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Screenwriting For a Medical Show - Simon Harper (Holby) Interview
simonharper85x115.jpgIt'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.

Over the course of approximately 40 minutes Simon talks about: 

  • How he schedules writers for the show - assigning writers for the writing slots as they come up.
  • How his main job is to find new writers for the show.
  • How he gets writers from the BBC Writers Academy, and the different ways onto the show other than the Writers Academy.
  • The Holby shadow scheme details for new writers.
  • How well must you know the show before you have started (answer, not as much as you might think).
  • The nature of the link between Holby and the BBC Writers Room.
  • How best to submit your script to Simon and what kind of script to send... (Yes, he says he reads and responds to perhaps 20 spec scripts a week and is actively looking forward to hearing from new writers... do you know how RARE that is?)
  • And, even better, how he DOESN'T do just the first ten page reading thing. Yes, he really is one of the good guys.
  • What you'll need to be able to pitch him when you go into that meeting.
  • How the storyline process works, how many stories per episode, and the weight given to each.
  • What happens on each draft, who gives notes at what stage, and what you can expect through the writing process.
  • How they handle the tension between a writer's voice and the voice of the show.
  • The difference between writing the serial stories and the guest stories.
  • How he is actively seeeking new women writers.
  • And - crucially - how on earth they make every writer appear to be a medical expert!

Look, there's a heck of a lot in this interview - it's a highly informative - and very engaging - discussion with a real industry pro. If you're interested in writing for any medical show at all you should definitely make the time to listen to this one.

This interview is a little bit noisier than usual - bad phone line I think - sorry for that, but I think you'll find the content more than compensates. 

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Since 1995 Phil Gladwin has written or edited screenplays for all of these people:

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