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Screenwriting Goldmine’s Sally Brockway has just returned from the Screenwriters’ Festival 2009 in Cheltenham where guest speakers included Doctor Who’s new showrunner Steven Moffatt, Ben Stephenson, Controller Drama Commissioning, BBC and Life On Mars writer Ashley Pharoah. Here’s her report from the front row.
Day One:
Aside from Stephen Moffat the one thing everybody was talking about at this year’s Screenwriters’ Festival in Cheltenham was speed dating. Yes really! As part of an incentive to sell tickets early, the organizers offered writers a number of five-minute slots with agents, producers and directors.
Although it was apparently a logistical nightmare to co-ordinate, it was cited as one of the best things at this year’s festival. Many writers came away with an invite to send their work in to agencies or production companies that might otherwise overlook them because they don’t read unsolicited scripts.
My biggest regret is not putting my name down. The words ‘speed dating’ bring me out in a cold sweat and the idea of selling myself and pitching in just five minutes, made me want to weep with nerves. But apparently, it wasn’t that bad.
It was just about the only way to get to talk to some of the really important people at the festival. Anyone with any clout was a yellow badge wearer and for some reason, they all disappeared in-between sessions. Apparently, there was a room populated by these people and it was impossible for normal folk (red badge holders) to blag their way in – and believe me, many tried!
So, if you are going next year – put your name down for speed dating. It could give you the lucky break you’re after and don’t worry, there was no kissing or anything, although for some strange reason, there was a mass munching of mints before each session. I didn’t have a Tic Tac to my name by the time I left.
Before the dating commenced, this year’s festival kicked off with a talk from Chris Jones. I hadn’t heard of him before, but I was told he was an unashamed self-publicist. He is and that’s why things have happened for him.
He wrote some short films and went out and got them made. How? By any means possible – at one point, he asked everyone he knew for £50. His most recent film Gone Fishing has won a clutch of awards that’s too long to list here.
Chris gave a potted Writer’s Journey – an amusing take on the hero’s journey where he called us scribes wizards and heroes. For a full version of this talk, visit: http://www.adelekirby.com/
After Chris came Doug Chamberlain, a very funny guy who wrote Toy Story 2. He told us how he got ahead in Hollywood and he almost made it sound easy.
You can download his talk at: http://livingspirit.typepad.com/ It’s certainly worth a listen.
There were lots of sessions taking place at seven different venues within the confines of the Cheltenham Ladies’ College throughout the day. I wanted to hear script editor Kate Leys and agent Rob Kraitt’s session on ‘How To Be Good’, but there were no seats left and the boots I was wearing weren’t made for standing. I ended up in Gays, Lesbians, Transsexuals... (Oh My!) where Corrie writer Damon Rochefort, Sugar Rush writer Katie Baxendale and Skins Script Editor Neil Duncan talked about representation of the aforementioned on TV.
The general consensus of opinion was that things have moved on a lot in recent years, although a number of lesbians in the audience said they felt frustrated about the way they were portrayed. They do however hope that the Beeb’s new lesbian drama, Lip Service is going to get it right. Fingers-crossed.
Finally, I went along to see what writer and Script Consultant Simon van der Borgh and Script Editor Jo Tracey had to say about the 45 scripts that were entered into the SWF Scriptmarket (entrants submitted a logline, a synopsis and the first 10 pages of their scripts). Of the 45 scripts that were entered, 30 writers were chosen and enrolled on a one-day workshop. You can have a look of that session here:
http://www.screenwritersfestival.com/scriptmarketready.php
The writers were also given script feedback and a meeting with an industry professional.
Those who didn’t make it through were told that these were the most common mistakes:
· A confusing logline.
· A pitch where it wasn’t clear what or who the story was about.
· A story where not much happened.
· Writers not understanding their genre.
Two of the finalists then shared their experiences of Scriptmarket and both stressed how useful it was having industry standard feedback – even though some of it was hard to swallow at the time!
After that, it was time to head to the Queen’s Hotel to booze, schmooze and digest the day’s events....
Read Day 2 or Days 3 and 4
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