Q&A Received
Screenwriting Features & Stuff
Paul Ashton runs the team who act as the first line of defence for the BBC as they endure the constant seige of scripts from hopeful screenwriters. In their search for new talent they receive, consider, and respond to around 10,000 screenplays every year. Can there be many people in the world with such a wide experience of the pitfalls committed by new screenwriters? And Sally Brockway asks him all the questions you would ever want answering about that. If you've ever sent a script off anywhere, this 40 minutes+ downloadable interview is simply unmissable. 
This is Samia Smith, who has played Maria O'Connor in Coronation Street for nine years now - and who is just one of the newer faces in the show's tradition! 'The Street' is a legend in British Television. With over 7,000 episodes broadcast it's less now less than two years from being able to celebrate its 50th year on screen. At the moment it runs at five half hour episodes a week - and regularly slugs it out with Eastenders to be seen as THE top soap in terms of awards, audience figures, and general national esteem. Can you imagine thinking of enough stories to write 52 long movies a year? Me neither. But Stuart Blackburn can. He heads the story department, and in this completely exclusive interview Stuart tells Sally Brockway how they come up with the stories that drive the behemoth that is 'Corrie' to the top of the charts. It's fair to say you WILL learn a trade secret or two. 
Boy Meets Girl is a new four part drama that charts the progress of Veronica and Danny after an accident which causes them to swap minds. We have an exclusive interview with the writer, David Allison, in which he talks about his route into writing, his specific writing process, the startling reality behind the tag of New Writer that the press have given him, and the inside track on how to make networking A. Less fearful and B. More productive. 
Eastenders is one of the three most popular television dramas in the UK. In this special, extended length, audio interview, Richard Lazarus talks about his journey from own label baked beans to being a core writer on this four times a week slice of urban naturalism. (Er... that's a technical term for "kitchen sink drama" - the sort of thing that we Brits do so well.) He gives the inside story on how the whole writing process works. Serial dramas like this, with their 200 + episodes a year and their constant hunger for new writers, often act as the gateway to the industry, so if you have any ambition to work as a screenwriter you could do worse than to put aside an hour and listen to this in depth analysis of how he does what he does.
It's a cliche that there are three staple genres for TV shows
- Cops, Docs, and Lawyers. Master one of these genres and you'll rarely be out of work. This is an interview about writing for the Docs. Simon Harper is responsible for finding new screenwriters for the top rated BBC1 medical show Holby. In this interview with Sally Brockway he discusses how to start writing for the show - and even indicates how you might get him to read your script. A rare opportunity indeed.
"A bunch of impossibly glam teens getting into impossiblyglamorous problems?" "Footballers' Wives" for sixth formers? "The harder they party the more empty they seem"? Maybe. What's indisputable is that 'Skins' actively scouts teenagers for its writing team, aims itself fairly and squarely at a teenager market - and tookthe best drama prize at the esteemed Rose d'Or awards in Switzerland lastMay. It all started off as a short storyscribbled down by a teenager called Jamie Brittain... (Downloadable audio interview) Easy to Follow, Step By Step, Fully Professional Screenwriting Course:
Since 1995 Phil Gladwin has written or edited screenplays for all of these people:
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Sound Bites
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"Nothing I write about my journey with Phil can adequately describe his patience, diligence and the wonderful way he has coached and counselled me in all aspects of screenwriting. Phil is an amazing person to work with because if he thinks your work good he tells you so and if not, well he tells you that too, but then immediately goes about working with you to improve. I've learned so much. Thanks Phil." Bev McMullen, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada "As senior media executive in the states with over 20 years experience producing TV and running a major TV/Recording Studio I've recently dedicated myself to writing full time... I'm incorporating Phil's work into my original feature projects, and already can see and feel an improvement. And this is just the start for me... I'm thrilled I found Phil... You will be too! Best to all of you..." Andy Kadison, New York, NY "Phil Gladwin shares to the point technical tips. He joins these with even more valuable insights into how to "tap into" your heart and soul writing. Proven & tested real time exercises get you jump started WHENEVER you need it. Thanks Phil" John Harrison, Castle Rock, Colorado "The screenwriting goldmine newsletter from Phil Gladwin is the single most useful tool for a screenwriter to have for its straightforward and clear attention to the details of screenwriting that I haven't found in any other workshop or book on the subject. " Keith Tracy, Punta Gorda, FL, USA
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