Welcome to the Round Up

by Phil Gladwin on February 22, 2010

This is a new feature where I catch a flavour of what people are saying about the industry. Have a look for what people are talking about on Twitter in the catogory links. (Where-ever they end up.) (I’m experimenting with templates at the moment.)

{ 0 comments }

“Paranormal Activity” – Child Friendly Really?

by Phil Gladwin on December 7, 2009

So my friend, a grown woman and a hardened horror film goer, a connoisseur of gore, a genuine terror and torment addict, goes to see this movie and comes out so “thrilled” that for two nights afterwards she can’t sleep without the light on.

On the other hand, my teenage daughter goes with a gang of her friends, and I pick them up afterwards in the car expecting them all to be near catatonic with fear only to find them outbidding each other on who was the least scared by the thing.

I’m sure the truth lies somewhere in the middle, and has quite a lot with one’s willingness to indulge the movie makers.

Apart from the usual stuff about it being made for a couple of quid and generating millions, and just how inspirational that is, the one thing I read about the movie that interested me most was a comment in one of the national papers:

“It’s a movie made for a generation who won’t believe anything till they’ve seen it on film”.

Interesting. And scary if that really is the way we are going.

(Sadly, I’ll never know for sure, because I HATE those kind of films, so I won’t see it until 2020 when any chance of it having a real horror effect on my far-too-delicate psyche has long since evaporated…)

If you’re braver than me you can check out the movie yourself from Amazon with this affiliate link:


{ 2 comments }

Endgame by Samuel Beckett – Duchess Theatre, London

December 4, 2009

I’m not a regular theatre goer, but this was an easy call. Beckett is a legendary writer, Simon McBurney is the legendary director of the Complicite Theatre Company, Mark Rylance is reputed to be one of the best actors in the world right now, and Tom Hickey and Miriam Margolyes are both stellar in their [...]

Read the full article →

Screenwriter Jobs

December 3, 2009

Just a quickie this time – I’ve added a new section to the website – a screenwriting jobs section.
If you’re looking for work as a screenwriter, story editor, comedy writer, whatever – or even work within movie and tv production – you should definitely take a look.
The pages take ads from quite a [...]

Read the full article →

Goldmine Storylining Tool…

May 8, 2009

Results on the last big Goldmine Survey, and a new Screenwriting Tool.

Read the full article →

The OTHER Skill You Need Apart From Writing

May 1, 2009

Writing a good screenplay is perhaps less than 50% of the process of making it. Here’s another, perhaps equally valuable, skill you need.

Read the full article →

2 Screenplays Wanted For Production Opportunity, plus Ask David Freeman a Question

April 9, 2009

Just wanted to mention…
Over on the forum you currently have two (2) (TWO!) ’screenplays wanted’ opportunities – with chances of your script going into production at the end of each process:
HERE and HERE
You have the rare opportunity to ask David Freeman, one of THE hottest Los Angeles screenwriting gurus around at the moment [...]

Read the full article →

Think Tragic Hero For Better Protagonist Definition

March 27, 2009

A discussion of how the framing your protagonist and antagonist conflict will create character, story and genre.

Read the full article →

Writing To Genre – How Do You Choose?

March 10, 2009

Very early on you might find your genre has been chosen from you. People tend to want from you what they know you can already do, so your initial successes can define your path quite markedly. Experiment like crazy when you are starting out – you might not get the chance later on.

Read the full article →

Help Me Out?

March 6, 2009

Help decide the next stage of the Screenwriting Goldmine.

Read the full article →