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5 Things I've Learned By Participating In Create50 'The Impact'

9/18/2015

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Photograph captured by the Hubble Telescope, courtesy of NASA

First published on the Create50 Blog, 16 July 2015

I’ve been part of the Create50 community for a little over a month now. There I was sitting in Paris with summer flu, feeling sorry for myself, looking for any excuse not to do housework, when I came across yet another exhortation on Facebook to join Create50. I watched the 50 Kisses film and lo and behold! I was converted (it was a Sunday, hence the religious language).

This may sound overblown, but now I can’t imagine NOT being part of the project. It’s cemented friendships with existing members of my screenwriting tribe and forged new ones with people whose work I admire and who ‘get’ me (which is a big ask, what with my sardonic sense of humour and all). Besides, reading and reviewing scripts is oddly addictive and highly enjoyable.

It is so satisfying to see how the quality of scripts progresses from draft to draft. This assertion isn’t based on gut-feeling. I’ve got an Excel spreadsheet (courtesy of Dee Chilton), which I’ve been tinkering with to compare the ratings of each respective draft. The vast majority have shown improvement. Some have come on leaps and bounds.

Thinking about it this week, I’ve boiled down what I’ve learnt from the Create50 experience (so far) into the following five points:

1. Confidence
When I first signed up, I did so with trepidation. ‘The Impact’ sounded a bit SciFi to me, and that’s not really my genre – or so I thought. I also didn’t think I could do comedy, I’d never done anything episodic and I considered myself a marathon-writer rather than a sprinter, more at home with a feature-length screenplay.

Ten two-minute screenplays later and I’ve written a comedy set on the International Space Station, as well as a spoof trilogy sending up Hollywood’s love of franchises (amongst other, more serious entries, of course). And fellow writers have laughed! To say that this has given a rocket-boost to my confidence in my abilities as a writer is no exaggeration.

2. Film School For A Fiver
I wish something like this had existed before I handed over large wodges of cash to do a year-long screenwriting course in London a couple of years back. It only costs £5 per script, which gives you three goes at getting it right. What’s more you can do it all from the comfort of your own home. No schlepping.

The discipline of the two-page limit is a brilliant exercise to make you tighten your action lines, pare back your dialogue and focus on the essential in every scene. If you’re the sort of person who learns by doing, then Create50 is for you.

3. There’s No Accounting For Taste
Not everybody is going to like your screenplay. Get over it. You can learn just as much, if not more, from someone who isn’t keen on your script. This is good practice for the real world which does not necessarily adhere to the excellent guidelines the Create50 team have put in place for the giving and receiving of feedback.

Look at it this way: if someone has taken time out of their busy day to write a review of your work, it means they see potential in it to be better. Of course, differences are going to arise and you may even experience the occasional revenge rating, but on the whole people play nice. They sincerely want to help you.

4. The Keys To The Kingdom: Formatting
While professional standard formatting is not going to get you through the door of the magic kingdom, it will certainly bar it against you. Turn in a poorly formatted script and you’ll go straight on the pass pile. Now that I’ve read over 225 scripts for ‘The Impact’ I understand why industry insiders insist on proper formatting. Anything else takes you out of the read and distracts you from the story.

Do yourself a favour: format your scripts properly. The Create50 team have arranged for a free 2-week trial of FINAL DRAFT, or alternatively you can download the free screenwriting software CELTX from the Internet. There’s no excuse.

5. Story Is King
You don’t necessarily have to be an experienced writer to come up with a good story. One of my personal favourites on the site is by a newbie writer. It’s exotic, visual and imaginative, and thanks to the review process he is learning the elements of screenwriting craft that will help him tell the story in a cinematic way.

From a submarine to the international space station, a brothel to a birthing pool, a church to a cave, there are stories with every setting imaginable, depicting the fears, foibles, generosity, chagrin and humour of humankind (with the occasional furry creature thrown in for good measure). The stories being submitted for this project will make you laugh, cry and feel inspired.

So what are you waiting for? Take the plunge. Get involved.


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Tony Jordan's "Ark" & 4 Myths of Screenwriting Preached by Armchair Critics

4/2/2015

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The Isle of Purbeck standing in for the mountains of Ararat
I’m always astonished when I read the vitriol anonymous commentators hurl at complete strangers in the guise of “criticism”. Alas, a handful of comments left on the BBC website in response to Tony Jordan’s latest drama, “The Ark”, were typical of this hyperbolic bile that daily floods the Internet. Normally, I try not to let gratuitous incivility get to me. This time I feel I have to speak up, because the comments revealed assumptions about “Drama” that I couldn’t leave unanswered.

1. Mythology is not a suitable topic for Drama

I know, I know. I too find it totally bizarre that an armchair critic would complain about using a myth or legend as the basis of a screen story. After all, some of the most memorable films of all time re-tell ancient myths. From Jason and the Argonauts to King Arthur and his knights of the round table, mythology has been a staple of filmic fare since… well, since films began.

Perhaps they were just objecting to the depiction of a BIBLICAL legend? I’ve got a riposte for that one as well. The story of the flood was first recorded not by the Hebrews, but by the ancient Sumerians in “The Epic of Gilead”. It’s a great read – I recommend it. Different names, a smaller boat and a more localised flood, but the same story.

That some cataclysmic event really did occur in the Bronze Age, leaving a lasting impression on human consciousness, is highly probable. Why wouldn’t this be a suitable topic for a film? What makes a suitable subject for a film? 

ANYTHING!

As long as the writer has the skill to tell a story that reveals some truth about the human condition through characters and their conflicts in a psychologically satisfying structure - usually three acts presenting thesis, antithesis and synthesis - the actual story can be about absolutely anything.

2. Faith is not a suitable topic for Drama

Some armchair critics lambasted the BBC for using licence-fee money to fund a drama that did not advance the atheist agenda. Others claimed that because “The Ark” depicted a central character whose belief system was different to theirs, the BBC was guilty of peddling propaganda.

My goodness. What astonishing bigotry! Surely in this day and age we’re open-minded enough to accept all belief systems and not just the West’s politically correct/ intellectually fashionable atheism? Evidently not. Atheism too has its Pharisees.

Personally I found it refreshing to see a man of faith depicted. Most characters we see in drama these days are cynics, agnostics or atheists. More to the point, in “The Ark” the protagonist’s faith was germane to the action. It provided the motivation for the character to build a big boat in the desert 70 miles from the sea against the wishes of his family. As far as dramatic set-ups go, that’s as near to perfection as you will find.

3. Old stories shouldn’t contain contemporary elements

OK. I’m putting my hand up here and freely admitting: I’m a bit of an iconoclast. When I was twelve, I re-wrote “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in “proper” English. I don’t object when Shakespeare plays are set in an era other than Elizabethan.  My DVD collection contains four versions of Hamlet, all with different historical settings…

When it came to “The Ark”, armchair critics moaned about Nico Mirallegro’s short haircut. Perhaps they know something I don’t? Maybe they have some sort of psychic connection with a Bronze Age hairdresser who has told them categorically that not a single man alive at that time kept his hair short? Somehow I doubt it.

The town fleshpot where teens danced to pounding music, snogged and smoked mind-altering substances also didn’t go down well. “People were shown smoking before smoking was invented!” exclaimed one armchair critic. Well, yes, smoking tobacco wasn’t prevalent in the West until Sir Walter Raleigh introduced the ugly habit in Elizabethan times, but who’s to say people weren’t smoking other narcotics elsewhere on the planet long before then? Can anyone seriously claim that teenage angst was invented in the 1950s? Where’s the evidence that teens of the ancient world were less likely than their modern peers to be driven to disastrous life-choices by their raging hormones?

While authenticity was clearly a core production value, the look and feel of the film was ultimately an interpretation. Most of what we think we “know” about the Bronze Age is conjecture. Archaeologists revise their theories all the time. Quite frankly, these quibbles miss the point. By giving the story a contemporary feel, Tony Jordan’s aim was to make it more accessible to the audience. I thought he brought it off beautifully.

4. Drama should be based on facts

Perhaps it’s the proliferation of docu-dramas that has folk confused, but it’s documentaries not dramas that should be based on facts. Drama is fiction, or in the case of biopics or historical dramas, a fictionalised account of facts that may tell a few lies to tell a better truth. Sometimes, for example, a screenwriter may need to compound several characters into one or play with chronology in order to make the story work. As Horace said, the purpose of drama is not only to instruct, but also to delight.

That’s not to say drama should be casual with historical facts. I still haven’t forgiven the makers of “U-571” for the disrespect they showed to the British servicemen who sacrificed their lives to capture a German Enigma machine during World War Two by changing their nationality. Anyone who has read history will know the Americans hadn’t even entered World War Two when the crew of H.M.S. Bulldog did that… I’ll never watch another film by that writer/director ever again!

Where possible then, a drama should respect historical facts, or at least remain true to their spirit. A story should have an internal logic and obey the rules of the world it sets up, otherwise it will lack credibility. It may sound like I’ve just contradicted myself, but really, there was no good reason in the story world of U-571 why the writer/director couldn’t stick to the historical facts and have the protagonists be British. It wasn’t “a better truth” he told with his lie… It's a thin line.

Back to “The Ark” -  why did it provoke such venomous comments?

I blame the Dawkins Delusion. Richard Dawkins claimed to have disproved the existence of God. I for one would have been happier had he succeeded. It’s so much easier not to have to love your neighbour as yourself, isn’t it? Unfortunately Dawkins’ argument is spurious. He says God doesn’t exist because (a) organised religions often behave badly and (b) the probability s/he exists is small.

As a woman, I wholeheartedly agree organised religion has not always been a force for good. In Western culture half of the population was enslaved to the other half for centuries, justified by the teaching of the Catholic Church. The irony is, the Catholic Church based its dogma not on the preaching of Christ, but on the secular speculations of Aristotle who didn’t know women had sex organs (because ours are internal) and so assumed we must be inferior to men.

Religions are set up by men, not by God. If they have shortcomings, mankind and mankind alone is to blame. Assuming for one moment there is an afterlife, any woman wanting to administer a short, sharp kick in the balls to Aristotle will have to get in line… behind me. 

Turning now to the probability argument. You’ve only got to have some rudimentary mathematics - or else read Nassim Nicholas Taleb - to understand that just because something is improbable, it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. To borrow Taleb’s eloquent metaphor, for all you, Dawkins or I may know, God could be the ultimate “Black Swan Event”.

Tony Jordan’s formulation was pertinent: only an idiot would say God doesn’t exist, because to be able to say that categorically, you’ve got to know everything, and none of us does.

Rant over. Best get back to writing my own screenplays… 

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7 Souvenirs From A Trip To Little Italy With Tony Grisoni

3/29/2015

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Trouble and strife in Little Italy (©Channel Four Films)
“An epic tale of romance, revenge and cappuccino.” A brilliant tagline. Up there with the best, IMHO. Can you name the film? Here are some clues:
  • Produced by Channel Four Films, it was one of only a handful of movies made in the UK in 1989. 
  • It was the first feature film for both its writer, Tony Grisoni, and its director, John Amiel. 
  • The Sunday Telegraph described it as “magnificent” and “one of the most magical movies ever made.”

With that sort of praise, you might think “Queen of Hearts” was a landmark British cinematic event that has taken its rightful place as one of this eclectic nation’s best-loved films. But you’d be wrong. Nobody even knows where the negative is! So when the email came through inviting me along to the Barbican to watch “Queen of Hearts” in the company of Tony Grisoni and actors Joseph Long (Danilo Luca), Ray Marioni (Mario) and Tat Whalley (Beetle), I couldn’t resist. Here are seven writing tips I came away with:

1. Passion
Tony Grisoni sat down to write a film he wanted to see. Not a film he thought would sell. Not a bland, “me-too” film he thought was safe. A film with a great story he wanted to see himself. And the passion shows.

2. Authenticity Versus Autobiography
The Luca family feels so authentic, lots of audience members mistakenly believe this must be Tony’s autobiography. That authenticity may derive in part from his experiences as a Brit of Italian extraction informing the story, but it is a false biography.

Credit must go to the actors too, of course. When you watch the performances, you can’t imagine any other actor playing those parts. Joseph Long, who plays happy-go-lucky Danilo Luca in the film, explained that Jon Amiel helped the actors to really inhabit their character by improvising the scenes that might have happened before the scene they were to shoot.

Joseph also brought along the pack of cards and a lighter he used in the film – the former belonging to his Uncle Salvatore and the latter to his Father. These were objects brought from Italy to this country by real Italian immigrants and helped the actor to create his multi-layered “Danilo”.

Appropriately for a story about the drama of being a part of a family and the way we mythologise things that happen within these mini tribes, this film was evidently made with a genuine sense of family, fun and collaboration. Those in the audience who were related to the actors who played in the film, or who had been extras in it themselves, spoke movingly of what an important event this film was and continues to be in their lives. 

3. Finding A Way Into The Story
Little Italy was the inspiration. Tony was intrigued by the idea of a hidden corner of London where the rules are different, so the story began with a sense of place. It took five years to take shape. Finding Eddie Luca as the narrator – seeing it all through the eyes of a ten-year-old boy – was the key into the story-world.

4. Discover Your Inner Actor
“There’s a lot of acting involved in writing,” says Tony. “You pretend. You spend your day doing what other people gave up doing when they were twelve!” Later, when audience members lay claim to your characters and tells you so-and-so was exactly like this, that or the other member of their family, you know you’ve done something right.

5. Representation
The film portrays the Italian-British community - one not often seen in British films, despite its size and reach. This is in direct contrast to the situation in the USA where there is a lot of representation of the Italian-American community on film. Tony puts this down to power in the film industry. Who makes films? They’re the ones who ultimately decide who gets represented. In the States there are lots of Italian-Americans involved in film (think Capra, Coppola, De Niro, Pacino, Scorsese, Tarantino…), but that’s not the case in this country. 

You could say the same thing about the Greek community, the Kurdish community, the Pakistani community - or any other community you might care to mention.

6. Story Trumps Everything
Finding a community hitherto unexplored on film is a marvellous opportunity for writers old and new to find a fresh setting for universal stories with unique, often quirky details. However, story trumps everything - even good intentions regarding representation.

7. Stick Your Neck Out For Your Story
Tony was not on the set much of this, his first film. That’s something that has changed over time. Now he stays with the story through to post-production. As a parting piece of advice, he encouraged writers to stick their neck out for their story. Of course the story is going to develop and change through collaboration as the production progresses, but the writer should lead that process. That’s the job of the writer. 

You, the writer, are the guardian of the story.

Final Word
My heartfelt thanks go to Nicola Gallani of Arrivederci Films for organising this event and to Tony Grisoni, Joseph Long, Ray Marioni, Tat Whalley and all the members of the Italian-British community who came along and warmed up a drab, damp Saturday afternoon.

If you’d like to see “Queen of Hearts”, there’s another screening at the Italian Social Club in Clerkenwell on April 17th, 2015. Check the website of Arrivederci Films for details. 

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5 Screenwriting Lessons From a 1-Minute Scene in Jimmy McGovern's "BANISHED"

3/22/2015

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I’m a veteran of London Screenwriter’s Festival. I’ve been a delegate for the last three years and will be again come this October. It’s intense, motivational and inspiring. Every year I come away laden with knowledge, insight and ideas to help me become a better writer.

If there’s one thing London Screenwriter’s Festival constantly encourages us writers to do, it is to learn from each other and from role models. “If one always looked to the skies,” said Flaubert, “one would end up with wings.”

Among the role models I look up to and hope to emulate is Jimmy McGovern. With “Banished”, he’s giving us a real treat.  I’m enjoying it not just because it’s a great story with wonderful characters, but also because I now know enough about screenwriting technique to see how he makes our emotions soar.

Take this one scene from Episode 3, which comes in at just under a minute (despite being a page and a half in Final Draft, according to my transcription). From a screenwriting perspective it’s pure genius, replete with lessons for any budding screenwriter hoping to grow wings to enable their writing career to take flight.

(Minute 46:23)
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(Minute 47:47)

Here are five key lessons you can draw from this scene.

1. Enter a scene late and leave early

The card game is already underway and we the audience arrive mid-way through the conversation. We don’t have to wait for it to warm up. It’s already reached an interesting point, which immediately draws us in.

Once all the information to be conveyed by the scene has been imparted in an entertaining way, and the punchline has been delivered, we leave.  James has only just begun to gloat about having won the hand by fooling Tommy into thinking he wanted the king, but the audience has seen enough to get that message. We don’t need to hang around another 30 seconds or so.

In film, every second counts.

2. Drama is conflict

Conflict arises on different levels. McGovern places his characters in an inherently competitive situation: a game of cards. This heightens the natural tension between the characters as a result of their different agendas.

It is James who keeps us focused on this aspect of the scene, prompting Tommy three times to select a card. Tommy and Stubbins are distracted, debating the value of learning to read and write.

Stubbins reveals Tommy got another convict, ‘Letters’ Molloy, to write Elizabeth a letter while he was in jail awaiting execution. This creates still more conflict, because Elizabeth now wants to know what’s in the letter.

Additionally, it builds towards future conflict and creates dramatic irony through set-up and pay-off. We know Tommy’s letter was an outpouring of love and we are soon to discover that Stubbins' wife's letter is the very opposite. ‘Letters’ Molloy, “one of the most trustworthy men amongst us”, has lied.

A previous scene – when Tommy wrote his last letter in prison – is paid off, while a future conflict is set up. Stubbins is going to find out the truth sooner or later…

3. Contrasting Verbal Strategies

The dialogue is fresh and dynamic because each character has a different verbal strategy.

Sprag’s strategy is silence. He only delivers one line, of one word, in the whole scene.

Stubbins' is truth-telling. He reveals something Tommy would rather Elizabeth not know.

Tommy's is avoiding the subject. He bats away all questions about the contents of his last letter to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth's is curiosity. Now that it’s piqued, she wants to know what is in that damn letter.

James’ is interruption. By constantly diverting Tommy’s attention back to the card game, he fools him into thinking he wants that king.

All the characters have their own agenda, and they’ve all got different ways of going about getting what they want.

4. Dialogue As Action

Dialogue is not about telling the story. As this scene demonstrates, it’s about revealing character, entertaining the audience, pointing to subtext and creating anticipation.

The dialogue moves the story forward. Stubbins expresses his enthusiasm for learning to read and write. He wants to re-read the cherished letter from his wife, which gives him the strength to face the hardships of convict life, and to be able to write her sweet letters in his turn.

In the very next scene we will learn of ‘Letters’ Molloy’s deception and we will believe it when he tells Captain Collins that if Stubbins ever learned the truth, he would almost certainly kill himself.

5. Storytelling technique

The story in this scene is told with great economy in just 56 seconds. We the audience are  –

  • prompted to reflect on the emotion of a past event when Tommy was almost hung for standing his ground on being with the woman he loves
  • given information to prepare us for a future emotional punch that will surely come when Stubbins discovers his wife abandoned him before he even left English shores
  • entertained with the humour of Tommy’s flippancy
  • surprised at the end by a “didn’t see that coming" moment when James wins the hand – for it’s not just Tommy he’s fooled with his guile, but us too.

A good storyteller is one who grips the audience with a multi-layered story told with brevity and humour, just as Jimmy McGovern does here. I can’t wait for Episode 4!

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ARIANNA EISENBERG "Rejected? 3 Industry Pros Tell You: Don't Give Up!" Interview

12/24/2014

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"Dream of Orpheus" by Nicole Bolla, 53rd Venice Biennale

MY CHRISTMAS GIFT TO YOU: 3rd in a series of special posts giving extended versions of the interviews for "Rejected? 3 Industry Pros Tell You: Don't Give Up!"

Can you think of any other reasons why a producer may reject an otherwise well-written, *good* script?

I can’t get in the head of another producer but one reason for us is that we normally do in-house projects only; meaning we produce our own concepts/projects.  As a writer/producer I certainly have so many ideas that it keeps one constantly busy.  Having said that, I have optioned some amazing projects in the past.  If you get a script that is on a subject matter of interest to you and has that “magic” you’re hooked.  We get so many submission inquiries weekly that it’s difficult to handle all of them.  We don’t normally accept unsolicited material for a variety of reasons including the fact that we may have something similar we’re already working on and don’t want the legal hassle down the road.  So it’s not that your script or idea isn’t a good one, it’s that a producer or production company may just have a large slate of their own.

Do you have any advice for writers regarding rejection? 

Rejection is always difficult but it’s a fact of life – so you have two options.  You either fold or you deal with it and move forward.  My father told me years ago that the “only reason you won’t succeed is because you quit.”  That was good advice and I’ve always kept it in mind.  Just because this person or company isn’t enamoured by your script doesn’t mean it’s not good.  It just means it’s not a fit for them.  Keep trying.  If you’re lucky you may be able to get “notes” from a producer as to what they would have done differently.  Critique is not criticism.  It’s an opportunity to hear another’s POV and to make changes where applicable.  Change can only make it better.  Even at the studio level there can be upwards of 25 to 30 rewrites on a script.  So don’t feel defeated – make changes and keep going.  You should be your own critic as well – that way you’re in a position to take any critique to heart rather than it being a dagger to your soul.  KEEP MOVING FORWARD ALWAYS.  If it’s your passion then you ultimately will succeed.


Is there something positive you've learned from rejection you yourself may have experienced as a producer that you'd be willing to share? 

I began as a journalist and can’t tell you how many stories were rejected in the beginning.   I kept an actual file for all the rejection letters and with each letter I kept looking at what I had written and think about why it was turned down. I would change it up, add to it, take away from it, do more research, put in more detail and eventually I got my foot in the door.  The thing is I kept trying to make it better, always better.  From that point on you continue to get better at what you do – you make it your craft.  Again – rejection is a fact of life.  There is a great deal of content out there and an even greater deal of competition.  Be smart about it in thinking “how can I make myself or my work stand out?”  Come with something unique and different.  It doesn’t matter if you get a thousand rejections – the only one that matters is the one who says YES.  At that point all the others fade to black!


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PAUL WEBSTER "Rejected? 3 Industry Pros Tell You: Don't Give Up!" Interview

12/24/2014

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"Buddha's Hands" by Huang Yong Ping, 53rd Venice Biennale

MY CHRISTMAS GIFT TO YOU: 2nd in a series of special posts giving extended versions of the interviews for "Rejected? 3 Industry Pros Tell You: Don't Give Up!"


Can you think of any other reasons why a producer may reject an otherwise well-written, *good* script?

I might turn down a good script for a variety of reasons; too much on my plate being the most common one. The other reason is that I don't find it fits in with the kind of thing I want to do, my 'brand' if you like. Yet another reason is that, despite a scripts evident qualities, I believe that it will be very difficult to finance and that the risk / reward ratio is too firmly in the 'risk' category. I'm also not very interested in micro-budget work; if the script is good I'll be more likely to want to work with the writer on a larger scale idea than take on the original project.

Do you have any advice for writers regarding rejection? 

Rejection is an unenviable but essential part of the life of a creative person. There are simply too many ideas for too few outlets for it to be any other way. A writer should always look for the positive in a rejection. Any producer or executive worth their salt will always find something good to say about a script and that's food to a writer, something to feed their ego and strengthen for the next round of submissions.

Don't give up, don't ever give up BUT also make sure that your belief has some basis in reality. Make sure your friends and supporters tell you the truth and that your persistence is justified. 


Is there something positive you've learned from rejection you yourself may have experienced as a producer that you'd be willing to share?

The first lesson a producer needs to learn is that when he or she is told 'No' they pay absolutely no attention and keep on going. Rejection should feed your rage, your sense of self-righteousness. It should also make you grown up and pragmatic; always have the next project on the boil. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Always have an alternative and don't let your belief in an idea become an obsession unless of course you are from the Werner Herzog school of self-belief in which case your absolute single-minded belief and desire will move mountains (or haul ferry boats up them) and you'll get it done or die trying.


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HOSSEIN AMINI "Rejected? 3 Industry Pros Tell You: Don't Give Up!" Interview

12/24/2014

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"Black Arch" by Raja & Shadia Alem, 54th Venice Biennale

MY CHRISTMAS GIFT TO YOU: 1st in a series of special posts giving extended versions of the interviews for "Rejected? 3 Industry Pros Tell You: Don't Give Up!"

Reasons why a producer may reject an otherwise well-written script:

It could be that there’s a mismatch between the scale of the film and the resources a prod-co can muster. Film companies don’t like to admit that they’re not in a position to make a film. Instead they’ll issue a straight rejection, which leaves the writer thinking there’s something wrong with their writing or with their script. This is self-defeating for the industry, because it’s in the industry’s interest for writers to keep going and to get better.

Advice for writers regarding rejection:

Persistence, single-mindedness and the ability to find a silver-lining that keeps you going (placing in a competition, getting good feedback, etc.). The longer you keep going the more likely you are to (a) get better at screenwriting and (b) come to the notice of someone who will make all the difference in your career. It took me 4-5 years. I experienced a lot of rejection. Nobody that started writing at the same time as I did is still writing today… It’s so easy to give up at any stage!

Even once you make it, you’re still not out of the woods as far as rejection is concerned. You may have one of your re-writes rejected, or you may not like the film the director creates from your script or if you do like the film, the critics and/or public may not. Rejection happens at every stage and at every level.

How you pick yourself up after rejection is key. The success-to-rejection ratio in this industry is 5% to 95%. You need to find a way to cope with rejection. I allow myself to feel depressed and angry for a day or so, then I picks myself up and use those feelings to energise myself to write another draft. If it’s an entire script that has been rejected, I immerse myself in books and films, and fall in love with storytelling all over again.

Another tactic is to read about the rejections others have experienced. I particularly recommend “Smoking In Bed: Conversations With Bruce Robinson”. If it can happen to him, who am I to complain?


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Rejected? 3 Industry Pros Tell You: DON'T GIVE UP

12/24/2014

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Michelangelo Pistoletto, 53rd Venice Biennale


(First posted on the Bang2Write Website 14th December, 2014)

Those of you who attended London Screenwriters Festival this past October and succeeded in getting synopsis and script-read requests from Producers at Pitchfest may be starting to get rejection messages round about now. I know I am. Rejection is unpleasant. Nobody likes it. But know this: even those who’ve “made it” experience rejection on a regular basis.


I spoke to three industry pros to get their take on this thorny issue:

-  star writer/director HOSSEIN AMINI - Our Kind of Traitor, Two Faces of January, Drive…

-  veteran British producer PAUL WEBSTER – Pan, Locke, Eastern Promises…

-  award-winning Hollywood writer/producer ARIANNA EISENBERG - Jemiyah Jones YA novels, Inside Pandora’s Box, Mata Hari: Her True Story…

Between them, they gave me SIX reasons producers will reject an otherwise well-written script which are nothing to do with YOU the writer:

1. They only produce concepts generated in-house

2. Their slate is already full

3. They are already producing a similar concept

4. It’s not their genre or doesn’t fit with their brand

5. The scale of the film doesn’t match their budget range

6. It’s unlikely to provide the kind of return their financial backers expect.

What can you as a writer do to minimise the risk of your script being rejected for one of these six reasons? 


¡¡MARKET RESEARCH!!

Find out about producers, their taste in films and the size of their deals. There’s loads of information out there, on that Internet-thingie – all for FREE! Filmmaking is a business. If you want to be part of it, you need to understand it.

MAKE REJECTION WORK FOR YOU

Growing that proverbial thick-skin is as essential to making it as a screenwriter as the ability to write, network and pitch. The best writers use rejection as a way to energise them to do better.

“Rejection should feed your rage, your sense of self-righteousness,” says Paul. “It should also make you grown up and pragmatic: always have the next project on the boil… Always have an alternative and don't let your belief in an idea become an obsession - unless of course you are from the Werner Herzog school of self-belief in which case your absolute single-minded belief and desire will move mountains (or haul ferry boats up them) and you'll get it done or die trying.”

Hossein reminds us, “Even once you make it, you’re still not out of the woods as far as rejection is concerned. You may have one of your re-writes rejected, or you may not like the film the director creates from your script, or if you do like the film, the critics and/or public may not take to it. Rejection happens at every stage and at every level.”

Arianna agrees. “At the studio level, there can be upwards of 25 to 30 rewrites on a script. If you’re lucky you may be able to get “notes” from a producer as to what they would have done differently.  Critique is not criticism.  It’s an opportunity to hear another’s POV and to make changes where applicable.  Change can only make it better.” 

Here are FIVE tactics our three industry pros use:

1)    Let yourself feel the pain for an hour or so, then move on. Get over yourself!

2)    Immerse yourself in books and films and fall in love with storytelling all over again.

3)    Find the silver-lining – even though the producer rejected your script, did they say something positive about your work?

4)    Remind yourself that even the most successful writers and filmmakers have experienced shed-loads of rejection. (Hossein particularly recommends reading “Smoking In Bed: Conversations With Bruce Robinson”.)

5)    Change it up, add to it, take away from it, do more research, put in more detail – keep trying to make your writing better, always better.

KEEP WRITING

The longer you keep going the more likely you are to (a) get better at screenwriting and (b) come to the notice of someone who will make all the difference in your career. It took Hossein 4-5 years! “I experienced a lot of rejection,” he says. “None of my friends who started writing at the same time as me are still writing today. It’s so easy to give up at any stage!”

“Don't give up, don't ever give up BUT also make sure that your belief has some basis in reality,” Paul advises. “Make sure your friends and supporters tell you the truth and that your persistence is justified.” 

“My father told me years ago that the only reason you won’t succeed is because you quit,” Arianna says.  “It doesn’t matter if you get a thousand rejections – the only one that matters is the one who says “YES!”  At that point all the others fade to black!”



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TOP 25 ACCOUNTS ALL UK SCREENWRITERS SHOULD FOLLOW ON TWITTER

11/12/2014

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This morning in my TL there was a very helpful post from @screencrafting on the most useful Twitter accounts for screenwriters. I worked my way methodically through it and found I was already following most of them. Twitter is a fantastic tool when it comes to pointing writers to resources that hone their skills to match their passion and ambition, so those accounts that were new to me I immediately followed.


Naturally, ScreenCraft’s list is Hollywood-centric. Don’t get me wrong. I would be as happy as the next emerging screenwriter to work FOR Hollywood – but not necessarily IN Hollywood. I’m a European and I like living in Europe. That got me thinking: what are the accounts all UK Screenwriters should follow? So I cheekily stole ScreenCraft’s headline and inserted the UK into the equation…

Here is my list. Allow me to point out a major caveat before somebody takes umbrage: it’s a highly subjective list. Feel free to contact me with suggestions for deletions/ inclusions. You’ll notice some of the accounts I suggest are European rather than British. It would be fun to get a European list going. Anybody out there up for that challenge?

I. Inspiration & Motivation

1.     Top of my list is @londonswf. I’ve been a London Screenwriters’ Festival (LSF) regular since 2012. It’s no exaggeration to say LSF is the number one factor (aside from hard work and dogged determination) in advancing my writing skills and career, plus it’s now the biggest festival of its kind in the world!

2.     Every great festival needs an enormously talented creative director to lead it and LSF is fortunate to have the awesome, generous, kick-ass @livingspiritpix (Chris Jones) at the helm

3.     Closely associated with LSF, as well as being herself a writer, producer, script-editor and bloggeuse extraordinaire (if you’ll pardon my French) is @Bang2write’s Lucy Hay

4.     @Julie_Gray is another notable screenwriting guru – OK! OK! I know she’s a Hollywood expert now based in Israel, but she is one of the perennial favourite speakers at LSF, so I thought I’d sneak her in… Besides she runs the LSF Writers’ Salon on Facebook, so there!

5.     Last but not least in this section, @TheWritersGuild does a stellar job of defending the interests of UK writers in all fields and organises events/resources that give writers a helping hand

II. People Who Know Stuff

All writers need feedback from people who know about storytelling. If you’re new to writing, I cannot impress upon you enough how important it is to build relationships with screenwriting gurus and script editors to help you see the wood for the trees in your story. I’ve already mentioned Lucy Hay and Julie Gray in the “Inspiration & Motivation” section. Here are a few more of my personal favourites:

6.     @jyintothewoods by John Yorke, CEO of Company Pictures - one of the UK’s most exciting production houses, teaches you (as his book “Into The Woods” promises) all about how stories work and why we tell them

7.     @AronsonLinda is possibly the world’s greatest expert on non-linear and multi-protagonist stories

8.     Writer/producer @StephenFollows has a fascinating sideline in film data, collating and crunching numbers in a way that shines a light on unknown facets of the UK film industry

9.     @Steve_Ince is a leading game designer and interactive narrative consultant, as well as being a writer himself

10. @HayleyMckenzie1 founded Script Angel and generously runs the LSF Script Angel competition, while @PhilipShelley1 organises Channel 4’s annual search for new talent, leads a script lab at LSF and provides a vast array of services to writers, and @Euroscript is a co-sponsor of LSF as well as being the UK’s oldest and leading provider of training and international script development for screenwriters…

Yep! I know I cheated by including several people in a single point… glad you’re still paying attention!

III. Validation

Inevitably you will experience a heap of rejection as a writer. Try a Table Read to help you understand where your script needs work, or just for the thrill of hearing YOUR WORDS spoken by real live actors. Competitions can be fun too. They may be a springboard to getting your script made or just a boost to your confidence when you see YOUR NAME on a list of quarter-finalists, semi-finalists, finalists or even winners.

11. @WatermarkCollec provides a table read service that is accessible to even the most impecunious of starving writers

12. @ShootingPeople is one of the UK’s leading networking sites for film and TV industry professionals (together with LSF-Net of course)

13. Newly merged @stage32online & @TheHappyWriters is American, but this is a global industry after all and IMHO Stage32 is THE best networking site

14. @bbcwritersroom and @Writers_Couch provide amazing opportunities for non-repped writers to enter the business

15. @RedPlanetTV, @screengoldmine and @ShoreScripts are three of the UK’s top screenwriting competitions IMHO

IV. Getting Stuff Made

In the UK it’s not enough to just be a writer; you have to be a bit of a producer too…

16. Follow the largest UK production houses to understand the trends in UK filmmaking, such as @BBCFilms, @Film4 and @Working_Title

17. At the heart of the British film industry, @BFI provides writers with a wealth of resources and also helps filmmakers to finance their films, while for those making micro-budget films, @Film_London and the @FL_Microwave scheme are invaluable resources

18. The name @BAFTA may not be as catchy as “Oscar”, “Goya” or “César”, but the British Academy of Film and Television Arts hands out the most attractive gong IMHO and their new account @BAFTAGuru is a golden resource for writers

19. Creative England invests in and supports creative ideas, talent and businesses, so follow @CEFilm for film & @creativeengland for TV, Games and Digital Media

20. @TheKnowledgeUK is the definitive source of suppliers, crew and companies within UK Film, TV & Commercials

V. Film/TV Markets, Distribution and Exhibition

21. Cannes Film Festival @FdC_officiel – no introduction needed!

22. Venice Film Festival @venicefilmfestival – likewise!!

23. Berlin Film Festival @berlinale – ditto!!!

24. @ArtificialEye is the UK’s leading indie film distributor; this is the market sector most new writers aim to serve, even though it’s awfully crowded, representing only 9% of the total UK box-office (as per a statistic @robthor quoted at LSF)

25. Picturehouse Cinema @picturehouses is the UK’s largest boutique cinema operator

¡BONUS!

Behind every good writer, there’s a cat. To put a smile on your face each morning, follow the feline musings of Tom Cox’s “Why My Cat Is Sad” @MYSADCAT…

Britain too boasts its fair share of parody accounts, my personal favourite being Miss L @proresting whose hilarious tweets about the pitfalls of casting calls have me in stitches, while simultaneously thanking my lucky stars I’m not an actress…

To finish on yet another of my ‘IMHO’s, Spain’s “Días de Cine” is the world’s finest TV programme about movies. You can follow @DiasDeCine, but you’ll need to learn to speak Spanish first…

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10 APHORISMS TO WRITE BY: My #LondonSWF 2014

11/3/2014

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(First posted on London Screenwriters’ Festival Website on 31st October, 2014)
Creative Director Chris Jones and his amazing team did it again. They put on a superlative event that inspired, energised and empowered us to be the writers and filmmakers we want to be. This time it was bigger than ever: 800 enthusiastic delegates and 150 exceptional speakers. I’m surprised with so much creative talent concentrated in one place, we didn’t alter the earth’s magnetic field – it was that AWESOME.

An element of London Screenwriters’ Festival I particularly appreciate is the Scriptchat. This is a roundtable discussion held immediately after a session where the speaker sits and chats with those members of the audience hardy enough to resist the lure of the refreshment tent or the imperative of a nature break.

In his scriptchat, Robert Thorogood, creator of the popular TV series “Death In Paradise”, told us he loves aphorisms. As someone who is rather partial to them myself, his comment inspired me to pick out and share my favourites from this year’s London Screenwriters’ Festival.

ROBERT THOROGOOD
“Here’s the good news: you’re as good a writer now as you’ll ever be.”
Robert recently dug out an old script from his bottom drawer (we’ve all got one) and was surprised by how well-written it was. What’s the difference between then and now? Aside from dogged perseverance and doing at least one thing every day to further his writing career, he’s found his voice. That, he says, is the most important thing, as it’s what sets you apart from every other writer out there.

JULIE GRAY
“Think of your writing as something that allows you to give as well as to get.”
If anybody was in any doubt as to the value of storytelling and storytellers to the human race, Julie will have set them right in her uplifting session on writing with purpose. Julie reminded us to live and write purposefully, on purpose. It shouldn’t ever be just about the dosh. Being a writer is a calling, she says, you are a giver of hope, not a taker of money.

NICK POWELL
“A story becomes your story as soon as you start to tell it.”
Nick entertained and regaled us with stories from the filmmaking trenches in his extraordinary A to Z of Storytelling. He’s on first-name terms with just about every screenwriting god you’d care to mention and mixed up his own insights with gems from the likes of Martin Scorsese, Tom Stoppard, Steven Soderbergh and Quentin Tarantino.

LINDA ARONSON
“Storytelling is about truth and its different versions.”
Linda wowed us with her mastery of every imaginable permutation of non-linear storytelling. The theory was accompanied by lots of practical advice as to how to apply these tricky techniques to our own stories to energise and lift them. It’s crucial all writers realise that young audiences don’t take as long to “get it” as they used to, so we need to tell our stories faster and include more beats per story.

WILLIAM NICHOLSON
“A lot of story has no spoken words at all.”
This from the man who wrote one of cinema’s immortal lines, “what we do in life echoes in eternity.” (I can’t get over how great that line is. If I ever write one half as good, I’ll die happy.) William was of course referring to the old “show don’t tell” adage and extolling the virtue of visual storytelling.

TED TALLY
“Confusing the audience for three minutes is better than boring them for three seconds.”
Screenwriters invest a lot of time and trouble to learn the rules of screenwriting. Here’s more good news: once you know the rules, you can break them – if it serves your story. But there’s one rule you can never, ever break and that’s this one: don’t bore the audience!

JOEL SCHUMACHER
“We are most destructive when we don’t realise filmmaking is a collaboration.”
Besides being the most dapper man at the Festival, Joel Schumacher impressed us all with his wit, charm and generosity. From his script-to-screen session to the review of his career in film, he had us all wrapt and enchanted. It was touching to see him on stage with the real Philomena Lee, who graciously accepted the inaugural British Screenwriters’ Award for Best British Feature Film Writing on behalf of Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope for “Philomena”.

LEE JESSUP
“Never walk into a meeting unprepared. Approach pitching as networking.”
Lee Jessup’s structured, no-nonsense approach to making it in Hollywood had us all wishing we’d met her a year earlier, if not sooner… If you want to make it in Hollywood, no matter where you live, all you’ve got to do is get noticed. Lee then delighted us by giving us some very doable suggestions as to how to go about it.

AMMA ASANTE
“ ‘No’ is followed by a comma, not a full-stop.”
Amma’s story of being robbed of the credit for her words is heart-breaking, yet the way she overcame this set-back is inspiring. What struck me is how she defines herself first and foremost as a writer. (Yay! She’s one of us!) Had she known what would happen, she says, despite the tremendous benefits directing “Belle” has brought her, she would not have gone ahead with the project. Now that’s artistic integrity for you.

CHRIS JONES & JONATHAN NEWMAN
“The only failure is not doing something; everything else is a learning experience.”
“Free your mind,” says Morpheus to Neo in “The Matrix”. The Manifesting Success session was all about recognising that the person running us is our five-year-old self and that our inner voice, which tends to be negative, is not reality. Here again there is good news: we can choose not to listen. The ultimate reality is doing, so say what you are going to do and have the integrity to do what you say. That way success lies – whatever success means to you.

All that remains to be said after this whistle-stop tour of some of the highlights of my #LondonSWF 2014 is a heartfelt THANK YOU to Chris, the team, the volunteers, the speakers and the delegates. Let’s do it all over again next year!

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    One of my uncles calls me, “Kim the Intrepid”. Adventures include an African revolution, questioning by the KGB/FSB and being guest of honour at a Turkmen wedding.  What else would I want to do but write? 

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