Heads Up

Very late notice, I know, but this is a little forewarning that a film what I wrote "Lent" is going to be screened at 5.30pm, at The Odeon, Aylesbury on Monday 15th September, as part of a programme of Screen South offerings playing at the Short Cuts Film Festival in Buckinghamshire. Details here: http://www.cliffproductions.co.uk/shortcuts08.htm

Alas, I didn't get sufficient notice of this to attend myself, I will instead be at the Writers' Guild event which the venerable Mister Paul Campbell advertises here.  But it's jolly exciting all the same...

One Year On

Just over a year ago, I went to a Writers' Guild event about blogging, and became a convert. Of the crop of blogs that rose up after that event, I'm only aware of Helen Smith's and mine that have survived - but please feel free to post a comment if you were there, and are still posting, I'd love to hear from you. Helen has written a lovely post about her blog birthday, and also a perceptive article for the Guild, which she links to from that page.

I agree with Helen: the best part of blogging is that it has allowed me to meet so many other writers. Not many producers, but a lot of writers; though, one producer who had got my name from Screen South, but had dismissed me as not mature enough for her project because she thought that 'new screenwriter' equated to 'fourteen years old', did give me an interview after seeing a picture on this blog of grizzled old me, with my baby son. I still didn't get the gig, though.

I'm only aware of that one direct job opportunity, but the indirect benefits are massive: the confidence boost of turning up to do some networking knowing there will be a friendly face or two in the crowd, should not be underestimated. The advanced warning of schemes, comps and events; the useful information of the craft expounded by other bloggers; the crystallising of thoughts on my own approach by posting about my own writing; the availability of a willing group of peer reviewers; all these are wonderful things. Praise be to the Blog! And happy birthday to this one.

It seems a good time to revisit the goals I set myself in April last year, and see how I've got on. Here goes:

1. Get into the imdb. Nope - still not there, but now that the sound issues with 'Lent' are dealt with, and hoping it gets some decent distribution, I should be able to get my name in there soon.

2. Get another of my short film scripts produced. A couple of possibilities are still ongoing.

3. Get an agent. Haven't even tried, to be honest. I'm hoping by building up a portfolio of scripts, and getting more commissioned and produced work, that I'll be in a stronger position to approach some agents later on.

4. Get an afternoon play commissioned for Radio 4.No commissions, but some good scripts written in the last year, and some possible leads with producers.

5. Apply to the BBC Writer’s Academy.Applied. Didn't get in. Applying again this year.

6. Write an episode of Doctors. Nope, though I am writing more one-off thirty minute dramas, to learn, and to use as examples of my work.

So, lots of work still to do. If only I'd added 'Get commissioned to write a feature script', I could have ticked one off. I shall add one to the list:

7. Get more commissions to write feature scripts.

And I'll report back on progress in another year's time*


* I will be posting in between then and now too, of course: I know that should be obvious, but my posting rate recently may have caused some to doubt it!!!

"You'll never look at a truncheon quite the same way again!"

Event: "Imaginary Worlds"


Date: Thursday 1st November 2007


Venue: The Guild Centre, King's Cross (not in the usual large conference room, but in the smaller area normally used just for networking - sadly the event seemed a bit undersubscribed.)


The Set Up: Panellists were Phil Ford (PF) writer on The New Captain Scarlet and The Sarah Jane Adventures, Ashley Pharaoh (AP), co-creator and writer of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, Adrian Hodges (AH), co-creator and writer of Primeval, and Phillip Palmer (PP), author of SF novel Debatable Space. Questions came from Edel Brosnan (EB), Chair of the Guild's Editorial and Communications Committee.



The Questions, The Answers:

Q. What was it that drew you to the 'imaginative' in your work?
PF: Simply, it's what I always wanted to do. I'd always read science fiction, and always loved the movies. It's great to create a fascinating new world, where you can turn things on their head; as long as you ground things - it has to be about people and relationships. If anything can happen, it doesn't make for good drama.
AP: I fell into it, really, via the premise to Life on Mars. I'm a recent convert, but really really enjoying it.
PP: I've never had a plan - every plan I've ever had has ended in disaster. When I wrote for TV, I went with what was there, which was shows like The Bill. Nick Elliott, ITV drama controller, once told me "We don't make science fiction, we don't like science fiction", so I never tried to pitch those projects in TV. I had a movie that didn't work out, but I rewrote it as a novel, and ended up with a three-book deal.
AH: I'm not so much a fan of science fiction, as I am a fan of a good story. I remember seeing a BBC drama in the early 80's,The Flipside of Dominick Hide, and thinking it was a love story, but told in a wonderfully fresh way. The same was true of Alien, which was at heart a thriller, and so on.


Q. Now that the genre has been revitalised, thanks to shows like Doctor Who and Life on Mars, do you see things going to back to how they were? Is this a fad, or is it here to stay?
AH: I don't think we can go backwards now - the audience has been awakened. Shows will only do well, though, if they're character driven.
PF: It's about stories, and it's about people. It's a shame that commissioning execs didn't realise this - they just hid behind the excuse that SF was too expensive.
AH: It's not a genre that's ever been considered posh.
PF: You can do these stories without many or any special effects.
AH: But technology has played it's part.


(The panel took a few minutes here to recommend a 90's SF serial from ITV, The Last Train - written by Ashley's sometime creative collaborator Matthew Graham - which used very few special effects. The consensus was that it really should have got a second series, and if you get a chance to watch it, do.)


Q. Are writers outside of the genre resistant to it?
AP: A prominent writer criticised Life on Mars in a newspaper, and I responded to that criticism. He thought that the point of writing was social realism, or social upheaval, making changes. But we've had fifty years of that.
AH: There are writers, and commissioning execs that are resisting, but it's always been that way. If you look at Nigel Kneale, he always occupied an odd place - it's always been an uneasy thing. Perhaps it always will be.
PP: There's a quality of imitation in British TV -
AH: Not just British TV.
PP: Just repeating things that have been successful. One detective drama is good, but by the time you've got wall-to-wall detective dramas, you just want to scream. The challenge is getting some variety in there.


Q. How are things different when writing novels?
PP: It's different from TV where fantasy /sci-fi is still something of a dirty word.


Q: All of the shows that you do are different - how would you define the genre?
AP: Anything that isn't social realism. Anything where you get a heightened response from the audience. I've never written a show before that had fan websites. Or where fans have been writing slash fiction. (Another pause here while slash fiction was explained to the uninitiated in the audience - see the wikipedia entry for a full definition.) After reading some Life on Mars slash fiction, you'll never look at a truncheon quite the same way again!
AH: I wouldn't dream of defining the genre, but the level of engagement, to praise or to criticise, is huge. It's a great thing to see.


Q: Phil, you've worked on Torchwood, and the Sarah Jane Adventures. Is there a different approach for pre- versus post-watershed SF drama?
PF: I think you instinctively know which sort of stories are suitable for which. It certainly didn't worry me going into it. With kids shows, you've got to be careful. You can frighten kids; it's exactly what they did in Fairy Tales, but you mustn't terrify them. That's the line you don't cross. And it's always possible to get it wrong - one of the episodes of Captain Scarlet I wrote was deemed too extreme, and was never made.



Q: Adrian, as well as your SF work in Primeval, you have done a lot of historical dramas, for example Charles II, The Pride and the Passion. Are there similarities in approach between the two?
AH: Someone clever once said: ”You can’t reproduce the past, you can only reinvent it.” A realistic portrayal of Charles the Second’s time would be truly alien, and wouldn’t be understandable by a modern audience. So, you’re dealing with a reinvented world. These genres aren’t as far apart as they’re perceived to be, just different ways of telling a story.

The clips & the reading:

Ashley Pharaoh showed a clip from Life on Mars, Series 1, Episode 4: Sam Tyler has a girl in his care: she spikes his drink, seduces him, and leaves him chained to his bed with a pair of Police handcuffs. Gene Hunt finds him the next morning, much to the hilarity of the rest of station.


AP: Everything in that clip stems from the original premise (a 21st century cop trapped in 1973) and I loved writing it. Not to be too pretentious or anything, but it’s closer to poetry when you get it right. But it took seven years of pitching to get it to screen, and that was a very painful process. I explained to one exec that it may all be in the central character’s head, or he may really be back in time. He said: “But that’s ambiguous”. “Well….yeah!”. People didn’t get it. In fact, we were told many times “Don’t do it – careers will end if you do this.” But John Yorke developed it with us, first at Channel 4, where it almost got green-lit, and then at the BBC. If you wait long enough, things will change – Doctor Who came along, and Lost, and that paved the way. I think we only got through the dark times because there were three of us - just when one person’s enthusiasm was flagging, the other two would remind him what was exciting about the project.

Q. What about the planned American remake of Life on Mars, by David E Kelly?
AP: They need a show to provide 60 episodes in America. You can’t keep a mystery of whether someone’s in a coma going for that length of time, so they’ve dropped the metaphysical aspect, and ramped up the comedy in its place. I don’t know if it’ll work. It shows that there is a strength to having short runs of shows, as we do here, as it allows you to tell more intense stories.

Phil Ford showed a clip from The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Eye of the Gorgon. Maria’s Dad has been turned to stone, and his estranged wife – thinking this is a statue of her ex – tells him what she really feels for him.

PF: This is what I meant by grounding SF in reality, here the reality of Maria and her family. In fact this was the first scene to be written – I knew in a gorgon story that someone was going to get turned to stone, and that someone would mistake them for a statue. The rest of the story flowed from there. It gave us a nice opportunity to find out how a character ticks – a nice emotional scene in an action-packed story.

Phillip Palmer read from Debatable Space. A very funny excerpt where the hero Lena, a 900 year old woman who was born in our time, has been kidnapped, and is being held by flame-beasts – highly intelligent creatures composed entirely of flame. She ponders her predicament, and some of the changes she’s seen in her long lifetime.

PP: That’s from the other end of the scale – the furthest extreme, space opera.


Audience Questions:

Q. How much do you think about budget?
PF: I don’t think about it all for the first draft. I let other people tell me afterwards if things can’t be achieved.
AH: It’s best not to self-censor. And the costs of CGI, for example, change all the time – you don’t know what you can or can’t afford. A herd of rampaging velociraptors might be achievable where two men talking in a car might be expensive!

Q. How difficult is it to pitch hard SF?
AH: It is harder. A show like Heroes plays on ABC and gets loads of viewers. Battlestar Galactica plays on the sci-fi channel and gets much less.
PP: On TV, SF has to come packaged with another genre.
PF: Yeah. IF you remember, the first season of Doctor Who was almost as much soap as sci-fi. Over the years, the sci-fi elements have built up – it’s the Trojan Horse approach.

Q. How easy is it to find an agent as a screenwriter specialising in fantasy?
AH: Don’t use the word fantasy if you’re worried.
EB: People want to see good writing, irrespective of genre.

Q. American SF was huge for years – what are the differences.
AH: Budget.
EB: There aren’t so many differences. The US loves Brit sci-fi – Heroes, all Joss Whedon’s work, Alan Moore.
AP: George Lucas is looking for British writers to work on the Star Wars TV series

And just to round off the evening with an exclusive, Ashley proceeded to tell us of two particular writers who have been invited to the Skywalker ranch for discussions about this. I’ve omitted their names as I don’t think it’s public knowledge yet!


Value for Money?: Guild events are always good value for money. Join the Guild! As usual, the event was followed by networking with wine and nibbles provided. All the panellists stuck around to talk. But the best part of this was that - having been to enough recent talks about pushing forward one's career - this was simply about celebrating good writing and good writers.

The First Draft is done!

A mad week. On Halloween night I was working right up to the wire on the screenplay, and finally e-mailed it to Mark at 11:55pm. He's on the West coast of the US, though, so he got it a few hours ahead of the deadline! I'm pretty pleased with it, and looking forward to Mark's notes.

I also went to two events at the Writers' Guild, which I'll write up in due course. After each one there were major train problems so I didn't get home until gone midnight both times. Then I was up at Six to get to the day job, where I've had two projects coming up to deadlines too. I've been running on empty for days now, and have spent most of today sleeping.

Now, I've got a very short hiatus before resuming work on the feature, where I can think about putting something together for the Channel 4 pilot scheme, if I can find the energy!

And another one

Another great-sounding event at the Guild. I'm going to this one too - let me know if I'll run into you there. Blurb below:

The Writers’ Guild presents Imaginary Worlds on Thursday 1st November from 7pm – 8:30pm at the Writers Guild Centre, 17 Britannia Street, London WC1X 9JN (Nearest tube: King’s Cross).

Celebrate the recent resurgence in British science fiction and fantasy, by talking to the writers behind the boom.

Britain's other great literary tradition has always been a hit with the public - from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World, 20th. Century classics by John Wyndham, H.G. Wells and Nigel Kneale, to the recent boom in graphic novels and even more recent box office successes such as Dog Soldiers and 28 Days Later.

Critics and cultural commentators have finally realised what writers, readers and audiences have known for years - that fantasy writing can - and does - tackle adult themes in a unique and exciting way, and that imaginary worlds are not just for children.

Panellists include: Guild members Ashley Pharaoh, one of the creators of Life on Mars, Adrian Hodges, a co-creator of Primeval and Phillip Palmer, author of Debatable Spaces.

The discussion will be chaired by Edel Brosnan, Chair of the Editorial and Communications Committee.

To book for this event, please post a cheque to: Imaginary Worlds, Writers’ Guild, 15-17, Britannia Street, London WC1 X 9JN. Please make the cheque payable to: “Writers’ Guild of Great Britain”. Tickets cost £5 for Guild members and £7.50 for non members.

Opportunities

Still very busy, still don't want to post about it until contract negotiations are officially complete, but it's going very well. Meanwhile, here are some events and schemes that you may or may not have heard about:

Firstly, 4Talent are running a scheme where new writers can apply with a pilot for a 6 x 23-minute episode series. Thanks to both Lianne and William Gallagher for independently pointing me in the direction of this one. Deadline is 23rd November.

The UK Film Council has changed its rules allowing first-time writers to apply directly to them for development funding. A good write-up on the Guild website, or on Piers' blog here.

Finally, The Writer's Guild are having another 'Meet the Agents' event. The last one was over-subscribed, so I'd get in early. I'm going if I can get a ticket, so I might just see you there. Usual Guild event rates: £5 for members, £7.50 otherwise. It's on Monday 29th October.

On the IPod today: The Killers' "Sam's Town", which I thought was a bit 'meh' when it came out - crikey - it must be about a year ago now; but revisiting it, converting it into mp3 format, and carting it around with me, I've come to appreciate it a lot more.

Heads Up: WGGB Writers' Circle

From the Writers' Guild e-mail bulletin, for those who haven't seen it, or for those that still need a reason to join the Guild. I don't know if I'm going to apply for this this yet, because - being a difficult so-and-so - I'd want feedback on radio and TV and film. But not theatre.

The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain is pleased to announce that the first ever WGGB Writers’ Circle will begin in September 2007 and we are inviting applications now. The initiative is being set up to provide Guild members with a forum to discuss and develop their work.
There will be two groups available for applicants to join: one for Full and one for Candidate/Student Members. Writers in these groups will also be separated according to genre: TV/ Film and Theatre/Radio. Please specify when you apply which genre you are interested in.

At each group meeting writers will be given feedback about their work from their fellow participants. After six months two writers from each circle will be selected by a panel of judges to present their work at a showcase. Following this event, each group will be disbanded and new applicants will be invited to form a new Circle.

Applicants will be asked to pay £60 for 6 months in advance. (This works out as £5 per session and will cover the administrative costs of the sessions.) If you are interested in joining please send a cheque payable to the Writers' Guild, to ‘WGGB Writers' Circle ’, Writers' Guild of Great Britain, 15-17 Britannia Street, London, WC1X 9JN. Please remember to include your contact details so we can get in touch with you! Spaces are limited to 15 people per group so please apply early.

Three Events

Two nice, one nasty.


Screen South are having an Information Day in Hastings on the 1st August. They will be talking about the Digital Shorts scheme for 2008, and screening some of the shorts from last year - I don't know whether 'Lent' will be one of those shown yet, but I hope so. I can't make it, sadly, but I urge any southern-based filmmakers to get there if they can. Note to Londoners and Northerners: the Digital Shorts schemes normally run at around the same time in all the regions, so keep an eye out as you should hear something soon. In fact, South West screen have already held a roadshow introducing their scheme, which Lucy Vee has written up here.


The WGGB are having a broadcasting event on 9th September, where Paul Ashton and Kate Rowland from the BBC Writers' Room will be interviewed. I'm going along to this one, as I missed out on Kate's appearance at Cheltenham.


And the final event is the death of my PVR due to fatal hard-drive crash. One day it was a portal to a world of entertainment, the next it became an expensive matt-black paperweight that flashes 'Er09' at me. No more freeview channels, no more hard drive to store episodes of telly for 'research' purposes. No time-shifting. Garrgh! If I want to watch a programme, I have to sit down when it's on, on analogue, which - let's face it- is practically impossible.

It's out of warranty, so I'll have to save up now for a new one. And that means next to no TV. For weeks. I'm choosing to see this as an experiment. I certainly have more time for writing. But I also have this yawning emptiness inside - is that normal?

Writers' Guild "Meet the Agents" Event

I'm not going to post a detailed write-up of this event, as the Guild have put up their own here. But it was my pleasure to meet, or bump into, many a blogger there: potdoll, Lianne, Daniel Alexander, Frances Lynn, and Martin Adams - who doesn't yet have a blog despite many of the others on that list, and me, hassling him to start one up (you know it makes sense, Martin!).

The article quotes some statistics near the end about numbers of new writers getting taken on by each of the four agents in any given year, and they do seem a bit depressing (the statistics, not the agents); but, the main thing I took away from the night was: to get representation, one needs to work and work to make one's script as good as it can be. And that, of course, is what one needs to do to get it made too.

The Church of the Latter-day Bloggers…

...otherwise known as the Writers' Guild of Great Britain’s ‘Websites for Writers’ event at the Guild building in King’s Cross, was where I went last night. I was pleasantly subjected there to evangelical zeal from a panel of writers who blog, and want everyone else to blog too. Caught up in as much of a fervour as it is possible to generate in a group of shy British writers, I thrust my hand up amongst a forest of others in answer to the question “Will you go home and create your own blog tonight?” “Yes, YES! I have seen the light – yessir, I will!”

I didn’t, of course: I waited until the morning when I’d be a bit more coherent. It’s already reached the afternoon, and I have been avoiding any work on the spec radio play I’m supposed to be doing, and instead have been tinkering and tweaking my new toy.

Most of all, I have been reading: reading as many other blogs as I can, including those by last night’s panel: Danny Stack, a UK scriptwriter and reader, whose blog is one of the most useful resources I’ve encountered for a UK-based writer; Tom Green, who edits the magnificent Guild blog; Sophie Nicholls, a poet, who coordinates Lots of Big Ideas, a fascinating blog and wiki for asylum seekers and refugees to share their stories; and, Tom Smith of everythingability.com who helps people – and writers - build better websites.

It occurred to me even before the panel had finished that the last thing I needed, being an undisciplined sort, was another displacement activity. But it’s been amazingly useful already to read some of the insightful material that screenwriters, and others, are putting out there. And every one you read links to twenty more.

Just like all the aimless web surfing I do when trying to prepare for the slog of putting words on paper, it might just spark off a creative idea or two. Just like the day job that gives me money as I press up, unpaid, against the outer forcefield wall of the 'industry', it might sustain me for a while. Just like my wonderful nine-month old son, keeping this blog might just inspire me. So, I am going to embrace my displacement activities and write about them here. I hope you find them, and I hope you find them useful.