2011-01-01T09:24:00.003Z

Win

Luck

Fail

Viewfinder - recommended aspiring filmmakers

2010-12-17T09:00:00.001Z

Viewfinder is the Black List inspired list of aspiring filmmakers. It gathers together the most recommended short films/commercials/music videos.

THE RAVEN - 720 HD from THE RAVEN FILM on Vimeo.

That film is the most recommended. Watch the others here.

Filmography 2010

2010-12-14T17:46:00.002Z

"This year's movies have legitimately transformed my idea of what is creatively possible. To commemorate, I've remixed 270 of them into one giant ass video."- Genrocks

Music:
1. Ratatat - Nostrand - http://tinyurl.com/2ahhhj9
2. Kanye West - Power - http://tinyurl.com/27mpo83
3. Rooney - Not In My House - http://tinyurl.com/23vpakx
4. Apartment - Fall Into Place - http://tinyurl.com/2fnsnkc
5. Civil Twilight - Letters from the Sky - http://tinyurl.com/2fwrlys
6. SUNBEARS! - Little Baby Pines - http://tinyurl.com/26d9brn

Films in order of appearance: http://tinyurl.com/2g3p6bs

BBC Comedy Writing Comp

2010-12-13T17:17:00.002Z

(via BBC writersroom)

Laughing Stock 2011

Bold, funny and original

BBC Writersroom and BBC Comedy Commissioning are joining forces in a nationwide competition to find new comedy gold. If you can invent characters that make us laugh out loud, tell stories that keep us on the edge of our seats, and tease the audience to come back for more, then we want to hear from you.

Write it, send it in - and you could be in line not just for a comedy masterclass but also an intensive week away developing your idea hand in hand with BBC comedy producers and established comedy writing talent. This is an opportunity not to be missed - if your idea leaps every hurdle then you may even get the chance of having your work performed at our Sitcom Showcase in the newly opened Studio in Media City, Salford.

The challenge is to write an original comedy script with series potential. We’re looking for writers that reflect modern Britain, comedy voices that have not yet been heard, and talent that’s just bursting to get out.

You will need to send us a script that’s between 15 – 30 minutes long and a one page outline of how your series would develop. The work must not have been previously commissioned, optioned or produced and this opportunity is for writers who have not yet had a network commission.

Judges:
Cheryl Taylor (Controller, Comedy Commissioning for the BBC)
Kate Rowland (Creative Director of New Writing for the BBC)
Writer, Simon Nye (Men Behaving Badly, Reggie Perrin, Doctor Who)

To enter, send your script and one page outline to:

Laughing Stock
BBC writersroom
Grafton House
379 Euston Road
London
NW1 3AU

CLOSING DATE: Monday February 21st 2011

MASTERCLASS: Tuesday 5th April in Manchester 2011

WINNERS ANNOUNCED on or before Tuesday 31st May 2011

RESIDENTIAL: w/c 6th June 2011

SITCOM FESTIVAL (in Salford) Sept 26th - 2nd Oct 2011

Read the full terms and conditions for Laughing Stock.

Amazon Studios replies

2010-11-24T23:11:00.001Z

About the Amazon Studios "Fine Print"

"Amazon Studios is serious about making movies. To do that, we need to have a contract with you, and that contract has to give us the option to buy the rights to make a movie. An option is the right to buy a script or movie. It is what producers typically offer writers whose scripts they want to produce. (If you have a long career as a screenwriter, you will become quite familiar with options.)

By uploading your original script or movie, you give Amazon Studios an exclusive option to buy it for $200,000. This lasts for 18 months (or 36 if we pay you $10,000 to extend it). During the option period, you keep your copyrights to your original script or movie. It is true that by giving us an exclusive option you cannot sell it to another producer in that 18 (or 36) months. However, if we don’t buy it in that period, then we lose our right to buy it from you and you can shop it around to other producers.

If we do buy your original script or movie, that money is on top of any awards that you may win for Amazon Studios contests (http://studios.amazon.com/contests). That award money is completely separate from rights payments.

*** We don’t own your original scripts or movies unless we buy them from you.***

If we release your original script or movie as a full budget theatrical film, you (and your writing partner, if any) will get the $200,000 option payment. As mentioned above, this is totally separate from any contest award money you may have received. If we pay you the $200,000 option payment, then we have purchased your original script or movie from you. If a movie based on your original script or movie earns $60 million at the US box office in its initial release, you get a further bonus of $400,000. The normal approach in option agreements is to give the writer a small “net profit” participation in the movie, which guarantees nothing. The bonus in our agreement is large and clear. If you pick up Variety one day and it says that the movie we released based on your original script or movie made $60 million at the US box office, then you will get $400,000.

*** There is no scenario where someone can claim any of your rights money by revising your original script or movie.***

If someone creates a revised version of an original script or movie, they may be eligible for up to 50% of any contest winnings. But rights payments are not shared. If a theatrical movie is released from an original script or movie on Amazon Studios, the creator of the original script or movie gets 100% of the rights payments. People who are revising material or making test movies are going for award money (which can be substantial) and are helping someone else get their movie made. But they are not sharing in the rights money. There’s a lot of award money for people who revise scripts or make test movies.

We’ve had some questions about the length of the option and whether it could be less than 18 months. The bottom line is that Amazon Studios is a process and it can take time. Getting feedback, having test movies made, seeing how the story plays on video, maybe revising if appropriate, will probably need more than a few months to play out. If you have someone who wants to produce your script as it is right now, and you think the script is ready for that, then you should probably see how that pans out before uploading to Amazon Studios.

This post is intended to be a helpful summary of some major points in the Development Agreement (http://studios.amazon.com/help/development-agreement) and Contest Rules (http://studios.amazon.com/help/contest-terms-and-procedures) but is not intended to replace reading them and is not a part of them. Please read them before submitting your scripts or movies."

I'm still not convinced. If "a small 'net profit' participation" is so bad, why not make it 'gross profit' then? Because it isn't about giving writers the best deal but the worst deal. Some of the comments demolish this statement but you also get others in support like this:

"Writers complain about no opportunities to break in, nobody is buying specs, there's no entry path for filmmakers into the business. Amazon shows up with 2.7 million to hand out to ... writers and filmmakers. With a path for some to production. With Warner Brothers on board for a first look.

Everyone complains it's not perfect. Well, don't enter.

I've spoken to writers in this contest with a long list of IMDB credits... Nicholl semifinalists. I've had two scripts optioned personally, won several contests, and have a feature headed into production. Judges will go through and sort out the material and see what has potential.

A shot at $20,000 plus $200,000 more if the film is made PLUS more if it's successful. That's a real opportunity to me.

I have no intention on moving to Los Angeles and working as a flunkie for ten years hoping to catch a break. How about I catch it here instead?

You don't like it, don't enter and good luck to you. But since you're one of those talented writers with a non-lame script, you don't need the luck part."

---------------------------------

Scamazon

Amazon Studios - selling writers down the river?

2010-11-21T18:36:00.007Z

I understand why the Amazon Studios contract might be tempting to professionals and pre-professionals, especially if we have a script that's been shopped around for a while without success and is just gathering dust in a drawer. But, in terms of writers' rights, they're taking the piss.

The more screenwriters who sign up to it, then the more Amazon Studios and other producers will think it's acceptable to take the piss.

One way to tell serious producers from time-wasting 'producers' is if they offer money to option your script or if they're happy to follow union-negotiated agreements. Rather than a fancy new way of doing things, Amazon Studios is just the old way of doing things in disguise. Don't be fooled because it's one of the biggest brands in the world and they dangle dollars in front of us.

The video pitch at Amazon Studios seems aimed at the outsider who is sick of being told they have to live in Hollywood or have an agent or have to use a particular email address to get ahead. At those who see the talentless thrive while the gatekeepers won't even open the gate to slam it in their face. They have a good story, dammit! One that will make a good movie. If only they could get their script read in the first place, they would have a chance.

And even if that script doesn't get chosen for production at Amazon Studios it could still win the writer a prize. They could even be paid for another 18 month option. It's a recession. Who would turn down free money?

I understand. It's being pro-active and positive about our careers but Amazon Studios are taking the piss. Writers in the past have fought hard and sacrificed for the rights we have now, we shouldn't discard them so easily.

Richard Stern says this on an Amazon Studios forum:

"Just playing devil's advocate here, but without the 18 month option, what happens to Amazon if your script gets read by 500 people on this site and optioned by a producer? They've basically funded a development board for other production companies, gratis. Or what happens if you're selected as a winner, but someone else swoops in and buys your screenplay before the award?

I suspect Amazon will have 3000 or so projects to review and judge at their own expense by the time January rolls around. All told, they'll probably have invested millions dollars in building this community and millions more in funding the prizes. How do they recoup the investment they're making in building up the commercial value of our scripts without the option?

Our scripts may be brilliant (I've been reading all day and been pleasantly surprised) but all of them have an actual cash value of $0 today (and please don't tell me you're sitting on the next Avatar, because if you had producers knocking down your door, you wouldn't be here). In fact, if you are making a living as a writer today, I'd say that this contest isn't for you. At their own expense, Amazon is offering to help undiscovered writers by exposing their work to a large audience and in return they want to share in the profit if your project has commercial merit. I'm not exactly sure why that's a "bad deal" for the undiscovered writer.

You know what is a bad deal, though? Screenwriting contests that take your money and six months later send you a rejection letter. You've spent $50 and had no real exposure and no networking - it's a complete waste. And even if you do win, now you have a certificate, a little money and some screenwriting software. So what? You know how many Nichols Fellowship quarter-finalists and finalist are still trying to breaking through? I've seen many of them on this very site. It's all such a scam and so demoralizing for many of the writers involved.

Honestly, if Amazon stole my screenplay, paid me next to nothing, made it into a huge movie and made a fortune - I'd be happy. Why? I'd write another script and likely sell in half the time for twice as much. These aren't lottery tickets. If only one of my scripts is going to be any good, then I've chosen the wrong profession.

My best advice is for everyone to embrace the community, work together and make the most of this wonderful opportunity. We're writers, we're sceptical - I get that. But when scepticism leads intelligent and talented people to talk themselves out of an opportunity to succeed, it's heartbreaking. I think that everyone should participate - even if that mean posting your second best script and keeping Avatar 2 stashed away for the time being. Rather than playing entertainment attorney, lets focus on collaborating, supporting and inspiring one another to help make this community everything it can be. If we do that, we all win!"

Richard makes some good points. I can live with some free option time, maybe, but 18 months is simply too long. And that's just one problem out of many in the contract.

Yes, we should have more than one script, more than one one-pager; the lottery ticket mentality is pretty prevalent. But what if that one script the writer has is actually really good? Uploading that screenplay and accepting the Amazon Studios contract would be a very bad idea indeed.

'Collaborating, supporting and inspiring' is neat and been done by Trigger Street and Zoetrope for a few years now but, I'm pretty sure, they don't demand the rights to any uploaded work for ever.

The Amazon Studios business model needs writers but doesn't want to be fair to writers. That's a fact and of course some writers will be able to live with that - just on the off chance something will happen for them.

Can creative crowdsourcing work? Can Amazon Studios really be successful without being forced to change this contract? I don't know. I just know that they're seriously taking the piss.

Further reading:

Amazon Studios: The New Way to Break Into The Industry? by Michael Ferris, Script
An Open Letter to Amazon Studios by Hal Croasmun
On Being Professional by Piers Beckley
Amazon Studios by James Moran
Amazon's Bad Deal by Craig Mazin
On the Amazon Film Thing by John August
Amazon, Films, Foolishness and Optimism by Filmutopia
Amazon Studios by Scott Myers
Why Amazon Studios is a very bad idea for writers - Drew McWeeny
Red-Lining the Amazon Studios Agreement (Part 1) - Scott Logie

Ben Ripley's Source Code trailer

2010-11-20T08:38:00.004Z

Early last year, Carson at Scriptshadow championed a brilliant spec script floating around by Ben Ripley called Source Code. Several months later and it's still the most popular spec script on the site.

Now the trailer is available - the film opens 11/03/2011 in the UK.

Ben Ripley interview

Read That Amazon Studios Contract Carefully, Kids

2010-11-19T07:16:00.002Z

Gigaom:

"The best deal for creators, therefore, is to create your own original script or film and submit it — however, to do so gives Amazon Studios a free 18-month option on your content: “For 18 months after you create a project at Amazon Studios, you cannot display, sell or license your script elsewhere, or withdraw it for any reason,” the contract synopsis reads. They might buy the rights to your script or film for $200,000, but there’s no guarantee of that.

A commenter on the Amazon Studios forum points out that:

“Amazon wants to option scripts for free. The problem here is 18 months of exclusivity… for free. Normally options are paid. Writers do not give anyone exclusive rights to anything for free. TOS needs to change ASAP. I was really exited about amazon studio [sic] and this is a ridiculous term is in the fine print. No serious writer would should consider giving away exclusive rights for free.”

Read article in full

Amazon Studios want screenplays/movies

2010-11-17T13:21:00.002Z

Amazon.com, Inc. today launched Amazon Studios (http://studios.amazon.com), a new online business that invites filmmakers and screenwriters around the world to submit full-length movies and scripts to make money, get discovered and get their movie made. Through the monthly and annual Amazon Studios Awards, Amazon Studios will offer a total of $2.7 million to the top submissions received by Dec. 31, 2011, and will seek to develop the top Amazon Studio projects as commercial feature films under its first-look deal with Warner Bros. Pictures.

Writers are invited to add scripts to Amazon Studios. Filmmakers are invited to add full-length test movies to Amazon Studios. Test movies may be made from your own original script or from any script submitted to Amazon Studios. Test movies must be full length (more than 70 minutes), but they don't have to be "full budget." While test movies must include imaginative stories with great acting and sound they don't need to have theatrical-quality production values. Film fans can review Amazon Studios scripts and test movies, or even upload alternate, revised versions. Full-length test movies will introduce public test screenings to the earliest, formative stages of the movie development process; the Amazon Studios test movie process is intended to guide a film's development and assess its potential. Amazon Studios has produced five test movie samples, in different styles and genres, which can be found on its Getting Started page (http://studios.amazon.com/getting-started).

"We are excited to introduce writers, filmmakers and movie lovers to Amazon Studios," said Roy Price, Director of Digital Product Development. "Full-length test movies will show stories up on their feet and attract helpful feedback at an early stage. We hope that Amazon Studios will help filmmakers experiment and collaborate and we look forward to developing hit movies."

It is the goal of Amazon Studios to produce new, full-budget theatrical films based on the best projects and it will give Warner Bros. Pictures first access to the projects Amazon Studios wishes to produce in cooperation with an outside studio. Under the Amazon Studios development agreement, if a filmmaker or screenwriter creates a project with an original script and it is released by Amazon Studios as a theatrical feature film, the submitter will receive a rights payment of $200,000; if the movie makes over $60 million at the U.S. box office, the original filmmaker or screenwriter will receive a $400,000 bonus. If Warner Bros. Pictures is not inclined to develop a particular project, Amazon Studios can then produce the project in cooperation with another studio.

Winning screenplays and full-length test movies will be selected on the basis of commercial viability, which will include consideration of premise, story, character, dialogue, emotion and other elements of great movies. The first Amazon Studios industry panelists will include: screenwriter and chair, Writing Division of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Jack Epps, Jr. ("Top Gun," "Dick Tracy"), producer Mark Gill (former president of Miramax and Warner Independent Pictures), screenwriter Mike Werb ("Lara Croft: Tomb Raider," "Curious George," "Face/Off," "The Mask") and producer and chair, Production Division of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Michael Taylor ("Bottle Rocket," "The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper").

"Amazon Studios is a great idea. Getting feedback is essential for creative artists to improve their work," said Jack Epps, writing chair for USC School of Cinematic Arts. "By letting anyone submit a movie or screenplay to be considered for a major motion picture, Amazon Studios is really opening the doors to Hollywood."

In the 2011 Annual Awards, Amazon Studios will award $100,000 to the best script and $1 million to the best movie submitted by December 31, 2011. To be eligible for the first monthly awards, test movies and scripts must be uploaded by January 31, 2011. Winners for the first monthly awards will be announced near the end of February 2011-- $100,000 for the best full-length test movie and $20,000 each for the two best scripts. The rights payments associated with releasing a full-budget commercial film (the $200,000 referred to above) are separate from and come on top of any money awarded to top submissions through the monthly and annual Amazon Studios Awards.

To learn more about Amazon Studios, check out our video at http://studios.amazon.com.

Amazon Studios web site is operated by Amazon Services LLC.

BAFTA screenwriting series

2010-11-16T13:23:00.003Z

"Welcome to the new ‘Screenwriters on Screenwriting’ channel on BAFTA, an area dedicated to raising the profile of screenwriting.

For our launch, we asked six leading screenwriters with credits including Atonement, The Devil wears Prada, Frost/Nixon and Slumdog Millionaire, to give their opinion on the craft, the films they have written and their career so far.

The result is a series of exclusive videos, clips and profiles providing a fascinating insight into the discipline and culture of screenwriting.

> Watch the Lectures
> Screenwriter Profiles
> Writers' Top Scripts
> Screenwriting Advice Wall

Most Overused Line In Cinema: "You Look Like Shit"

2010-11-15T23:06:00.000Z

The Brit List 2010 Scripts

2010-11-11T09:12:00.007Z

"The Brit List" is a UK/Eire version of the Hollywood Black List - a collection of the best unproduced screenplays in the UK marketplace.

*********************************************

11 VOTES
SEX EDUCATION by Jonathan Stern and Jamie Minoprio (Casarotto)
Producers: Ruby Films/BBC Films

8 VOTES
CHEERLEADERS by Ben Schiffer (ITG)
Producers: Cloud Eight Films

7 VOTES
HONOUR by Shan Khan (The Agency)
Producers: Dan Films/Parti Productions

SHADOW DANCER by Tom Bradby (Lucas Alexander Whitley (law) Agency)
Producers: Unanimous Pictures/Element Pictures/Wildbunch Production

SONG FOR MARION by Paul Andrew Williams (United Agents)
Producers: Steel Mill Productions

WELCOME TO THE PUNCH by Eran Creevy (ITG)
Producers: Between the Eyes

6 VOTES
BREATHE (aka BACK 2 JACK) by Claire Wilson (Casarotto)
Producers: Element Pictures

ENGAGED by James Condon (unrepresented)
Producers: Silvertown Films

THE ANIMATORS by Clive Dawson (ITG)
Producers: Qwerty Films

5 VOTES
A LONG WAY DOWN BY Jack Thorne (Casarotto)
Producers: Finola Dwyer Productions/Wildgaze Films

GRANNY MADE ME AN ANARCHIST by Ronan Bennett (Tavistock Wood) and Duncan Campbell (United Agents)
Producers: Origin Pictures/Easter Partisan/Film 4

4 VOTES
30 EGGS by Eoin O’Connor (Berlin Associates)
Producers: Treasure Entertainment

BLACKROCK (aka BAD DAY IN BLACKROCK) by Malcolm Campbell (Curtis Brown)
Producers: Element Pictures

FINISHING SCHOOL by Daisy Donovan (ITG)
Producers: Origin Pictures

LAST WILL by Geoff Thompson (Debi Allen Associates)
Producers: Steel Mill Productions

LETTERS FROM AMERICA by Gaia and Hania Elkington (United Agents)

LOVEFEST by Michael Cowen (United Agents)
Producers: Cloud Eight Films/Pathé

THE BRIDE STRIPPED BARE by Andrew Bovell (HLA)
Producers: Forward Films

VALERIO by Kelly Marcel (Casarotto)
Producers: 4DH Films

3 VOTES
3 MINUTE HEROES by Paven Virk (Alan Brodie Representation)
Producers: Mike Elliot

A LITTLE CHAOS by Alison Deegan (The Agency)
Producers: Potboiler

BROKEN by Mark O’Rowe (Curtis Brown)
Producers: Cuba Pictures

DEVOTCHKA by Gary Young (Sara Putt Associates) and Geoff Bussetil (ITG)
Producers: Peapie Films

ELFIE HOPKINS AND THE GAMMONS by Riyad Barmania (Alan Brodie Representation) and Ryan Andrews (ITG)
Producers: Size 9

FUMBLING by Stephen Prentice (The Rod Hall Agency)
Producers: DJ Films

GIRL’S NIGHT OUT by Trevor De Silva (The Rod Hall Agency)
Producers: Ecosse Films

JAMAICA INN by Patrick Harbinson (ITG) and Michael Thomas (Casarotto)
Producers: Hilary Heath/BBC Films

KARENFAN by Geoff Bussetil (ITG)
Producers: Peapie Films

MODERN LIFE IS RUBBISH by Philip Gawthorne (Curtis Brown)

ON CHESIL BEACH by Ian McEwan (The Agency)
Producers: Neal Street

PASSPORTS by Paloma Baeza (The Agency)
Producers: Focus Films

SUITE FRANCAISE by Saul Dibb (Casarotto)
Producers: Qwerty Films/TF1

THE LOVERS by Bridget O’Connor (Michelle Kass Associates)
Producers: Thomas Thomas Films

THIS LITTLE PIGGY by Corinna Faith (Curtis Brown)
Producers: Warp Films

WILLIAM AND HAROLD by John Hodge (United Agents)

*********************************************

The Playlist:
A Look Inside The Brit List, The Best Unproduced Screenplays From The U.K.

*********************************************

Raindance:
Download the Scripts

"Why write drama that doesn't matter?"

2010-11-08T09:49:00.001Z

Jimmy McGovern gave an interview for the Observer on Sunday which includes this section:

"Why write drama that doesn't matter?" he asked this weekend. Commenting on the high viewing figures for costume dramas such as ITV's Downton Abbey and the popularity of arch adventure shows such as Dr Who, McGovern said he believed the best writing took itself seriously, as well as taking its audience seriously.

"The only way to tell stories on TV is to convince people that what they are seeing is actually happening now and is real. I just can't handle the tongue-in-cheek approach, the kind of thing you see on Dr Who. Though there are millions who can, I know."

The writer said that while he had enjoyed the original series of Upstairs Downstairs that ran in the early 1970s, he felt the BBC's decision to bring it back this year could only be justified if the story is played straight, avoiding the clichés of costume sagas. "I am not watching Downton Abbey, but it is true you can tell any story and make it relevant. You just have to avoid pastiche. If I were in charge of Upstairs Downstairs I would do it for real," he said."

Matthew Graham, via his prodco's twitter account , responded:

"Jimmy McGovern in The Observer. Says there is no point writing drama that isn't deadly serious, contemporary and relevant.

He goes on to attack Dr Who and Downton Abbey - it would seem on the basis that neither show reflects real life in any actual sense.

Once again a grumpy writer uses a publicity platform for his own show to piss on his brothers and sisters in the business.

Jimmy accusing Dr Who of irrelevance. Perhaps the Doctor should rape all his companions and turn the TARDIS into a crack den.

Jimmy - some dramas are about northern people raping their sisters because of the legacy of Thatcher's government.

Some dramas are about eccentric time travellers whisking their accomplices off on magical adventures.

Some dramas gently and delightfully explore the social morés of the classes in early 20th century England.

Some dramas brilliantly and compellingly examine the inter-connecting lives of residents in a single street.

Jimmy - you are a compelling, humane, acerbic and brilliantly relevant writer. One of our very very best.

But when you grumble about good shows that entertain millions and appear to ask for the spectrum to be reduced you sound like the enemy of creativity. Worry about your own work and keep your nose out of other people's.

Escapism sits beside social commentary on my bookshelf. George Orwell happily rests next to Stephen King.

Jimmy is a genius but that article was like George Orwell telling Roald Dahl to grow up and write something meaningful.

I just keep wondering why Jimmy always needs to manufacture a crusade when his work speaks so well for him?

I have met him several times - he's a sweet, funny, quite humble chap. But he can't promote his work it seems without getting angry."

New Moviescope out now

2010-11-06T13:57:00.003Z

Sample the current issue here

Linda Seifert Management - UK Writers wanted

2010-11-05T09:26:00.003Z

"Linda Seifert Management are looking for completed feature-length or teleplay scripts from unrepresented UK-citizen writers in a variety of genres.

Budget is irrelevant. WG and Non-WG writers may submit.

We are a management company in London that reps several award-winning writers, some of whose credits include "Four Lions" and "Octane."

To submit to this lead, please go to:

http://www.inktippro.com/leads/

Enter your email address.

Copy/Paste this code: 430ttugcde

NOTE: Please only submit your work if it fits what the lead is looking for exactly. If you aren’t sure if your script fits, please ask InkTip first.

(via Bang2writers on Facebook)

Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge

2010-11-05T07:00:00.002Z

The full show goes live here today: http://www.fostersfunny.co.uk/alanpartridge/

NB: Other lagers are available and they probably taste much better.

Channel 4 Screenwriting Course 2011

2010-11-02T14:05:00.001Z

From: http://4talent.channel4.com/extra/channel-4-screenwriting-course-2011

We are running a new screenwriting course for Channel 4 drama, running from January to June 2011.

We are looking for 12 talented, original and diverse writers who currently have no broadcast credit but wish to write for television drama.

The course will give you a chance to find out how TV drama, particularly Channel 4 TV drama, works, and to write, over a 5 month period, you own 1 hour pilot script for an original series or serial, working with an experienced script editor.

You will also attend two weekends of talks and script meetings at Channel 4’s Horseferry Rd building.

The course is designed so that writers should be able to take part even if in full-time employment (the only attendance is on two weekends, in January and June 2011, and you will have five months to write the required two drafts of a one hour drama script).

Writers will be paid a small fee for attending the course.

Here are all the details on how you can apply:

DATES: 22nd and 23rd January 2011
11th and 12th June 2011

Writers must ensure before entering that they are available to attend both weekends, and to write two drafts of a one hour television drama between 24th January and 27th May 2011.

HOW TO APPLY:
Applicants should submit by email a CV and one writing sample. This can be a screenplay, a stage play or radio play, minimum length 30 minutes (novels, treatments, short stories, unfinished screenplays and "shorts" are not acceptable).

The scripts should be original, not episodes of existing drama series.

Email scripts and CV’s to:- screenwriting@channel4.co.uk

ELIGIBILITY:
Only writers who do not have a broadcast credit as a television or film writer may apply (although produced short films – 20 minutes or less – are exempt).

CLOSING DATE FOR SUBMISSIONS: Friday November 12th 2010.

FEE:
Writers will be paid a fee for participating in the course and for completing two drafts of a one hour script. Writers will grant Channel 4 an option on their script and will be told within six months of the end of the course if Channel 4 wishes to exercise this option.

COURSE CONTENT: GENERAL
The purpose of the course is to offer 12 writers new to television drama an insight into the industry and to provide a "dry-run" of what it can be like to write under a television drama commission, for one hour series and serial drama, and for script editors to work with them as they write an original drama script.

Writers will be expected to write an original, pilot one-hour drama series or serial episode, and 4-5 page outline \ pitch for the series \ serial as a whole. Each writer will be assigned a script editor, who is currently working in the industry, to guide them through this process. The writers will meet with their script editors between the course weekends to discuss how to approach each draft. Second draft scripts will be sent to the script editor and two other writers on the course, for workshop discussions at the second weekend.

FIRST WEEKEND
Writers, directors, producers and script editors in the industry will give talks to the participants on a variety of subjects relating to television drama. There will also be time set aside for writers to discuss their proposals and ideas for their one hour scripts with their assigned script editor.

SECOND WEEKEND
This will be split between a reading of the opening section of each script by actors on the first day, and discussion and analysis of each of the twelve finished scripts in small groups on the second day, finishing with a screening \ workshop and an overview of the course and of the specific requirements of series and serial television drama.

It is essential to the success of the second weekend that writers submit their scripts on time and make time to read the (2) other writers' scripts (i.e. there is a time commitment involved beyond the time put aside to write a one-hour drama for television).

Back Up Your Data Day (01/10/2010)

2010-10-01T13:45:00.000+01:00

What the Papers Say: "DCI Banks: Aftermath"

2010-09-30T22:12:00.002+01:00

John Crace, The Guardian

"It's a thankless gig fronting a cop drama going up against Spooks on a Monday night. But someone has to do it and Stephen Tompkinson is this year's fall guy in DCI Banks: Aftermath

(ITV1). Not that he would have necessarily known that when he signed up for it. More likely the schedulers took a look at the rushes, didn't like what they saw and decided that since no one was going to watch it anyway they might as well stick it out in this hopeless slot rather than another, superior show.

The story was based on a Peter Robinson thriller, but somehow the adaptation managed to turn a decent book into a succession of crime series cliches. Northern town bathed in grey. Child serial killer with bodies in the cellar. Harassed, divorced cop, DCI Banks (Tompkinson), under pressure from his bosses and the community. Younger female DS from the police complaints division investigating the death of the main suspect. Antagonism between DCI and DS, followed by a drink, followed by . . . the phone ringing as they are about to kiss. Lines like "Get the artillery" and "I throw the ball and you fetch it". I could go on.

Nor did it help that Tompkinson seemed badly miscast. Tompkinson's strengths are comedy and light drama – hence Ballykissangel and Wild at Heart – and he just doesn't convince as edgy and tortured. You half expected him to break into a smile and say, "Only kidding. Let's go for a balloon ride." It would have been a lot more fun if he had.

You might have overlooked all this if there had been just a minute of suspense. Every plot development was telegraphed well in advance. And if you were too dim to notice the first time, the warning was thoughtfully repeated a little later. It got to the point where I thought, "they've made it so obvious, there's got to be a twist." But there wasn't. I haven't watched the concluding episode, but I've seen more than enough to find the missing girl. So get on with it quick, Stephen, and move on to another show."

**************************************

Brian Viner, The Independent

"Stephen Tompkinson used to be all over our television screens like static electricity. For two or three years, it seemed as though we could hardly switch on without finding Tompkinson emoting in a drama, narrating a documentary, or voicing a commercial. But every dog has its day. After Tompkinson, it was Robson Green who popped up everywhere, and after Green it was Martin Clunes. Favoured women go through this ubiquitous phase too. For a while, it was similarly difficult to avoid Sarah Lancashire, then Caroline Quentin.

It's normally ITV that confers this treasured actor/actress status, and Tompkinson seems to be getting another burst. If you stayed up late enough last night there was another chance to see Stephen Tompkinson's Australian Balloon Adventure. "Rain stops Stephen from flying over Canberra and he has to take a tricky flight to 10,000 feet," went the synopsis in the Radio Times, which was a little disorienting for those who not two hours earlier had begun to believe in Stephen as a taciturn detective, leading the investigation into some particularly grisly killings, nowhere near Canberra and certainly not from 10,000ft, in DCI Banks: Aftermath.

It is fanciful of me to assume the role of a detective myself in considering the quality of DCI Banks: Aftermath, but please indulge me, because you don't spend 20 years as a TV critic without becoming a forensic specialist in the police procedural. This two-parter carried many of the scene-of-primetime hallmarks familiar to us grizzled veterans. These included the fractious relationship between the copper and his uniformed boss, his messy private life, his personal torment, and of course the attractive female junior. Much like the women who read the news, female police officers on television are never the physiological equivalents of their male counterparts. When did you ever see a TV policewoman with a double chin or pitted skin? They all look like models.

This is especially so of lovely DS Annie Cabbot (Andrea Lowe), who works for the professional standards department, policing the police themselves, and is assigned to find out whether PC Janet Taylor (Sian Breckin) went overboard in beating up a serial killer called Marcus Payne (Samuel Roukin). Not unreasonably, Banks (Tompkinson) finds this distraction wholly unwelcome, though there is consolation when he and DS Cabbot overcome their mutual enmity and cosy up together. Indeed, they are closing in on a snog, almost certainly to be followed by a good deal more, when both their phones ring, a classic case of what we in police-procedural forensics know as coppus interruptus. This is the near-certainty that just as our crime-buster is about to enjoy himself in bed, if only by getting his head down for some quality kip, his phone or bleeper will ruin everything.

Still, on the basis that every police procedural is required by editing-suite law to feature such clichés, I shouldn't be too hard on DCI Banks: Aftermath. It is stylishly shot, and has more than enough plot idiosyncrasies to distinguish it from stuff we've seen a thousand times before. Intriguingly, it began with Payne being caught, in the basement that he had converted into a torture chamber. Only as the thing unfolded did we make certain relevant discoveries – for instance, that he had been having an affair with the nervy Irish artist in the house opposite.

There were, I should add, some implausibilities along the way. Whether these were true to Peter Robinson's original novel or introduced by Robert Murphy, the dramatist, I don't know, but a detective superintendent pal of mine assures me that under no circumstances would the chief investigating officer ever turn up alone in a hospital room to question a significant witness (in this instance Payne's long-suffering wife). There remains a world of difference between the modus operandi of TV cops and real cops, and for dramatically expedient reasons, of course, because who would want to watch even Morse or Jane Tennison hunched over paperwork for hours on end? But I still kind of wish that television would treat us more respectfully, and it could start by offering us police procedurals that aren't about serial killers. I think we're mature enough to get excited by plots that don't involve rape, torture and murder."

**************************************

Paul Whitelaw, The Scotsman

THERE comes a time in the career of every popular middle-aged television actor when he must star in a sombre ITV detective drama. Think of it as an autumnal rite of passage.

You've paid your dues in numerous Sunday-night family favourites and travelogue spin-offs (what experts call "the Clunes Matrix") and become a familiar fixture on the cover of TV Quick. Only now are you ready for two hours of solemn emoting in the Yorkshire miasma, surrounded by body bags and with a killer in your sights. Are you ready for your close-up Mr Tompkinson?

The everyman's everyman, Stephen Tompkinson is a decent actor who imbues even his most lightweight roles with underplayed humanity. It's why audiences like him and why they'll tune into DCI Banks: Aftermath, despite having seen it countless times before.

It's to Tompkinson's credit that he injects some inner life into this quotidian 'tec. Decent, dedicated and empathetic, his only flaw is a tendency to compromise his professional judgement with emotional vendettas. Oh, when will these fictional lawmen learn? Don't they watch TV?

Divorced, and estranged from his children, our drizzled hero is haunted by his failure to stop a sadistic serial killer murdering four young girls. Just so we're clear about this, we witnessed him gazing at their ghosts standing judgmentally in his garden. Someone arrest the director for grievous misuse of symbolism.

Banks' only hope of redemption is finding an unaccounted-for missing girl. "It's all I have left," he lamented. But - curses and damnation! - his path is blocked by an attractive younger officer from Practice and Standards more interested in her career than police loyalty. You know how it goes: first they're at loggerheads, then in each other's arms back at his place, a symbolically remote retreat where nightly he nurses a reflective whisky and listens to jazz. Is the police force really full of men like this? In a way, I hope it is.

The only wrinkle in the formula is that - in the tradition of Columbo, but with none of that series' wit and ingenuity - we, and Banks, know who the killer is from the start. He died from brain damage at the end of the episode. Instead, the drama stems from unravelling the strands of how the murders came about, and whether Banks will find the missing girl and lay his demons his to rest.

I can't deny that it's solidly put together, but then it should be given that it studiously borrows every trick in the manual. Give a thousand monkeys a thousand typewriters and a thousand Wallander box-sets and they'd eventually come up with this, albeit possibly starring a monkey and set in a zoo. And I'd watch that.

Also, with its torture chambers, vicious rapes and missing girl campaigns, it strains for verisimilitude but instead feels exploitative of real-life cases. It's why I'm not a fan of most TV crime fiction: it just feels cheaply voyeuristic.

It's odd that people find comfort in watching generic crime dramas featuring depressive detectives and grisly murders. It must be like settling into a deep bath filled with dirty warm water; unpleasant perhaps, but at least you know where you are. And you can always rinse off afterwards."

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As DCI Banks reaches TV, crime writer Peter Robinson explains his hero’s origins and why he cast Stephen Tompkinson.

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Press Release

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What the Papers Say: "Downton Abbey"

2010-09-30T20:26:00.004+01:00

Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

"There's a shrill blast from a steam train's whistle, a puff of smoke, a name – Hugh Bonneville – across the screen. I think I know what kind of beast we're dealing with here. Ah, here's the magnificent gothic country pile, great fir trees, lawns, a gravel drive, kedgeree and ironed newspapers for breakfast, more big names – Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern. It is conceived and written by Julian "Gosford Park" Fellowes. Downton Abbey (ITV1, Sunday) is essentially Gosford Park, in instalments, for television.

It's set a little earlier – we start off in April 1912. The Titanic has just gone down, taking with her two male heirs to Lord Grantham's title and estate. Heir loss – it is a problem back then. Girls don't count for anything – can't even vote, let alone inherit property. A few other things haven't happened yet, some bad (world war), others wicked (jazz). It is, in a word, Edwardian, even though Edward VII himself went down a couple of years before.

Like Gosford Park, Downton Abbey is another study by Fellowes of the English class system. And again it's as complicated below stairs as it is above. The difference between a valet and a footman is as important as the difference between a duchess and a countess. Carson (Jim Carter) the toady butler, and Mrs Hughes (Phyllis Logan) the severe housekeeper, are at least as much in charge of the place as Lord and Lady Grantham (Bonneville and McGovern). Certainly they are more aware of what's going on; maybe they are better prepared for the change that's surely coming.

I can't get too excited about some of the class stuff. It's clearly important to them whether it's acceptable for a duke to be served by a maid (apparently not), but frankly I don't give a damn. Likewise about the entail – the complex legal settlement that determines who's entitled to whose money and which title when so-and-so dies. But it's central to what's going on. Still, it is possible to ignore a lot of that, because there's plenty of other stuff happening – warring sisters, scheming footmen, plotting, bitching, back-stabbing and bounty hunting. There's even a gay duke and an upstairs-downstairs relationship (does social position determine sexual position, I wonder?). And hanging over it all is the feeling that things aren't going to be as they are for much longer. Momentous stuff is going to happen, both in Downton Abbey and the world outside.

It's beautifully made – handsome, artfully crafted and acted. Smith, who plays the formidable and disdainful Dowager Countess (whatever one of those is), has a lovely way of delivering words, always spaced to perfection. This is going to be a treat if you like a lavish period drama of a Sunday evening. Is it really on ITV1? It feels just a little bit too, well, classy."

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Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

"According to Stephen Hawking's Universe, time travel into the past simply isn't possible, though any television commissioner knows it can be done, if you're prepared to spend enough money.

Cough up for the steam train pulling into a rural halt, the vintage Roller and the telegram boy's uniform and before you know it, it's April 1912. And from the very beginning of Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes' new upstairs-downstairs drama for ITV, we know that something momentous is heading towards the big house. The postmistress draws in a sharp breath and the second footman – ironing the morning papers so that his Lordship won't sully his fingers with smudgy ink – is having trouble believing the banner headline. The Titanic has gone down – a general tragedy that becomes sharply particular when his Lordship discovers that his careful arrangements to keep the estate in the family have just been holed below the waterline. His nominated heir and the son who was about to marry into the family are among the missing. "It's such a shame," says a tweeny. "It's worse than a shame," replies the housekeeper. "It's a complication."

It's a bit of a Titanic itself, Downton Abbey – glossy, ostentatiously luxurious and boasting a glittering passenger list of upmarket acting talent. It's also very far from unsinkable, though it's too early to say whether the commissioning editors are going to regret their investment. They certainly know that the essential design is seaworthy – because of the success of Upstairs, Downstairs – and they've employed a designer with an established track record to tweak it for contemporary tastes – Julian Fellowes, who won a scriptwriting Oscar for Gosford Park, the Robert Altman film about a murder investigation in a Thirties country house. Unfortunately, they haven't quite realised that with drama it may actually be the over-zealous safety measures that send the vessel down.

Take marmalade as a case in point. In Gosford Park, Maggie Smith (playing exactly the kind of fearsome dowager she reprieves here) had a fine moment when she lifted a jar up for inspection at breakfast and uttered the withering line: "Bought marmalade? Oh dear, I call that very feeble." Behind that remark lay a whole stack of social assumptions, none of which was explained. You just had to work it out for yourself. In Downton Abbey, on the other hand, no such chances are taken. It's full of people asking helpful questions so that oddities can be clarified (the reason for ironing the morning papers, for example) and the plotting is equally semaphored, sometimes to a risible extent. The scene in which the cook set up a potentially fatal confusion between brass polish and chopped egg for the kedgeree was unfortunately reminiscent of that Mitchell and Webb sketch about the laborious mishaps in bad sitcoms.

It doesn't have to be another Gosford Park to work, of course – and there are plenty of things to enjoy here – not least Downton Abbey itself (played here by Highclere Castle in Berkshire). Brian Percival, the director, showed off nicely at the beginning with a long tracking shot through the downstairs rooms, flitting from flunky to flunky as the vast machine of an Edwardian aristocrat seat cranked itself into operation for the new day. And there is promise in the scenes between Elizabeth McGovern as Cora, the Earl's rich American wife, and Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess, women who have little in common but their strong aversion to handing the family fortune over to a stranger from – they can hardly bring themselves to utter the word – Manchester.

It's possible that some of the faults of the first episode – the melodramatic simplicity of the antagonisms and the crudity of the characterisation, with its hissable villains and vulnerable heroes, were symptoms of opening-night nerves, a clumsy anxiety to get the audience on board. Possible too that the narrative loops that Fellowes already has in place – romantic longings and romantic possibilities – will tighten around an audience so that they can't wriggle free. But on this evidence, ITV will have to keep their fingers crossed for a bit longer yet. One signal difference between Downton Abbey and the Titanic is that there's no shortage of lifeboats available for those who want to abandon ship, and it can be done at the push of a button"

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Class and calamity at Julian Fellowes's Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey: behind the scenes

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Official site

Linkage (25/09/2010)

2010-09-25T12:12:00.001+01:00

David Hare: 'The sort of films I write have collapsed'
The Independent
Link

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UK Scriptwriters Podcast, Episode 3
With special guest Jack Thorne
Link

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Is this the formula for a good comedy screenplay?
Screenwriting Success
Link

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Brian Clemens and the lost art of great TV writing
The Guardian
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6 Things Movie Characters Always Seem To Forget
Cracked
Link

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Creative Screenwriting Magazine Podcasts
Link

The Big Idea UK film competition

2010-09-21T12:52:00.007+01:00

So what's THE BIG IDEA?

Shine Pictures are proud to announce a National competition for feature film concepts, with a prize of a £25,000 feature film development deal.

We are looking for ingenious concepts, compelling writing and intriguing characters that will elevate genre films making them both distinctive and commercial. The stories can be set anywhere, with characters of any nationality, just as long as the audience is a global one. Feel free to be ambitious in scale and scope. You can imagine big stars in lead roles. It can be 3D! You can have big budget visual effects. Go for active, attractive, bold, vibrant, energetic concepts. We are looking to stimulate ambitious ideas that will capture the global imagination in the following genres:

Romantic Comedies (e.g.: The Proposal, What Women Want, Notting Hill)
Action Adventures (National Treasure, Top Gun, Blood Diamond, Cliffhanger)
Sci-Fi or Fantasy (Inception, Harry Potter, 28 Days Later, Back to the Future)
Family Comedies (Nanny McPhee, Cheaper by the Dozen, Johnny English)

Who can apply?

This is not an entry level competition, so you need to have either a produced or optioned screenplay, an agent, a festival acclaimed short, an hour of broadcast TV drama, a play that has been performed, writing that has been published or an equivalent industry achievement.

How do you apply?

Complete our application form including your 700 word (max) concept document.
Upload your CV and a maximum 15 page writing sample with its log line.
Application deadline: 29th October 2010
Shortlisted applicants will be invited for an interview and then the winner will be selected from those interviewees.
Interviews for shortlisted applicants: Late November 2010
Winner announced: 20th December 2010
All inquiries to be directed to THE BIG IDEA Project Manager thebigidea@shine-pictures.com
For more details see our FAQ

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In a joint statement Paul Webster and Stephen Garrett of Shine Pictures said: “British writers are among the most sought after in Hollywood.

“Shine Pictures, in keeping with our desire to bring the cream of the UK’s creative community to a global audience, wants to nurture the next generation of leading screenwriters.”

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Added to Deadlines Calendar

What the Papers Say: "The Road to Coronation Street"

2010-09-17T13:36:00.004+01:00

Alice-Azania Jarvis, The Independent

"What's this? Coronation Street on the BBC? Apparently so: starring Jessie Wallace off of EastEnders no less. Is this, one wonders, the producers' latest attempt to beat ITV at its own game? After all, this is the Corporation that broadcast Strictly Come Dancing at the same time as The X Factor, an unmistakably aggressive move made in blatant opposition to the public interest (something which, on a Saturday night, is quite obviously only to be satisfied by the combination, not choice, of spangles and crushed dreams. Obviously!).

But no: there is not a trace of malice in The Road to Coronation Street, a disarmingly moving drama about Britain's longest-running soap opera. If anything, it rather over-romanticised things, to the extent that the Street's against-the-odds origins as the unfashionably banal brainchild of a young, would-be writer appeared less docudrama and more fairy tale.

Not that it matters. In return for the romanticism we got strong, if somewhat theatrical, performances, notably from David Dawson, who was unstintingly engaging as the determined young writer Tony Warren, and the perpetually lovely Celia Imrie. There were some genuine shiver-down-the-spine moments, too. Such as the point at which a Granada TV tea lady paused her work at the sight of Warren's pilot – which, at this stage, was destined straight for the scrapheap – plainly fascinated by the ordinariness of the on-screen world. "So-and-so's got those curtains," she remarked, cheering on Pat Phoenix with a fiery "You tell him, love!" It was this tea lady's intervention that got the programme made, in the end. Someone get her an OBE will they?"

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Chris Harvey, Daily Telegraph

"The story of how the longest-running drama series on British television first made it onto our screens was told in The Road to Coronation Street (BBC Four). Its creator Tony Warren (David Dawson) was just 23 when he presented his vision of a drama with “dirt under its fingernails” to bosses at the Granada studios in Manchester, but there were many roadblocks to be overcome before the show’s first transmission in December, 1960.

This 75-minute film explored how the former child actor saw his idea find its way past the prevailing snobbery towards characters with regional accents. Studio head Sidney Bernstein (Steven Berkoff) took a lot of persuading. The dramatisation of Corrie’s difficult birth was, despite the odd soapy moment, compelling. Dawson, too, for his services to knitwear modelling alone, was great fun as Warren. From the first time we saw him checking his reflection in a mirror, there was no doubt that the writer who created some of the great women characters of British television was gay. This was very much his story.

What inevitably happened, though, was that the lead was ultimately blown off the screen by his own creations, as the plot morphed from plucky underdog success story to something that more closely resembled The Magnificent Seven. Instead of putting together a team of hired gunfighters, Warren was seen assembling, one by one, a cast of Northern battleaxes, each more formidable than the last.

First came Doris Speed (Celia Imrie), the actress Warren thought might be right for the stuck-up landlady of the Rovers Return, Annie Walker. She remembered Warren from his acting days – “the little boy who never stopped talking” – and had to be flattered into the studios with the lie that the part had been written especially for her. Then came Pat Phoenix (Jessie Wallace) who burst in late for her audition for the part of brassy Elsie Tanner, showing where she’d twanged one of her stockings and announcing of her character, “She’s mutton, isn’t she, dressed as lamb.”

Finally, there was Ena Sharples, the hard-faced moraliser in a hairnet, who was proving to be all but uncastable. With the first episode looming, the choice was becoming starker. Sharples was a stand-alone character, she could be cut. Warren had one last suggestion, a woman he dreaded working with, who didn’t fit the script description of slenderness at all. “There’s nothing small boned about Violet Carson,” protested casting director Margaret Morris (Jane Horrocks). When the 62-year-old Carson (Lynda Baron) arrived at the studio, she had no time to listen to Warren’s thoughts about the role, “You can save your breath,” she said. “I know all about Ena Sharples.” And when she was also shown looking in the mirror, reflecting on her role, there was no pout. “This is a woman who’s buried children, watched her man beg for work and still gets down on her knees every night to pray… There’s no powder or rouge touching this face.” Marauding bandits wouldn’t have stood a chance."

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Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

"So Corrie was almost Florrie – Florizel Street, after Prince Florizel. But a cleaner called Agnes at Granada TV said Florizel Street sounded like a disinfectant (does it, Agnes?), so they changed it to Coronation Street. This was the second time Agnes had saved what would become Britain's longest-running soap opera. It was because she was instantly spellbound by the pilot while clearing away the tea things from the producer's office that he knew it was a winner.

Is that true, I wonder? Did Agnes even exist? It doesn't really matter. What matters is that Harry Elton, the Canadian producer, decided to fight the Granada TV executives – who couldn't understand the appeal of a drama about the ordinary lives of ordinary people and were about to pull the plug on the whole thing – with everything he had. Guess what, he won.

The Road to Coronation Street (BBC4) chronicles the birth of a monster, 50 years ago this December. Yes, BBC4 – it's funny that the BBC should be celebrating a rival's birthday so fondly. And scheduling it so it doesn't clash with its subject matter – obviously a lot of the people who want to watch this are the same people who want to know what's currently going on in the Rover's Return. Very magnanimous, I'm sure. The Road to Coronation Street is fond, and warm, and charming, with a fine lead performance from David Dawson as cocky young writer Tony Warren. There are fine performances wherever you look, though some of them take a little getting your head around. So former EastEnder Jessie Wallace plays Pat Phoenix, who played Elsie Tanner. Lynda Baron is Violet Carson, who was Ena Sharples. And James Roache plays his own father, William Roache, who was – and still is – Ken Barlow. "It's only a week, what harm can that do?" he says. A week! James's father has now, by my calculations, been Ken Barlow for 64% of his life, and that's going up the whole time. Imagine it!

There's also a fine performance from Steven Berkoff as television baron Sidney Bernstein, who initially saw Tony Warren's script not as Hitchcock said drama should be – "life with the boring bits left out" – but pretty much the opposite. "What your writer seems to have done," he tells Harry Elton, "is to pick up all the boring bits and strung them together one after another."

Sydney changed his tune a bit later, though. It took Coronation Street about three months to reach No 1 in the ratings. There's nothing boring about 15 million viewers and a 75% audience share. I wonder if BKB – boring Ken Barlow – was boring, even then?

It's amazing that it was filmed live in the early days – or at least one of its two weekly slots was. So if the cat went missing just before Eric Spear's mournful trumpet sounded out over the Weatherfield rooftops, then that was it – no cat. There must have been an immediacy and a theatricality about it – the feeling that Pat and Violet and even boring William were doing it then and there, in your living room, for you – which maybe doesn't exist in the soap any more.

So what is going on today, 50 years on, in Coronation Street (ITV1)? The police take Gary in to the station to question him about an assault (it would be virtually impossible to do this one live, with all the location changes). That could mean going back behind bars. Behind the bar at the Rover's, Kylie's got her hand in the till. Sly Owen's got his hands in all sorts of metaphorical tills, mainly of the female variety, if you know what I'm saying. And Nick is dead excited about Natasha's scan, even though the one he's looking at, and showing everyone else, isn't hers, because she terminated her pregnancy, as everyone except Nick knows. You couldn't really accuse it of being all the boring bits strung together – or reflecting the ordinary lives of ordinary people.

Oh, and there's no sign of boring Ken in this one. But recently in the Street he's been joined by a long-lost son, who himself has a son. And Ken's new son and grandson are played by William Roache's real-life sons, Linus and James. So James is playing his dad on BBC4 and his dad's grandson on ITV. Got it?

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Article by the screenwriter, Daran Little

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Catch up with

Soundtrack

2010-09-12T20:11:00.002+01:00

Local Natives - "Airplanes "

Blonde Redhead - "Here Sometimes"

Save The Arts campaign launches today

2010-09-10T12:31:00.004+01:00

Other artists will be contributing to Save The Arts TV.

Sign the petition here.

h/t Cornerhouse blog

What the Papers Say: "This is England '86"

2010-09-08T09:14:00.001+01:00

Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

"Three years on from his Bafta-winning film This is England, Shane Meadows has breathed life into his characters again – for the small screen. They've been growing up, in real time. Or in parallel real time in the past, because we've moved on from 1983 to This is England '86 (Channel 4). Somewhere, a long way away, a World Cup is going on.

There's a lot more hair about the place. Woody seems to have gone from skinhead to mod and even has a job, which is more than most people had in 1986. He's still with Lol (poor Lol – unaware that in 20 years or so her name will become an irritating acronym people use on something called the internet). They are getting married, though it kind of falls apart at the last hurdle, Woody frozen at "I do". Meggy doesn't help by having a heart attack in the loo of the scuzzy register office.

Shaun, peripheral to the gang, is just leaving school, cast adrift into the grey doldrums of mid-80s Britain. I don't think his exam results are going to be doing him any favours. Life is crap, but it's OK if you've got mates – that's one of the messages going on here. Shaun's problem is that he doesn't have mates at the minute. Or a job. Or a scooter. Or anything much, except for a bleeding head from a cut above his eye. I hope for his sake he's readopted by the others. They're better off – they have each other, at least. "I fookin' luv yer I do" they say to each other, and then toast their love with a can or a cuddle.

This doesn't have the skinhead culture focus of the movie. Or the hard edge – yet. There are three more episodes, so this may come later with the reintroduction of Combo. Remember, the racist one? But it's still bleak, as you'd expect. At times touching, at others funny. I like Gadget stealing the flowers for the wedding from a mourner at the cemetery. And Meggy, recovering in hospital, using his piss bag for the I-fookin'-luv-you-all toast because he hasn't got a can. A wheelchair race is less funny and goes on too long. Sometimes I get the impression the actors are just told to get into character and to get on with it. There's a certain lack of direction – both the sort that directors do, and the sort that indicates where something is going. But I don't think that true Meadows fans will be disappointed."

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Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

"Shane Meadows stitched together the end of his film This Is England and its television sequel This Is England '86 with a shot of his character Shaun in the rain – hand out to test the water. And it wasn't very long before you could tell that the temperature had changed significantly in the three years that had elapsed between the first drenching and the second. This Is England ended in a mood of chilly bleakness – with violence and disillusionment. But now life is looking up for Shaun, not least because he's just finished his CSEs and has no intention of continuing the desultory imitation of the academic life that led up to them. "You're in for quite a shock young man," said one of his teachers, looking disdainfully at his exam paper. "I think you'll find that it's me that's doing the shocking, love," replied Shaun, and the remark was eager, not embittered. "How did it go?" asked his mother, meeting him in a café for an exam post-mortem. "It went," said Shaun, "end of."

Most of this first episode was concerned not with Shaun but with Woody and Lol, the skinhead couple who took Shaun under their wing and first gave him a sense of family. Woody and Lol are about to get married, a social occasion that doesn't involve a lot of frills. Meggy and Banjo are travelling to the ceremony on the bus – clutching a Tupperware box full of home-made vol-au-vents – while Gadget and his mate are in the local cemetery, stalking a visitor in the hope of nicking some fresh flowers. The mood and style is Ken Loach at his lightest, so when Gadget makes a rush for the bouquet there's no emotion more scarring than wild indignation from his victim. And as more friends pile up – filling the top and launching into a raucous chorus of "Daisy, Daisy" – it's easy enough to decide to go for the ride with them. It's an ancient strain in British entertainment this – running from the Cheapside scenes in Henry IV to Shameless – the charm of other people's joyous fecklessness.

For the moment, Shaun is outside this convivial gang again, exiled by his own choice and a loner ripe for exploitation by the local bully, Flip, who enlists him into a stupefyingly dimwitted plan to romance a local beauty. Shaun is to insult her at which point Flip will defend her honour. And if this strikes you as a slightly strained moment of picaresque, it's still pretty funny, and rescued by an interlude of awkward silence, when Flip and his sidekick, Iggy, stare in bemusement at the interior décor of a lower-middle class house straining for higher altitude. "That's got it's own rug," said Flip, pointing to the doily under a vase on the coffee table.

There are hints too that the warmth of these opening passages may be a lulling strategy, designed to get an audience far enough in to be able to withstand the darker realities that Meadows often admits to his dramas. Woody and Lol's wedding does not pass off well, with some comic misadventure (Meggy has a non-fatal heart attack while sitting on the lavatory) and a more poignant reversal, as Woody loses his nerve and can't bring himself to utter his vows. Lol, beautifully played by Vicky McClure, isn't just the victim here, but emerges as a character in her own right... one who, a long wordless final scene suggests, might have a more troubling back-story. For the moment, This Is England '86 could be accused of straining a little too hard to be likeable, something it would achieve anyway. But the quiet gaps between the mischief and the capering promise something far more involving than that."

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Ceri Radford, Daily Telegraph

For anyone who sniffs that television is a dumb or trivial medium, Shane Meadows has provided the perfect riposte. This is England '86, his four-part Channel 4 follow-up to the acclaimed 2006 film This is England, is – to judge from the first episode – astonishingly good. It is artistically captivating, funny, melancholic and affecting, all in one tightly plotted package that makes the shift from the big screen to the small appear effortless.

The original film told the story of Shaun (Thomas Turgoose), a troubled 12 year-old who fell in with a group of apolitical teenaged skinheads in 1983. Their happy-go-lucky world collapsed when Combo, an older gang member, returned from jail, bringing racist violence with him. Set three years on, the TV series picked up as if the characters had been growing up quietly in the background, with most of the original cast reprising their roles. It’s now 1986, the World Cup is on in Mexico, unemployment is above 3 million and the unforgettable group of friends face a difficult journey into adulthood.

Meadows marked the transition in time with typical adroitness. Last night’s episode opened with Shaun, physically unchanged, sitting in Combo’s car – a scene which was presumably an out take from the original film. There were blood stains on the tatty back seat; it was clear that this scene took place shortly after the attack which brought the original film to its blistering finale. We then saw the twelve-year-old Shaun standing in the rain, feeling the drops burst on his palms, before the camera panned up to show him as a 16 year-old, running through a downpour to sit his CSEs. His face had changed, touchingly, but the constant in his life was rain: cold, drab and prosaic.

Meadows is the master of that creative writing mantra, “show don’t tell”, lacing this programme with images which communicated far more than many a laboured bit of dialogue. As well as the rain and the heart-breaking shabbiness of blood drying on frayed nylon we saw other telling vignettes: a “coal not dole” pin badge; the likeable Woody (Joe Gilgun) sat on a bus on the way to his wedding, frowning out of the window just one instant too long.

If the cinematography was impressive, the acting and the script itself were equally so. Turgoose, who made such a memorable debut as Shaun in the original film, was utterly convincing as a mouthy 16 year-old who had shed some of his baby fat and bewilderment but not yet found a sense of purpose. As a couple, Woody and Lol (Vicky McClure) captured that twentysomething teetering between rebellion and respectability. “You’re turning into your father,” Lol said accusingly, and you could see from the contempt in her eloquent eyes how much that thought repelled her.

This opener felt more light-hearted than the film, and contained several lines that made me snigger. “You’re an adult,” Shaun's mother chided him, before treating him like a child. “Your appointment [with the job centre] is at three and you’d better go because I’ll check up on you.” Also possessing a comical lack of self-awareness was a nasty little oik who made Shaun knock on a girl’s door and insult her so that he could rush to her defence – if Shaun refused, he would beat him up. “She thinks I’m a bully,” he justified himself. “This will show her I’m sensitive.”

As ever with Meadows, the humour was underscored with sadness: this was TV tragicomedy. How else to describe a wedding day during which the bride’s mother didn’t show up, the groom neglected to say “I do”, the bride realised she may have chosen the wrong man and one of the guests had a heart attack, rallying later in hospital to toast his friends’ happiness by raising his catheter bag? As the series develops – Meadows has said he wants to “to take the story of the gang broader and deeper” – it will be interesting to see whether the prevailing tone is of bitterness or hope. In episode one alone, though, he has created something that is sentimental without being naïve, funny without being forced and a genuinely moving experience to watch. Beat that, cinema."

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This is England '86, Tuesdays, Channel 4, 10:00pm for 4 weeks

Catch up with:

Linkage (06/09/2010)

2010-09-06T08:00:00.001+01:00

(via Cartoonstock)
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30 Ways to Build Your Writer Platform (it's now a necessity)
All Freelancewriting
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Even Hit Like ‘Kick-Ass’ Can Seem Like Miss at Debut
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Rising playwright Mike Bartlett talks about his new play at the National
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Link

__________________________

'Sons of Anarchy's' showrunner Kurt Sutter interview
LA Times
Link

__________________________

Maker of 'The Last Exorcism', Eli Roth, talks budget movies and selling sex
The Independent
Link

__________________________

Nell Leyshon on the asylum that inspired her latest play
The Guardian
Link

__________________________

All the Globe's a stage – even for women writers
The Independent
Link

__________________________

Ridley Scott: 'I'm doing pretty good, if you think about it'
The Independent
Link

__________________________

Schnabel's true romance film inspires tale of love across cultural divide
The Independent
Link

Linkage (04/09/2010)

2010-09-04T08:00:00.000+01:00

Taken from:
40 Exquisite Independent Film Posters
Smashing Magazine
Link

---------------------------------

How NOT to give notes
Ken Levine
Link

---------------------------------

Does Your Language Shape How You Think?
New York Times
Link

---------------------------------

Women Rule The Art Houses
IndieWire
Link

---------------------------------

Writing better dialogue
John August
Link

---------------------------------

The Web is Dead. TV Apps on the Rise?
App Market
Link

---------------------------------

Storyboard Template
Printable Paper
Link

Linkage (03/09/2010)

2010-09-03T08:00:00.000+01:00

Fictional character business cards via Fro Design Co

--------------------------

Adam Szymkowicz
250 Playwright Interviews
Link

--------------------------

5 big-budget sci-fi films that actually got their science right
Blastr
Link

--------------------------

By reshaping our minds, the internet is robbing us of ability to think critically & creatively, apparently
New Scientist
Link

--------------------------

Autumn previews.
New York magazine
Television: Link
Movies: Link

--------------------------

The rise and fall of quicksand in movies
Slate
Link

--------------------------
Writing Prompts
Writers Digest
Link

All Mixed Up - TV Comedy comp

2010-09-02T14:02:00.000+01:00

(via BBC Writersroom)

The BBC College of Comedy is running a sitcom writing competition with a multi-cultural theme.

Called All Mixed Up, the competition is looking for proposals which reflect diverse Britain.

Writers who can demonstrate some professional achievement are asked to submit the first ten pages of a script to the college, with a limit of six characters and three settings.

Entries will be judged on whether the script demonstrates the following criteria:

An interesting representation of multi-cultural Britain
An original voice
Strong characters
Engaging stories
A comedy style that will speak to a broad audience.

The best six scripts will be workshopped in preparation for a showcase with a professional cast at the Soho Theatre on 4 December, where a celebrity panel will choose the best two for further development by BBC Comedy. Both scripts will be optioned, with the winner's option worth £1000, and the runner-up's £500.

The competition is being run in association with Triforce Promotions, which promotes talent across a multi-cultural network of people in the media industries.

The aim is to encourage work by fresh voices, and to provide promising writers with an opportunity to develop their professional skills.

Writers of the next best six scripts will be invited to attend workshops on 4 December 2010, and to join the showcase audience.

To enter, please email the first ten pages of a thirty-minute comedy script meeting the requirements to collegeofcomedy@bbc.co.uk.

Deadline: 12:00midnight 20 September 2010.

----------------------------

Micheál Jacob, college creative head, said: "We hope the competition will attract entries from writers who may feel their lives are not currently reflected in television comedy, and will introduce us to funny and fresh new voices."

Back Up Your Data Day (01/09/2010)

2010-09-01T09:30:00.000+01:00

Linkage (31/08/2010)

2010-08-31T11:28:00.004+01:00

Book cover via UnTitre.

--------------------------------------------------------

BBC3 Controller Danny Cohen @ MGEITF
David Bishop
Link

--------------------------------------------------------

RIP The Bill - Gregory Evans reflects on tonight's end of ITV's long-running police series
WGGB
Link

--------------------------------------------------------

Dissecting what went so tragically wrong with Scott Pilgrim
Blastr
Link

--------------------------------------------------------

Rejected? Just Shut Up!
The Creative Identity
Link

--------------------------------------------------------

What I've learned about teenagers
Grace Dent
Link

--------------------------------------------------------

Plenty of drama for Buffy creator Joss Whedon
Sydney Morning Herald
Link

Linkage (30/08/2010)

2010-08-30T08:45:00.004+01:00

That's not really from my French publishers - I'm unpublishable in any language. Get your own automatically generated French book cover here

-------------------------------

Paul Abott at the Edinburgh TV Festival
David Bishop
Link

-------------------------------

NPR & Storytelling Week
Go Into The Story
Link

-------------------------------

The 50 Most Controversial Films
Sky Movies
Link

-------------------------------

"Your Opinion Does Not Matter" - a reaction to 69% of people wanting live voting to alter storylines
Gerry Hayes
Link

-------------------------------

Monastic Productions website - includes Ashes to Ashes pilot outline, draft and shooting script.
Link

-------------------------------

Jack Thorne Interview
Writers Guild podcasts
Link

Simon's Cat in 'The Box'

2010-08-19T21:38:00.001+01:00

Other Simon Tofield films

Showrunners sound off

2010-08-03T13:23:00.004+01:00

Hollywood Reporter: Live Feed

With Martin Nix (Burn Notice, Good Guys), Michelle King ("The Good Wife"), Damon Lindelof ("Lost"), Daniel Zelman ("Damages") and Vince Gilligan ("Breaking Bad").

"Damon Lindelof: It's different for everybody. I did so much bad writing in my 20s. I got hired as a professional writer for the first time when I was 28 or 29, and I literally have thousands of pages of shit. A lot of people aren't willing to write shit, or they write two pages of shit and then they stop. You have to plow through it."

Article in full

Back Up Your Data Day - 01/08/2010

2010-08-01T10:12:00.000+01:00

Newport (Ymerodraeth State of Mind)

2010-07-21T14:44:00.000+01:00

Very funny.

Reading a script a day keeps the doctor away*

2010-07-18T17:11:00.007+01:00

Someone was about to commit blogicide but I reminded them of a post they had which was very good. They offered it to me to put on my blog but then they changed their mind and gave it to Scott at Go Into the Story instead. Though shocked, I couldn't really complain because there is no better screenwriting blog than Scott's.

He updates regularly, which helps, but it's the great mix and variety of those updates which impresses. There is also peer review messageboard, called The GITS Club (Don't confuse it with Chelsea FC)

Starting tomorrow GITS will begin 40 Days of Screenplays. The idea is to read one script a day for 40 days (although no-one is going to tell you off if you can't manage it for all days).

Scott recapped what he said about the 14 day version when suggesting the stretched stint: "Reading scripts is one of the single best ways you can increase your understanding of the craft of screenwriting. And reading 14 scripts in 14 days multiplies the benefit as you begin to intuit things, I guess you could say, on a macro level. You pick up pacing and tone, style and scene transitions, and on and on and on."

As Scott adds here,"(there is) an enormous value in digging into a script, breaking it down, and analysing it. But as noted, there's also a lot to be said for reading the script straight through in a sort of macro way per the story's feel, tone, pace, and themes."

The idea was to change the quote above (beneath the blog title) regularly but it's been the same Stephen King quote for ages now. While laziness accounts for most of that, it's also the perfect quote.

Courses and books can be useful (Scott teaches here BTW) but reading scripts and writing scripts should be taking up most of our learning time. As Aristotle says, "We learn by doing."

*This is a fact, you have my word

"Roman Polanski, Child Rapist"

2010-07-14T08:48:00.000+01:00

Update:

Johann Hari:

"So that's OK then. It's fine to abuse young girls, as long as you're a great film director"

"So now we know. If you are a 44-year-old man, you can drug and anally rape a terrified 13-year-old girl as she sobs, says "No, no, no," and pleads for her asthma medication – all according to the victim's sworn testimony – and face no punishment at all. You just have to meet two criteria – (a) you have to run away and stay away for a few decades; and (b) you need to direct some good films. If you do, not only will you walk free, there will be a huge campaign to protect you from the "witch-hunt" and you will be lauded as a hero.

Roman Polanski admitted his crime before he ran away and, for years afterwards, he boasted from exile that every man wanted to do what he did. He chuckled to one interviewer in 1979: "If I had killed somebody, it wouldn't have had so much appeal to the press, you see?

But... fucking, you see... and the young girls. Judges want to fuck young girls. Juries want to fuck young girls. Everyone wants to fuck young girls!"

Article in full

**************************************************

O6 October 2009

Smoking Gun:

"Polanski The Predator"

"Two weeks after Polanski plied her with Champagne and a Quaalude, Samantha Gailey appeared before an L.A. grand jury and recalled Polanski's predatory behavior in a Mulholland Canyon home owned by Jack Nicholson.

The teenager's troubling--and contemporaneous--account of her abuse at Polanski's hands begins with her posing twice for topless photos that the director said were for French Vogue. The girl then told prosecutors how Polanski directed her to, "Take off your underwear" and enter the Jacuzzi, where he photographed her naked. Soon, the director, who was then 43, joined her in the hot tub. He also wasn't wearing any clothes and, according to Gailey's testimony, wrapped his hands around the child's waist"

Article in full

**************************************************

Adrian Reynolds:

"Roman Polanski, Child Rapist"

"What’s happened in response to Polanski’s arrest? 100 notables in the world of film have written a pompous letter to the effect that making some decent films should exempt Roman Polanski from being punished for his crimes. (Remember: he violated a 13 year old girl without her consent, vaginally and anally.)"

Article in full

**************************************************

Jezebel:

"Chris Rock On Roman Polanski: "It's Rape! Rape!"

"Last night on Jay Leno's new show, Chris Rock put on blast some of the attitudes surrounding director Roman Polanski, ripping into the rhetorical dances being done around what Polanski actually did - which was rape a thirteen year old."

Article in full

**************************************************

New York Times:

"The Polanski Uproar"

"While it’s clear that the film industry forgave Mr. Polanski long ago, should society separate the work of artists from the artists themselves, despite evidence of reprehensible or even criminal behavior?"

Articles in full

**************************************************

Kate Harding, Salon

"Reminder: Roman Polanski raped a child"

"Also, even if the girl had been old enough to consent, she testified that she did not consent. There's that. Though of course everyone makes a bigger deal of her age than her testimony that she did not consent, because if she'd been 18 and kept saying no while he kissed her, licked her, screwed her and sodomized her, this would almost certainly be a whole different story -- most likely one about her past sexual experiences and drug and alcohol use, about her desire to be famous, about what she was wearing, about how easy it would be for Roman Polanski to get consensual sex, so hey, why would he need to rape anyone? It would quite possibly be a story about a wealthy and famous director who pled not guilty to sexual assault, was acquitted on "she wanted it" grounds, and continued to live and work happily in the U.S. Which is to say that 30 years on, it would not be a story at all. So it's much safer to focus on the victim's age removing any legal question of consent than to get tied up in that thorny "he said, she said" stuff about her begging Polanski to stop and being terrified of him."

Article in full

TV Writers' Festival reports

2010-07-09T22:18:00.014+01:00

All photos from Jason Arnopp's Twitter

----------------------------------------------------------------

David Bishop:

Alchemy of the First Episode
Link

Low Budgets, Being Human
Link

Jack Thorne, Toby Whithouse & Tony Roche

Face to Face - Kay Mellor
Link

Marchant, Milne & Bowker
Link

EastEnders to Life on Mars
Link

Writer for Hire
Link

Casualty 2010 - The Vision
Link

Gene Hunt film mooted?
Link

----------------------------------------------------------------

William Ivory, Lizzie Mickery, Ben Stephenson, Matthew Graham, Ben Richards

----------------------------------------------------------------

Margit Keerdo:

Notes from TV Drama Writers’ Festival. Part 1:

Whose voice is it anyway?

Link

Notes from TV Drama Writers’ Festival. Part 2:

Poacher turned gamekeeper

Link

Notes from TV Drama Writers’ Festival. Part 3:

Writer for Hire: How do you get original work on screen?
‘They Won’t Like That’: Do we all try to second guess the commissioners?
In Conversation: TV Drama

Link

----------------------------------------------------------------

Mina Zaher:

BBC's The Writers' Festival - Day 1
Link

BBC's The Writers' Festival - Day 2
Link

----------------------------------------------------------------

Audrey Gillan:

Notes From The BBC TV Writers' Festival in Leeds
Link

----------------------------------------------------------------

Simon Stratton:

TV Writers' Festival Part I
Link

TV Writers' Festival Part II
Link

TV Writers' Festival Part III
Link

TV Writers' Festival Part IV
Link

----------------------------------------------------------------

Jason Arnopp

Leeds TV Writers' Festival: The Tweetcast (collated by @SirWestyWest)
Link

"John Yorke's John Yorke's series masterclass":

"Story structure fans will enjoy these John Yorke boards":

"John Yorke's summing-up board":

New sitcom reading group, London

2010-07-07T13:35:00.004+01:00

"A Man Walks into a Bar is a place for new comedy writers to get their work read by professional actors and commented on by an audience of like minded creative types, including reps from leading production companies.

It takes place monthly in an informal setting (a room above a pub just off Great Portland St) conducive to people sharing and talking about their ideas. The audience gets a giggle and the chance to voice their opinion and the writers get some valuable feedback and further inspiration.

The usual form is two half hour sitcom scripts, each followed by half an hour's worth of chat. Script. Chat. Script. Chat.

If you would like to be considered then contact amanwalksintoabarlondon(-AT-)gmail.com"

"Up this month we have Shelf Life, a sitcom set in that Great British institution: the public library. And to coincide nicely with the World Cup, a comedy called Stonewall Penalty, which offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the cut-throat business that is professional football."

Shelf Life is by Griff Phillips & Gary Bainbridge (humourist columnist of the Liverpool Daily Post)

Thursday 8 July 2010, 7:30pm,
upstairs at The Masons Arms, free entry

The Masons Arms, 58 Devonshire Street, London W1W 5EA
(Off Great Portland Street, corner of Devonshire Street and Hallam Street)

"Amazing Grace" by Michelle Lipton

2010-07-03T08:00:00.000+01:00

"When Grace's Sudanese village is attacked, she scoops up her four young children and they flee, running for their lives.

Safety is within reach, and a truck full of displaced villagers lets her on board. She loads her two daughters on to the truck and turns to lift the boys up - but they aren't there. And the truck must go.

Grace must make any parent's most feared decision. A choice that is no choice - to save the children she has with her or abandon them to look for the two who are left behind.

This is the story of Grace - now living in the UK - and her battle to find and bring back her missing children."

Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 |
Condensed Omnibus

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Writing for Radio
Michelle Lipton
Link

Amazing Grace: Writing and Creating Sound Design and SFX
Savvy Productions
Link

Principles of Writing Radio Drama
IRDP
Link

Notes from BBC Birmingham workshop
WfP
Link

How to write a radio drama
BBC World Service
Link

Writing Radio Drama
BBC writersroom
Link

Writing Radio Situation Comedy
BBC writersroom
Link

Radio Drama scripts
BBC writersroom
Link

Radio Comedy scripts
BBC writersroom
Link

How to write Radio Drama Cues
Link

Pure - A meditation on violence and visual tropes at the movies

2010-07-02T19:55:00.000+01:00

Pure from Jacob Bricca on Vimeo.

A meditation on violence and visual tropes at the movies, "Pure" celebrates the visceral pleasures of cinema. Music by The Jesus Lizard. Please play full screen with headphones at top volume!

What the Papers Say: "Reunited" pilot

2010-07-01T12:00:00.003+01:00

Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

"Like many people I've recently been in touch with some old friends, on a well-known social networking site. We're thinking of meeting up. For a drink, then maybe one more, followed by tequila slammers, and casual sex. That's if it goes like it does in Reunited (BBC1). I suspect it won't.

They're all at in Mike "Cold Feet" Bullen's comedy drama shagathon. Hannah with her Japanese boss; Hannah with Rob; Rob with loads of other people, including Sara's sister; Belinda with the guy from the Spanish evening class. And a part of Hannah and Martin – who were together when they all shared a student house eight years previously (before Hannah copped off with Rob first time round) – would very much like to get together again. I think I know which part too, if you see what I'm saying. Blimey. Well, what are friends for?

Trouble is, Martin's engaged to Sophie, who confusingly is wearing the same dress as Hannah. Only dull-but-nice Danny, who's being cheated on by Belinda, isn't getting any. Oh, and Sarah, but she's got Jesus. I reckon she should dump Jesus and get it on with Danny; it would be more in keeping with the general flavour of Reunited.

It's sharp and well observed, though none of them is either nice or nasty enough to care about very much. This is just a pilot; there may or may not be a series to follow. I'm not convinced there should be. The interesting thing about a reunion is the first bit, seeing who's doing well or not – in terms of money, hair, children, chins, happiness, sanity etc. And who you still fancy, of course. It's a one-off thing: meet-up, catch-up, slammers, wham bammers (or not), hangover, regrets. And then you can forget all about each other for another eight years."

------------------------------------------

Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

"Reunited couldn't more conspicuously have been a pilot if it had been wearing flying goggles and a leather helmet, but for some reason nobody seemed to want to mention the fact. Mike Bullen's script about student housemates meeting up again after eight years was described in the Radio Times as a "comedy drama", which rather suggested that within the hour Mike Bullen would have tied up at least one of the mop-head of loose ends he'd assembled. But as tick followed tock it dawned on you that Hannah's agony over whether Martin still loved her or Belinda's guilty secret about "Spanish lessons" or Rob's odd-couple affair with the judgemental Fran were not going to get any firm resolution before the final credits rolled, and you lost your only remaining motive for watching. It was a bit like being told a shaggy dog story only to have the teller smile enigmatically at the end and say he might deliver the punchline in eight months' time, provided the overnights turned out to be good enough.

I'm not keeping my fingers crossed myself, because this looked like a parody of Cold Feet-style drama, rather than a fresh product by the man who helped create it. In fact, what it really looked like was one of those narrative adverts that take their inspiration from Cold Feet-style drama, a Gold Blend world in which every line is silkily knowing, or involves embarrassment as well rehearsed as a dance routine. It had the same commercial compression in the storytelling, so that when Martin (on the brink of marriage and still nursing a grievance over a now ancient infidelity) spotted his old flame in the pub he froze in the doorway and a little shimmer on the soundtrack did the emotional shorthand for you in about two seconds flat, no characterisation required.

This was an ensemble affair though, so Gold Blend won't quite cover it. Before long, a Magners cider gang turned up, perky in their backchat, up for fun, breaking off for bits of man-hugging and girlish giggling. Hannah was at the centre of it, but there were other storylines circling: needy Sarah, who announced that she'd found Jesus and Belinda and Danny, who were three children into a marriage and – on her side at least – beginning to get twitchy about it. And then there was Rob, a serious miscalculation by the likeable Irish comedian Ed Byrne, who had somehow been persuaded to take on the role of Rob, the feckless, notionally "charming" one. "If you still want to punch me I'd understand," he said perkily, when he met Martin in the loo (it was Rob who slept with Hannah when he shouldn't have). Martin declined, but I'd have been more than happy to do it for him if I'd been on the spot."

------------------------------------------

Andrew Pettie, Daily Telegraph

"Eery few years a comedy drama comes along that speaks to a generation. In the mid-Nineties, BBC Two’s This Life successfully captured the confused, competitive world of ambitious young professionals via a household of trainee solicitors. Soon after, ITV reeled in millions of slightly older viewers with Cold Feet, which followed the romantic ups and downs of three couples over six hugely popular series.

Last night, Reunited (BBC One), for now just a 60-minute pilot, made a pitch to its target demographic: frustrated thirtysomethings still coming to terms with their failing ambitions, thinning hair and lack (or surfeit) of children. As a frustrated thirtysomething with plenty of failed ambitions, dwindling reserves of hair and no children, I tuned in with interest.

The action started brightly with an attempted shooting in a Tokyo hotel room, in which scantily clad Hannah (Zoë Tapper) was caught mid-affair by her Japanese boss’s enraged wife. This, however, was merely an exotic plot device to get Hannah scrambling back to London to catch up with a group of five friends she’d shared a house with 10 years earlier.

They were: Hannah’s former (and no doubt future) lover Martin (Joseph Millson), still dishy but now engaged; ostensibly content married-couple-with-kids Belinda (Emma Stansfield) and Danny (Navin Chowdhury); and likeable Irish rogue Rob (likeable Irish stand-up comedian Ed Byrne). My favourite, though, was the laughably unhinged Sara (Michelle Terry), who had managed to cram the most into the intervening period by suffering a nervous breakdown and then discovering Jesus.

The writer, Mike Bullen, who also wrote Cold Feet, is clearly an experienced hand at concocting set-ups for prime-time comedy dramas. As Reunited’s title – with its echo of the social networking website Friends Reunited – hints, the story’s dramatic tension springs from an intriguing modern quandary.

Thanks to the internet, it is now virtually impossible to shake off unwanted acquaintances, who in the days before Facebook would have drifted out of your circle of friends never to be heard of again. But what happens when, after a couple of Google searches and a round-robin email, you’re suddenly thrust back together? Will old passions and jealousies reignite? Will long-forgotten secrets be disinterred? If Bullen is given a full series to tell us, I’m pretty confident the answer will be yes on all counts.

But although the various plot strands – involving Martin and Hannah’s poorly disguised feelings for one another, and Belinda’s fling with a man on her Spanish course – were competently threaded together, you never felt swept away by the characters. Rob was the most lifelike. This was his tongue-in-cheek apology to Martin for having slept with Hannah eight years ago: “I’m sorry. I was mixed up. By a combination of rum and coke.” But even Rob’s chucklesome asides only served to remind you that Ed Byrne’s jokes are usually a bit funnier than Mike Bullen’s.

One of the reasons people adored This Life is that they identified with the characters, whose lives felt like theirs, except with more attractive sexual partners and regular cliff-hangers. But beyond that, they also enjoyed their company. By contrast, I imagine that the circle of friends brought back together by Reunited were blander than the majority of viewers’ real-life acquaintances – who also have to get by without the assistance of a script. "

------------------------------------------

Tom Murphy review

------------------------------------------

Overnights: 3.33m (15.3%)

------------------------------------------

"Reunited", BBC Drama

Back Up Your Data Day - 01/07/2010

2010-07-01T09:00:00.000+01:00

Graham Linehan interviews

2010-06-25T10:00:00.006+01:00

Update

The IT Crowd – live chat transcript: Graham Linehan
The Guardian
Link

************************************************

Graham Linehan: The genius behind The IT Crowd (series 4.0)
The Guardian
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graham Linehan Interview: The IT Crowd (series 4.0)
Sky
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interview With Graham Linehan (series 4.0)
British Comedy Guide
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interview with Graham Linehan (series 4.0)
Popculturemonster
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graham Linehan reveals secrets of successful sitcom writing ahead of new IT Crowd series
Such Small Portions
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graham Linehan interview by Lauren Laverne, BBC6 (audio)
Auntie Nubbins
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TV comedy lacks imagination, claims Father Ted creator
The Stage
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graham Linehan talks IT Crowd (series 3.0)
Den of Greek (1)
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graham Linehan talks IT Crowd (series 3.0)
Den of Greek (2)
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Golden Graham (series 3.0)
4 Talent
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q&A: Graham Linehan, writer and director of The IT Crowd
Silicon.com
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At Home with the Linehans (Series 1.0)
ITCrowd.co.uk
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graham Linehan on The IT Crowd (Series 1.0)
Memorable TV
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graham Linehan interview (audio)
The Sound of Young America
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graham Linehan interview (audio)
A bit of a chat with Ken Plume (1)
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graham Linehan interview (audio)
A bit of a chat with Ken Plume (2)
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graham Linehan - Funny Business (RTE doc)
Youtube
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interview: Graham Linehan (video)
Screenjabber
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Holy Graham
Tribune
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An exclusive interview with Graham Linehan
Mustard comedy mag
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graham Linehan Carpool interview

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You can write backwards from a great ending, forwards from a great start, or both ways from a great middle. It's having that great scene that matters, because it provides the impetus to keep going.

"Best of all is having two or three great scenes, so that you're always writing towards or away from one of them."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"If you think you've written a brilliant script, put it away for a month and then read it again."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graham Linehan's guide to writing a TV sitcom
The Guardian
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Don't follow actors home'
The Guardian
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Six Myths of TV Comedy
The Idler
Link

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BBC Comedy Masterclass
Read the transcript from a master class with Graham Linehan, Susan Nickson, Fred Barron and Kenton Allen (2003).
Link (pdf)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graham Linehan interview- my edit of Screenwipe series 5, ep 3

(see the full programme, which includes other writers, here)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Graham Linehan: Twitter | Blog | Posterous

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Watch Father Ted on Youtube 4oD
Watch The IT Crowd on Youtube 4oD

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Storytelling Theory and Practice

2010-06-24T10:44:00.000+01:00

Linkage - 19/06/2010

2010-06-19T09:32:00.008+01:00

The Writer in Modern TV - transcript of event
Michelle Lipton
Link

#####################################

Guild / BBC TV Drama Event - podcasts
The Writers' Guild of Great Britain
Link

#####################################

Part 2 - Notes from a Hollywood "Reader" by Marie Rose
The Script-a-Thon
Link

#####################################

What Does It Take To Become A Successful Screenwriter?
Mina Zaher
Link

#####################################

Confessions of a Recovering Perfectionist
Tyler Weaver
Link

#####################################

David Frost's Q&A on how to be a satirist
The Guardian
Link

#####################################

Surviving as a Film Producer
All About Indie Filmmaking
Link

#####################################

Serious Screenwriting
David Melkevik
Links: Day 1 | Day 2

#####################################

Film Director's Check List of Technical Terms
Raindance
Link

#####################################

How to piss off a woman reader
Emily Blake
Link

#####################################

Why Strong Female Characters Are Bad for Women
Overthinking It
Link

#####################################

"With Sequels and Reboots Failing, Hollywood (Finally) Puts Out a Desperate Call for Original Material"
Scott Myers
Link

#####################################

The Hidden Tools of Comedy (1) by Steve Kaplan
The Story Department
Link

#####################################

Notes from Steve Kaplan's Comedy Workshop
Trevor Mayes
Links: Part 1 | Part 2

#####################################

6 Productivity Principles to Live By
Litemind
Link

#####################################

6 New Productivity Principles to Live By
Litemind
Link

#####################################

Ed Catmull,the Pixar/Disney Animimation President, talk at The Economist
Scott Burkum
"On protecting a vision:

"I do believe you want a vision, so you start off with a person who has a vision for a story. And we do things to try and protect that vision and its not easy to protect it, because they feel these pressures. They also have misconceptions about the creative process sometimes. We do have these people who we give a chance to on the belief they’re right, and can rise to the occasion, and we are wrong sometimes, because we can’t see what goes on in their heads. And our measure, because we can’t see inside people’s heads, is the team. If the team is functioning well, and healthy, it will solve the problem."
Link

#####################################

Celtx won over Final Draft
Désirée
Link

#####################################

Screenwriting industry panel
Philip Shelley
Link

#####################################

Writing for Continuing Drama - BBC Writers Room/Screen Yorkshire
link

Deadlines Calendar updated

2010-06-18T19:00:00.000+01:00

Access it here or via the panel on the top right.

New Moviescope out now

2010-06-14T08:00:00.000+01:00

"80 Pages of Industry opinion and comment from Michael Gubbins (former editor of Screen International), Julian Friedmann (joint managing director at Blake Friedmann Literary Agents and former editor of Scriptwriter Magazine), Danny Munso (Associate editor of Creative Screenwriting magazine), martin McCabe, Mick Southworth (managing Director of The Works (UK), Dave Morrison (film finance and tax advisor at Nyman Libson Paul) and others.

PLUS, contributions by industry professionals like Dop Philip Bloom, Nick Lawson (Dop and member of The British Guild of Camera Technicians), Tommy Gormley (First AD on Star Trek, 2012 and John Carter of Mars), filmmaker Mason Cardiff, Anwar Brett (Bafta member and contributor to FujiFilm ‘Exposure magazine’) and many more."

Subscribe online here

Linkage - 12/06/2010

2010-06-12T12:34:00.003+01:00

(Illustration by Palmer Murphy)

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20th Century Fox used 11 screenwriters on The A-Team movie. Pixar used 1 on Toy Story 3. Which one is better?
Scott Myers
Link

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32 Qualities of Better Film
Hammer to Nail
Link

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Producing Radio Drama
Savvy Productions
Link

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Writing for BBC Radio Drama
Mina Zaher
Link

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Inside the writers room: Top scifi TV writers reveal tricks of the trade
io9
Link

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What will that scary script editor ask me?
Pippa Best
Link

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Craft: The Perfect Excuse for Not Writing
Adrian Reynolds
Link

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Screenplay Tips # 2: Reversals
Lucy Hay
Link

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Strip Your Characters #2
Neil Baker
Link

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A guide to Script Reading in the UK. FREE auto-download (PDF), includes how to be a reader, two sample reports etc.
Danny Stack
Link

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Third-act Failures
AV Club
Link

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The new wave of British horror films
The Guardian
Link

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Fight For Your Right To Think
Jason Arnopp
Link

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Frank Deasy's unproduced screenplay, 'Gaza'
Link

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Roy Williams: Confessions of an uncool kid
The Guardian
Link

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Women, Power and Politics: script for a revolution
The Guardian
Link

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Hollywood Myths and Hoaxes: Connections
Filmmaker IQ
Link

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Writing screenplays and novels: why the end should be in the beginning
Jurgen Wolff
Link

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Women in film
John August
Link

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The Most Ridiculous Hollywood Rip-Offs Of All Time (PICTURES):
Huffington Post
Link

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Is UK film saving the economy?
BBC
Link

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Open Access Film E-books List
Film Studies for Free
Link

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The 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years
EW.com
Link

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Is perfectionism killing your career?
TechRepublic
Link

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Your Brain on Computers - Attached to Technology and Paying a Price
NYTimes.com
Link

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Ten Things You Should Already Know By Now
How to get a grip
Link

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Test Your Focus
NY Times
Link

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A Procrastination Test to Uncover Procrastination Patterns
Psychology Today
Link

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Free Online Interactive Courses & Certification
Alison
Link

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Why Most Fail At Screenwriting

Television Drama - The Writers' Festival 2010

2010-06-10T12:12:00.001+01:00

BBC Writersroom:

Starts: Wednesday, 30 June 2010 at 12:00pm
Ends: Thursday, 1 July 2010 at 3:00pm
Location: Leeds College of Music (map)

"Agenda created by Tony Marchant, Jack Thorne, Alice Nutter, Toby Whithouse, and Stephen Butchard.

Be part of the first Television Writers' Festival, covering topics including the politics of notes, the balancing act of running a show, the challenges of making the transition from writer-for-hire to getting original work onscreen, and the place for political drama today.

With seminars headed up by the country's best writing, producing, and commissioning talent, including Kay Mellor, Ben Stephenson, John Yorke, Nicola Shindler, Jed Mercurio, Adam Curtis, Polly Hill, Peter Bowker, Sally Wainwright, Paula Milne, Mark Catley, Philippa Lowthorpe, Tony Jordan, Matthew Graham, William Ivory, Ben Richards, and Peter Flannery, it will be an opportunity to be inspired, challenged, and to have your say."

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This was originally only for those with a TV drama credit or commission but is now open to all. Very generous.

The schedule is impressive:

Television Drama - The Writers' Festival - Schedule

Online Movie Week - Free film streaming (UK)

2010-06-07T09:05:00.004+01:00

ONLINE MOVIE WEEK
7-13 JUNE 2010

Why is online movie week taking place?

Full Stream Ahead is a week long celebration (7 June to 13 June) of legal online movies. There are some fantastic legal movie streaming services out there, and this week you can try one for free. Legal services provide guaranteed reliability and quality - letting you relax and enjoy your movie.

“To educate and encourage people, including those tempted to try illegal file-sharing, to adopt legal methods for quickly and easily accessing movie content online.

FullStreamAhead Coalition”

Red Planet Prize - deadline: 31 July 2010

2010-06-04T08:13:00.003+01:00

For a single or a pilot. Details here:

Red Planet Prize

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Interview with the last winner

Tony Jordan workshop notes

RPP Project - drama workshop

Back Up Your Data Day - 01/06/2010

2010-06-01T08:44:00.003+01:00

It's the first of the month which means it's Back Up Your Data Day (although it should be done day-to-day!).

We can also use this day to delete stuff we no longer need and de-fragment our hard drive(s) to keep our machine lean and clean - if you know what I mean.

Windows guide to defragmenting
Mac users don't have to defragment, apparently.

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Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.

Link

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Computer Virus Effect Remover

Computer Virus Effect Remover is a helpful software program for the Windows operating system after an infection with malicious software like a virus, trojan or worm has occurred. It can be used to remove various effects of those malicious programs.

The Open Source software can aid the user in removing effects from the Windows file system and the Windows Registry. One of the main functions of it is that it can re-enable access to the Windows Taskmanager, Registry Editor, MSconfig and the Process List.

Link

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A reminder about Matt's simple and effective back-up:

"I have never been able to get the hang of proper backup software and procedures. I always end up getting into a complete pickle about the various full backups, interim backups and how the bloody hell I'd back everything up if my hard-drive became shot with the backup software on it. So these days I just have a complete clone of My Documents on a portable drive and use Microsoft's Synctoy to keep the files up to date."

However I would suggest backing up your entire Documents and Settings folder and not just the My Documents part of it as it which would include emails and favourites/bookmarks. This link has more details.

I asked Lee about the Mac equivalent:

"Things like emails, bookmarks, fonts, templates, RSS feeds, Applescripts - anything used by an application, but not created by it when you hit Save - are kept in your Home folder, in the Library. In Mac speak, that's ~/Library. Apple apps such as Mail, Safari, and iTunes may have their own folders. Non-Apple apps like NetNewsWire, Montage, Final Draft, Scrivener etc, will keep all their stuff in ~/Library/Application Support. The truly paranoid might want to back up their preference files as well. I know I do. These are in ~/Library/Prefences.

For safety's sake, back up the entire Library folder, it's probably only a few hundred megs."

Jason Sutton added:

"Backing up Macs is impossibly easy. Buy an external hard drive and use Time Machine. It's built in to OS X. The best back-ups are the ones you don't have to think about. Brilliant application."

Thank you Matt and Lee and Jason!

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Don't delay, do it today. It's Back Up Your Data Day, hooray!

Script Study: "Little Miss Sunshine"

2010-05-31T09:00:00.001+01:00

Linkage - 29/05/2010

2010-05-29T14:56:00.004+01:00

Required Reading - online article compilation
Lucy Vee
Link

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Write A Screenplay In 3 Weeks by Dov Simens
Raindance (subscribe to their newsletter)
Link

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Notes from the Power of Story (By McKee)
Kilo 75
Link

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Notes from Story Structure (by McKee)
Writing for Performance
Link (pdf, 26 pages)

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Comedy is simple. But it's not easy
Euroscript
Link

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Writing from theme
John August
Link

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Report explores gender in movies and TV, and the results aren't good
Spare Candy
Link

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Does your script star ‘The’ Woman?
John Hunter
Link

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It's Not What You Said, It's How You Said It
Jane Espenson
Link

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The Script Lab
"The leading resource for screenwriters"
Link

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Random Word Brainstorming
Creativity Tools
Link

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Location, Location, Location and a Good Script
Movie Blog
Link

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How do you write a professional story treatment?
Go Into The Story
Link

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Go Into The Story Recommended Scripts archive
Link

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Motivation Techniques – Routine
Create Your Mind
Link

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The No. 1 Habit of Highly Creative People
Zen Habits
Link

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How to overcome procrastination
Writing Tips 4 U
Link

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Top 40 Useful Sites To Learn New Skills
Marc and Angel Hack Life
Link

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Writing the Second Act with Michael Halperin

"Writing the Second Act: Building Conflict and Tension in Your Film Script" at Amazon

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