Last month I put out an urgent appeal for a director because my short film script The Dead Side Of Life had fallen at the last hurdle for the second time in its long journey from creation to production. I was determined the third time it landed with a director it was definitely going to get made and I was going to be particularly fussy about which director took the script on to ensure this would happen.
One month on and that director has been found, although for the time being I shall keep their name to myself in fear of putting a hoodoo on this production as well. What I can say is when the directer in question approached me I was surprised and excited in equal amounts, simply because I know whatever they do, or put their mind to, they get it done. I know sometimes things fail for reasons out of our control, but I like it when people do what they say they will, and this person is definitely one of those people. I am very excited. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Luck vs Talent Part 2
To sum up the last blog I consider competitions to be about 20% talent and 80% luck.
But what about when you start to send your work out there into the big wide world of producers and production companies? This, I feel, is a totally different ball game altogether. If you have done your research on the company you are sending your work to, created a good online profile, networked your butt off and made many writing friends and contacts in the TV and film industry, then you have significantly reduced the odds of success in your favour.
Networking is the biggest and most important part of this. Build up those contacts, meet new people, befriend fellow writers, it's the difference between saying you're a writer and making a living as one. The effort you put in may not pay dividends straight away, but years down the line someone you once met might remember you as a hard working, conscientious, friendly person just when someone has asked them if they know any good writers. If someone already knows you, or of you, and more importantly they like you, then luck doesn't even factor in to the equation. Your hard work and your affable nature will get you into more places than luck ever will. Or to put it another way, you make your own luck and the harder you work the more luck you have.
But what about when you start to send your work out there into the big wide world of producers and production companies? This, I feel, is a totally different ball game altogether. If you have done your research on the company you are sending your work to, created a good online profile, networked your butt off and made many writing friends and contacts in the TV and film industry, then you have significantly reduced the odds of success in your favour.
Networking is the biggest and most important part of this. Build up those contacts, meet new people, befriend fellow writers, it's the difference between saying you're a writer and making a living as one. The effort you put in may not pay dividends straight away, but years down the line someone you once met might remember you as a hard working, conscientious, friendly person just when someone has asked them if they know any good writers. If someone already knows you, or of you, and more importantly they like you, then luck doesn't even factor in to the equation. Your hard work and your affable nature will get you into more places than luck ever will. Or to put it another way, you make your own luck and the harder you work the more luck you have.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Luck Vs Talent
Are competitions a true reflection of talent, or is luck, not talent, the major factor of success?
This is a very good question and one I've been pondering now for a month or two, trying to decide if I should stop entering competitions and concentrate on submitting my work to producers, etc. I have come to the conclusion that if you lack talent then you're never going to win, after all talent is what screenwriting competitions are looking for, and a good script and writer will eventually rise to the top. However, I do believe that luck plays a far greater role than most people might think and that talent, to a certain extent, takes a back seat in writing competitions, especially in earlier rounds.
What makes a script stand out? I don't need to tell you this again, because most bloggers have discussed this at some point, and to be truthful the answers are pretty much the same. I feel it's basically all down to what the reader likes, or doesn't like. Your script may be the bee's balls, a perfect example of the techniques of writing, but if yours is the twenty-third TV drama featuring a circus clown with a sideline in solving local crimes he has read in a row then he might not look upon your script with too much favour. If yours had been the first on the pile chances are you would have made the cut.
It might also be the case that the reader hates your style of writing, your subject matter or even you in particular, where as everyone else in the known universe loves what you do. The reader may simply have got out of bed on the wrong side that morning and decided he wasn't going to like anything he read that day. As a writer you can narrow down the possibilities of rejection through hard work, research and practice, but you can never account for the luck factor no matter how hard you try. Luck is a bugger I can tell you.
So after much thought I have decided to limit the competitions I enter this year to save myself a great deal of frustration and cash. I don't enter them looking for affirmation either, because I don't need it, nor want it. I write for myself, not what I think people might like.
This is a very good question and one I've been pondering now for a month or two, trying to decide if I should stop entering competitions and concentrate on submitting my work to producers, etc. I have come to the conclusion that if you lack talent then you're never going to win, after all talent is what screenwriting competitions are looking for, and a good script and writer will eventually rise to the top. However, I do believe that luck plays a far greater role than most people might think and that talent, to a certain extent, takes a back seat in writing competitions, especially in earlier rounds.
What makes a script stand out? I don't need to tell you this again, because most bloggers have discussed this at some point, and to be truthful the answers are pretty much the same. I feel it's basically all down to what the reader likes, or doesn't like. Your script may be the bee's balls, a perfect example of the techniques of writing, but if yours is the twenty-third TV drama featuring a circus clown with a sideline in solving local crimes he has read in a row then he might not look upon your script with too much favour. If yours had been the first on the pile chances are you would have made the cut.
It might also be the case that the reader hates your style of writing, your subject matter or even you in particular, where as everyone else in the known universe loves what you do. The reader may simply have got out of bed on the wrong side that morning and decided he wasn't going to like anything he read that day. As a writer you can narrow down the possibilities of rejection through hard work, research and practice, but you can never account for the luck factor no matter how hard you try. Luck is a bugger I can tell you.
So after much thought I have decided to limit the competitions I enter this year to save myself a great deal of frustration and cash. I don't enter them looking for affirmation either, because I don't need it, nor want it. I write for myself, not what I think people might like.
Friday, January 21, 2011
The Traveller Production Kicks Off
I wrote The Traveller over a two week period last November from a treatment by Peter Mitchell. Even though the writing process was a challenge, working closely with director Musaab Ag (pictured below right), trying to merge his ideas and mine to create an exciting, tense, gripping script, it was an experience I thoroughly enjoyed, and one we are both eager to repeat as soon as possible. There was even a late Wednesday night session of last minute changes conducted over Skype.It was a genuine delight to find someone I worked well with, someone I could bounce ideas off and have my opinions on their ideas listened to at the same time. It was a wonderful collaborative process which has created a finished script I'm extremely pleased with.
Shooting starts today (not sure how long it goes on for), which includes closing off a major highway near Dubai so they can crash a car and roll it into a ditch; that gives you some idea of the scale and ambition of the production. I wish them all luck and look forward to seeing the finished production very soon. I really can't wait for our next collaboration. As my three-year-old son would say, 'is exciting.'
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Short Film Script Available Part 2
After failing to progress to the semi-finals of the BSSC competition my short drama Chameleon, about a school boy physically abused by his father who forms a close friendship with another boy from his school, is now available to all you lovely directors out there, for the usual remuneration of course.
Please get in touch for details and a copy of the script via my website www.thescriptwriter.co.uk
Please get in touch for details and a copy of the script via my website www.thescriptwriter.co.uk
Friday, January 14, 2011
Short Film Script Available
Some sad news. Due to unforseen circumstances, and some rotten luck on a previous occasion, my comedy short film script The Dead Side Of Life finds itself without a home once again. The script was in the hands of the up and comming talented director Susan Clark, but she is now unable to go ahead with filming. Sometimes projects collapse at the last moment, it's the nature of the business, so I harbor no ill feeling towards Susan at all. She was also extremely gutted she couldn't film the script as she had hoped. Sometimes these things just happen. We will stay in touch and hopefully collaborate together again in the near future.
I love The Dead Side Of Life script and really want to it get made, but not at the expense of quality. So I'm only proposing to let this script go to someone willing to make it within three months of agreeing to do so. I am not prepared to let the script sit unmade in the hands of anyone longer than this, so no time wasters please. To secure the making of this script, but also to make sure it is done before the summer, I am offering the script for a bargain £50.
Are you a film maker in search of something fun and cheap to make? Do you deliver when you say you will? Then this is the project for you? If you really aren't sure you can follow through then please don't reply. If you try I will release the hounds on you!!!
Check the script out on my website (click here), and if you're interested please email me including a brief CV and any links to your work online.
Thanks for listening.
I love The Dead Side Of Life script and really want to it get made, but not at the expense of quality. So I'm only proposing to let this script go to someone willing to make it within three months of agreeing to do so. I am not prepared to let the script sit unmade in the hands of anyone longer than this, so no time wasters please. To secure the making of this script, but also to make sure it is done before the summer, I am offering the script for a bargain £50.
Are you a film maker in search of something fun and cheap to make? Do you deliver when you say you will? Then this is the project for you? If you really aren't sure you can follow through then please don't reply. If you try I will release the hounds on you!!!
Check the script out on my website (click here), and if you're interested please email me including a brief CV and any links to your work online.
Thanks for listening.
Monday, January 10, 2011
New Working Hours
Thank God we're in the New Year, I missed my routine. I'm not one for working on the fly, I just can't do it, I have to organise my time. So now the boy has gone back to nursery I am now back at my desk regularly until the new baby comes when all my writing plans will fly out of the window. Here is the new schedule of my working week.
Monday:
7.30am - get out of bed.
8.35am - take the boy to nursery and walk the dog.
9.15am - sit down to write.
11.50am - collect the boy from nursery and eat lunch.
12.50pm - take the boy back to nursery.
1.00pm - sit down to write.
3.50pm - collect the boy again and then try to mix house work and playing with the boy.
Tuesday:
7.00am - get out of bed.
9.00am - try to write while looking after the boy.
12.00pm - eat lunch.
1.00pm - try to do more writing while looking after the boy.
4.30pm - prepare dinner, wash up lunch stuff, housework, before the wife comes home.
Wednesday:
7.30am - get out of bed.
8.35am - take the boy to nursery and walk the dog.
9.15am - sit down to write.
11.50am - collect the boy from nursery and eat lunch.
12.50pm - take the boy back to nursery.
1.00pm - sit down to write.
3.50pm - collect the boy again and then try to mix house work and playing with the boy.
Thursday:
7.30am - get out of bed.
8.35am - take the boy to nursery and walk the dog.
9.15am - sit down to write.
11.50am - collect the boy from nursery and eat lunch.
12.50pm - take the boy back to nursery.
1.00pm - sit down to write.
3.15pm - go to my third job to get there by 4.00pm.
Friday:
7.30am - get our of bed.
8.30am - take dog for walk.
9.00am - take child to toddler group.
12.oopm - return home for lunch.
1.00pm - try and write while looking after the boy.
4.15pm - drop the boy off at a friends and go to my third job to get there by 5.00pm
Sometimes if I have a slow day I'll also try and work in the evenings, but I do have to spend time with the wife.
What hours do you get for your writing, and do you think it's enough?
Monday:
7.30am - get out of bed.
8.35am - take the boy to nursery and walk the dog.
9.15am - sit down to write.
11.50am - collect the boy from nursery and eat lunch.
12.50pm - take the boy back to nursery.
1.00pm - sit down to write.
3.50pm - collect the boy again and then try to mix house work and playing with the boy.
Tuesday:
7.00am - get out of bed.
9.00am - try to write while looking after the boy.
12.00pm - eat lunch.
1.00pm - try to do more writing while looking after the boy.
4.30pm - prepare dinner, wash up lunch stuff, housework, before the wife comes home.
Wednesday:
7.30am - get out of bed.
8.35am - take the boy to nursery and walk the dog.
9.15am - sit down to write.
11.50am - collect the boy from nursery and eat lunch.
12.50pm - take the boy back to nursery.
1.00pm - sit down to write.
3.50pm - collect the boy again and then try to mix house work and playing with the boy.
Thursday:
7.30am - get out of bed.
8.35am - take the boy to nursery and walk the dog.
9.15am - sit down to write.
11.50am - collect the boy from nursery and eat lunch.
12.50pm - take the boy back to nursery.
1.00pm - sit down to write.
3.15pm - go to my third job to get there by 4.00pm.
Friday:
7.30am - get our of bed.
8.30am - take dog for walk.
9.00am - take child to toddler group.
12.oopm - return home for lunch.
1.00pm - try and write while looking after the boy.
4.15pm - drop the boy off at a friends and go to my third job to get there by 5.00pm
Sometimes if I have a slow day I'll also try and work in the evenings, but I do have to spend time with the wife.
What hours do you get for your writing, and do you think it's enough?
Friday, December 31, 2010
2011 What Will It Hold?
2010 started out as a good year and then went a bit crappy pretty quickly, but ended up being a year of firsts. In April I took the plunge and went self employed, and the work I've found since has been sourced by sheer bloody mindedness and hard work. I've been paid for my writing, found a great writing partner I wish to collaborate more with in the future, had a novelist contact me and ask to adapt his novel into a TV drama series, and I did my first face to face pitch at the LSWF.
Other great things that have happened in 2010. My work has improved by leaps and bounds, finally getting the recognition it deserves, notably from the BBC Writersroom when I made it into the last eighteen of their South West Voices initiative even against more establish writers than myself. Several production companies have loved my work, especially my feature Faith, and have told me I have an open door to send them any future work. I have yet to find the right projects production companies are looking for, with my current work just missing the mark despite its plaudits. I met many, many lovely people at the LSWF 2010 in October and had a wicked time, learned loads and hopefully have set up the possibility of future work. Most wonderful of all I find myself with the best chance yet to land an agent.
There has also been rejection and frustration, not getting exactly where I wanted and falling at the final hurdle several times during the year, and in one particularly frustrating moment falling at the first hurdle which should never have happened. But I'm still here and I'm still working. This year I aim to work even harder to achieve my goals.
What can I expect from 2011? More finished scripts for certain, hopefully more collaboration, the end of my novel and the start of the next, hopefully a production company picking up the TV drama series novel adaptation, hopefully finding homes for my TV drama serial Wonderland and my crime feature Faith amongst others. I've set the foundations for 2011 this year so I have no doubt that my continued hard work will reap some significant results during the next 365 days.
I hope 2011 is generous to every single one of you.
Happy New Year everyone.
Other great things that have happened in 2010. My work has improved by leaps and bounds, finally getting the recognition it deserves, notably from the BBC Writersroom when I made it into the last eighteen of their South West Voices initiative even against more establish writers than myself. Several production companies have loved my work, especially my feature Faith, and have told me I have an open door to send them any future work. I have yet to find the right projects production companies are looking for, with my current work just missing the mark despite its plaudits. I met many, many lovely people at the LSWF 2010 in October and had a wicked time, learned loads and hopefully have set up the possibility of future work. Most wonderful of all I find myself with the best chance yet to land an agent.
There has also been rejection and frustration, not getting exactly where I wanted and falling at the final hurdle several times during the year, and in one particularly frustrating moment falling at the first hurdle which should never have happened. But I'm still here and I'm still working. This year I aim to work even harder to achieve my goals.
What can I expect from 2011? More finished scripts for certain, hopefully more collaboration, the end of my novel and the start of the next, hopefully a production company picking up the TV drama series novel adaptation, hopefully finding homes for my TV drama serial Wonderland and my crime feature Faith amongst others. I've set the foundations for 2011 this year so I have no doubt that my continued hard work will reap some significant results during the next 365 days.
I hope 2011 is generous to every single one of you.
Happy New Year everyone.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Red Planet Rant
Red Planet have informed those who made it through to the workshops; well done to all of you (and I do mean that...really I do).
HONEST POST WARNING - RANT IMMINENT! Those of a nervous disposition please bugger off somewhere else.
Another year gone and another year of not making it to the second round of the Red Planet Prize. I have to admit I'm gutted, more than a little put out and very puzzled as to where I go next as a writer after this year's competition. If I sound bitter and resentful I can assure you it's purely accidental and is not the case, I'm just having trouble trying to figure out where I went wrong. People are bound to say, 'Move on, Dom, there's always next year,' but to tell you the truth I'm really struggling to find any enthusiasm at the moment for the competition, or writing for that matter. Let me invite you into my head so you can see where I'm coming from.
When the competition was announced I already had an idea in place, a very solid idea thoroughly worked out, and I immediately got cracking on my ten pages. I was ecstatic to finish them in plenty of time, so I sent them off to ten trusted people and waited for their opinions to flood into my inbox. I was very happy and quietly confident I had a cracking first ten pages, but just wanted to be sure so I could make any necessary changes before sending them out. Those ten trusted people duly replied and all confirmed I had something special on my hands. Not one of them, and I need to stress this point, not one had anything negative to say about my ten pages. I was extremely confident of my chances...that was probably my mistake.
When the qualifiers were announced I was totally gob smacked; I wasn't on their list. At first I foolishly thought they had made a mistake. Then when I had calmed down a bit I thought maybe my ten trusted people had got it wrong and didn't know what they were talking about. Worst of all I began to think my ten pages were actually a giant pile of shit. So I moaned about it on Twitter. Those who had read my Twitterings and my ten pages, sent me messages of support and outrage on my behalf. A week later I was contacted by a big and respected someone, who will remain nameless, offering to read my ten pages to see where I went wrong. I waited nervously to hear back from them and felt vindicated when I was told they thought I had just been unlucky not to make it through to the second round. Unlucky? That didn't make me feel any better, it just made me madder. To miss out because my ten pages didn't tickle the fancy of the person who read them, when they were given the thumbs up by many others, is a slap in the face for all the hard work I put in. I just couldn't understand it...still can't.
This is how my career as a writer appears to be going. I make tiny advances, but that big opportunity is always just out of reach. People like my work, some even rave about it, but I always fall at the last hurdle while others, those who have been writing many years less than I have, seem to get all the breaks. It's hard, really hard, not to allow feelings of bitterness to grow, because those others have worked hard to get those breaks and deserve them. To be bitter of their achievements would be a huge insult to their hard work and effort, and a terribly self-defeating exercise. But I have to ask myself, am I really that unlucky? I certainly feel so. It's so frustrating sometimes, it really is.
I'm not perfect, I make mistakes, I get angry and unlike some bloggers who like to put on a professional front at all times, I have to have a rant now and again to let off steam. Will I be entering the Red Planet Prize next year? I very much doubt it. If I did enter next year with a shit ten pages and managed to get through, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest, and it would only increase my frustrations with the business. I think I'll just submit my work to them when it's ready and not wait until that one time a year the competition is announced to do so. Other than that I have to crack on and hope my luck changes for the better, that someone, soon, sees I have a talent and gives me the opportunity to prove it. But I can't sit around and feel sorry for myself, if I did that I might as well give up writing for good.
HONEST POST WARNING - RANT IMMINENT! Those of a nervous disposition please bugger off somewhere else.
Another year gone and another year of not making it to the second round of the Red Planet Prize. I have to admit I'm gutted, more than a little put out and very puzzled as to where I go next as a writer after this year's competition. If I sound bitter and resentful I can assure you it's purely accidental and is not the case, I'm just having trouble trying to figure out where I went wrong. People are bound to say, 'Move on, Dom, there's always next year,' but to tell you the truth I'm really struggling to find any enthusiasm at the moment for the competition, or writing for that matter. Let me invite you into my head so you can see where I'm coming from.
When the competition was announced I already had an idea in place, a very solid idea thoroughly worked out, and I immediately got cracking on my ten pages. I was ecstatic to finish them in plenty of time, so I sent them off to ten trusted people and waited for their opinions to flood into my inbox. I was very happy and quietly confident I had a cracking first ten pages, but just wanted to be sure so I could make any necessary changes before sending them out. Those ten trusted people duly replied and all confirmed I had something special on my hands. Not one of them, and I need to stress this point, not one had anything negative to say about my ten pages. I was extremely confident of my chances...that was probably my mistake.
When the qualifiers were announced I was totally gob smacked; I wasn't on their list. At first I foolishly thought they had made a mistake. Then when I had calmed down a bit I thought maybe my ten trusted people had got it wrong and didn't know what they were talking about. Worst of all I began to think my ten pages were actually a giant pile of shit. So I moaned about it on Twitter. Those who had read my Twitterings and my ten pages, sent me messages of support and outrage on my behalf. A week later I was contacted by a big and respected someone, who will remain nameless, offering to read my ten pages to see where I went wrong. I waited nervously to hear back from them and felt vindicated when I was told they thought I had just been unlucky not to make it through to the second round. Unlucky? That didn't make me feel any better, it just made me madder. To miss out because my ten pages didn't tickle the fancy of the person who read them, when they were given the thumbs up by many others, is a slap in the face for all the hard work I put in. I just couldn't understand it...still can't.
This is how my career as a writer appears to be going. I make tiny advances, but that big opportunity is always just out of reach. People like my work, some even rave about it, but I always fall at the last hurdle while others, those who have been writing many years less than I have, seem to get all the breaks. It's hard, really hard, not to allow feelings of bitterness to grow, because those others have worked hard to get those breaks and deserve them. To be bitter of their achievements would be a huge insult to their hard work and effort, and a terribly self-defeating exercise. But I have to ask myself, am I really that unlucky? I certainly feel so. It's so frustrating sometimes, it really is.
I'm not perfect, I make mistakes, I get angry and unlike some bloggers who like to put on a professional front at all times, I have to have a rant now and again to let off steam. Will I be entering the Red Planet Prize next year? I very much doubt it. If I did enter next year with a shit ten pages and managed to get through, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest, and it would only increase my frustrations with the business. I think I'll just submit my work to them when it's ready and not wait until that one time a year the competition is announced to do so. Other than that I have to crack on and hope my luck changes for the better, that someone, soon, sees I have a talent and gives me the opportunity to prove it. But I can't sit around and feel sorry for myself, if I did that I might as well give up writing for good.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Taking A Step Back
You ask friends and colleagues for feedback on your script, they give it and you have to admit that they have a point. So you make some notes and finalise what needs to be changed. You start the rewrite and fifteen pages into it you find to your horror it isn't working, no matter how many times you go back and try to rejig things in an attempt to make it do so. It's a horrible feeling realising that the work you have just done hasn't actually made your script better, but is actually making it worse.
This has happened to me twice in the last few months and I've had to have a long hard think about whether to drop major structural changes and return to the original idea, or to carry on regardless in the hope it all works out in the end. On both occasions I have chosen to go back to the previous draft and try again, only changing some things and not all of them.
Second Skin, my supernatural pilot drama, was giving me a lot of trouble. I realised on page fifteen of the fourth draft the changes weren't going to work. To me it just felt flat and not a vibrant as the original, and there was far too much exposition in it to allow me to continue. So I've decided to drop the current rewrite, go back to the last version and start again. This time there will only be subtle changes to incorporate the most common elements in the notes, no major rewriting of the first twenty pages as I had planned. It's save me work, but it will also keep the script closer to my original idea.
Sometimes you just have to take a step back and admit what you are doing is wrong. Trust me, your work has a good chance of being a whole lot better for it.
This has happened to me twice in the last few months and I've had to have a long hard think about whether to drop major structural changes and return to the original idea, or to carry on regardless in the hope it all works out in the end. On both occasions I have chosen to go back to the previous draft and try again, only changing some things and not all of them.
Second Skin, my supernatural pilot drama, was giving me a lot of trouble. I realised on page fifteen of the fourth draft the changes weren't going to work. To me it just felt flat and not a vibrant as the original, and there was far too much exposition in it to allow me to continue. So I've decided to drop the current rewrite, go back to the last version and start again. This time there will only be subtle changes to incorporate the most common elements in the notes, no major rewriting of the first twenty pages as I had planned. It's save me work, but it will also keep the script closer to my original idea.
Sometimes you just have to take a step back and admit what you are doing is wrong. Trust me, your work has a good chance of being a whole lot better for it.
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Danny Dyer - Deviation
OK, so we know Danny Dyer can play the cheeky Cockney gangster/wideboy with his eyes closed, and his hands tied behind his back, but did you know that Danny is now set on a change in direction in an attempt to shake off that image?Danny's new film Deviation, a tense psychological thriller written and directed by J.K. Amalou, sees him play an escaped convict FRANKIE who kidnaps a young nurse AMBER in a bid to escape the authorities and skip the country.
"Frankie is a complex guy, he's not just a psycho... he's a tortured soul," says Danny. And don't expect any Hollywood style kidnapper/victim romance, as Danny tells us Frankie, "is evil, but we get to see why he's ended up like this." This film marks a new career path for Danny channelling him away from his recent straight to DVD films, that will once again see him stretch those talented acting muscles.
Twitter: @devmov Facebook: www.facebook.com/deviationmovie
Looking forward to seeing it.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
The Holidays Are Coming
The holidays are coming and it's a quiet time around production companies this time of year. They're too busy getting ready for the round of Christmas parties to read what you have sent them in December. So as a writer you can just switch off now and enjoy the holiday season... right? You can if you want, that's up to you, I'm not going to tell you otherwise.
However, I for one will not be wasting this quiet time. I'll be working on my existing scripts polishing them to the best they can be, so they are ready for dispatch in the New Year. I could sit around on my butt until February, but others will probably be writing and have stuff ready for first thing in the New Year. I don't want to slip behind them in the queue; I want to be up there near the front. For me it's no good having my scripts ready for February if other writers have sent theirs out in January. I'm already a month behind then.
Equally I don't want to start writing again the first week of January and rush through something rubbish to get it out in the second week. It won't do me any favours to have a sloppy script out there. I need to spend that quiet Christmas time working hard so I'm really ready in January.
I can't afford not to.
However, I for one will not be wasting this quiet time. I'll be working on my existing scripts polishing them to the best they can be, so they are ready for dispatch in the New Year. I could sit around on my butt until February, but others will probably be writing and have stuff ready for first thing in the New Year. I don't want to slip behind them in the queue; I want to be up there near the front. For me it's no good having my scripts ready for February if other writers have sent theirs out in January. I'm already a month behind then.
Equally I don't want to start writing again the first week of January and rush through something rubbish to get it out in the second week. It won't do me any favours to have a sloppy script out there. I need to spend that quiet Christmas time working hard so I'm really ready in January.
I can't afford not to.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Short Film Success
I have to admit I am a little surprised. I thought when I declared to the writing world I was going to stop working for free and start charging for my short film scripts that it would be the last I ever heard from anyone. I honestly though the electronic world would abandon me. But thankfully this has not been the case. I've been offered some work, not a great deal, but enough to justify the decision and also enough to make Christmas that much more comfortable. The boy can actually have wheels on his bike now, and if he's lucky some handle bars for his next birthday.
The advantage of being paid is that I can now focus on the stuff that does bring the money in, working on it hard and getting it out of the way so I can move on to the next paying project. And if I want, on the odd occasion, I can still work for free if I feel strongly enough about the project in question. This means I have freed up quite a lot of my time and I'm no longer wasting any pursuing projects that are going nowhere.
It also helps to focus the mind and provide motivation. No longer can I say, 'I can't be arsed, I'll do that tomorrow instead.' Now I have deadlines and I have to deliver. If I don't then it's my reputation that goes down the loo.
It's also fascinating to work with others and learn how they operate, adjusting what I do to suit what they want. It's a lot of fun, something of which I want more of.
The advantage of being paid is that I can now focus on the stuff that does bring the money in, working on it hard and getting it out of the way so I can move on to the next paying project. And if I want, on the odd occasion, I can still work for free if I feel strongly enough about the project in question. This means I have freed up quite a lot of my time and I'm no longer wasting any pursuing projects that are going nowhere.
It also helps to focus the mind and provide motivation. No longer can I say, 'I can't be arsed, I'll do that tomorrow instead.' Now I have deadlines and I have to deliver. If I don't then it's my reputation that goes down the loo.
It's also fascinating to work with others and learn how they operate, adjusting what I do to suit what they want. It's a lot of fun, something of which I want more of.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Short Film Scripts Part 2
So the last shout out about my short films scripts pretty much emptied me out and now there are several of my short film scripts, at various stages of production, all over the world. It's good to know that my work is interesting to other people and not just myself.
What now?
I want to write some more short film scripts and see them get made, but time is precious at the moment so this is what I have decided to do. If you want a script then email me from my website. If you're happy to pay for the work I'll write you your own special edition script for £150 (£75 up front and the further £75 on delivery of the script), giving you as many rewrites or changes as you like up to, and including, the last day of shooting. It's not just a matter of writing the script and taking the money, it's more of a complete package. My aim is whatever you need I will try and deliver. That is my promise.
Why £150?
Simple! This is for two reasons: (1) I am now self employed and need to earn money to feed my children, and (2) the charge is there to prevent time wasters, because you would not believe how many people say they will film a script, hold on to it for months and then drop it. Seriously there are a lot of those kind of people out there, which is a great shame.
So go and look at my website, read my SERVICES page and let me know if I can help you?
What now?
I want to write some more short film scripts and see them get made, but time is precious at the moment so this is what I have decided to do. If you want a script then email me from my website. If you're happy to pay for the work I'll write you your own special edition script for £150 (£75 up front and the further £75 on delivery of the script), giving you as many rewrites or changes as you like up to, and including, the last day of shooting. It's not just a matter of writing the script and taking the money, it's more of a complete package. My aim is whatever you need I will try and deliver. That is my promise.
Why £150?
Simple! This is for two reasons: (1) I am now self employed and need to earn money to feed my children, and (2) the charge is there to prevent time wasters, because you would not believe how many people say they will film a script, hold on to it for months and then drop it. Seriously there are a lot of those kind of people out there, which is a great shame.
So go and look at my website, read my SERVICES page and let me know if I can help you?
Monday, November 08, 2010
London Screenwriters' Festival 2010 - Day 3
Buzzing, that was the only word that could describe me on the last day. I'd had a ball and yet there was one day left to come. Could I contain myself, or would I explode?
I only went to see the Writing For Games session, as I wanted to make the most of my last day networking. Tim Clague did a superb job of chairing this talk and it was both funny and informative. I enjoy gaming but I hadn't ever thought of it as a career option...until now. Writing for games is not straight forward, as writer is not a title they use. You might be asked to put words to all sorts of things like the manual, the marketing, as well as the game, so it's much more a case of cross medium writing. It's also a much bigger job than writing a script as you might be involved in the project for well over a year. But it's good money, damn good money, which is always good to know.
Then I networked again, but found that a lot of people were hungover from the night before. It didn't stop me though and it still went well. I did make quite a few contacts before I went home on the train with Danny Stack and Lucy Hay. Fabos!
Then I had my Euroscript feedback and it was really helpful. I was struggling with the script, especially the opening, which has now been sorted. Fantastic. I'm much more confident about the project now, it just needed an independent eye to get it sorted. I intend to start on the rewrite next week.
I had so much fun over the three days and I met some fantastic friends and possible future work colleagues. Anyone who didn't go, either because they were too busy, or they thought it cost too much, then you missed out big time. The festival is a must for any writer and I for one will be there next year...and I'm also determined to cram more stuff in.
Thank you all for such a wonderful time. See you next year.
I only went to see the Writing For Games session, as I wanted to make the most of my last day networking. Tim Clague did a superb job of chairing this talk and it was both funny and informative. I enjoy gaming but I hadn't ever thought of it as a career option...until now. Writing for games is not straight forward, as writer is not a title they use. You might be asked to put words to all sorts of things like the manual, the marketing, as well as the game, so it's much more a case of cross medium writing. It's also a much bigger job than writing a script as you might be involved in the project for well over a year. But it's good money, damn good money, which is always good to know.
Then I networked again, but found that a lot of people were hungover from the night before. It didn't stop me though and it still went well. I did make quite a few contacts before I went home on the train with Danny Stack and Lucy Hay. Fabos!
Then I had my Euroscript feedback and it was really helpful. I was struggling with the script, especially the opening, which has now been sorted. Fantastic. I'm much more confident about the project now, it just needed an independent eye to get it sorted. I intend to start on the rewrite next week.
I had so much fun over the three days and I met some fantastic friends and possible future work colleagues. Anyone who didn't go, either because they were too busy, or they thought it cost too much, then you missed out big time. The festival is a must for any writer and I for one will be there next year...and I'm also determined to cram more stuff in.
Thank you all for such a wonderful time. See you next year.
Thursday, November 04, 2010
London Screenwriters' Festival 2010 - Day 2
I woke up, or at least I got up, the next day and dragged myself onto the tube to arrive in time for the first session of the day - The Hour Of Power. It was a strange session which involved a lot of audience participation, jumping up and down, saying hello to people you hadn't yet met, writing down your goals for the festival and life, but it did wake me up and more importantly fire me up for the rest of the day.
Then came Getting An Agent And Beyond. This is something I've been trying to do for the last three years to no avail. I really enjoyed this session a lot, as it was full of very helpful advice. Now I know why I don't have an agent and what I've done wrong in the past when approaching them. I won't be making those mistakes again. Lesson learnt. Researching the agent and agency is very important, you don't want to send a drama to an agent who focuses is comedy. The best advice of the session was not to rush yourself and be polite and professional at all times.
I took the next session off to do some more networking, but after lunch I was back in my seat for Writing Soaps, another truly insightful session. I learned that writing soaps is steady money, if you're good at it, and can be fun when you get into a room of fellow writers to storyline. It is also a very demanding job and can have some very short deadlines, so can be quite pressurised at times. Writing for soaps is different from normal scriptwriting as there are very few jump cuts used, so it's often difficult for a soap writer to get back into working in other areas.
Lastly for me came Writing For Young Audiences, an extremely funny and information packed session (like all of the ones I attended). Again I learnt a lot, including the fact that children are far quicker at getting jokes and plots, and that they are so less forgiving than adults if they watch something bad or boring. I even went to the script chat after to ask further questions of the very lovely Mr Andy Briggs, who was more than happy to give his time so others like myself could learn (as well as Gale Renard and Chris Hill who were equally lovely).
Then it was down to the bar, three pints and a bloody good time chatting to everyone I bumped into. Everyone was having fun networking that night even if there were a few sore heads the next morning. More business cards from valuable contacts and generally lovely people landed in my pocket throughout the night.
The things I learnt on day 2: It's OK to have a few drinks (four at the most) and network, if others are doing the same. Don't approach agents until your writing is ready.
Someone asked me if I will be posting my session notes? I may well do, but you'll just have to wait and see.
Day 3: coming soon.
Then came Getting An Agent And Beyond. This is something I've been trying to do for the last three years to no avail. I really enjoyed this session a lot, as it was full of very helpful advice. Now I know why I don't have an agent and what I've done wrong in the past when approaching them. I won't be making those mistakes again. Lesson learnt. Researching the agent and agency is very important, you don't want to send a drama to an agent who focuses is comedy. The best advice of the session was not to rush yourself and be polite and professional at all times.
I took the next session off to do some more networking, but after lunch I was back in my seat for Writing Soaps, another truly insightful session. I learned that writing soaps is steady money, if you're good at it, and can be fun when you get into a room of fellow writers to storyline. It is also a very demanding job and can have some very short deadlines, so can be quite pressurised at times. Writing for soaps is different from normal scriptwriting as there are very few jump cuts used, so it's often difficult for a soap writer to get back into working in other areas.
Lastly for me came Writing For Young Audiences, an extremely funny and information packed session (like all of the ones I attended). Again I learnt a lot, including the fact that children are far quicker at getting jokes and plots, and that they are so less forgiving than adults if they watch something bad or boring. I even went to the script chat after to ask further questions of the very lovely Mr Andy Briggs, who was more than happy to give his time so others like myself could learn (as well as Gale Renard and Chris Hill who were equally lovely).
Then it was down to the bar, three pints and a bloody good time chatting to everyone I bumped into. Everyone was having fun networking that night even if there were a few sore heads the next morning. More business cards from valuable contacts and generally lovely people landed in my pocket throughout the night.
The things I learnt on day 2: It's OK to have a few drinks (four at the most) and network, if others are doing the same. Don't approach agents until your writing is ready.
Someone asked me if I will be posting my session notes? I may well do, but you'll just have to wait and see.
Day 3: coming soon.
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
London Screenwriters' Festival 2010 - Day One
The London Screenwriters Festival 2010.
Wow, just simply WOW!
I had great expectations for this year's festival and what I experienced went way beyond even that. Six months of planning and what we all experienced was nothing short of perfection. I had the time of my life.
For the first session I went to see In Conversation With The Commissioners, then came Becoming A Great Pitcher. Both sessions were full of superb insight and I came away with several pages of notes. I also had my pitching session with producers and directors, three in total, late morning. God was I nervous, but the experience was a learning one especially as I pitched before I went to the Great Pitcher session later in the day. I don't think I did a bad job, after all I came away with two producers and a director asking me to send them my script, but I learnt that this is something I'm going to have to work on, and I will. You need to be able to successfully and confidently sell yourself face to face. I know I need more practice.
What I did for most of the day was to put myself out there and I networked my arse off. To my delight all the networking paid off and I came away with an offer of paid worked. That goes to prove what I said before the festival, networking is the life blood of writers, those who don't, die.
One thing that did get me was the fact that a lot of people didn't do their research. When in the Great Pitcher session we were asked to put our hands up if we had researched the speakers and the delegates before we came. Only five people out of forty put their hand up and I was one of them. I couldn't believe that so many people had come unprepared. But then, as I surmised later, that was their problem and not mine. All the more people for me to network with.
All in all the first day was just awesome and so it was I trundled back to where I was staying, more exhausted than I have been for a long time, but with a huge fat smile on my face.
How was the first day for you?
Day Two to come soon.
Wow, just simply WOW!
I had great expectations for this year's festival and what I experienced went way beyond even that. Six months of planning and what we all experienced was nothing short of perfection. I had the time of my life.
For the first session I went to see In Conversation With The Commissioners, then came Becoming A Great Pitcher. Both sessions were full of superb insight and I came away with several pages of notes. I also had my pitching session with producers and directors, three in total, late morning. God was I nervous, but the experience was a learning one especially as I pitched before I went to the Great Pitcher session later in the day. I don't think I did a bad job, after all I came away with two producers and a director asking me to send them my script, but I learnt that this is something I'm going to have to work on, and I will. You need to be able to successfully and confidently sell yourself face to face. I know I need more practice.
What I did for most of the day was to put myself out there and I networked my arse off. To my delight all the networking paid off and I came away with an offer of paid worked. That goes to prove what I said before the festival, networking is the life blood of writers, those who don't, die.
One thing that did get me was the fact that a lot of people didn't do their research. When in the Great Pitcher session we were asked to put our hands up if we had researched the speakers and the delegates before we came. Only five people out of forty put their hand up and I was one of them. I couldn't believe that so many people had come unprepared. But then, as I surmised later, that was their problem and not mine. All the more people for me to network with.
All in all the first day was just awesome and so it was I trundled back to where I was staying, more exhausted than I have been for a long time, but with a huge fat smile on my face.
How was the first day for you?
Day Two to come soon.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Pitch
A three to five minute pitch for the London Screenwriters' Festival. I've chosen my crime drama Wonderland as I think it's my best work to date and also my best chance of getting an agent or producer interested.
Now to practice and practice and practice and practice and practice.
I must be prepared.
Is anyone else pitching at the LSWF? How are you preparing; any unique ways?
Now to practice and practice and practice and practice and practice.
I must be prepared.
Is anyone else pitching at the LSWF? How are you preparing; any unique ways?
Monday, October 25, 2010
Balance
The London Screenwriter's Festival 2010 kicks off on Friday and I'll be preparing myself over the next few days ready for three days of intense networking. But how do I strike a balance between all the talks I want to be at and networking? To figure this out I had to decide what was most important to me, meeting up with friends, listening to speakers, or networking my arse off trying to get an agent and get producers interested in my work?
To make the best use of my time and money I have decided to concentrate on the latter. Finding producers to buy my work and getting an agent to help me with getting more work is my priority and everything else comes second to that. I need to make a success of my career and myself, and start making a living from writing.
I will attend a few talks, and I won't ignore my friends, but my main focus will be giving my career a damn good boost, after all producers and agents are coming to look for talented writers so I have to mercenary and make the most of the opportunities presented to me.
I will only get out of this weekend what I put into it over the next few days.
To make the best use of my time and money I have decided to concentrate on the latter. Finding producers to buy my work and getting an agent to help me with getting more work is my priority and everything else comes second to that. I need to make a success of my career and myself, and start making a living from writing.
I will attend a few talks, and I won't ignore my friends, but my main focus will be giving my career a damn good boost, after all producers and agents are coming to look for talented writers so I have to mercenary and make the most of the opportunities presented to me.
I will only get out of this weekend what I put into it over the next few days.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The Snowball Effect
I quite often read Noel Clarke's blog, mainly because he tells it like it is and doesn't pull any punches. His last post - The Snowball Effect - is a great insperational piece about how you only ever get anywhere by hard work and the World does not owe you a living, so you have to knuckle down and get on with it. This is what he has to say about his first job, Metrosexuality.
But Metrosexuality was a start even if some of his friends didn't think so. Some of his (so called) friends deserted him because of the sexual aspect of the show and they didn't want to associated with 'that' actor on the 'gay show'. This didn't bother Noel as he knew none of those so called friends who told him not to do the job were going to pay his wages, so he forgot them (my words, not his) and got on with the job. Of course it was a successful show and catapulted him on to other things. If Noel had not done Metrosexuality he would not be where he is now, and he is very aware of this.
Read the post, you'll love it.
Weirdly though, I thought that was it. Like a lot of young actors do, I thought that was it, and once you were in you would just be doing films and TV whenever you wanted. I never really thought about the rejection after rejection, after rejection, after rejection, after rejection, after rejection, after rejection, that you get as an actor. Truth is 90% of actors don’t work. - Noel Clarke 2010
But Metrosexuality was a start even if some of his friends didn't think so. Some of his (so called) friends deserted him because of the sexual aspect of the show and they didn't want to associated with 'that' actor on the 'gay show'. This didn't bother Noel as he knew none of those so called friends who told him not to do the job were going to pay his wages, so he forgot them (my words, not his) and got on with the job. Of course it was a successful show and catapulted him on to other things. If Noel had not done Metrosexuality he would not be where he is now, and he is very aware of this.
Read the post, you'll love it.
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