I am very tired. End of Day #1 at the LSF. I'm going to try and crack through this fairly quickly because I need my sleepy-byes, but once I start writing I tend to just keep going.
Wednesday evening I prepared one-sheets for Monsters and Une Nuit in Paris, because these were most likely to be the things I pitch - oh and my writing CV. It had to be Wednesday because Thursday daytime was the only opportunity to do any printing.
Thursday I got the stuff printed and headed back to my place of residence. Late again because the day job is getting to need "working late" because a deadline is looming.
I packed my gear, as I'm staying in a hotel near the event. Packed all my stuff and realised I had rather a lot to carry - only two bags but really heavy. Normally I book into hotels the evening before an event but London is far too expensive for that.
Then horror hits. I'm entering the Shine Pictures competition which has a deadline on Friday so I'm uploading my entry, and the form refuses to accept that my PDFs are actually PDFs. I get very annoyed. I waste two hours creating PDFs in different ways trying to force the site to recognise my files. Eventually it dawns on me: I change to Internet Explorer and it works. (I am professionally disgusted - it takes work to make a site fail like that.)
Dawn's Friday morning. I'm up at the usual time, well slightly earlier really. Finish packing, dress, breakfast, lift to station, train to Farringdon, Circle Line to Baker Street. And I'm there.
I can't go to the hotel as I can't check-in yet, so I have to lug my bags around.
The event is at Regent's College which is located in Regents Park. And it's very nice in very pleasant surroundings. I encounter a co-attendee of the MetFilm School course, and rescue her from a garrulous member of the College. She is grateful.
So we arrive together. I get registered (Hina registered the previous evening), prove I am me (who else would I be). Make our way to the Refectory and grab some food while the MetFilm Yobs collect around us. And Jez Freedman. I tell everyone who'll listen that Jez is excellent as a script reader and doesn't charge enough. (I always say this, because it's true.) Jez points out that he deliberately keeps his prices low because he wants to offer a service that he didn't have when he was starting out.
Jez is one of the good guys.
It heads towards 9am and the MetFilm Yobs move as an amorphous blob to the introductory session in a large hall and fill up a row.
This is a very well-appointed college, the seats in the main hall are extremely comfortable. It has it's own cinema. Various food shops around the refectory, two bars, a very nice restaurant as well as the various classrooms.
The Introduction has David Chamberlain and Chris Jones doing a double-act. Chris takes a photo of the audience from the stage. There are announcements.
Then we get a long interview with Tim Bevan one of the founders of Working Title. He explained the genesis and working philosophy of the company - so unlike the horrors of Hollywood.
Generally speaking the original author of a script stays with it throughout its development, though other writers may be brought in for their views, a script is not put into production (usually) until it's ready. They want good stories with great characters and emotion.
His description just made me think of Pixar, which operates on a similar philosophy. And both companies produce successful films more often than not.
There was lots more but time is getting on...
The next for me was a chat with Ben Stephenson (Head of BBC commissioning) and Gub Neal who had been commissioner for ITV (during its 90s heyday) and Channel 4, but now runs the Artists Studio.
They said a lot. Too much to go into now. But I suppose the highlights were Ben's response to a question about trying to follow trends: "No, trends are rubbish." And Gub's comment about how successful writers are usually disinterested in what the audience want - they write what they want.
Does foreign money affect the writing? Gub: Yes.
How much UK output is bought by the US? Ben: None. (The only slight exception now being the US-made Torchwood.)
Then I went off to get checked-in at the hotel and missed the beginning of the afternoon sessions. So sat around and chatted to people.
I went to see what Paul Ashton of the BBC's Writersroom had to say for himself - he talked about the imponderable issue of the Writer's Voice. It's very important and people know when a writer's "got it", but nobody knows what it is. It wasn't terribly enlightening and I'm not sure it's a good choice of subject for the many new writers who could disappear up their own confusions trying to think about it.
He also said that 85% of scripts sent to the Writersroom failed the 10 page test and were sent back without comment.
I was seriously beginning to flag by this time. I tried to go to the networking session but it was packed out. I ended up in the cinema watching shorts for a bit. then went to the bar for the 8pm SF writers get together.
The bar was packed.
I gave up. And came back to the hotel.
And now I'm going to sleep. Good night.
What's on the turntable? Something modern and cool on BBC Radio 3
Showing posts with label cheltenham screenwriters festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cheltenham screenwriters festival. Show all posts
Friday, October 29, 2010
Monday, November 02, 2009
Fiesta - Takeaway
So, it's been a few days for me to absorb the Screenwriters Festival, and in that time I've spent an evening scaring children at the scariest house in Carrbrook, caught a chill, drove to Leeds to spend a couple of hours at the Royal Armouries and FIASCO with all the family (bought lots of dice). Came home and went to bed for a few hours.
And that was just 24 hours.
Feeling better today. Went back to work to discover that the latest website launch had been - difficult. But they managed without me.
So, SWF.
One lesson that was reinforced this time was the fact that everyone in this business is scared, scared of getting it wrong. Weirdly enough the writer is the only one who has the power to inspire confidence. If making TV or a movie is a tent, then the writer is the tent peg.
They know this. They know they have to trust you - so be trustworthy.
But that's the same lesson as last year, but other people have been saying it.
So what's new? Stephen Moffat has never written for soaps (unless you count Press Gang as a soap) so the idea that you must is wrong. Which is just as well for me since my interest in that area is exactly zero. Stephen Moffat also writes for himself - what he wants to see on TV. (And Spielberg makes the films he wants to see. There's something to be said for the selfish approach.)
Misinformation floating about: I noted that the Sales Agents said "write what the market is producing" but then, they would. It is nonsense, of course. I was sitting in the room where a sales agent was saying that while the Head of Development was saying "don't try to follow the market, you're already too late."
So that's no help. What was new?
Ah yes, you need a champion. Whether it's film or TV, UK or US, you need a champion.
Actually what you need is PR, but in this business PR is best achieved with a champion. A champion is someone already in the business, with a reputation, who will stand up and say "this person is good". This has to do with the fear thing. It means that people in the business are essentially followers (because leading is dangerous - you can get shot). So if someone with a reputation stands up and says "this person is good" everyone will agree (because they can blame him if you're not) and you can inch your way through the door.
Of course you do actually need to be good, a champion can get people to listen but if you don't have the talent you'll be out so fast your posterior will not touch the floor.
So there you go.
What's on the turntable? "Night by Night" by Steely Dan from "Pretzel Logic"
And that was just 24 hours.
Feeling better today. Went back to work to discover that the latest website launch had been - difficult. But they managed without me.
So, SWF.
One lesson that was reinforced this time was the fact that everyone in this business is scared, scared of getting it wrong. Weirdly enough the writer is the only one who has the power to inspire confidence. If making TV or a movie is a tent, then the writer is the tent peg.
They know this. They know they have to trust you - so be trustworthy.
But that's the same lesson as last year, but other people have been saying it.
So what's new? Stephen Moffat has never written for soaps (unless you count Press Gang as a soap) so the idea that you must is wrong. Which is just as well for me since my interest in that area is exactly zero. Stephen Moffat also writes for himself - what he wants to see on TV. (And Spielberg makes the films he wants to see. There's something to be said for the selfish approach.)
Misinformation floating about: I noted that the Sales Agents said "write what the market is producing" but then, they would. It is nonsense, of course. I was sitting in the room where a sales agent was saying that while the Head of Development was saying "don't try to follow the market, you're already too late."
So that's no help. What was new?
Ah yes, you need a champion. Whether it's film or TV, UK or US, you need a champion.
Actually what you need is PR, but in this business PR is best achieved with a champion. A champion is someone already in the business, with a reputation, who will stand up and say "this person is good". This has to do with the fear thing. It means that people in the business are essentially followers (because leading is dangerous - you can get shot). So if someone with a reputation stands up and says "this person is good" everyone will agree (because they can blame him if you're not) and you can inch your way through the door.
Of course you do actually need to be good, a champion can get people to listen but if you don't have the talent you'll be out so fast your posterior will not touch the floor.
So there you go.
What's on the turntable? "Night by Night" by Steely Dan from "Pretzel Logic"
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Ambivalence
So, was I ambivalent about SWF'09?
I can see why one might think I was.
I'm no newbie when it comes to living (old fat bastard might be more accurate) therefore I have opinions, very strong opinions. Sometimes those opinions differ from the expressed opinions of people who supposedly "know" - and I don't care. (Old fat and opinionated.) And sometimes I know I'm right, so I get annoyed because people who don't know the truth are getting conned.
The trouble is that as I spent most of the time tired (mostly because of the hotel bed) my annoyance tended to stick and be expressed out of proportion to the good things.
There is no doubt that SWF is incredibly valuable as a networking opportunity - my last blog should have demonstrated that.
But I think the most valuable factor is being with other writers. We are the creators without which drama would not exist in any form, but what we do is fundamentally lonely. A room full of writers, or even a table full of writers, is a phenomenal thing and a very encouraging thing.
So, from that viewpoint, SWF is actually vital. The fundamental factor required for success isn't talent (unfortunately) it's persistence. And it's easier to keep at it when you've met a bunch of like-minded people.
Any apparent ambivalence stems from personal disagreements with specific people.
I am not ambivalent about SWF.
What's on the turntable? "Mortal Kombat"s on the TV...
I can see why one might think I was.
I'm no newbie when it comes to living (old fat bastard might be more accurate) therefore I have opinions, very strong opinions. Sometimes those opinions differ from the expressed opinions of people who supposedly "know" - and I don't care. (Old fat and opinionated.) And sometimes I know I'm right, so I get annoyed because people who don't know the truth are getting conned.
The trouble is that as I spent most of the time tired (mostly because of the hotel bed) my annoyance tended to stick and be expressed out of proportion to the good things.
There is no doubt that SWF is incredibly valuable as a networking opportunity - my last blog should have demonstrated that.
But I think the most valuable factor is being with other writers. We are the creators without which drama would not exist in any form, but what we do is fundamentally lonely. A room full of writers, or even a table full of writers, is a phenomenal thing and a very encouraging thing.
So, from that viewpoint, SWF is actually vital. The fundamental factor required for success isn't talent (unfortunately) it's persistence. And it's easier to keep at it when you've met a bunch of like-minded people.
Any apparent ambivalence stems from personal disagreements with specific people.
I am not ambivalent about SWF.
What's on the turntable? "Mortal Kombat"s on the TV...
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Fiesta - Day #4
It's too long. Four days is just too long but then if it hadn't been four days perhaps certain things wouldn't have happened...
I made no notes today. None. Nada. Zilch.
Why?
Not exactly because no one said anything interesting, more because the first session was about "Classic" Dr Who, the second session was New Who, the third session was the second part of Phil Parker's "Dynamic Universes" and nothing new was said.
The evening was Stephen Moffat talking about being in charge of Dr Who.
Much was said but nothing of major significance. But things happened on a more personal level.
I had my meeting with the "important development person from Kudos". It was a very good meeting, she loved Monsters, the whole world creation thing that I do automatically and really without a lot of thought (things are like "obvious" you know?) well apparently this is a rare skill. I know at least half a dozen other people who do universe creation without batting an eyelid - is it really that rare?
The detail was the thing that impressed her (apparently).
So will I be writing for Spooks, Hustle or MI High? Not in the near future. Why? Because I have written series and not serial. Neither Monsters nor Air demonstrate the ability to write story-of-the-week so she cannot judge whether I can pace something like that correctly. So can I submit a script that does? I asked.
No.
Kudos have a strict "no representation = no sendee scriptee" so even that personal contact with a script that demonstrates an ability to write well is not enough. They're a tough audience.
Curiously she seemed surprised that I had no representation when Monsters was such a brilliant demonstration of writing skill (ahem). I said "catch 22": can't get an agent without a credit ... can't get a credit without an agent. She didn't think that was really true, and we parted on reasonable terms - though it felt a little "awkward".
Later I spoke to Jon Peacey who had seen two (or was it three) agents as part of his speed dating, and every single one of them told him they wouldn't consider anyone unless they had a credit. (Jon had a better time later with producers.)
Hm. I think I believe the horse's mouth.
This next bit takes some explaining: Among the "Classic" Who line-up was Bob Baker who (among other things) invented K9 and, it was mentioned, wrote the incredible kids TV series Sky, back in the 70s. I have mentioned Sky before, it was weird and it was scary and apparently called "Kafka for kids" - but I hadn't known Bob wrote it. And there he was.
During one of the informal "Scriptbites" I had a word with him and told him what an influence it had had on me. And that my script Air was inspired by Sky (the name similarity is not a coincidence).
Anyway the Daughter had agreed to spread my business card among the guest speakers she came into contact with (she's a good girl). It just so happened that Bob was presenting a session about his new "K9 and Friends" series - in the venue the Daughter was responsible for. Not many people were there and it was very informal and chatty - and it turned out that they were looking for British writers for the series. So she got an email address for me to contact them.
When she told me, I grabbed one of the computers in the Internet cafe and popped an email over to them asking if they had guidelines for story idea submissions, and attached the one appropriate script I had been carrying around on a memory stick: Air.
Serendipity is cool.
After Stephen Moffat's presentation we went to the wrap party and chatted, then I returned to the hotel and here I am.
I'm going to bed.
What's on the turntable? "Show Biz Kids" by Steely Dan from "Countdown to Ecstasy"
I made no notes today. None. Nada. Zilch.
Why?
Not exactly because no one said anything interesting, more because the first session was about "Classic" Dr Who, the second session was New Who, the third session was the second part of Phil Parker's "Dynamic Universes" and nothing new was said.
The evening was Stephen Moffat talking about being in charge of Dr Who.
Much was said but nothing of major significance. But things happened on a more personal level.
I had my meeting with the "important development person from Kudos". It was a very good meeting, she loved Monsters, the whole world creation thing that I do automatically and really without a lot of thought (things are like "obvious" you know?) well apparently this is a rare skill. I know at least half a dozen other people who do universe creation without batting an eyelid - is it really that rare?
The detail was the thing that impressed her (apparently).
So will I be writing for Spooks, Hustle or MI High? Not in the near future. Why? Because I have written series and not serial. Neither Monsters nor Air demonstrate the ability to write story-of-the-week so she cannot judge whether I can pace something like that correctly. So can I submit a script that does? I asked.
No.
Kudos have a strict "no representation = no sendee scriptee" so even that personal contact with a script that demonstrates an ability to write well is not enough. They're a tough audience.
Curiously she seemed surprised that I had no representation when Monsters was such a brilliant demonstration of writing skill (ahem). I said "catch 22": can't get an agent without a credit ... can't get a credit without an agent. She didn't think that was really true, and we parted on reasonable terms - though it felt a little "awkward".
Later I spoke to Jon Peacey who had seen two (or was it three) agents as part of his speed dating, and every single one of them told him they wouldn't consider anyone unless they had a credit. (Jon had a better time later with producers.)
Hm. I think I believe the horse's mouth.
This next bit takes some explaining: Among the "Classic" Who line-up was Bob Baker who (among other things) invented K9 and, it was mentioned, wrote the incredible kids TV series Sky, back in the 70s. I have mentioned Sky before, it was weird and it was scary and apparently called "Kafka for kids" - but I hadn't known Bob wrote it. And there he was.
During one of the informal "Scriptbites" I had a word with him and told him what an influence it had had on me. And that my script Air was inspired by Sky (the name similarity is not a coincidence).
Anyway the Daughter had agreed to spread my business card among the guest speakers she came into contact with (she's a good girl). It just so happened that Bob was presenting a session about his new "K9 and Friends" series - in the venue the Daughter was responsible for. Not many people were there and it was very informal and chatty - and it turned out that they were looking for British writers for the series. So she got an email address for me to contact them.
When she told me, I grabbed one of the computers in the Internet cafe and popped an email over to them asking if they had guidelines for story idea submissions, and attached the one appropriate script I had been carrying around on a memory stick: Air.
Serendipity is cool.
After Stephen Moffat's presentation we went to the wrap party and chatted, then I returned to the hotel and here I am.
I'm going to bed.
What's on the turntable? "Show Biz Kids" by Steely Dan from "Countdown to Ecstasy"
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Fiesta - Day #3
Shall I start by saying I'm tired? Seems a bit obvious and repetitive - this time I was woken by someone in the room above me stomping in at 2:00am and I came completely awake - even thought it might be time to get up.
It wasn't.
I tried really really hard not to be the first person in this morning and I think I wasn't. I was still the first person to pay for a coffee ... the nice coffee-serving person knows what I like now. (Fat double-shot mochachino with plain chocolate and no chocolate dusting.)
As the noble Piers has already mentioned we were into TV territory today in a big way with lots of bigwigs from the BBC plus Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes co-creator Ashley Pharoah.
(Ohmigod, the cursor has disappeared, that's rather disconcerting. Ah, sorted it.)
My first stop was the Web Thriller session with the mighty, and self-effacing, James Moran (Severance, Dr Who, Torchwood:Children of Earth) with his director Dan Turner. Together (and with some other quite talented people) they have produced Girl No. 9 which is a 6 x 5min cop thriller. They showed us episode #1 (yes folks, we've seen it twice - they showed it again at the end) and then answered questions from the floor.
They told us that they did not know what the cost of production was - because they refused to listen whenever the Producer wanted to tell them - however they also pointed out that it was an expenses-only production. They also explained how liberating it was to produce something for the web, completely free from the constraints of the established distribution channels. This, interestingly, tied in with Simon Beaufoy's comments yesterday that smaller budgets increased creative freedom.
They do intend to monetize the product but the first showing, and for a period, it will be free - which follows Joss Whedon's Dr Horrible. You can watch it online for a fee or buy the DVD.
They are also using other platforms for distribution - like Twitter where the characters have their own accounts. There is already a fan base and the characters talk to the fans.
Interesting.
I went to the talk with Christine Langan, Creative Director of BBC Films. It was mildly interesting inasmuch as we learnt that if the BBC invests in a film they want some editorial control which reflects the BBC's purpose. And they don't accept unsolicited material from mere writers (well, you can't blame them for that) but will look at stuff submitted from agents or from production companies.
We had lunch and the bloggers indulged in enormous silliness and raucous laughter in the cafe.
I just could not bring myself to listen to Ben Stephenson, Controller of Drama Commissioning at the BBC. Why? I was tired and I'd probably heard it all before.
However I thought I'd try Kate Harwood, Head of Series and Serials at the BBC, on the subject of solving the problems of TV drama under the current climate. Can't say I was enormously impressed with that either. She compared the current situation with TV in the 70s when no money was being spent yet we had fantastic TV like Boys from the Blackstuff and Pennies from Heaven. And pointed out that it was just quality writing, and that's what we need now.
Yeah, I think we can all agree that quality writing is a good thing.
Finally there was Ashley Pharoah and Stephen Volk, in a session chaired by the same Kate Harwood, on the subject of Writin' USA.
Essentially it was about covering the differences, why the US are always trying to grab UK TV formats (although they also plunder Australia and anywhere else they can find stuff). Why those formats don't always work - and what it's like to work in the US compared to the UK, as a writer.
Life on Mars USA was cancelled after 17 episodes. Ashley thought that if they had been willing to listen to some of his suggestions it could have lasted longer. But he was not allowed to make suggestions even though, technically, he was a consultant.
On the other hand, The American Office has gone from strength to strength, but Ricky Gervais is Executive Producer on it.
The question arose: Are the Americans better at writing than the British? The consensus was that, at the top end, they are about the same but at the low end the US are slicker but not necessarily better.
In the US, a series must get to 100 episodes in order to break even (once they get to 100 they can syndicate and the money pours in) until then a series is always produced at a loss. This means that the pressure demands a certain formulaic (or perhaps stylistic) writing in order to keep up the ratings. The scripts are polished but, except in rare cases, unemotional.
Which means that the financial restrictions in the UK, limiting series to around 6 episodes, is actually a bonus to the quality of writing (cf, Simon Beaufoy and James Moran on budgets and creativity). However it means that a powerful 6-part UK drama which has a beginning, a middle, and an end, translates poorly to the US 100+ going-on-forever episode structure. (But comedy always operates under different rules.)
All three panellists agreed that they had heard US writers complaining that the US broadcasters look to the UK first for new ideas.
One of those is Being Human , the powers-that-are in LA cannot stop talking about it, one company got the format, the others are grinding their teeth and wishing they'd offered more. And that is a format that will work for long running series. (Though it'll be like Friends meets Buffy, I imagine.)
On a personal note I finally found out who I'm meeting for the ScriptMarket prize - tomorrow, I get half an hour with an important development person from Kudos. Exactly what I wanted. (Also, Monsters does fit the 100+ episode model, as well as the UK 6-episode model, I'm just so clever. Air doesn't, Tec does, Clones does.)
What's on the turntable? "Bambele" by Santanna
It wasn't.
I tried really really hard not to be the first person in this morning and I think I wasn't. I was still the first person to pay for a coffee ... the nice coffee-serving person knows what I like now. (Fat double-shot mochachino with plain chocolate and no chocolate dusting.)
As the noble Piers has already mentioned we were into TV territory today in a big way with lots of bigwigs from the BBC plus Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes co-creator Ashley Pharoah.
(Ohmigod, the cursor has disappeared, that's rather disconcerting. Ah, sorted it.)
My first stop was the Web Thriller session with the mighty, and self-effacing, James Moran (Severance, Dr Who, Torchwood:Children of Earth) with his director Dan Turner. Together (and with some other quite talented people) they have produced Girl No. 9 which is a 6 x 5min cop thriller. They showed us episode #1 (yes folks, we've seen it twice - they showed it again at the end) and then answered questions from the floor.
They told us that they did not know what the cost of production was - because they refused to listen whenever the Producer wanted to tell them - however they also pointed out that it was an expenses-only production. They also explained how liberating it was to produce something for the web, completely free from the constraints of the established distribution channels. This, interestingly, tied in with Simon Beaufoy's comments yesterday that smaller budgets increased creative freedom.
They do intend to monetize the product but the first showing, and for a period, it will be free - which follows Joss Whedon's Dr Horrible. You can watch it online for a fee or buy the DVD.
They are also using other platforms for distribution - like Twitter where the characters have their own accounts. There is already a fan base and the characters talk to the fans.
Interesting.
I went to the talk with Christine Langan, Creative Director of BBC Films. It was mildly interesting inasmuch as we learnt that if the BBC invests in a film they want some editorial control which reflects the BBC's purpose. And they don't accept unsolicited material from mere writers (well, you can't blame them for that) but will look at stuff submitted from agents or from production companies.
We had lunch and the bloggers indulged in enormous silliness and raucous laughter in the cafe.
I just could not bring myself to listen to Ben Stephenson, Controller of Drama Commissioning at the BBC. Why? I was tired and I'd probably heard it all before.
However I thought I'd try Kate Harwood, Head of Series and Serials at the BBC, on the subject of solving the problems of TV drama under the current climate. Can't say I was enormously impressed with that either. She compared the current situation with TV in the 70s when no money was being spent yet we had fantastic TV like Boys from the Blackstuff and Pennies from Heaven. And pointed out that it was just quality writing, and that's what we need now.
Yeah, I think we can all agree that quality writing is a good thing.
Finally there was Ashley Pharoah and Stephen Volk, in a session chaired by the same Kate Harwood, on the subject of Writin' USA.
Essentially it was about covering the differences, why the US are always trying to grab UK TV formats (although they also plunder Australia and anywhere else they can find stuff). Why those formats don't always work - and what it's like to work in the US compared to the UK, as a writer.
Life on Mars USA was cancelled after 17 episodes. Ashley thought that if they had been willing to listen to some of his suggestions it could have lasted longer. But he was not allowed to make suggestions even though, technically, he was a consultant.
On the other hand, The American Office has gone from strength to strength, but Ricky Gervais is Executive Producer on it.
The question arose: Are the Americans better at writing than the British? The consensus was that, at the top end, they are about the same but at the low end the US are slicker but not necessarily better.
In the US, a series must get to 100 episodes in order to break even (once they get to 100 they can syndicate and the money pours in) until then a series is always produced at a loss. This means that the pressure demands a certain formulaic (or perhaps stylistic) writing in order to keep up the ratings. The scripts are polished but, except in rare cases, unemotional.
Which means that the financial restrictions in the UK, limiting series to around 6 episodes, is actually a bonus to the quality of writing (cf, Simon Beaufoy and James Moran on budgets and creativity). However it means that a powerful 6-part UK drama which has a beginning, a middle, and an end, translates poorly to the US 100+ going-on-forever episode structure. (But comedy always operates under different rules.)
All three panellists agreed that they had heard US writers complaining that the US broadcasters look to the UK first for new ideas.
One of those is Being Human , the powers-that-are in LA cannot stop talking about it, one company got the format, the others are grinding their teeth and wishing they'd offered more. And that is a format that will work for long running series. (Though it'll be like Friends meets Buffy, I imagine.)
On a personal note I finally found out who I'm meeting for the ScriptMarket prize - tomorrow, I get half an hour with an important development person from Kudos. Exactly what I wanted. (Also, Monsters does fit the 100+ episode model, as well as the UK 6-episode model, I'm just so clever. Air doesn't, Tec does, Clones does.)
What's on the turntable? "Bambele" by Santanna
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Fiesta - Day #2 - Bonus
I took some piccies today, of the Ladies College rather than people.
What's on the turntable? "Super-boogie/Hong Kong Blues" by Santanna
What's on the turntable? "Super-boogie/Hong Kong Blues" by Santanna
Fiesta - Day #2
Slept much better but basically still very tired (I need to catch up now).
The morning began much the same which meant I arrived far too early - I honestly tried to arrive later but getting up with the Daughter means I have a long time to kill. I'll try harder tomorrow.
Although I tend to discuss the things I've seen there are, of course, lots of other things going on, there's always at least two things running simultaneously and if you want a real clue, go to the website and look at the programme.
So today we started with Simon Beaufoy. And what an nice intelligent guy he is. He was talking about the screenwriter as diplomat, there hoops you have to jump through to keep the project moving because it's the stalled project that doesn't made.
Useful takeaways included: if you're in a major project and you're going to be getting notes from the suits (and they do have a right to give them - it's their money and they are rarely stupid) then make sure that those notes are prepared in advance into one document and sent a week before the meeting.
As a writer you are entitled to insist on this, and it means several things: (a) they don't hit you with the notes unprepared; (b) you can get upset and calm down in the privacy of your own office; (c) they have to make sure the collected notes make sense and aren't self-contradictory. These are all good things.
He also pointed out that the smaller the budget the more creative control you, as the writer, have. Kind of self-evident, but only when you think about it.
He's also managed to do a couple of low budget movies where the finance, and even casting, was in place before he even started writing the script, which was very liberating.
An interesting point about making Slumdog Millionaire with Warner Brothers was that he, with Celador, were perfectly capable of financing the entire project themselves if they wanted to - but they wanted the US distributor on board. It meant that they could walk away at any time if they didn't like it. But it mostly went well.
Then I went to a seminar with the development head and sales head of Ealing Studios Why the Market is important to Writers. This was a curate's egg (good in parts) mostly they talked to each other which gave you a feel for the interplay between them. They also took questions as they went along. All very nice and unstructured.
But I was forced to be rude. The finish was 11:15, theoretically. At this time they seemed to have no intention of stopping, nor any attention on the clearly visible clock. By 11:20 they still seemd to have no intention of stopping. At 11:24 I decided I would give them one more minute - because I wanted to get to the next item, and I could see other people getting edgy.
As the second hand hit 12 (11:25 exactly) I stood up and walked out - followed by another three people and, soon after, a stampede. I hate being rude but there was no other option. And that is the problem with unstructured events.
I moved to the main hall where Tessa Ross, head of TV and Film development for Channel 4 was to be interviewed. She seems a very nice person and has a tiny budget (only £8m), but works hard to help interesting film projects (including Slumdog Millionaire, of course). She's not interested in making copy-cat films. But even given that they only take "solicited" scripts they still have to get through a pile of 50-60 a week and can only assist 3-4 projects each year.
As for TV they, like all channels, are looking for the successful continuing series (like Shameless) but don't bother sending stuff on spec, it won't get read.
That was me pretty much done for the day, I had very little interest in anything except Son of a Pitch which is run by 4-Talent through the year with the final at the end of the day.
So, I chatted to a guy who wasn't a writer, he runs a nightclub and restaurant in Bristol, but he'd had an idea for a film and had someone write it for him and was looking for guidance. I offered to look at the synopsis he was carrying around.
All the usual newbie problems, although actually the first two paragraphs were great and I think if I were a producer I'd be interested. There was also some script which had been laid out in Word by someone who'd looked at a shooting script. It wasn't rubbish, there was some good stuff but it needed a lot of work.
So I suggested he find a decent script consultant (I suggested a couple) and get some hard graft done on it to knock it into shape. It had some excellent promotional potential - and notice I'm not giving away any of the details because it really was a clever idea.
My good deed done for the day I wiled away the afternoon chatting to people including Tim Clague who was a Son of a Pitch finalist. Then I did some work on my Phil Parker homework, and chatted with Liz about some of the ideas I'd put in, and finally met up with Philip Shelley my script consultant.
He's another nice guy and he's been feeling really bad because he hasn't managed to get me an agent yet. But he said something we can all learn from: "I've got a lot of people I work with who have one good script, only a couple, including you, have two good scripts - and that's important."
Two good scripts means that you can do it again - and agents need to know that. (As do producers if you want them to give you a commission.)
So I went to Son of a Pitch I listened, I laughed, I applauded. To be honest no one was really bad, which is just as well, they had had intensive pitch training the day before. The winner was Office Gothic a comedy zombie movie, Tim Clague came second with his Delete Friend? jointly with Man of Colour.
This evening I took the Daughter to dinner, at Pizza Hut, really splashing out. The staff are very pleasant indeed which is one reason I went back.
And that was that.
What's on the turntable? "Guajira" by Santanna
The morning began much the same which meant I arrived far too early - I honestly tried to arrive later but getting up with the Daughter means I have a long time to kill. I'll try harder tomorrow.
Although I tend to discuss the things I've seen there are, of course, lots of other things going on, there's always at least two things running simultaneously and if you want a real clue, go to the website and look at the programme.
So today we started with Simon Beaufoy. And what an nice intelligent guy he is. He was talking about the screenwriter as diplomat, there hoops you have to jump through to keep the project moving because it's the stalled project that doesn't made.
Useful takeaways included: if you're in a major project and you're going to be getting notes from the suits (and they do have a right to give them - it's their money and they are rarely stupid) then make sure that those notes are prepared in advance into one document and sent a week before the meeting.
As a writer you are entitled to insist on this, and it means several things: (a) they don't hit you with the notes unprepared; (b) you can get upset and calm down in the privacy of your own office; (c) they have to make sure the collected notes make sense and aren't self-contradictory. These are all good things.
He also pointed out that the smaller the budget the more creative control you, as the writer, have. Kind of self-evident, but only when you think about it.
He's also managed to do a couple of low budget movies where the finance, and even casting, was in place before he even started writing the script, which was very liberating.
An interesting point about making Slumdog Millionaire with Warner Brothers was that he, with Celador, were perfectly capable of financing the entire project themselves if they wanted to - but they wanted the US distributor on board. It meant that they could walk away at any time if they didn't like it. But it mostly went well.
Then I went to a seminar with the development head and sales head of Ealing Studios Why the Market is important to Writers. This was a curate's egg (good in parts) mostly they talked to each other which gave you a feel for the interplay between them. They also took questions as they went along. All very nice and unstructured.
But I was forced to be rude. The finish was 11:15, theoretically. At this time they seemed to have no intention of stopping, nor any attention on the clearly visible clock. By 11:20 they still seemd to have no intention of stopping. At 11:24 I decided I would give them one more minute - because I wanted to get to the next item, and I could see other people getting edgy.
As the second hand hit 12 (11:25 exactly) I stood up and walked out - followed by another three people and, soon after, a stampede. I hate being rude but there was no other option. And that is the problem with unstructured events.
I moved to the main hall where Tessa Ross, head of TV and Film development for Channel 4 was to be interviewed. She seems a very nice person and has a tiny budget (only £8m), but works hard to help interesting film projects (including Slumdog Millionaire, of course). She's not interested in making copy-cat films. But even given that they only take "solicited" scripts they still have to get through a pile of 50-60 a week and can only assist 3-4 projects each year.
As for TV they, like all channels, are looking for the successful continuing series (like Shameless) but don't bother sending stuff on spec, it won't get read.
That was me pretty much done for the day, I had very little interest in anything except Son of a Pitch which is run by 4-Talent through the year with the final at the end of the day.
So, I chatted to a guy who wasn't a writer, he runs a nightclub and restaurant in Bristol, but he'd had an idea for a film and had someone write it for him and was looking for guidance. I offered to look at the synopsis he was carrying around.
All the usual newbie problems, although actually the first two paragraphs were great and I think if I were a producer I'd be interested. There was also some script which had been laid out in Word by someone who'd looked at a shooting script. It wasn't rubbish, there was some good stuff but it needed a lot of work.
So I suggested he find a decent script consultant (I suggested a couple) and get some hard graft done on it to knock it into shape. It had some excellent promotional potential - and notice I'm not giving away any of the details because it really was a clever idea.
My good deed done for the day I wiled away the afternoon chatting to people including Tim Clague who was a Son of a Pitch finalist. Then I did some work on my Phil Parker homework, and chatted with Liz about some of the ideas I'd put in, and finally met up with Philip Shelley my script consultant.
He's another nice guy and he's been feeling really bad because he hasn't managed to get me an agent yet. But he said something we can all learn from: "I've got a lot of people I work with who have one good script, only a couple, including you, have two good scripts - and that's important."
Two good scripts means that you can do it again - and agents need to know that. (As do producers if you want them to give you a commission.)
So I went to Son of a Pitch I listened, I laughed, I applauded. To be honest no one was really bad, which is just as well, they had had intensive pitch training the day before. The winner was Office Gothic a comedy zombie movie, Tim Clague came second with his Delete Friend? jointly with Man of Colour.
This evening I took the Daughter to dinner, at Pizza Hut, really splashing out. The staff are very pleasant indeed which is one reason I went back.
And that was that.
What's on the turntable? "Guajira" by Santanna
Monday, October 26, 2009
Fiesta - Day #1
I'm tired. The bed is really bad here and I woke every hour last night, or so it seemed. Though perhaps it was the excitement - or maybe the coffee.
I don't usually drink coffee after 3 in the afternoon (caffeine stays in the body for 10-12 hours, so if you drink it too late, you sleep badly, then the next day you need coffee to stay alert but then... etc) but I only had a mouthful. It wasn't the actual coffee, it was the taste - it was foul. Disgusting.
I hadn't rinsed out the kettle before boiling water and I think either the tap had rancid water, or the kettle did. Maybe it was that.
Anyway, I didn't sleep well. And then woke early.
Had breakfast with the Daughter though she had to rush out to be on site by 7:30. I followed a little later and located the entrance at about 7:45. I hadn't actually meant to be that early but I wasn't entirely sure how long it would take to walk. Not very long, is the answer.
So, not only did I buy ticket #1, I arrived first (I think) got given the first delegate's pass (they spelt my name wrong, they always do that), picked up a pack and got the first coat-check ticket. It's true, I am Numero Uno.
So there I was, 8:00am with people beginning to trickle in and no coffee. (This is not a criticism of the catering company, they'd been on the road since 5:00am.) First rule of conferences, dump all extraneous material - well, I didn't actually dump it, I put it in my backpack. All you really need is a map and a schedule. And a trusty notepad, then the map and schedule can be folded and put into the notepad. Lovely.
What can I say about Cheltenham Ladies College? It's a conglomeration of buildings through the ages, some very old, some disgustingly 70s. And it has a main theatre to die for (the Daughter drooled) and apparently they're having a new theatre built over the road. Gosh.
The main buildings almost completely surround two central quads - a sort of digital figure of eight - but our access is extemely limited and the individual rooms for the various seminars, lectures and events are spread out all over the place. This does detract from the event somewhat, all the events I wanted to see took place in a single room, away from everything else.
Not to say I didn't move around but it was a bit weird.
More ScriptMarket winners turned up and several of them did not know who they were going to be meeting and almost all didn't know when. I felt slightly happier about than previously but it's very awkward - makes planning tricky and how are they going to find us when they do know?
First up was the keynote speech from Chris Jones who delivered a mini-version of his two-day seminar but was essentially a "you are brilliant, do it" speech. Good stuff.
Something he said that is very important, well, I think it is because I absolutely 100% agree: The first thing you have to do is decide that you're going to make your film (short or whatever), because it is after you've decided that things will happen and finance will arrive. If you just "wait for the right time" it will never happen.
Hard on the heels of that was Doug Chamberlin, (successful) US movie writer now living in the UK (the mad fool) and his explanation of how to get into Hollywood who spent his allotted period explaining how the myths about Hollywood are unhelpful and replacing them with his own rules and the explanation that if you imagine Hollywood is just High School where image is everything it all makes sense.
Interestingly he also expressed the opinion that everyone in Hollywood is terrified which also helps to explain things - a concept I first heard last year from Kraitt and Leys, more on that later.
He did say that Hollywood is about who you know, and not your script - talent won't get you in to Hollywood, but it will keep you in. What you need are champions; people who will say "this guy/gal is great" and then everyone will agree with them, and so that's what you are. You work your way up like this getting newer and bigger champions.
He ended with a quote from someone who I forgot to note the name of but it goes like this: The road to Hollywood is littered with dead bodies - and they're all suicides.
In other words, don't quit.
Next up I went to Phil Parker's Dynamic Universes talk. Phil is one of the most powerful script consultants in the world, I jest not, and he's been at it for 20 years. His new project is to start with the writer (and other creatives) who create a universe from which multi-platform products can be derived - but with the original author keeping IP (intellectual property) rights. Unlike the traditional model.
We became guinea pigs for his experimenting and were arranged into groups for creating universes. I ended up with Liz Halliday which came as no surprise since we both write SF and Fantasy. We were temporarily also teamed up with another couple writers but decided to split with them because our imaginings were too disparate.
We now have until Thursday to come up with a coherent universe and some key characters. Excellent, it's what SF/F writers (and role-players which we both are) do for fun.
As a rider on this it occurred to me later that the Monsters universe also fits this new model perfectly as well so I tracked down Phil and his business partner Richard in the evening and we discussed it, they were interested, we exchanged cards and I left them with a Monsters DVD. Lovely.
I had lunch - I like to try to space out the seminars as much as possible - and then went to Rob Kraitt and Kate Leys follow-up to last year's "How to be Good", this time "How to be Better". I had been recommending them to anyone who'd listen and the room didn't even have standing room (not that I think it was all me doing that).
They covered much of the same ground as last year, but they make a great double act so it's worth it. Important things they covered were the "everyone is scared" factor, and it's actually up to you, as the writer, to help them and make them feel comfortable and confident. Otherwise they say stupid things and do stupid things - it's because they're scared of failing.
They also briefly commented on networking which they suggested is not schmoozing people you despise and who are all talk and no trousers - it's finding people you can talk to, people who like the same stuff you like.
I took another break. I could have gone to see Armando Ianucci, but decided not to, I had suddenly flaked out and couldn't face it.
When I got my Scriptmarket script report I knew immediately that the reader had not really read the script. Yes, I know, that's what writers say when they're rubbish and don't want to admit it. But there were giveaways like the description of the length of the work being incorrect (some of his criticisms would have been right if Monsters was 2 hours long - but not if it was 6 hours, which it is).
Plus the fact that Monsters had been through people with far more TV drama experience than this reader. The report was just wrong. (And it seems mine wasn't the only one.)
Then I got an interview with two industry peeps - honestly, the wrong two, I got the film people and not the TV people. It wasn't a good interview really, I disagreed with them, a lot, but then their comments were based on the reader's report (though even they had noted the timing error).
It was these two who gave the "Spec Scriptmarket" talk that I, and a lot of the Scriptmarket entrants, attended. They remembered me. The idea was to go through the typical flaws found in the Scriptmarket entries, and really they were just the same as the flaws found in most scripts: bad pitch documents, characters without purpose, genre confusion, etc.
To be honest things were said in this seminar that made me seethe with anger. It's just as well that Liz wasn't there because she's more volatile than I am - I was recording it for her and I'm sure I heard an explosion a few minutes ago.
I detest people who express their personal opinions and bias as if they are incontrovertible facts. It's a display of ignorance and arrogance. (As you can tell, I'm getting worked up just thinking about it.)
I commented on this to one of the other attendees on the way out, he said: "They all do it." He was commenting on one of his screenwriting lecturers. Well, that certainly doesn't make it right.
Anyway one good ting had come out of that interview I had back in July at the BBC with the Scriptmarket people - I decided to do something about Monsters, and then our Director Chris contacted me. (Which is a perfect example of what Chris Jones was talking about: the decision comes first.)
After that I hung around a bit, met Phil Parker, wandered in the direction of the hotel, stopped of at Pizza Hut and had a nice meal.
Got back to the Hotel about 8 and I've been doing email and writing this blog ever since - apart from an hour watching Flashforward - my word, they are really burning plot. Brilliant.
What's on the turntable? "Touch to Remember" by Jean-Michel Jarre from "Téo & Téa"
I don't usually drink coffee after 3 in the afternoon (caffeine stays in the body for 10-12 hours, so if you drink it too late, you sleep badly, then the next day you need coffee to stay alert but then... etc) but I only had a mouthful. It wasn't the actual coffee, it was the taste - it was foul. Disgusting.
I hadn't rinsed out the kettle before boiling water and I think either the tap had rancid water, or the kettle did. Maybe it was that.
Anyway, I didn't sleep well. And then woke early.
Had breakfast with the Daughter though she had to rush out to be on site by 7:30. I followed a little later and located the entrance at about 7:45. I hadn't actually meant to be that early but I wasn't entirely sure how long it would take to walk. Not very long, is the answer.
So, not only did I buy ticket #1, I arrived first (I think) got given the first delegate's pass (they spelt my name wrong, they always do that), picked up a pack and got the first coat-check ticket. It's true, I am Numero Uno.
So there I was, 8:00am with people beginning to trickle in and no coffee. (This is not a criticism of the catering company, they'd been on the road since 5:00am.) First rule of conferences, dump all extraneous material - well, I didn't actually dump it, I put it in my backpack. All you really need is a map and a schedule. And a trusty notepad, then the map and schedule can be folded and put into the notepad. Lovely.
What can I say about Cheltenham Ladies College? It's a conglomeration of buildings through the ages, some very old, some disgustingly 70s. And it has a main theatre to die for (the Daughter drooled) and apparently they're having a new theatre built over the road. Gosh.
The main buildings almost completely surround two central quads - a sort of digital figure of eight - but our access is extemely limited and the individual rooms for the various seminars, lectures and events are spread out all over the place. This does detract from the event somewhat, all the events I wanted to see took place in a single room, away from everything else.
Not to say I didn't move around but it was a bit weird.
More ScriptMarket winners turned up and several of them did not know who they were going to be meeting and almost all didn't know when. I felt slightly happier about than previously but it's very awkward - makes planning tricky and how are they going to find us when they do know?
First up was the keynote speech from Chris Jones who delivered a mini-version of his two-day seminar but was essentially a "you are brilliant, do it" speech. Good stuff.
Something he said that is very important, well, I think it is because I absolutely 100% agree: The first thing you have to do is decide that you're going to make your film (short or whatever), because it is after you've decided that things will happen and finance will arrive. If you just "wait for the right time" it will never happen.
Hard on the heels of that was Doug Chamberlin, (successful) US movie writer now living in the UK (the mad fool) and his explanation of how to get into Hollywood who spent his allotted period explaining how the myths about Hollywood are unhelpful and replacing them with his own rules and the explanation that if you imagine Hollywood is just High School where image is everything it all makes sense.
Interestingly he also expressed the opinion that everyone in Hollywood is terrified which also helps to explain things - a concept I first heard last year from Kraitt and Leys, more on that later.
He did say that Hollywood is about who you know, and not your script - talent won't get you in to Hollywood, but it will keep you in. What you need are champions; people who will say "this guy/gal is great" and then everyone will agree with them, and so that's what you are. You work your way up like this getting newer and bigger champions.
He ended with a quote from someone who I forgot to note the name of but it goes like this: The road to Hollywood is littered with dead bodies - and they're all suicides.
In other words, don't quit.
Next up I went to Phil Parker's Dynamic Universes talk. Phil is one of the most powerful script consultants in the world, I jest not, and he's been at it for 20 years. His new project is to start with the writer (and other creatives) who create a universe from which multi-platform products can be derived - but with the original author keeping IP (intellectual property) rights. Unlike the traditional model.
We became guinea pigs for his experimenting and were arranged into groups for creating universes. I ended up with Liz Halliday which came as no surprise since we both write SF and Fantasy. We were temporarily also teamed up with another couple writers but decided to split with them because our imaginings were too disparate.
We now have until Thursday to come up with a coherent universe and some key characters. Excellent, it's what SF/F writers (and role-players which we both are) do for fun.
As a rider on this it occurred to me later that the Monsters universe also fits this new model perfectly as well so I tracked down Phil and his business partner Richard in the evening and we discussed it, they were interested, we exchanged cards and I left them with a Monsters DVD. Lovely.
I had lunch - I like to try to space out the seminars as much as possible - and then went to Rob Kraitt and Kate Leys follow-up to last year's "How to be Good", this time "How to be Better". I had been recommending them to anyone who'd listen and the room didn't even have standing room (not that I think it was all me doing that).
They covered much of the same ground as last year, but they make a great double act so it's worth it. Important things they covered were the "everyone is scared" factor, and it's actually up to you, as the writer, to help them and make them feel comfortable and confident. Otherwise they say stupid things and do stupid things - it's because they're scared of failing.
They also briefly commented on networking which they suggested is not schmoozing people you despise and who are all talk and no trousers - it's finding people you can talk to, people who like the same stuff you like.
I took another break. I could have gone to see Armando Ianucci, but decided not to, I had suddenly flaked out and couldn't face it.
When I got my Scriptmarket script report I knew immediately that the reader had not really read the script. Yes, I know, that's what writers say when they're rubbish and don't want to admit it. But there were giveaways like the description of the length of the work being incorrect (some of his criticisms would have been right if Monsters was 2 hours long - but not if it was 6 hours, which it is).
Plus the fact that Monsters had been through people with far more TV drama experience than this reader. The report was just wrong. (And it seems mine wasn't the only one.)
Then I got an interview with two industry peeps - honestly, the wrong two, I got the film people and not the TV people. It wasn't a good interview really, I disagreed with them, a lot, but then their comments were based on the reader's report (though even they had noted the timing error).
It was these two who gave the "Spec Scriptmarket" talk that I, and a lot of the Scriptmarket entrants, attended. They remembered me. The idea was to go through the typical flaws found in the Scriptmarket entries, and really they were just the same as the flaws found in most scripts: bad pitch documents, characters without purpose, genre confusion, etc.
To be honest things were said in this seminar that made me seethe with anger. It's just as well that Liz wasn't there because she's more volatile than I am - I was recording it for her and I'm sure I heard an explosion a few minutes ago.
I detest people who express their personal opinions and bias as if they are incontrovertible facts. It's a display of ignorance and arrogance. (As you can tell, I'm getting worked up just thinking about it.)
I commented on this to one of the other attendees on the way out, he said: "They all do it." He was commenting on one of his screenwriting lecturers. Well, that certainly doesn't make it right.
Anyway one good ting had come out of that interview I had back in July at the BBC with the Scriptmarket people - I decided to do something about Monsters, and then our Director Chris contacted me. (Which is a perfect example of what Chris Jones was talking about: the decision comes first.)
After that I hung around a bit, met Phil Parker, wandered in the direction of the hotel, stopped of at Pizza Hut and had a nice meal.
Got back to the Hotel about 8 and I've been doing email and writing this blog ever since - apart from an hour watching Flashforward - my word, they are really burning plot. Brilliant.
What's on the turntable? "Touch to Remember" by Jean-Michel Jarre from "Téo & Téa"
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Here
I discovered two things this morning:
(a) My train was leaving and hour and a half later than I thought it was, and
(b) The two tickets for self and the Daughter on Friday are the wrong direction, Manchester to Cheltenham instead of the other way around.
But I had already packed and it seemed weird to break out the computer again, so I watched TV instead - X-Files, and a sweet little episode I'd never seen before.
On the train I re-built the website I had so carelessly destroyed yesterday - I'm going to have a go at uploading it this evening. I rebuilt it in such a way that this time there should be no problem.
I should be meeting the Daughter presently and then we'll be off to the semi-official pre-event scribomeet.
What's on the turntable? "Geometry of Love - Part 1" by Jean-Michel Jarre from "Geometry of Love"
(a) My train was leaving and hour and a half later than I thought it was, and
(b) The two tickets for self and the Daughter on Friday are the wrong direction, Manchester to Cheltenham instead of the other way around.
But I had already packed and it seemed weird to break out the computer again, so I watched TV instead - X-Files, and a sweet little episode I'd never seen before.
On the train I re-built the website I had so carelessly destroyed yesterday - I'm going to have a go at uploading it this evening. I rebuilt it in such a way that this time there should be no problem.
I should be meeting the Daughter presently and then we'll be off to the semi-official pre-event scribomeet.
What's on the turntable? "Geometry of Love - Part 1" by Jean-Michel Jarre from "Geometry of Love"
Countdown
So, a couple of hours before I start travelling down to Cheltenham for the Fest (the Daughter has been there for the last couple of days as she's a runner).
I have burned a bunch of Monsters DVDs and printed out DVD labels and stuck them on. I have business cards. I have a copy of the Monsters scenes on a memory stick so people with a computer can watch directly.
I spent all yesterday on the website and then tried to get it up on to the server.
At which point everything went terribly wrong. It wouldn't work and then, in an effort to fix it, I managed to mess up my local version. Ten hours work wasted. Well, not entirely wasted, just mostly wasted. I shall have to rebuild it, better than it was before. I have the train journey for that and the hotel has WiFi so uploading shouldn't be an issue.
Now I have to pack which I appear to have forgotten how to do after all those weeks of weekly commutes. Strange.
See you the other side of the journey.
What's on the turntable? "Evacuee" by Enya from "Shepherd's Moon"
I have burned a bunch of Monsters DVDs and printed out DVD labels and stuck them on. I have business cards. I have a copy of the Monsters scenes on a memory stick so people with a computer can watch directly.
I spent all yesterday on the website and then tried to get it up on to the server.
At which point everything went terribly wrong. It wouldn't work and then, in an effort to fix it, I managed to mess up my local version. Ten hours work wasted. Well, not entirely wasted, just mostly wasted. I shall have to rebuild it, better than it was before. I have the train journey for that and the hotel has WiFi so uploading shouldn't be an issue.
Now I have to pack which I appear to have forgotten how to do after all those weeks of weekly commutes. Strange.
See you the other side of the journey.
What's on the turntable? "Evacuee" by Enya from "Shepherd's Moon"
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Final cut (not the software)
My preparations for the Cheltenham Screenwriters Festival hit a climax this evening.
The new business cards arrived, they look really good, and match the website perfectly (no, that's not a coincidence). And that was nice.
But then I began to download the two parts of the DVD image of the final cut of the Monsters scenes. This took some time, partly because the two parts are both rather large, but mostly because the free file service (filefactory.com) has download restrictions.
Now I don't blame them, they are in it to make money and kept pointing out that if I paid them money I'd be able to download right now, very fast. However I wasn't going to and as a result had to wait an hour before I could download the second part.
Various other things had to happen including moving to the Teacher's computer which has the Burn DVD capability and fetching some other specialised software. This all went smoothly.
So I burned the DVD.
Then I watched the DVD.
You know, it's not perfect ... but I thought it was bloody brilliant.
And that, I can tell you, was a huge relief. I knew it wasn't totally awful, the previous cut had been "OK". But I hadn't been overly excited about handing out copies or pointing people at it on the website. It would have been just "OK".
But the final work the team did, down in Coventry, pulled all the loose ends together, sorted all the little things that needed sorting and they came back with something that's really good.
Now I have no qualms whatsoever about handing out copies or having it playable from the website.
I am thrilled. Honestly I wanted to watch the rest of the story, I wanted to know what was going to happen. (Okay, I know what's going to happen but that's not the same as seeing it.)
I showed it to the Teacher, yes, I know she was never going to say anything bad, but she did say "Is that all? I was just settling in." Which I think is a good sign.
The Daughter tried not to watch the bits with her in - which is most of it. But even she admitted it was okay, at least the bits without her in. (She's one of those who doesn't like to watch themselves.)
It took 10 weeks and less than £500.
Not bad.
What's on the turntable? "Airborne, Part I" by Mike Oldfield from "Platinum"
The new business cards arrived, they look really good, and match the website perfectly (no, that's not a coincidence). And that was nice.
But then I began to download the two parts of the DVD image of the final cut of the Monsters scenes. This took some time, partly because the two parts are both rather large, but mostly because the free file service (filefactory.com) has download restrictions.
Now I don't blame them, they are in it to make money and kept pointing out that if I paid them money I'd be able to download right now, very fast. However I wasn't going to and as a result had to wait an hour before I could download the second part.
Various other things had to happen including moving to the Teacher's computer which has the Burn DVD capability and fetching some other specialised software. This all went smoothly.
So I burned the DVD.
Then I watched the DVD.
You know, it's not perfect ... but I thought it was bloody brilliant.
And that, I can tell you, was a huge relief. I knew it wasn't totally awful, the previous cut had been "OK". But I hadn't been overly excited about handing out copies or pointing people at it on the website. It would have been just "OK".
But the final work the team did, down in Coventry, pulled all the loose ends together, sorted all the little things that needed sorting and they came back with something that's really good.
Now I have no qualms whatsoever about handing out copies or having it playable from the website.
I am thrilled. Honestly I wanted to watch the rest of the story, I wanted to know what was going to happen. (Okay, I know what's going to happen but that's not the same as seeing it.)
I showed it to the Teacher, yes, I know she was never going to say anything bad, but she did say "Is that all? I was just settling in." Which I think is a good sign.
The Daughter tried not to watch the bits with her in - which is most of it. But even she admitted it was okay, at least the bits without her in. (She's one of those who doesn't like to watch themselves.)
It took 10 weeks and less than £500.
Not bad.
What's on the turntable? "Airborne, Part I" by Mike Oldfield from "Platinum"
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Good idea, Piers
The great Piers Beckley has referenced his 2008 posts about last year's Screenwriters Festival. I posted quite a lot too, so click to fetch it all to your screen.
Things are moving along, we have a final cut of Monsters so it will be available at Cheltenham - which is a bit scary, since I have to put the production where my pen is.
Or something.
Website is coming along, should wrap that up tomorrow.
Haven't seen hide nor hair of the business cards, I hope I don't have to use my old ones.
For those going along to the pre-event get together at the Queen's Hotel, I will be there, but I think so will about ten million screenwriters. We may have to just wave across the room.
Excited? Oh yes.
What's on the turntable? "Down South Camp Meetin'" by The Manhattan Transfer
Things are moving along, we have a final cut of Monsters so it will be available at Cheltenham - which is a bit scary, since I have to put the production where my pen is.
Or something.
Website is coming along, should wrap that up tomorrow.
Haven't seen hide nor hair of the business cards, I hope I don't have to use my old ones.
For those going along to the pre-event get together at the Queen's Hotel, I will be there, but I think so will about ten million screenwriters. We may have to just wave across the room.
Excited? Oh yes.
What's on the turntable? "Down South Camp Meetin'" by The Manhattan Transfer
Friday, October 16, 2009
Pit stop
Pressure of work has meant I haven't blogged for days. Sorry about that.
The second cut of the Monsters scenes was hugely better and we have a little way to go on that, the music is being composed as we speak (yes indeedy, original score too). I have designed and ordered new business cards.
Oh, I finished the treatment of Clones last night and popped that off to the collaborator. After all the prevaricating it took a mere 45 minutes to wind up - I was really cooking by the end, I love writing action sequences.
I've been working on the new website, I need to get something in place by next week.
And because of the screenwriters festival I have had to compress three weeks of the day job into two weeks, I'll be in Cheltenham when they do the next launch. Eeek.
And finally I got sort-of good news from my accountant - my business did so well in 2008 I have a huge amount of corporation tax to pay ... damn.
What's on the turntable? "Tour de France, Etape 1" by Kraftwerk from "Minimum-Maximum"
The second cut of the Monsters scenes was hugely better and we have a little way to go on that, the music is being composed as we speak (yes indeedy, original score too). I have designed and ordered new business cards.
Oh, I finished the treatment of Clones last night and popped that off to the collaborator. After all the prevaricating it took a mere 45 minutes to wind up - I was really cooking by the end, I love writing action sequences.
I've been working on the new website, I need to get something in place by next week.
And because of the screenwriters festival I have had to compress three weeks of the day job into two weeks, I'll be in Cheltenham when they do the next launch. Eeek.
And finally I got sort-of good news from my accountant - my business did so well in 2008 I have a huge amount of corporation tax to pay ... damn.
What's on the turntable? "Tour de France, Etape 1" by Kraftwerk from "Minimum-Maximum"
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Rough cut
I have now seen the rough cut of the chunk of Monsters that we shot.
Interesting.
The producer expressed pleasure that even this initial rough cut was better than what she's used to seeing. And it seems that we were all pretty much agreed on what needed to be done - in my case I knew something needed to be done but didn't quite know what it was. I'm new to this part of the game.
We have two weeks left and are planning to get it finished in one. I say "we" but there's not a huge amount I can do now. We've decided to have a little explanatory text at the start because coming into these scenes ignorant of the story could be confusing.
One lesson I have learned: If you're writing a piece of dialogue where Speaker A gets interrupted by Speaker B, then write a good chunk (if not all) of Speaker A's interrupted speech. Otherwise you get the situation where Speaker A trails off waiting for the interruption, instead of actually getting interrupted mid-flow. With the whole speech in place Speaker B can just interrupt as needed, and really do it.
Once again there was discussion about cutting lines - they were kind enough to ask if it was alright with me? Depends on the line, of course, but generally I am not bothered. As long as the heart of the scene stays in place (and it works as a whole) it doesn't matter.
There are, of course, things that we don't have enough coverage for, but as far as I can tell that's par for the course.
So it's onwards and upwards. Two weeks to Cheltenham. Eeek.
What's on the turntable? "Do It Again" by Steely Dan from "Can't Buy a Thrill"
Interesting.
The producer expressed pleasure that even this initial rough cut was better than what she's used to seeing. And it seems that we were all pretty much agreed on what needed to be done - in my case I knew something needed to be done but didn't quite know what it was. I'm new to this part of the game.
We have two weeks left and are planning to get it finished in one. I say "we" but there's not a huge amount I can do now. We've decided to have a little explanatory text at the start because coming into these scenes ignorant of the story could be confusing.
One lesson I have learned: If you're writing a piece of dialogue where Speaker A gets interrupted by Speaker B, then write a good chunk (if not all) of Speaker A's interrupted speech. Otherwise you get the situation where Speaker A trails off waiting for the interruption, instead of actually getting interrupted mid-flow. With the whole speech in place Speaker B can just interrupt as needed, and really do it.
Once again there was discussion about cutting lines - they were kind enough to ask if it was alright with me? Depends on the line, of course, but generally I am not bothered. As long as the heart of the scene stays in place (and it works as a whole) it doesn't matter.
There are, of course, things that we don't have enough coverage for, but as far as I can tell that's par for the course.
So it's onwards and upwards. Two weeks to Cheltenham. Eeek.
What's on the turntable? "Do It Again" by Steely Dan from "Can't Buy a Thrill"
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Flying hours: nil
Over on his blog Danny Stack references an interview with Kate Harwood (BBC Controller of Series and Serials) where she talks about there being no substitute for a writer seeing their work on screen: Flying hours.
Except that's a catch 22 in a professional sense, unless you do it yourself which Danny has (as well as his paid-for work), as have others in the scribosphere (like Lucy for example), and as I have now, with the scenes from Monsters.
I knew I needed to write something about this but I couldn't get a handle on what to write - until Danny's blog gave me some context. Though you have to bear in mind that we have no finished product as yet - though it will be ready for the Cheltenham Screenwriters Festival.
First things first: I did not direct, I just wrote it. I did not make last minute changes, the script is essentially the one I used for the Red Planet competition last year. I did not question or comment on any of the decisions the Director made, except when asked, either before or during the shoot. In fact I wasn't present for much of it - I was there but not in the room.
Danny said the question he most gets asked is "how has it turned out as opposed to how you imagined (or wrote) it?" Well, I got that too. For which I have no answer. Putting aside the fact it's not finished, I don't expect it to be the same - how could it be? Director, actors, DoP and the rest all put in their bit, their creativity. It's going to be different to how I imagined it.
But if it communicates the right ideas I will be happy.
During the shoot one actor added a line, I asked the director to ensure that they didn't do that because it sounded wrong. If he hadn't I wouldn't have argued, I'd made my point. But he agreed, the actor didn't say it again.
Later an actor changed the words of a speech in such a way that a sequence of words were repeated three times in 5 lines of dialogue. I didn't like it. But it was a speech full of passion and if I'd asked for it to be corrected the actor would have been concentrating on the words instead of the passion which would be worse. Plus it had been shot seven times from different angles with the wrong words already. Never mind.
There was one line where the emphasis was on the wrong word. It needed to be on the right one otherwise the line was pointless. So I asked the Director to mention it, he did, the actor changed it. I was happy.
I'm not precious about my words.
When it came to my own 15 minutes of fame, the flow of the dialogue that I had written did not work. I said my first line (changing it slightly to make it more cutting), then the other actor cut in over the top preventing me from saying the next bit.
But that worked so much better in the context of the scene as set up by the Director. I had not been explicit with my directions on the page, and the location we were using dictated how the scene had to be played.
That whole scene ended up quite different to the way I had written it - but it communicated the same thing. And that is the point.
It was a good set of scenes from the first act of the story, which utilised a surprisingly wide range of locations: packed classroom, almost empty classroom, external industrial, in-car, school lockers, and back into the classroom. The emotional structure flows well too, I think. As well as comprising the main expositional sections (filled with character).
If those things are communicated I will be very happy indeed.
So, will this affect how I write? How could it not?
Other questions I've been asked: Who paid for it? Me. How much did it cost? Less than £500. Didn't you want to direct? No.
What's on the turntable? "A Coral Room" by Kate Bush from "Aerial" (on Spotify but I do own this)
Except that's a catch 22 in a professional sense, unless you do it yourself which Danny has (as well as his paid-for work), as have others in the scribosphere (like Lucy for example), and as I have now, with the scenes from Monsters.
I knew I needed to write something about this but I couldn't get a handle on what to write - until Danny's blog gave me some context. Though you have to bear in mind that we have no finished product as yet - though it will be ready for the Cheltenham Screenwriters Festival.
First things first: I did not direct, I just wrote it. I did not make last minute changes, the script is essentially the one I used for the Red Planet competition last year. I did not question or comment on any of the decisions the Director made, except when asked, either before or during the shoot. In fact I wasn't present for much of it - I was there but not in the room.
Danny said the question he most gets asked is "how has it turned out as opposed to how you imagined (or wrote) it?" Well, I got that too. For which I have no answer. Putting aside the fact it's not finished, I don't expect it to be the same - how could it be? Director, actors, DoP and the rest all put in their bit, their creativity. It's going to be different to how I imagined it.
But if it communicates the right ideas I will be happy.
During the shoot one actor added a line, I asked the director to ensure that they didn't do that because it sounded wrong. If he hadn't I wouldn't have argued, I'd made my point. But he agreed, the actor didn't say it again.
Later an actor changed the words of a speech in such a way that a sequence of words were repeated three times in 5 lines of dialogue. I didn't like it. But it was a speech full of passion and if I'd asked for it to be corrected the actor would have been concentrating on the words instead of the passion which would be worse. Plus it had been shot seven times from different angles with the wrong words already. Never mind.
There was one line where the emphasis was on the wrong word. It needed to be on the right one otherwise the line was pointless. So I asked the Director to mention it, he did, the actor changed it. I was happy.
I'm not precious about my words.
When it came to my own 15 minutes of fame, the flow of the dialogue that I had written did not work. I said my first line (changing it slightly to make it more cutting), then the other actor cut in over the top preventing me from saying the next bit.
But that worked so much better in the context of the scene as set up by the Director. I had not been explicit with my directions on the page, and the location we were using dictated how the scene had to be played.
That whole scene ended up quite different to the way I had written it - but it communicated the same thing. And that is the point.
It was a good set of scenes from the first act of the story, which utilised a surprisingly wide range of locations: packed classroom, almost empty classroom, external industrial, in-car, school lockers, and back into the classroom. The emotional structure flows well too, I think. As well as comprising the main expositional sections (filled with character).
If those things are communicated I will be very happy indeed.
So, will this affect how I write? How could it not?
Other questions I've been asked: Who paid for it? Me. How much did it cost? Less than £500. Didn't you want to direct? No.
What's on the turntable? "A Coral Room" by Kate Bush from "Aerial" (on Spotify but I do own this)
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
This week...
... I have mostly been devising stories.
Takes about an hour to work through a character and, with the help of the 36 dramatic situations, devise (hopefully) interesting and unusual story plotlines for the Traitor project. Only one more to do for the end of the month deadline.
Shooting for Monsters this weekend. Eeek.
I've booked the accommodation for the Screenwriters festival for self and daughter.
Met with collaborator on the Clones project, mostly happy with the skeletal treatment, just a few modifications required and I'll get that knocked out next week, I think.
Then I can start to think about re-writing Tec.
The Boy went off down south this morning and, as I write, he'll be in the Bamzooki studio, according to the schedule. He's filming this afternoon and tomorrow morning then back in the afternoon. Depending on the outcome he may, or may not, be back there again soon.
What's on the turntable? "Human behaviour" by Bjork from "Debut"
Takes about an hour to work through a character and, with the help of the 36 dramatic situations, devise (hopefully) interesting and unusual story plotlines for the Traitor project. Only one more to do for the end of the month deadline.
Shooting for Monsters this weekend. Eeek.
I've booked the accommodation for the Screenwriters festival for self and daughter.
Met with collaborator on the Clones project, mostly happy with the skeletal treatment, just a few modifications required and I'll get that knocked out next week, I think.
Then I can start to think about re-writing Tec.
The Boy went off down south this morning and, as I write, he'll be in the Bamzooki studio, according to the schedule. He's filming this afternoon and tomorrow morning then back in the afternoon. Depending on the outcome he may, or may not, be back there again soon.
What's on the turntable? "Human behaviour" by Bjork from "Debut"
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
The Daughter Goes To Cheltenham
The Cheltenham Screenwriters' Festival gets another attendee - sort of.
My daughter is going to be one of the runners at the 2009 event - so now I have to shell out for her accommodation, while she gets the opportunity to get up-close with famous people.
Meanwhile, I got a kick up the posterior on the collaboration Clones: I have to get some form of treatment out by the weekend. The producer chappy has a distributor that's interested in taking a look and we need to hit them before they go cold.
Damn my unprofessionalism of the last few weeks.
Still, there's nothing like a real deadline for motivation.
(I hate writing treatments.)
What's on the turntable? "Shepherd Moons" by Enya from "Shepherd Moons" (courtesy of Spotify)
My daughter is going to be one of the runners at the 2009 event - so now I have to shell out for her accommodation, while she gets the opportunity to get up-close with famous people.
Meanwhile, I got a kick up the posterior on the collaboration Clones: I have to get some form of treatment out by the weekend. The producer chappy has a distributor that's interested in taking a look and we need to hit them before they go cold.
Damn my unprofessionalism of the last few weeks.
Still, there's nothing like a real deadline for motivation.
(I hate writing treatments.)
What's on the turntable? "Shepherd Moons" by Enya from "Shepherd Moons" (courtesy of Spotify)
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Are you "industry ready"?
The Scriptmarket '09 meeting was today and my arrival went completely to plan.
I'm not entirely sure how much to tell you, because I'm rather tired and not feeling my garrulous self. The overall idea was to see where you are up to in terms of being ready to push your script into the market but it was primarily directed at movies, though I wasn't the only one with TV series ideas.
So there were interviews with industry peeps based on the script report that we'd all been given and there were exercises in logline writing and pitch writing. In case you hadn't noticed I can be an arrogant sod when the mood takes me.
As it is I got rather defensive in the interview (I was second-up in my group). You see I had two problems: first, I didn't like the script report because, in some respects, it went against every one of my recent reports on Monsters. Plus there were a couple of actual errors (like thinking it was a 2-parter when it's a 6-parter). So my arrogance popped up with a vengeance.
The second problem is a little hard to resolve though I have, in fact, reached a resolution.
I think Monsters is great (naturally) I would love to see it made. But I am also a pragmatic realist: who is going to make a UK-based, fairly expensive, SF series? Probably no one. So, let's just call it a sample script - and a damn good one which has already done me good service.
So there I sit in the interview: what do I want to do with the script? Who do I want to talk to at the Scriptmarket? (That's the real prize: you get to have quality time with a major player.)
So my initial response? An agent. Why? Because I want someone to promote my writing, not have someone make Monsters. (That road leads to disappointment only.)
But then, let's look at the truth of this: I want it made, don't I? And we're going to be working on this trailer, aren't we? Why am I bothering if, deep down, I don't want to push it? Plus, didn't I start to organise a "Original Graphic Novel" of Monsters as well?
At this point I scream - the sensible part of me insisting that I'm not really bothered and it's just a sample script. This didn't all happen in the interview, by the way, much of this was thinking afterwards. Someone said I looked shell-shocked - perhaps that's how I look when I'm thinking.
At the end of the day we were asked to tell the gorgeous Phoebe (the Runner-de-jour, and prolific Radio 4 afternoon play writer) who we wanted to see, and I said "Producer". Well, why not? Monsters was good enough to write, it should be good enough to produce.
The pitch exercise was fun - basically we paired up, told our story to our partner and then that person had to pitch it to the group. There are some very important lessons to learn there. I was with Maria, unfortunately we spent too much time on Monsters and not enough on hers "The Trowman's Last Trip". This cost us. I failed to communicate my story to Maria and I didn't know hers well enough. I thought her story idea was very good.
However there are some brilliant stories in there. Some of which were pitched brilliantly. (Ruth - I think - actually got spontaneous applause.)
The afternoon was spent learning more things about pitching, what a Sales Agent does and bits about how the Film Council now works and what money and help is available for unproduced writers. (They get 25-30 applications a week, accept 25-ish in a year, and 2 of those are likely to become actual films - I thought those were damn good odds: 1 in 26.)
I met some excellent people, made good friends, and discovered I am rubbish at pitching.
So, am I "industry ready"? Script-wise, yes; personally, probably not.
What's on the turntable? It's all quiet on the train.
I'm not entirely sure how much to tell you, because I'm rather tired and not feeling my garrulous self. The overall idea was to see where you are up to in terms of being ready to push your script into the market but it was primarily directed at movies, though I wasn't the only one with TV series ideas.
So there were interviews with industry peeps based on the script report that we'd all been given and there were exercises in logline writing and pitch writing. In case you hadn't noticed I can be an arrogant sod when the mood takes me.
As it is I got rather defensive in the interview (I was second-up in my group). You see I had two problems: first, I didn't like the script report because, in some respects, it went against every one of my recent reports on Monsters. Plus there were a couple of actual errors (like thinking it was a 2-parter when it's a 6-parter). So my arrogance popped up with a vengeance.
The second problem is a little hard to resolve though I have, in fact, reached a resolution.
I think Monsters is great (naturally) I would love to see it made. But I am also a pragmatic realist: who is going to make a UK-based, fairly expensive, SF series? Probably no one. So, let's just call it a sample script - and a damn good one which has already done me good service.
So there I sit in the interview: what do I want to do with the script? Who do I want to talk to at the Scriptmarket? (That's the real prize: you get to have quality time with a major player.)
So my initial response? An agent. Why? Because I want someone to promote my writing, not have someone make Monsters. (That road leads to disappointment only.)
But then, let's look at the truth of this: I want it made, don't I? And we're going to be working on this trailer, aren't we? Why am I bothering if, deep down, I don't want to push it? Plus, didn't I start to organise a "Original Graphic Novel" of Monsters as well?
At this point I scream - the sensible part of me insisting that I'm not really bothered and it's just a sample script. This didn't all happen in the interview, by the way, much of this was thinking afterwards. Someone said I looked shell-shocked - perhaps that's how I look when I'm thinking.
At the end of the day we were asked to tell the gorgeous Phoebe (the Runner-de-jour, and prolific Radio 4 afternoon play writer) who we wanted to see, and I said "Producer". Well, why not? Monsters was good enough to write, it should be good enough to produce.
The pitch exercise was fun - basically we paired up, told our story to our partner and then that person had to pitch it to the group. There are some very important lessons to learn there. I was with Maria, unfortunately we spent too much time on Monsters and not enough on hers "The Trowman's Last Trip". This cost us. I failed to communicate my story to Maria and I didn't know hers well enough. I thought her story idea was very good.
However there are some brilliant stories in there. Some of which were pitched brilliantly. (Ruth - I think - actually got spontaneous applause.)
The afternoon was spent learning more things about pitching, what a Sales Agent does and bits about how the Film Council now works and what money and help is available for unproduced writers. (They get 25-30 applications a week, accept 25-ish in a year, and 2 of those are likely to become actual films - I thought those were damn good odds: 1 in 26.)
I met some excellent people, made good friends, and discovered I am rubbish at pitching.
So, am I "industry ready"? Script-wise, yes; personally, probably not.
What's on the turntable? It's all quiet on the train.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Future tense
So... tomorrow is the "Scriptmarket Market Ready Workshop" in That London.
I shall be up an hour earlier than usual, hopping on a train and arriving Euston at about 8:15. The event starts at 9:00am, and the Underground trains are on strike. (Not the trains themselves, you understand, but the staff.)
Which means two things: I shall be walking a mile or so to the location (unless I decide to take a taxi - but they're 'spensive) and I expect the train not to be very crowded, which is a definite plus.
I'll be travelling all the way back up North afterwards because my employers asked me to attend a meeting in Derby on Friday. This has the unfortunate side-effect of forcing me to carry my washing around with me - I deliberately travelled light this week. I shall endeavour to throw out a blog on the events of the day tomorrow evening on my way home.
What else?
Oh yes, the secret. Well in order to support Shooting People's Script Pitch bulletin which was being bad-mouthed by a silly person, I let the cat out of the bag today so I might as well tell you: I put Monsters in the bulletin a couple of weeks ago, got a contact from a director who wants to make a trailer, and we now have a producer as well. Which is all good fun.
And this is why I've been thinking about trailers.
As in: What is a trailer composed of? I'm pretty confident I've nailed it conceptually. In all probability I'm not the first person to think what I'm thinking but let me throw it open:
What is a trailer composed of?
I have written down my answer and put it in this sealed envelope and there'll be a prize for the person whose answer most closely matches the one I've written here. Put your answer on a postcard, or on the outside of a stuck-down envelope, and send it to the usual address (and don't forget your own name and address) - or put it in the comments below (and don't put your address for heaven's sake).
(Future tense? Just being a smarty pants ... I'll be tense in the future ... one day I hope to gain the other 50% and become a complete wit.)
What's on the turntable? "Summer: 2nd Movement" by Vivaldi from "The Four Seasons"
I shall be up an hour earlier than usual, hopping on a train and arriving Euston at about 8:15. The event starts at 9:00am, and the Underground trains are on strike. (Not the trains themselves, you understand, but the staff.)
Which means two things: I shall be walking a mile or so to the location (unless I decide to take a taxi - but they're 'spensive) and I expect the train not to be very crowded, which is a definite plus.
I'll be travelling all the way back up North afterwards because my employers asked me to attend a meeting in Derby on Friday. This has the unfortunate side-effect of forcing me to carry my washing around with me - I deliberately travelled light this week. I shall endeavour to throw out a blog on the events of the day tomorrow evening on my way home.
What else?
Oh yes, the secret. Well in order to support Shooting People's Script Pitch bulletin which was being bad-mouthed by a silly person, I let the cat out of the bag today so I might as well tell you: I put Monsters in the bulletin a couple of weeks ago, got a contact from a director who wants to make a trailer, and we now have a producer as well. Which is all good fun.
And this is why I've been thinking about trailers.
As in: What is a trailer composed of? I'm pretty confident I've nailed it conceptually. In all probability I'm not the first person to think what I'm thinking but let me throw it open:
What is a trailer composed of?
I have written down my answer and put it in this sealed envelope and there'll be a prize for the person whose answer most closely matches the one I've written here. Put your answer on a postcard, or on the outside of a stuck-down envelope, and send it to the usual address (and don't forget your own name and address) - or put it in the comments below (and don't put your address for heaven's sake).
(Future tense? Just being a smarty pants ... I'll be tense in the future ... one day I hope to gain the other 50% and become a complete wit.)
What's on the turntable? "Summer: 2nd Movement" by Vivaldi from "The Four Seasons"
Friday, June 05, 2009
Scriptmarket Prize (Part the First)
I had a really crappy day (the payroll section of the agency that found me my current job are a pathetic bunch of imbeciles) so I was pleased to find the script report of Monsters as part of the ScriptMarket'09 prize in my inbox in the train.
And I have read it. I shall not make any comment because I normally miss bits out on a first read and then need to read again a few times to get the full and accurate picture.
Next Thursday is the "special day" when we get to talk to people. Exciting.
What's on the turntable? Not a thing.
And I have read it. I shall not make any comment because I normally miss bits out on a first read and then need to read again a few times to get the full and accurate picture.
Next Thursday is the "special day" when we get to talk to people. Exciting.
What's on the turntable? Not a thing.
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