Lock and load, brides of Christ

The London Screenwriters' Festival 2011

2011-10-31T08:31:00.000-07:00

Oh my darling ones,

what a blast it all was. I'm already saving up for next year's fest...

I popped in briefly on Day 1 because I was pitching. Immediately saw Vanessa Mayfield who played Penny in my extract from Off the Page last year. The great thing about the fest is that you come in feeling all awkward but before long, you plonk yourself down in the quadrangle at Regent's College and you're soon chatting away to people. Thus it was on Friday, when I found Paul Ross and Guido Lippe who were also pitching at the same session as me. Later, I met Rosie Claverton. I'll be keeping in touch with all of them. We were ushered in by the lovely Gemma Hurley, whose sunny disposition and positive attitude were a great help to us nervous pitchers. I'm not quite sure what we were all so worried about. The agents and producers were absolute sweeties, despite the noise of screenwriters pitching and the waves of adrenaline sloshing about. Also had sight of m'lovely director Michael Clarkson also from last year's 'Off the Page'.

So, the pitching was good. Two out of the three people I pitched to, indicated an interest so I will be following them up, nay STALKING them, you can be sure.

Day 2: Off to a cracking start with WHAT CAN AN AGENT DO FOR YOU, AND HOW CAN YOU GET ONE? The stand-outs for me were Julian Friedmann and Janice Day who were funny, informative and self-deprecating. I tweeted throughout, which is a great way to keep you concentrating! If there was a common thread here, it was DO YOUR RESEARCH! Don't send your immortal prose off to someone who may not be interested.

After this, to Paul Cronin's talk on Alexander Mackendrick. I bumped into the the lovely Tim Clague there, sat at the back. Again, I tweeted throughout. A fascinating session with loads of film clips expounding on Mackendrick's 'Show, don't tell' theories, which certainly left me with plenty of food for thought. If you're telling a story with images, you should pare back the dialogue to the bare minimum. It's secondary to the cinematic language already on-screen. Riveting stuff though it was worth noting that Mackendrick himself was famous for being difficult and not many of his students went on to make films themselves. The notable exception being James Mangold.

Next up, if I remember rightly, was In Conversation with David Reynolds, the writer of Finding Nemo. Again, funny and self-deprecating, full of insights into the creative process at both Disney and Pixar. The main difference between the two being taht Disney will ALWAYS want a happy ending whilst Pixar are more open to a SATISYING ending. Apparently, the animating, writing and storyboarding processes all take place at the same time, so as a 'writer' you must be ready to see your words change when the storyboarders get a hold of them. As intense as this style of collaboration is, David was keen to point out that live action films seem easy to make by comparison.

Then, upstairs (met Danny Stack in the lift!) to Fantastical TV for the funniest session of the day in which the esteemed Jason Arnopp and his fellow panellists talked about their experiences of writing SCI-FI, Dr Who, Primeval et al.

Then back to hear Paul Cronin talk about Mackendrick's thoughts on Aristotle's Poetics. I think a lot of people were there to see more film clips but he chose to do a powerpoint presentation (only his second on the subject as he said himself). Sadly, he lost his audience halfway through as the free bar beckoned from the refectory. A shame, because an interesting discussion was starting on the nature of drama and the three-act structure. Mr Cronin abandoned the talk early. Personally I can't stick Powerpoint. Where's the power and what's the point? For those interested in this aspect of Mackendrick's practice, you can access the pdf at www. alexandermackendrick.com.

So, up to the green room to meet up with the splendid Lucy and meet David Reynolds in person, which was grand as he was very down-to-earth. We bore him to the bar and had a right good old catch-up. Chatted to Brendan O'Neill and Dom Carver, got lost at the Tube station, found our way again, met Guy Ducker on the train and hopefully all went our separate ways homeward. Well, I didn't, I got lost on the central island at the Elephant and Castle, which came as no surprise to anyone but me. Le sigh...

I loved the whole thing and am even, as we speak, plotting my pitches for next year.

Note To Self.

2011-09-02T04:17:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

not really a note to myself, oh alright yes it is then!

Sad to say I won't be going to this year's London Screenwriters' Festival as I shall be recently returned from a trip abroad (to be with my husband, who has been working like a Trojan out there all summer, pretty much). I hate flying. I'll do it, but I hate it. And I do believe that even the modern church encourages married couples to spend time together.

In other news I am editing a novel I've had on the go in one form or another for ten years, so it really is time to bring that to a close. Penny Dreadful is just about done for now, I reckon. Ideally I'd like it to become a graphic novel. There were whispers of this in the Spring but things have gone quiet for now, which is often the way so I'm not losing heart just yet.

I have more ideas for another feature. This time, set in the dark ages. I'm taking a different approach to getting the story down, in that I'm scribbling scenes on card as they come to me. I have just attended Off The Page in Soho; a rigorous yet constructive writers' group in Soho, dahlinks. I'll be asking their feedback for a theatre piece of mine at the next meet-up, hopefully.

I was at the hairdressers' yesterday when a fully-formed idea popped into my mind. A low-budget short! Watch this space...

I watched Valhalla Rising and couldn't really decide whether it was a breathtaking piece of work or just unbelievably pretentious. Possibly both.

Trying to get some writing done!

2011-08-15T07:29:00.000-07:00

Honestly darling ones,

the Convent of Eternal Armament (Peckham Division) has been out upon the gad of late. Munich and erm, Birmingham mostly. The Archbishop took me shopping for cut-price communion wine and second-hand wimples, acts which make me instantly suspicious of his lordship but not to worry, I have him under constant surveillance by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

In other news, I have been doing a lot of thinking about writing but not much writing. I try not to find these fallow periods frustrating (though they inevitably are). I have decided to concentrate on finishing a war novel and FINALLY putting Penny Dreadful to rest. I'm sick of the sight of her! As you are, I'm sure.

The animation project seems to have stalled somewhat, another source of frustration... ho hum, ever onward etc.

Meanwhile the sun is shining (bah, humbug!) I'm off to sit in the cool dark of the vestry and do some more thinking.

That is all.

Opportunity Knocks!

2011-07-26T05:51:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

here is a jolly good venture by those lovely people at Circalit. I know I'll be entering...

Get your Short Film Script Produced by an Award Winning Director
Circalit Announces Free Short Film Competition.

Award winning London director, Gabriel Bisset-Smith, will produce the winning script of a new screenwriting competition at Circalit. Bisset-Smith is best known as a writer on Channel 4's ‘Skins’ and as the director/writer of the short film Thrush, which won the Tenderpixel Audience Award at Rushes Soho Shorts, the Vimeo Best Narrative Award and the Grand Jury Prize at the Disposable Film Festival. The competition is free to enter, and Bisset-Smith will choose one script to turn into a film in the unique style of ‘Thrush’. The public can also read and vote for their favourite entries at Circalit

Bisset-Smith commented, " As a writer it's often incredibly difficult to get anyone to take your script seriously, so I'm glad I can offer this opportunity for a talented writer to take that leap from writing to production. The quality of scripts on Circalit is generally very high so I'm excited to read through the entries and I look forward to getting started on producing one."

The deadline for entries is 10th September 2011. Scripts should be no more than 5 pages in length. For more information please visit Circalit.

About Gabriel Bisset-Smith
Gabriel Bisset-Smith is a an award winning writer/director/actor from London. He's had plays produced at the Hampstead Theatre, York Theatre Royal, Theatre 503, Old Vic and BBC Radio Four. He's been on attachment at the Soho Theatre, Royal Court and developed new work at New York’'s Public Theatre. He’s been a regular story contributor on Channel Four’s ‘Skins’ and directed music videos for Golden Silvers. His short film ‘Thrush’ won the Tenderpixel Audience Award at Rushes Soho Shorts, the Vimeo Best Narrative Award and the Grand Jury Prize at the Disposable Film Festival . He trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and, as an actor, has worked for the RSC, The Royal Court, Young Vic, York Theatre Royal, Lyric Hammersmith, Old Vic New Voices and The Bill. He's also been nominated for an Off West End most promising playwright award and is one half of the comedy double act GUILT&SHAME. Gabriel currently has a feature film in development with Shine Pictures.

About Circalit
Circalit is a platform which connects writers with industry professionals. Circalit enables writers to showcase their writing to industry professionals in a copyright secure environment. Writers can receive professional and peer feedback on their projects, manage their fanbase, build a network of industry contacts, and enter free writing competitions. Film producers, publishers, literary agents and other industry professionals use Circalit to receive updates on the hottest new unproduced and unpublished scripts and access market data on those projects. Circalit’s aim is to unearth new literary talent.

My Review of Celtx: Open Source Screenwriting - Beginner's Guide by Ralph Roberts

2011-04-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

Don’t be put off by the Beginner’s Guide title. This is an easily accessible book for beginner and accustomed user of screenwriting software alike. I’m a convert to free Celtx from expensive Final Draft and always suspected I was only ever using a fraction of its power. You know how it is; you’re a busy writer, you’ve used Final Draft, how difficult can it be to switch to Celtx? It is easy, or at least I found it so but I ended up skating the surface of the program. As it says on the front of the book ‘learn by doing’. Well I did when I started using Celtx two years ago, but without realising there was a lot more.

My interest was piqued by a fellow writer’s mention on Twitter that http://www.packtpub.com/ was looking for reviewers to blog about the book. I’m thankful that the book is as approachable and useful as it states on the cover as reading it and then writing about it would have been a very dull task indeed. It is a manual with both utility and inspiration. The author is generous with his support of writers because he realizes how difficult it is to sustain ideas and how to crack a very difficult market.

My approach, and I guess for a lot of other users too, is to read the book with my own projects open in a Celtx window so I could test out all those exciting new buttons for myself. This was a revelation! Not only did I discover all the new aspects but it was written in a refreshingly jargon-free conversational style that made me feel like I could actually do it without being either a total geek or an ignorant technophobe. Roberts is very good at removing the technofear! Though all the screenshots were for a PC user, it was easy to translate for a Mac user (the windows aren’t THAT different). Don’t be put off by the amount of pages by the way, readable chunks of informative text are broken up by the relevant screenshots and it’s easy to go back and check where you are in terms of your own project and which aspect you’re trying out.

As a writer who has written many shorts over the years, one or two features and a novel, I felt I needed to organize all these different strands of my writing practice in a way that makes them easily retrieveable. The most

exciting part for me (yes, screenwriting is exciting!) was the realization I could ‘contain’ my projects within Celtx; logline, outline, beatsheet, storyboard etc each has its own tab within the project. If you’re interested in the production scheduling side of film production, you can do that too with sketches, camera angles, music, research images. This containing element was the most compelling thing I discovered and takes the headache out of tracking down specific drafts of a project.

The sample scripts were very informative too, with the added bonus of being able to apply the different effects of the formatting to them to create templates suitable for different markets worldwide. They’re all classics of their genre too, which helps as they are well known. Roberts constantly reminds us of pitfalls that bedevil the newbie writer; Not numbering the scenes for a spec script or including camera angles. He encourages us to explore how our stories will work in other formats by converting a screenplay to comic book example. I found his approach to refreshingly unstuffy but also quite painstaking without being patronizing.

So to look at the blurb on the front cover: ‘Learn by doing: less theory, more results’ I found to be accurate. This book is both technical manual and good on the theory of scriptwriting. Roberts encourages to write in the present tense, to prepare for the script by writing a good outline or treatment (all contained within the same project, remember, for efficiency). Further, he exhorts us on the cover to ‘Write and Market Hollywood-perfect scripts the free way’. Well, yes, there is certainly no excuse to send out badly formatted script that guarantee your opus a place in a busy executive’s paper recycling bin or more usually computer trash icon. Your script should be the very best version of itself that it can be, honed, polished, good structure, compelling characters, cunning twists and real emotional heart. Roberts gores into the history of this touching upon Aristotelian dramatic theory and how storytelling as a human occupation comes to us from out early ancestors. And Celtx is free. As Roberts is keen to state, the creators of the program can make it free by advertising inexpensive add-ons that enhance the program but are by no means essential. Though I bet there are producers out there salivating at the packages available for relatively little money In these days of cutbacks and the rise of Indie and low-budget filmmaking, Celtx seems doubly relevant.

I liked the double-pronged approach of the book and Roberts’ approach to the subject. Neither too techie, nor too theoretical but good composite of the two. If, like me, Robert McKee’s ‘Story’ made your eyes bleed, then this could be a good place to start. Which isn’t to say that if you’re new to screenwriting you shouldn’t read other books on the subject. Blake Snyder’s 'Save the Cat' is given honourable mention here, as are other books on writing and producing and especially formatting.

When I had Final Draft, the book that came with the disk was informative and a good quick reference guide but was strictly technical and rather dry. Roberts’ book feels like a conversation or one-to-one tutorial. As someone who writes every day, it’s a book I would have open on the desktop to consult. It’s easy to find what you need to know with the extensive index and indeed you can open up help windows on Celtx itself. There really is no excuse for not making your script as professional as possible.

Glory Hole - The Royal Wedding

2011-04-20T06:06:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

I have adapted a short screenplay, Glory Hole, (entered for the London Comedy Screenwriters' Festival I'll have you know), for the Royal Wedding. Honestly if I had the money and the time I would make it myself but perhaps it's a story I can adapt for other fell purposes...

FADE IN.

EXT. COVENT GARDEN - NIGHT

Street Party for the Royal Wedding. Tearful KATE (29) is buffeted by drunken REVELLERS. Her Wedding Dress crumpled and dirty. Veil torn. Make-up like the Joker's.

She spots the LADIES' LAVATORY.

INT. LADIES' LAVATORY - NIGHT

Kate tries all the cubicle doors. They're engaged. The last one has a sign: OUT OF ORDER.

Kate hops from foot to foot, desperate. She pushes open the door to the out of order cubicle.

INT. CUBICLE, LADIES' LAVATORY - NIGHT

Filthy. Graffiti on the walls. Kate looks at her engagement and wedding rings, yanks them off and chucks them in the loo. She wees on them and pulls the chain. She spots a GLORY HOLE. The lights go out.

Kate panics and tries to get out but the lock won't budge. Blinding white light shoots out of the Glory Hole and dazzles her. An arm shoots out of it, pats her cheek and dries her tears with a tissue.

Like lightning, other arms erupt from the walls, redo her make-up and hair, paint her nails, slash at her dress to make a chic frock, wrap a vintage belt round it, slip killer heels on her feet, fix a fascinator in her hair.

The hands spritz her with scent, help her up and out of the cubicle. They wave to her. The door slams shut and the lights go back on. Kate is dazed. She opens the cubicle door but it's back to normal.

INT. LADIES' LAVATORY - NIGHT

Kate looks in the mirror. Stunning. She smiles at herself.

EXT. COVENT GARDEN - NIGHT

Kate dances with the dressed-up, Wedding-Day Revellers.

THE END.

FADE OUT.

http://herblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/kate-middleton-wedding-dress-sketches-karl-lagerfeld.jpg

Visualising in poetry and cinema

2011-04-19T09:51:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

I have been reading an excellent book called 'Writing Poetry and Getting Published' by Matthew Sweeney and John Hartley Williams.

'One area of the arts where this is crucial is cinema. Film and poetry have more in common than is generally supposed. Think of any film that's impressed you in recent years and you'll probably find that it is particular images that come to mind.

MS: In an overlong but often haunting film directed by Theo Angelopoulus (1995), Ulysses' Gaze, there was an image that will stay with me always. it is of the Sarajevo youth orchestra (made up of Serbs, Croats and Moslems) playing outdoors in the fog that has made the city temporarily safe from sniper fire.

The immediacy of cinema works powerfully on the viewer. it can leave a visual residue long after the twists of the plot are forgotten and this can occasionally lead to poems.'

Celtx: Beginner's Guide

2011-04-14T05:18:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

as many of you know, I am Celtx's bitch. Thus it is that I will shortly review the above title for your reading pleasure.

Here is a wee sample chapter for you to peruse.

Alleyman

2011-04-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

please do take a moment to check out Alleyman, in the running at this year's British Independent Film festival.

I thank you.

Writing exercises

2011-03-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

I was feeling a tad jaded quite recently on the writing front. I wasn't short on ideas, I hadn't got writer's block, I just felt a new approach would serve me well. I also wanted to try my hand at poetry, feeling that the form is similar to screenwriting in that it seems to be a distillation process. Thus it was that I purchased a most excellent book on writing petry called: WRITING POETRY AND GETTING PUBLISHED by Matthew Sweeney and John Hartley Williams. It's written in a very approachable style with plenty of poems and asides from the authors and other poets. The exercises are brilliant; very freeing and even for an accustomed writer full of fresh approaches to generating, focusing and sustaining ideas. Lock and Load is very pleased to commend it to your good selves. You can get it on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Teach-Yourself-Writing-Poetry-McGraw-Hill/dp/084423947X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1301590493&sr=8-4

HOWL: My review

2011-02-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

HOWL

Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman

Main Cast: James Franco, Mary-Louise Parker, John Hamm, David Strathairn

This loving homage and documentary-style reconstruction of the obscenity trial of Ginsberg’s poem uses animation, interviews and courtroom drama to stunning and ultimately moving effect.

In cinemas from 25th February 2011

Courtroom based dramas shouldn’t engage like this, but it becomes quickly clear that the postwar years in America polarised its citizens; in one corner were the respectable, decent average citizens, unperturbed by the need to change themselves and in the other the Beat generation, restless and out of step with the sensibilities of their parents’ era. Ginsberg (Franco) starts out on his journey haunted by his mother’s insanity and the fear that his father might read his all-too-revealing poems. The poems in turn become a conduit for his emerging homosexuality and the reconstructed interviews provide a thoughtful backdrop for Ginsberg’s evolution as a poet and a troubled young man coming to terms with being gay in fifties America. It is a film that is as much about the process of writing as it is about Ginsberg’s journey as a poet and gay man.

Interspersed with this are visionary animated depictions of the poem ‘Howl’ tying in with Ginsberg’s peyote-fuelled visions and the images of hetero and homo sex that got his publishers into hot water. As if that weren’t enough, Franco turns in a powerhouse performance of Howl at the poetry dive in New York; enthralling us as well as the dive audience with the commitment and passion of his words.

A word of warning though; women as lovers, friends, fellow-poets or mothers are absent here. Ginsberg himself signed the papers authorising his mother’s lobotomy at age 21. His mother’s insanity is referenced and relived in the poem through the experiences of Solomon, a man with whom Ginsberg was incarcerated and who endured ECT as did Ginsberg’s mother. Gail Potter (Parker), a radio personality of the time and prosecution witness is dismissed summarily at the trial. This may be rather the point though, the female principle is seen as frightening and oppressive.

The courtroom segments are powerful and moving, particularly towards the end when Ferlinghetti’s lawyer Ehrlich (Hamm) argues persuasively for the de-blinkering of American opinion towards new and difficult poetry. The prosecution lawyer McIntosh’s (Strathairn at his weaselly best) defence that the poem should be ruled obscene in order not to upset the average American who may not understand it crumbles in the face of surprisingly enlightened and measured judgement; a fact that mirrors Ginsberg’s own quest for love and acceptance.

Most movingly, Ginsberg himself appears at the end in archive footage singing one of his own poems set to music, a fitting footnote to the evocation of one of the great poems of the twentieth century, born as it was from the trauma of war, fracture of madness and dissolution of hidebound mediocre tradition.

Running Time: 84 minutes
Country of Origin: USA
Certificate: 15

AGE OF THE DRAGONS: My review

2011-02-16T05:32:00.000-08:00

AGE OF THE DRAGONS

Directed By Ryan Little

Main Cast: Danny Glover, Vinnie Jones, Corey Sevier, Sofia Pernas, Kepa Kruse

Melville’s classic tale of obsession and betrayal is transposed to a snowy wilderness where a Great White Dragon has taken the role of Moby Dick. It gets worse but there are, fortunately, pleasures to be had from the resulting farrago.

Released: March 28th 2011

The young Ahab is shown failing to rescue his sister from the Great White Dragon and is hideously burned for his pains. A ponderous voiceover by Ishmael (Sevier) perpetuates Ahab’s legend as the bitter, scarred obsessive bent on revenge. Flash forward to Some Generic Remote Wilderness (Canada?) populated by Generic Busty Tavern Wenches, Prophetic Drunk Old Men and Salty Harpooners led by Vinnie Jones, who actually is quite believable in a sit-down-lads-and-I’ll-tell-you-a-tale sort of way. Yes, you heard that right. Sniggers a-plenty in the audience at his appearance but he was one of the best things in it.

Ishmael and Queequeg (Kruse) sign aboard with Ahab, whom they’ve yet to meet. They are reeled in by Ahab’s adopted daughter Rachel (Pernas), though it must be said they’d look more at home in a movie about surfing or even slacking: Dude, where’s my dragon? Rachel, in the manner of many a female protagonist in this sort of caper, proves she can kick ass with the guys but of course, drearily, needs rescuing later on. The young actors are no match for the stupendous Danny Glover, chewing scenery quite magnificently as the crazed Ahab on his doomed quest. His performance lends the whole tawdry schenanigans a shred of dignity. He even manages to rise above a truly terrible burned chest prosthetic; so false that far from inducing horror induced a longing for well-cooked pizza.

I shan’t bother you with the exigences of a silly plot, which has Ishmael, Rachel and Queequeg slaughter a herd of sleeping Wyverns (without waking any of them!) Queequeg’s subsequent breakdown and presentiment of his own death (really, we couldn’t wait) nor of Rachel’s discovery that Ahab harpooned her real father, whose dessicated corpse she handily discovers in Moby Dragon’s mountaintop lair. And yes, Ahab manages to attach himself to the Dragon via a harpoon and a length of rope but not before a rasping bit of redemptive monologuing where he confesses the truth of his sister’s death. He left her to die and was then pursued by the dragon and burned.

But like I say, there are pleasures to be had; the acting for a start. Only Vinnie Jones and Danny Glover knew what sort of film they were in. The American actors delivered their words through clenched jaws. There was zero chemistry between the good-looking leads and often hilarious dialogue. Rachel is menaced sexually by a crew member and tells him ‘you were never any good with a harpoon!’ Meanwhile the rest of the cast tell each other what’s about to happen and take it all far too seriously. What a shame it wasn’t meant as a spoof.

Country Of Origin: USA
Running Time: 94 minutes
Certificate: TBC

Windsor Marriott Fringe prize

2011-02-09T10:01:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

I will enter COUP for this, I think. I also have a short film script on CIRCALIT, minaharker.com should anyone care to review.

That is all.

Time to get blogging again.

2011-02-09T09:53:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

its been ages. I'm even starting to bore myself, so often have I repeated the phrase.

So what have I been up to? Well, my SF novel, THE KYOTO GAMBLE for one is long overdue for a rewrite. So that, and PENNY DREADFUL, which has been on the go for AGES but got a very positive reaction from all the lovely actors in LSWF 2010 plus a one-act play, COUP. The only bugger is I don't seem to be able to post links so easily. So must fettle that before I do anything else.

LSWF 2010

2010-11-02T07:16:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

Lock and Load very much enjoyed the whole event. There was a multiplicity of good stuff to go and see, as you have no doubt seen for yourselves from the website.
I couldn't get there on the first day but Saturday more than made up for this. I strated with 'Being a parent and a writer' workshop chaired by your own, your very own Lucy Vee of Bang2Write. There was a great address from the Amy Walker, proprietor of Media Parents who connect media professionals with jobs in an industry where employment and families are not usually seen to mix. Screenwriter Marc Pye also spoke of the poressures of raising a young family and meeting that deadline, whilst director Rachel Gatward spoke of being a single parent and combining it with a career in Theatre and TV production.

The consensus seemed to be that it is all possible but with more flexibility within the industry, that being a parent makes you very focused and oorganised about your work (and hence, better at what you do), that there is no right time to have a child, you just have to do it and that your little darlings will soon learn that if they want something, wait until mum or dad is actually writing before you ask, he/she will always agree!

Much of this resonated with me, even though my son is 19, readers of my other blog will know that he has severe learning difficulties and autism, which in some ways is in tandem with having a young child. he is a slave to his routine and rather than fighting thios, I have to comne to embrace it, thus giving me 2 or 3 hours a day in which to write.

Next up was the 'Non-linear story workshop' with Linda Aronson which I was very keen to see as Linda is one of the few female script gurus. She was no-nonsense, very down to earth, not overloaded with jargon and backed up all of her points with examples of films. Her way into the non-linear structure was to use first and second-act turning points as a springboard. It was all head-spinning, she packed a lot in. I'll definitely be getting her book '21st Century Scriptwriting.

next up, 'Writing For Low-Budget' with Elliot Grove of Raindance. Elliot spoke about his own backgorund and several low-budget movies that he knew of. Of particular interest was a version of the first Rambo film just now re-enacted with the director playing all the roles! If I can track it down on You Tube, I'll post it here. Elliot opined that sci-fi and horror done on a low budget was the way forward, which certainly inspored some heated discussion amongst delegates.

Then off to winess the ritual humiliation that is LIve Ammo! also hosted by Elliot. About twenty brave souls put their fivers in the hat and pitched theior projects to the august panel of: Emma Rozanski, Steffen Wild, Thembisa Cochrane, and Mark Peters, who not only critiqued the project's viability but also gave tips on participants' pitching styles. The overall winner was something that the assembled audience was in agreement with. It was a series about a ghosts on the underground that sounded excellent. It was a good pitch too.

The high point of the evening was the Off The Page event immediately after Live Ammo. I had submitted an extract of a new draft of PENNY DREADFUL (check out the link on the right for My Visul Pitch. The cast was assembled, the music composed, the storyboards created! Would the auduience like it? Would I like it? Well, I'm pleased to say the answer was a resounding yes. The music was suitably creepy and atmospheric, the cast were enjoying themselves, the storyboards were superb. How lucky was I that the artisst loved Victorian London so much? He went to town!

I think it was all filmed so hopefully I can post a link to that when it becomes available. Thence to the bar, where several memebers of the cast and crew stopped by and were kind enough to say how much they enjoyed it. Lucy was the very first script editor on an early draft of PD, so I was very glad that she saw it in its present incarnation.

I love the sound of whingeing in the morning...

2010-10-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

Actually darling ones, I don't. Not at home to moaning, whingeing and/or griping unless it's VERY VERY FUNNY! I do enjoy a good rant now and then but I often feel that's over and done with rather quickly, and having got it off your chest, you can move on. So much better than the slow drip-drip of whingeing, don't you find?

So having now had my whinge about whingeing, and while we're on the subject, don't you find the comments left after articles, YouTube clips et al rather dispiriting? On the plus side, just put 'micropigs' in search on YouTube. You will be cheered instantly.

In other news my ticket is booked for the London Screenwriters' Festival. I look forward to seeing you all there. I must say I rather do like Chris Jones and his can-do attitude to filmmaking. The diametric opposite of whingeing, indeed.

The creative process

2010-09-06T09:51:00.000-07:00

I have decided, darling ones, that the process of writing is what has really hooked me. In a weird sort of way, I almost don't care that much about the finished product. Or maybe I will, if anyone actually buys anything I write. But until then, I shall keep writing. If you write then it's like leading a strange double life. One populated with characters that only you know. I must say I find it very sustaining. It is a life particularly suited to that of a carer, since, as we don't go out much, the boy and I, the world comes to me.

I retrained recently as a TEFL teacher. The plan (yes, I have a plan!) is that I will make a bit of money doing that and concentrate on the process of writing, whether or not I get paid.

I'm going to check out The Phoenix Arts Club on the 13th. I'll report back.

Update: The road to hell...

2010-08-30T05:04:00.000-07:00

...is paved with good intentions isn't it, darling ones? In my case, interdental brushes but that's another story.

I really must keep this blog updated more regularly. Not just for you my dear readers, though I know how you hang on my every word, but for myself, to crystallise my thoughts and move projects on.

So to recap:
Current projects:
Justin Hustlin - finishing touches.
Late Harvest - Third Draft.
One low-budget feature, Remission, on the go for the very lovely Zahra Zomorrodian of FNA films. The call is open till December so get weaving!
Another project about graffiti artists, oh the list is endless, which is part of the problem. Focus is what's needed here.

Meanwhile, a new look to the blog, which I rather like (and wish my house looked like), and a trailer for the harrowing City Of Life And Death which I am reviewing for Napalm as we speak.

Tagged!

2010-05-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, darling ones, Lock and Load has been tagged by the very lovely Sister Lucy Bang2write in a rather nifty meme whereby I must recall the film or TV series that made me want to write.

'What single film or TV programme at some point in your life made you a) understand the filmmaking process and b) influence your own style of writing? [Then tag three people and reprint these instructions].'

It's hard to think how this desire first coalesced but I do remember being absolutely gripped by the series Edge Of Darkness. It had everything. A grieving father, a ghostly activist daughter, the enigmatic Zoe Wanamaker, a barnstorming performance by Joe Don Baker as Darius Jedburgh plus conspiracy, intrigue and, my personal favourite, a kind of transcendence in the end, which is something I often put in my own writing. I won't go and see the film version. They didn't have the courage to get Mel Gibson to kiss that vibrator.

I think it's a prime example of show don't tell using the trains rumbling in the middle of the night and the haunting guitar music.

So, who shall I tag? Yes, yes, stop jumping up and down, put your hands down now. I tag...

Jon Peacey, Helen Smith and last but not least, Chip Smith.

That is all.

CIRCALIT

2010-04-19T06:23:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

I was contacted recently to advertise this: CIRCALIT.

So I am.

Here is the text of the accompanying e-mail:

'Dear Elinor,

I hope you're very well.

I thought readers of your blog might be interested in hearing about a free Circalit-hosted monthly screenwriting competition in connection with the BBC, Hollywood producer Julie Richardson, and a number of other industry professionals. Please see the details below. We've also prepared a short guide for writers to learn the best ways of protecting their screenplay from copyright infringement which you might be interested in having a look at here. Do let me know if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

Raoul

The BBC and Hollywood Producers to Judge Monthly Screenwriting Competition on Circalit.

Screenwriters across the globe are posting their scripts up at www.circalit.com where BBC and Hollywood producers are now reviewing winning scripts with a view to production. The competition takes place monthly and is divided into television scripts, feature length screenplays and shorts. The winning scripts are decided every month by public vote and are then sent to BBC and Hollywood producers to be reviewed and potentially produced. The BBC will be reviewing the winning television script each month, whilst Julie Richardson, managing member of Imaginarium Entertainment Group and best known as the producer of box office hit “Collateral” will be reviewing the winning short (any screenplay under 60 pages). Meanwhile, feature length screenplays are being judged by Hollywood scriptwriter, Tom Lazarus, and Europe’s premier script development organisation, The Script Factory, supported by Twentieth Century Fox, Columbia and a host of other major production studios.

Tom Lazarus, screenwriter and director, author of nine produced features, Master Class instructor at UCLA Extension Writer's Program and International Film Consultant, commented, "Circalit is a welcome addition to screenwriting community and a good place for writers to network and make industry contacts."

Briony Hanson, Co-Director of The Script Factory, commented, "We're very excited by Circalit's project to offer writers the chance to find support for their screenplays. The site is clear, user-friendly and it seems like only a matter of time before Circalit becomes known as one of the essential places for the industry to look for new screenwriting talent and we're happy to be working with them to help screenwriters."

To enter your script visit www.circalit.com

--
Raoul Tawadey
CEO and Founder

www.circalit.com
raoul@circalit.com'

Do let us know if you decide to post your script on this site.

Goodness me...

2010-02-15T04:57:00.000-08:00

... darling ones it's been an AGE!

Don't know about you but it's busy busy at The Convent Of Eternal Armament (Peckham Division). It's all a Mother Superior can do to tweet, facebook and trawl her many inboxes.

Talking of nuns, my current research includes a fascinating tome that goes by the name of Indecent Acts: Lesbian Nuns In Renaissance Italy. Fascinating stuff! I'm reading about how female sexuality puzzled the male scholars of the age. The research is for a stage play BTW.

Meanwhile here is a link on women directors for you:

I'll certainly be checking it out.

The Great Oz

2010-01-06T07:31:00.000-08:00

Once again, wise words from Master Of The Universe Jurgen Wolff:

4: Identify - and ignore - the man behind the curtain.
Remember The Great Oz? Turns out he was just an old guy behind a curtain but everybody assumed he was all-knowing and they had to follow his instructions. A good thing to do at the start of the year is to ask yourself whether there are any Great Oz people (or institutions) in your life. Sometimes the Great Oz is yourself, in the form of old habit patterns or "shoulds" that you don't question. What would it feel like to free yourself from any Great Oz influences? What's the worst that could happen? What's the best?

ACTION: Sometime in the next day or so, take a blank piece of paper and draw a line down the middle - this is the curtain. To the left of the line, write down anything you're doing that no longer serves you but that some Oz is expecting of you (again, this could just be the Oz part of you). To the right, jot down what you'd rather do. If there's no serious downside, start making the changes.

2010

2010-01-04T05:41:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, darling ones,

I'm sure I can't be the only one watching the inbox like a hawk on the 7th of this month when the first round of the iFeatures projects will be announced.

In other news, I have been asked to write a horror film set in the Spanish heartland. EU subsidies and scythes will feature! Add to that a time-travel short in development to be shot over the summer, a stage play and a radio play, it's all bubbling away rather nicely.

SWF: DESTINY EKARAGHA

2009-11-25T06:52:00.000-08:00

David Pearson introduced this fascinating session with up-and-coming Destiny Ekaragha whose first short TIGHT JEANS was produced with Borough Funds. It attracted a lot of attention at the london Film Festival and led to THE PARK (funded by The Pulse scheme), which was screened at Cheltenham. The Park explored the way in which boys can be friends yet never really discuss their innermost feelings and indeed go to considerable lengths to hide them from each other.

Destiny spoke of her early years watching and making films and as a girl with brothers, observing the dynamics that informed The Park. She spoke movingly of her her idyllic childhood growing up in South London and of how her early experiences of outside play are informing the development of future projects. She is part of the Coming Up season on Channel 4. One to watch.

SWF: Simon Beaufoy

2009-11-16T05:07:00.000-08:00

Right Darling Ones, do you remember how I said the theme of SWF seemed to be relationships? This was certainly borne out by Simon Beaufoy's entertaining conversation with Peter Bloore.

After his success with The Full Monty, a year of being pursued by irate male strippers and endless legal complications, he went on to make Blow Dry and The Water Horse but found both experiences difficult and was therefore obliged to rethink his strategies on how to get his films made. It came down to this: There is an art to sitting in a room with other people, all of whom have very definite ideas as to how the film should be made. Simon was very protective of his scripts and found it very threatening to hear a waterfall of other people's ideas about his pet project.

What he discovered is that a script is malleable providing the core of the story is the same. Anyone putting up money for production has a right to be heard and it's important to find a median way forward.

The trick is that after a meeting, everyone leaves the room feeling that they have gained something. The project moves forward as do the conversations about it. Momentum is key! It's about having the confidence to absorb the views of others and realising that the bits round the edge of the script can alter without harming the core.

He found after Blow Dry that it was a salutary experience to go back to low-budget productions. This Is Not a Love Song was shot for under £100,000. Simon enjoyed the constraints of having dual roles in the production, the rehearsals took two weeks, the script 10 days and the shooting 10 days also. He enjoyed the organic nature of how it evolved, retained an Indie voice, got round the stultifying aspects of a long drawn-out development process. But it's still about the relationships you make, being able to handle critique and the noble art of collaboration. Take notes well and incorporate the good ideas of others.

He also spoke about product placement on Slumdog Millionaire. The money was put up by Celador, whose concept 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' is strongly featured. Although the film seemed to be saying the opposite, Celador were still happy to have their brand in the film.

Opportunity Knocks!

2009-11-10T01:47:00.000-08:00

This looks a good 'un...

Sky Indie.

Happy writing, darling ones.

SWF: How To Be Good, Part Two.

2009-11-04T06:25:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

this was a very informative lecture led by the ever-enthusiatic Kate Leys and Rob Kraitt, the lecture was a follow-on from a lecture in SWF's 2008 fest but was just as good for those who hadn't attended last year.

First off a few interesting statistics:

'Nobody Knows Anything'

14 million people visit the cinema each month. The best openings that make the most money are the the first week of the three school holidays.

30% of British box office goes on British films.

15% of global box office goes on British films.

Top three film economies:
North America
Japan
UK

On the basis that 'nobody knows anything' you don't actually have to know very much to know more than anyone else. If you want to get taken seriously as a writer then take the business seriously yourself. It's an art form as well as a business so you have to find a combination that works for you. You're not so much selling your work as selling yourself. It's all about the RELATIONSHIPS, people!

When you start, be pro-active, get on the mailing lists, inform yourself of what is out there. Theatre, radio, BBC writers' room, grants, UKFC, shorts, competitions etc., Plenty of ways to develop not only your creative voice but to network with others and build collaborations.

Kate then made an interesting point about how Development Hell is viewed here and in the US.

USA
Your film is optioned but never sees the light of day.

UK
Development IS Hell

Well it doesn't have to be really (at least not from the writer's side). Meet your deadline, don't be late with material. Fit the criteria of what is asked. If they want a crisp 90 pages, don't give them 120 pages. Think of the poor reader.

DEVELOPMENT NOTES
Take notes well. They are there to identify weaknesses. If you get notes that resonate with you (even in your heart of hearts) you know it's got to change.

Bad notes are vague and answer a question that hasn't been asked. We've all had them I'm sure. But again we're back to relationships. There's nothing wrong with asking for clarification if you don't understand notes.

Kate said not to follow the money for there is none, my children!

FILM 4, WORKING TITLE, BBC and UKFC, thereafter the regional screen agencies and remember, if someone pays you for your script, it's not yours, it's theirs.

Write all the time, get a slate of projects together. Sort out the structure of your writing.

Network, form those RELATIONSHIPS. Find your allies and possible champions. Avoid the tossers. Talk is cheap.

Kate quoted Tony Grisoni:

'The road to success in the British Film Industry is littered with dead bodies and they're all suicides'

Easy to get burnt out so be good and be clever. Keep grafting.

zeroneonezero

2009-11-04T05:33:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

Lock and Load is proud, not to say unreasonably excited, to be part of the zerooneonezero project as a 'Covert Script Editor'. Clearly my stockpiling of surveillance equipment will now come in handy.

Ten Steps To Great Treatments

2009-11-03T06:55:00.003-08:00

Darling ones,

this most excellent seminar was presented to us by Simon Van Der Borgh. Now, he was preaching to the converted somewhat as I am a big fan of Chris Soth's Mini-Movie Method and Simon's approach follows a similar model being essentially an eight sequence model of filmmaking based on the old Hollywood eight-reelers.

Sequences 1 and 2 comprise the first act.
Sequences 3-6, the second act and sequences 7 and 8 the third act.

Simon made the point that there are essentially two sorts of treatments.

One is for yourself as the writer before you get down to the script where things may alter radically. Then when you've finished the script, you write another sort of treatment that sells the script to a potential producer.

THE PREMISE
THE LOGLINE
ONE PAGE SYNOPSIS
FOUR PAGE OUTLINE
EIGHT PAGE TREATMENT
12-15 PAGE TREATMENT

All these can be used as a tool at the development stage and afterwards as your selling documents.

THE PREMISE
What is it about?
What it is REALLY about - the underlying theme?
What is it trying to say?

EMOTIONALLY
Why should we care?

PHILOSOPHICALLY
What's in it for you (the writer) and us (the audience)?

THE LOGLINE
This should be simple and straightforward to sum up the premise.

Who? What? How?

Who is the main character?
What is their problem?
How will they deal with it?

What are the fundamentals?

ONE PAGE SYNOPSIS
1. To start with have three sentences for each of the three acts.
2. Describe the characters.
3. What kind of story is it?

4. Reduce the answers to questions 1, 2 and 3 to 25 words each and there is your first paragraph.

'Movies are real life with the boring bits left out'.
You don't have to include every little detail. Nail the theme of the story in that first paragraph.

Summarise the story in the present tense and be clear about the conflict which should be resolved in the final act. Always name the characters. Lead the reader through the story but with clarity and always INCLUDE THE ENDING. Simon was very specific about this.

FOUR PAGE SYNOPSIS
Each of the eight sequences can be flexible, around 10-15 minutes.
Each act has its own dramatic tension expressed as a question for the character.

This can then be expanded to an EIGHT PAGE TREATMENT
Keep to a sequence a page.

Simon then talked about BEAT OUTLINES.

These are structural.
40-60 key story beats.
Allows analysis of story from three perspectives:
- Writer
- Character
- Audience

Underneath in italics outline the significance of the story beat.

Who knows what and when?

TRANSFORMING THE BEAT OUTLINE INTO A TREATMENT

Remove the italics and you have interconnecting paragraghs that make the story active and logical that establish WHY we should CARE about the characters and also WHAT'S IN IT FOR US. This will be the essence of your treatment.

So, in a treatment of 12-15 pages:

1-4 will be act one.
5-11 act two.
12-15 act three.

The narrative form will be closer to that of a short story and should ideally provoke an emotional response, display true conviction and original insight. Easy eh? Well, no. But for me, a useful companion approach to the Mini-Movie-Method.

SWF - DAY 1. 'There Will Be Cake'

2009-11-02T05:03:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

what a joy it was to find ourselves at breakfast with the very lovely Tim Clague, Jared kelly, Philippa Langley and Hilary Wright, not to say your own, your very own Lucy Vee. We all ate versions of the full English, feeling the need to fortify ourselves. The first speaker was Chris Jones who gave us a rousing 'call to adventure'. Using the Hero's Journey as his model of exhortation to us. The great thing about Chris is his boundless enthusiasm and his complete focus on his goals. Fresh from his Oscar shortlisting, Chris gave us a breathless gallop through our own potential journeys as we write, whilst maintaining all the other requirements of our lives. The point being, of course, that the script's journey from our heads to the first day of the shoot is a transformation that mirrors our own as we transform from obsessed writer to successful scribe who MAY EVEN GET PAID. Inspirational stuff! No time for whingeing (unless of course you can be very funny and splenetic at the same time). Bloody marvellous.

Next up was Doug Chamberlin who made it his mission to explode some of the Hollywood myths that abound in the UK.

MYTH NO. 1 - NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING

This famous comment by William Goldman has become law. Doug replaced it with REALITY IS PERCEPTION.

That is to say that if you are championed by mentors already in the business, if you can market yourself, raise awareness of your work be it by collaboration, contests, query letters etc., then you can create a perception of yourself that is very positive.

MYTH NO. 2 - EVERYONE HAS FRIENDS IN HOLLYWOOD

Doug maintains it's actually ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS.

You're dealing with people not companies. Contacts will get you in but talent keeps you there. Network people!

MYTH NO. 3 - EVERYONE IS CRAZY

Doug exhorted us to think in HOLLWOOD LOGIC NOT REAL-WORLD LOGIC.

The fact is that evryone in Hollywood is scared to death in case they lose their jobs.

E.G: Got a great Family Guy script?

Real world logic: Send to the studios that make Family Guy.

HOLLYWOOD LOGIC: No, send it to the studio that makes the Simpsons. If you send it to the makers of Family Guy, they won't want it because you're never going to have the inside knowledge that they do about the plot, characters etc., but the people who make the Simpsons will see it as a valuable example of your writing skills.

Real-world logic: Dress for success.

HOLLYWOOD LOGIC: Dress like a slob.

Real-world logic: Tell the story.

HOLLYWOOD LOGIC: EXPLAIN the story.

Real-world logic: Be rational at all times.

HOLLYWOOD LOGIC: Be eccentric. Hollywood loves originality.

Real-world logic: Be truthful.

HOLLYWOOD LOGIC: no one minds hutzpah so long as you can back it up with talent.

Real-world logic: Be sure to let the execs know how you sweated blood over your opus.

HOLLYWOOD LOGIC: The hard work is nowhere near as inportant as the 'magic'.

Real-world logic: Act humble.

HOLLYWOOD LOGIC: Be a pompous ass and toot your horn.

MYTH NO. 4 HOLLYWOOD IS LAZY

Doug stated that actually people work very hard in Hollywood but that they can afford for writers to come to them. LA is a company town and people there are easily contactable.

MYTH NO. 5 HOLLYWOOD IS PHILISTINE

Doug asserted that you the audience call the shots. It's about clarity of premise, Ideas that are easy to tell, stories that can be complex but told in simple terms.

Above all, DON'T QUIT!

Doug felt that Hollywood rules are entirely transferable to the UK market which in many ways resemble the Indie market in the US. Female writers are well-represented in the US though not so much on comedy shows. There was also some discussion on the concept of showrunning on US TV, the danger of which is long-running homogenised shows. Thereafter, my notes bacame rather incoherent. We broke for lunch and went to the rather posh HOTEL DU VIN for lunchipoos with Julian Friedmann and the team from TWELVEPOINT.COM.

Tomorrow, Ten Steps to Great Treatments. Try and contain yourselves.

Screenwriters' Festival -- 'Let's walk and talk, darling...'

2009-10-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

how you've missed me!

Lock And Load is pleased to say that she had a right good time at this year's SWF. Though at three days she was a tad tired and emotional towards the end. Some excellent seminars (notes upon which I will expound in the fullness of time). Met up with several bloggers in the flesh and some new people too. Marvellous. I shall certainly be going next year but just for the two days, methinks.

Stayed at The Wyastone Hotel with your own, your very own Lucy Vee. Note to anyone who finds networking difficult: I really didn't think it was as it mainly consisted of standing in the Queen's Hotel bar talking business and occasionally utter balls. How hard is that?

If there's a theme to my blogposts about SWF, I'd have to say it was RELATIONSHIPS. So hold that thought...

Voiceovers

2009-10-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

the gloom of yesterday was instantly dispelled by a lovely day at The Dairy Recording Studios in Brixton.

I was very nearly late as I wandered into Morleys and saw the fateful words 'Handbag Sale'. However I resisted temptation and tottered back out onto Brixton High Street with the housekeeping intact. The lovely people at The Dairy were dolliness itself and some more fab recording for Justin Hustlin was done. So brilliant was Silas Hawkin's impersonation of a certain Mr Branson that Charles, the sound engineer and I were soon laughing. All good stuff.

Till next time my dears...

Oh bugger!

2009-10-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

In many ways, a blog is like a confessional booth or therapist's couch. A place where you may emote freely.

The film what I wrote is NOT happening due to a last-minute funding technicality. I am officially hacked-off about this. For about twenty minutes or so, then I will feel better.

That is all.

THE PECKHAM BOYS' CHOIR WILL NOW SING 50 CENT'S 'IN DA CLUB' IN THE ORIGINAL LATIN

2009-10-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

Darling ones, it's been an age.

I rewrote Penny Dreadful and sent it off to be critically mauled by a student on Lucy Vee's 'How to be a script reader' course. the critique I received was most insightful and I fully intend to steal several of my reviewer's suggestions for the next draft.

I had a lovely Sunday afternoon discussing another script and scoffing pizza. And it's due to be filmed early next year, hurrah!

Meanwhile, my political sci-fi script grows ever madder by the page and I haven't even started on the cannibal TV chef satire yet.

Phoenix Writers has started again. If you don't belong to a writers' group, find one. If you can't find one, start one! Invaluable for raising your game creatively and keeping you to deadlines. Fabulous!

Wise words...

2009-09-28T04:39:00.000-07:00

"In science there is a dictum: don't add an experiment to an experiment. Don't make things unnecessarily complicated. In writing fiction, the more fantastic the tale, the plainer the prose should be. Don't ask your readers to admire your words when you want them to believe your story."
– Ben Bova

This just in...

2009-09-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

WRITERS WANTED FOR REPRESENTATION
SPEC SCRIPTS & REALITY SHOW TREATMENTS

ADA Management Group is a brand new company located in South Florida. We specialize in the representation of screenwriters, reality show enthusiasts, and advertising writers.

We also develop projects and provide writer-for-hire and coverage services. Our goal is to become one of the premiere management corporations in the country.

Currently, ADA Management Group is looking for spec scripts in the following genres:

HIGH CONCEPT COMEDIES
DRAMA
ACTION
THRILLER
HORROR

Scripts should be "Hollywood ready" (i.e., commercial and marketable), and extremely visual.

Also: we are searching for the next great reality show! ADA Management Group is currently accepting one page treatments for development.

TO SUBMIT:
Be sure to mention you heard about this from Jeff Gund at INFOLIST.com, and email your NAME (first and last) and contact PHONE number, and LOGLINES and/or SYNOPSIS for scripts, or one page REALITY TREATMENTS (as TEXT in the body of the email, NOT as an attachment) to:
inquiries@adamanagementgroup.com

More information about our company can be found on our website:
www.adamanagementgroup.com

Opportunity knocks!

2009-09-07T05:34:00.000-07:00

Think you can tell a story in a way that makes people want to listen?

Want to interview anyone from Kano to Boris Johnson?

Then Reprezent is the place for you!

Reprezent is looking for 19 - 25 year olds who live, work or study in Southwark to join our radio journalism team.

Training begins on Wednesday 30th September 6 – 8pm and runs for five consecutive Wednesdays. Participants will learn all the elements needed to make radio packages, including interview techniques and digital editing.

If you are interested in a place on one of the above sessions then please email your reply to lydiah@eclectic-productions.co.uk or give Lydia a call on 020 8320 0880.

The ladies who arrange the flowers have requested the removal of all mortars during bell-ringing practice.

2009-08-25T05:23:00.000-07:00

SCRIPTS WANTED FOR SHORT FILMS
ALL GENRES

We need a clever writer with a good short short script that would like to see her/his project up on the big screen.

Subject matter is in your own creative hands, but your script should be 30 pages or less (10 mins great) and is a story that could be easily filmed (no explosions, car cashes, and/or shots in the White House are out).

All your ideas will be maintained as your own intellectual property.

There is some compensation.

The intent is to take this project to film festivals, and win awards.

TO SUBMIT:
Be sure to mention you heard about this from Jeff Gund at INFOLIST.com, and email a SYNOPSIS to:
sfilmworks@yahoo.com

The verger would like to remind you that storing ammunition in the font is discouraged during evensong.

2009-08-06T05:33:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

Lock and Load very much enjoyed Don't Look Now at the Film 4 screenings at Somerset House last night. As the sun set we were briefly tormented by swarming insects which were driven away by the freeform jazz stylings of the house DJs as Stephen Frears took the stage on behalf of director Nic Roeg. He made a very interesting point that really resonated with me: that Don't Look Now strove for a real connection with the unconscious. Wonderful.

I think I'll go to this workshop at the Soho Theatre:

Open Access Workshop: Triggers, Gateways, Souvenirs 17 September, 6pm – 9.30pm
£30 (£15)
This workshop, led by Justin Young, explores the moments of transition in your play between realistic and heightened parallel worlds, the patterns of when and why one world gives way to another and how souvenirs from one can crop up in another. A workshop on the kinds of story-telling you can use to suit a variety of stylish environments.

Perfect for: anyone who wants ideas for achieving “lift-off” from the plot-driven play, anyone rewriting who is looking for that special stylistic flourish to make their story stand out, anyone having a hard time identifying their play’s central metaphor, anyone worried their play's style is crowding out the main plot.

The writing is going really well! It can't possibly last...

Congregants are respectfully reminded not to spike the communion wine with anti-freeze.

2009-08-03T05:55:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

Lock and Load is currently engaged on two treatments for spec features. One of which is a rewrite for Penny Dreadful and the other a script I shall be touting at the Screenwriters' Festival in October. I will be sharing a room with lovely Lucy, may Dog The Bounty Hunter have mercy on my soul. We are staying at the Wyastone Hotel.

I am following the million dollar method as expounded by Chris Soth and I find that it works very well indeed, especially when you hit the mid-point and you just want to cry. In fact, you're hardly aware of the mid-point at all! Marvellous. Any other methods people are following? Don't be shy...

Interestingly, Lucy twittered about a link on the South West Screen website concerning Bebo and how online dramas are funded. Questions at the ready! I'm formulating as we speak...

That is all.

Bafta Part two.

2009-07-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

So, darling ones, where was I?

Oh yes, Justin then told us his opinions about what is happening NOW, right this minute. The trends are that:

- Budgets are more realistic.

- 2002 £15 million
- 2007 £2 million

And that means, boys and girls, that there is no loss of quality and a more money available when it sells! Hurrah!

Well, you'd think, except that right at this moment there are not many good reasons to film here as there are better financing packages in other countries. However you shouldn't do it for less for than £1 million if seeking co-production unless it is for sound creative reasons.

Canada or Australia will give you 40% before you start. The aforementioned rugged Manitoba will fork out a whopping 60% but there's not much in the way of local crew.

SALES AGENTS

They are in some ways old-fashioned in Justin's opinion. They get paid first and they take up to 25% in commission but if they have the right experience they can be reliable.

MUSIC

A really good original soundtrack will sell the film too and it could be that the rights will be pre-purchased, thus generating extra revenue.

Thereafter my notes become rather incoherent so I stopped taking them in order to concentrate on the words of Stuart Urban who was certainly not shy of selling himself. He had an impressive body of work and was very au fait with the business side of selling films and seems to do a good deal of it himself, particularly for 'Preaching To The Perverted' which enjoys excellent DVD sales to this day.

And there we have it. I fled out into the tourist-thronged street, my head positively whirling! The whole Rushes shebang is definitely on my agenda for next year and I recommend it you, dear reader. At a mere £15 it seemed ridiculously good value.

Bafta Short Film Market

2009-07-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

yes, on Saturday Lock And Load got herself down to 195 Piccadilly to the very lovely Bafta building for the Short Film Market, part of the Rushes Soho Shorts festival.

I got chatting to Paul and David over danish pastries. Paul is a sound mixer and music engineer and David a producer from Shoreditch. I found people very friendly and only too willing to chat about their projects.

Then it was upstairs to see Rain Horse, a nine-minute short made under the auspices of the BBC and the Digital Shorts scheme at UKFC. Starring jason Isaacs and based on the short story by Ted Hughes, this beautiful film showed how much can be achieved on a limited budget. Belying the old saw about never working with animals or children, this was a highly atmospheric film that pitted humans against savage nature.

Afterwards the director and producer spoke eloquently about the logistics of the shoot and stressed that because of the time constraints there was barely time for any rehearsals, not to say the unpredictability of the six horses they used. The location was a forest in Surrey to stand in for the Welsh countryside and they said that they found out all they needed to know by talking to the top people in the business who were only too pleased to pass on useful info such as the forest in Surrey being a good place because it was the setting for the battle scenes in Gladiator and therefore they knew it would be a good match for rural Wales. Got chatting to Andy who works at Rich Mix. Also to Karim, who pitched his Chickenhawk project to me on his iphone!

Next up was a product placement seminar which was very well attended and presented by Sean from BFG. There was a short film presentation of the main products that crop up in movies. Soft drinks, phones and cars, the usual suspects. BFG brokers the arrangement with brands and film production companies with a fee for that service being paid to BFG by the brand and an additional fee to be paid to the filmmakers. Not such a good wheeze for the short filmmaker as shorts get less exposure Surprisingly Sean said that for every two films he's placed products in, there's a hundred that never see the light of day. They also do a lot of Bollywood films. Sean said that people are influenced in their buying choices by what they see in movies. Apparently when Clark Gable appeared vestless in a film, sales fell dramatically whilst kids increased their consumption of Reese's Pieces threefold when they appeared in ET.

Sean spoke of how product placement in online drama like Kate Modern was more the way brands wanted to go because of the obvious exposure to the chosen 16-24 year-old demographic who didn't watch TV so much as cruise the web on Bebo, MySpace, Facebook etc., He also mentioned WKS09.COM an online reality based type drama. Generally, docs were exempt from product placement as were children's programming.

Sean recommended that if filmmakers wanted to approach brands directly then the best thing was to have as much information to hand and to have as fully developed a project as possible: Budget, financing, letters of intent, business plan etc., Brands will only show interest in a project when they can see clearly what's in it for them.

Next up was a How to Finance Your Film courtesy of Justin Stephenson. A seminar which, as you may imagine, was full of doom and gloom but quite optimistic in the long-term, certainly for indies. I took copious notes so will bullet point the most salient for your reading pleasure.

- Good budgets don't necessarily make good films. Justin got involved with financing Alexander and Phantom of the Opera.

- Financiers quite often want control of a film. Justin said that when when the financiers get involved is when things start to go wrong.

- Important therefore to get as much quality up there on screen as you can.

- Film finance is tax-based. Currently the most advantageous place to film is in Manitoba, but only if your film is set in a rural idyll. Justin advised NOT rewriting a film in order to fit in a tax haven.

- Justin then spoke about the film proposal being the best it possibly can in a hugely over-subscribed market but he made the good point that it absolutely has to be the best it possibly can be and that filmmakers should have confidence and pride in their work.. If you can't pitch it in thirty=seconds then you're in trouble.

- He reckoned it was worth assigning one person whose sole task was to deal with the money coming in which will not be paid until the first day of the shoot. The advantage of having just one person to deal with it means that it will be dealt with efficiently and save you a lot of hassle further down the line.

Justin then spoke about the current state of film finance as it applies to features:

- It's in freefall.

- Too many films being made at all levcels

- There is no bank lending.

- Pre-sales have collapsed.

- Foreign sales are weak.

- The sale of DVDs are down with Woolworths and Zavvi gone meaning that volumes of sales are up but prices per unit are down in order to compete.

- Online viewing is up but by no means fully developed yet. Still two years away from fulfillment but then people were saying that two years ago.

- Indie film production is actually up in the US because there is obviously a better financial returt if it is a hit.

So, what has replaced the banks in terms of funding?

- Investment funds are very much of the moment though Justin warned that extreme caution was advised when dealing with them.

- He said that in the UK, filmmakers, and crew were more realistic in their approach to work during lean times, which was good to hear.

- Post-production companies will contribute some money at point of filming.

Justin then gave a breakdown of percentages available:

- Manitoba - 60%
- UK - 20%
- Other countries - 40%
- Justin said that really the UK needs to up its tax credit threshold to 25-35%.

The huge amount of films out there means that it's really hard to stand out from the crowd, ad revenues alone costs 30 million dollars which means that kind of budget is out of reach for most indies.

- There are a couple of banks cautiously interested in lending money for films. Barclays may be one. Coutts will but only if you;re already a customer. other banks abroad may lend if it's a co-production and you fulfill the criteria for funding.

- Pre-sales are now not happening unless the film is completed or you have a significant amount of footage already in the can. Again, two year time-frames were mentioned in terms of market recovery.

So, just when we were all deciding to give up, Justin said that there was LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL.

As he said earlier, Equity Funds have taken over from the banks. There ARE little bits of funding around BUT only work with the funds that are up-front about their track record. Always ask if they have the money. They won't because all funding is tax-driven but they should be honest about that.

- There are two windows in the UK:
- September to November
- Late january to the end of March.

This is when Equity Funds may be available. Always go for fund managers with experience in film. Always have 50% of money in place from other sources. They will want to be paid fees. Because they are lending against tax credits from the government, it's not such a high risk.

THE FUTURE

- Now is a good time because of macro-economic trends.
- The upping of the higher rate of income tax from 40% to 50% means that tax-payers are looking around for interesting ways to pay less tax so there will be significant use of tax-based investment schemes.

VIDEO ON DEMAND

- There reasonable amounts of revenue and it will eventually replace DVDs.

FILM PERFORMS WELL IN A RECESSION

- People still go out to the cinema and in terms of value for money it's better than a meal out. people want to be entertained in a recession.

- High quality home entertainment systems bring the cinema experience into teh home.

- Justin compared the rental system of 10 years ago when Blockbusters supplied a relatively small amount of titles to rent but they got rented a lot of times to today's model Love Film where a wide range of titles get rented but less often, therefore creating opportunities for indie filmmakers to get their work seen.

- Film production and equipment has become much cheaper and within the grasp of more people.

Blimey, I think that's enough for now. part two tomorrow.

Short screenplays

2009-06-22T07:56:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

another competition, this time in Waterford, Ireland.

A Good Idea

2009-06-22T04:47:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

this just in from master of the universe Jurgen Wolff:

'The "wrong name" game
If you find yourself stuck in a thinking rut, take five minutes to do a mental warm-up exercise I learned years ago in an improv class. It's a little weird and probably you should do it in private, but it works.

All you do is walk around the room, point at things and name them as anything other than what they are. So, for instance, you'd point at the window and call out, "Chair!" and point at the desk and say, "Walrus!" (or whatever). If you do this for a few minutes, you may find that when you return to your original task new ideas flow more freely.

ACTION: The next time you get stuck, give this a try. It works best if you move around and call the wrong names out loud, but if you absolutely can't do it that way, try it just looking around and doing the calling in your mind.'

Right, I'm off for a cup of penguin.

A quick moan...

2009-06-16T10:36:00.001-07:00

Darling ones,

the script I was developing for production in August has been rejected. Ironically, in his rejection, the director gave me precisely the kind of feedback I'd asked for much earlier in the process (but couldn't get out of him!) to help the rewrite. *sigh*. Right, moan over, onwards!

Nina Conti was FAB! Crude, funny, offensive - all of which went down a storm with the small but eclectic audience at the Soho Theatre. The elderly gentleman next to me seemed very keen but I wasn't having any of his bawdy shenanigans and in any case his remand case worker turned up. Tom Conti was in the foyer to show support and it was all very dolly and informal and mercifully a million miles away from any celebrity-style haughtiness.

Events gather apace on the writers' group front! We are developing a showcase of six pieces to be performed in front of an invited audience in the autumn. The actors and directors have been assembled for rehearsals on the 1st July. More as and when.

Raising your game

2009-06-03T05:20:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

Lock and Load seems to be in a holding pattern at the moment.

The promo for Justin Hustlin is nearing completion! All very exciting. I seem to be writing more shorts at the moment than anything else. One short will be part of a rehearsed reading at the Phoenix Theatre Hampstead in the autumn with actors and directors. For added terror, it will be held in front of an audience.

Another short is in development for production in August, hopefully. I was planning to attend the Raindance special with Richard Raskin but, as ever, real life intervened. There is another BAFTA bash on the 25th July all about shorts. This time I am going, by hook or by crook! It's on a Saturday and other members of the writing group will be there too. I will report back to you, the Convent of Eternal Armament.

Meanwhile, in the spirit of mutual support, if you have a spare fiver, please do consider donating to the production of Sister Lucy Vee's Slash or indeed tweetpledge Brother Danny Stack's Origin.

I am off tonight to see Nina Conti at the Soho Theatre. I have an idea for a short about a ventriloquist. I'll report back about that too. Should be good.

Thanking you.

To bebo, or not to bebo..?

2009-05-26T06:02:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

bebo want to host the Justin Hustlin promo that I have been producing. It's nearly finished!

Now I see from a cursory glance at the site that Kate Modern and Sophia's Diary are also there. But what do people think? Does it work like Revver? Is there revenue to be generated? I'd be very interested to hear anybody's experiences if they'd be happy to share.

Thanking you.

Catch up

2009-05-11T07:35:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

it's been an AGE since I blogged. Such is life when one must maintain one's twitter account not to say Facebook. Like needy chicks their beaks gape, demanding to be fed the latest juicy morsel.

So what's new? Not that much. Writing an awful lot of sci-fi. Turning them into short scripts which I find useful for exploring ideas that might gestate into features or other forms. I've thought recently that I really must focus on smaller amounts of projects instead of my currently piecemeal approach which spreads time and effort too far.

Justin Hustlin is going waaay over budget so I must apply for extra funding. I'll pass on anything I find that is of note.

I'm away to a Raindance thing Wednesday night: Robert Raskin, talking about story design.

Anyone else?

And finally:

Something to think about when negative people are doing their best to rain on your parade....

A woman was at her hairdresser's getting her hair styled for a trip to Rome with her husband.. She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who responded:

" Rome ? Why would anyone want to go there? It's crowded and dirty.. You're crazy to go to Rome . So, how are you getting there?"

"We're taking Continental," was the reply. "We got a great rate!"

"Continental?" exclaimed the hairdresser. " That's a terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly, and they're always late. So, where are you staying in Rome ?"

"We'll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome 's Tiber River called Teste."

"Don't go any further. I know that place. Everybody thinks its gonna be something special and exclusive, but it's really a dump."

"We're going to go to see the Vatican and maybe get to see the Pope."

"That's rich," laughed the hairdresser. You and a million other people trying to see him. He'll look the size of an ant.

Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of yours. You're going to need it."

A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo. The hairdresser asked her about her trip to Rome .

"It was wonderful," explained the woman, "not only were we on time in one of Continental's brand new planes, but it was overbooked, and they bumped us up to first class. The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome 28-year-old steward who waited on me hand and foot.

And the hotel was great! They'd just finished a $5 million remodeling job, and now it's a jewel, the finest hotel in the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and gave us their owner' s suite at no extra charge!"

"Well," muttered the hairdresser, "that's all well and good, but I know you didn't get to see the Pope."

"Actually, we were quite lucky, because as we toured the Vatican, a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder, and explained that the Pope likes to meet some of the visitors, and if I'd be so kind as to step into his private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me.

Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my hand! I knelt down and he spoke a few words to me.."

"Oh, really! What'd he say ?"

He said: "Who fucked up your hair?"

Feedback

2009-04-15T06:19:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

I'm waiting on the voice tracks for Justin Hustlin so am actually doing some writing. It's a short film with a view to being directed in August. The lovely Director, having received my idea two weeks ago went suspiciously quiet. Too late, as I am writing the damn thing. He got in touch today to say he really isn't sure about the idea but I have hopefully reassured him. The script will change as we go on. I think he was nervous about giving me feedback, which is a shame because feedback is useful, especially the negative stuff.

I remember turning in a WTF draft of my first feature while I was at college. My tutor could have told me it was rubbish but his feedback was to 'go and dream about the world you've created'.

What's the best/worst feedback you've received?

Voiceovers part 2

2009-04-09T05:49:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

well, what fun was had by Lock and Load yesterday at the Dairy! Dirty Denim and our lovely actors arrived, the sun was out and even the house cat took a shine to us, which was a good omen. Though that may have had something to do with the sushi... yes, there was sushi! And a lovely runner called Richard to get it for us! I had 'people'! How cool is that?

Our lovely voice actors kept us entertained. Jason Davis is just now in the latest Fast And Furious and Silas Hawkins was just about the best impressionist I've ever heard. Once we were done, local band The Thirst arrived. Impossibly tall, thin and good-looking, they very kindly re-dubbed their track 'Acre Lane' to 'Paper Lane' (to tie in with the cartoon!) Our lovely sound engineer, (another) Richard was helpfulness itself. Just as well, it was very much a learning curve for me and I feel I've been rather spoilt.

Have a fab Easter.

Voiceovers etc.,

2009-04-06T07:02:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

I'm in the Dairy Studio this Wednesday recording the voices for Justin Hustlin. Well, I won't be doing any of the tech stuff. Oh no, I will be fretting, smiling my best rictus smile and sorting out the catering. A task for which motherhood has clearly prepared me.

The Country and Western script has gone back, was deemed acceptable and is, even as we speak, going to a script editor. Another short film (that might actually get made!!) is bubbling away...

On the reviewing front, I watched a DVD of The Day The Earth Stood Still, which did look fab on the husb's obscenely huge TV. Sadly, Keanu was even more absent than usual. I much prefer him as the bad guy. I'm going to review Ahlaam and The Last Of The Crazy People.

Oh look at that, I have about twenty free minutes! Time to get some writing done...

Thanking you.

Justin Hustlin

2009-04-01T05:27:00.000-07:00

Oh my dears, it's getting busy here at the convent.

I am poised to book a studio to record voiceovers, the animation is about to commence and I haven't a spare hour in the day for that thing I used to do... you know... it'll come to me... writing! Production, I have discovered, is rewarding yet time-consuming.

Should you care to do so check out Justin Hustlin's page on Facebook.

Thanking you.

Treatments

2009-03-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

How to Write a Winning Treatment

For the Euroscript Screen Story Competition 2009 you have two pages to sell us your script. To help you, here is a quick checklist. There are no rigid rules, so you don’t need to follow this slavishly, and we certainly won’t penalise you if you don’t, it’s simply a life-raft if you’re drowning.

CHARACTER

Is there a clear central character? (Or, if it’s an ensemble piece, is it clear which characters form part of the ‘ensemble’ and which are just the supporting act?)

Is the central character on screen at least 80 per cent of the time? Is s/he introduced in the first sentences?

Crucially, what’s interesting about them? Why do we want to watch them for two hours on screen?

Is your central character active not passive? Does s/he drive the action, responding to each obstacle by making choices which, in turn, drives him/her to formulate new goals (rather than react passively to plot points making them feel like a bit of a victim?)

Is it clear which side of the tracks your character comes from? What’s his/her outlook on life? What’s his/her hang up?

How has the character changed by the end of the story? This list is by no means definitive, more things to think about, but by the end of the film how have the following changed?

his/her beliefs, values
his/her attitude to life
his/her knowledge, insight or wisdom
As film is a visual medium how are these interior changes expressed using images, for example what changes do we see in:

his/her clothes and appearance
his/her circle of friends and acquaintances
his/her home, level of tidiness for example
his/job
his/her speech patterns
Are there three or four huge beats, or turning points, which take your central character to a new emotional place? If fewer - is there enough going on? If more - is your story coherent?

How are these played out on screen? What makes these scenes visually extraordinary while at the same time being emotionally powerful?

CENTRAL RELATIONSHIP

Is there a fascinating relationship at the heart of the story? What does the relationship look like at the beginning of the film? As the central character changes, how does this relationship change? What happens to this relationship by the end of the film? Which two or three big, visual scenes illustrate how this relationship is changing?

PLOT

Does the plot of your story hang on the Central Character’s ‘journey’ or ‘character arc’?

Does the central character have a clear, specific goal? What obstacles does he/she face in trying to pursue this goal. Obstacles can be expressed both in terms of inner blocks, flaws or wounds as well as external obstacles (family, community, the environment, aliens from outer space).

Do these obstacles escalate, in difficulty and dramatic impact?

Which are the four or five great plot twists which keep the audience gasping?

VISUAL STYLE

Have you made clear that this is a feature film. It will be filmed using expensive cameras and lenses, will be shown in a massive cinema on a vast screen and cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to make. Does it have an extraordinary visual style? Are the locations epic? Stylistic? What will the colour palette and the cinematic style be? (Think, for inspiration, of the visual styles of ‘Amelie’, ‘Milk’ and ‘The Baader Meinhof Complex’, for example).

GENRE

Is the genre you have chosen used consistently throughout? Is it clearly comedy or horror? Sci-fi or musical? Make sure you haven’t mixed genres unless you really know what you’re doing. We don’t want to discourage fresh, original ideas that may depend on a striking combination (Sci-Fi Musical, anyone?). However we do want to discourage treatments which aren’t consistent in their genre choice.

PREMISE and POINT

Is your premise clear? By the end of the film have we learned something that's fresh and original about the world in which we live and what it means to be human? What’s the point of your story? Don't leave your audience wondering.

EXPERTISE

In some films, a specific ‘expertise’ turns a potentially dull story into ‘The Wrestler’. Does your film show us a 'world' of expertise? How will the specialised knowledge of this world bring added pleasure to the audience? Films like The Bodyguard, Chocolate, Babette’s Feast, Strictly Ballroom, are all brought to life by their ‘expertise’. (Obviously, this isn’t mandatory). (And obviously you need to be the world’s expert on your chosen ‘expertise’ so you don’t get mowed down by a gang of outraged train-spotters once your movie is released).

BEATING OUT YOUR PLOT

Are you writing out the story, beat by beat, so it’s clear how the plot develops through the film? For example:

by half-way down page one, do we know a) who the central character is; b) what kind of world he/she is living in; what plot twist is hurtling him/her into the story?
by the end of page one, has the character dug him/herself into a terrifying hole - either emotional, physical or, preferably, both? Is the world conspiring against him/her? What’s the plan to make the comeback?
by half way down page two are we reaching a terrifying, horrifying climax where the character may die, or at the very least, lose everything?
what’s the big twist at the end, which comes from deep within the central character, that will give us the satisfying ending?
Obviously some films are ‘quieter’, more nuanced, and don’t rely on a plot that ‘hurtles’ but just make sure we’re being told the whole story and nothing but the story, from beginning, through the middle, to the end.

TITLE

Is there a great title, probably no longer than about five words, that sums up the theme or the central character? Often this is his/her name or his/her goal/predicament (Revolutionary Road, The Reader, Dead Man Walking, Rocky, Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler). Long wordy titles with complicated place-names and/or double-entendres which rely on the audience having a degree in Semiotics to understand their meaning are a bit offputting.

WRITING STYLE

Is your writing style in the treatment reflecting the film you want to make? If it’s a screwball comedy does your prose reflect this by making us laugh? If it’s a horror, are we too terrified to read to the end?

AUDIENCE

Are you totally, one hundred per cent positive your local cinema will want to show this film to people handing over £8 or more for the privilege (and that’s not counting the cost of the popcorn).

CUT THE WASTE

Is everything in your story crucial? Can you cut or merge a few dozen of those ancillary characters? Do you really need those round-the-world locations? That army of ten thousand horsemen? Is every word of your treatment working hard to tell us your story?

AND FINALLY

Now forget every word I’ve just written, tear up the rulebook, stick two fingers up to the so-called gurus who think they can teach you how to write and tell the story that’s bursting to come out of you in the way that reflects who you truly are.

You may copy this checklist onto your own website or blog but if you do we would be grateful if you would credit the author of this article Fenella Greenfield (fenella.greenfield@euroscript.co.uk) and put a link to our website at www.euroscript.co.uk.

Where does the time go?

2009-03-16T07:41:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

no, seriously, where does the time go?

Country and Western script is nearly done. When I told the man in charge he would soon be reading it, he sent back a short but cryptic message: 'No weddings please.' To the point, I'm sure you'll agree.

I'm developing a political thriller with the Golders Green group. Very heartening to have such support and an education to me in terms of theatre writing. Very interesting to hear your words spoken out loud. If you've never done it yourself then I recommend it.

Justin Hustlin is now at the rough animatic stage. Very exciting to see the word made flesh.

I've realised that I'm so busy I'm not entering any competitions this year! I am definitely going to the Screenwriters' Festival at Cheltenham this year. Anyone else?

Eyeborg

2009-03-09T05:14:00.000-07:00

Now this looks interesting...

A little update...

2009-03-03T09:45:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

it's all ratcheted up a notch here I can tell you.

Development on Justin Hustlin is now at the storyboard and voice casting stage!
I'm collaborating left, right and centre.
I've joined a writers' group in Golders Green, courtesy of old Metlab colleague Grant Corr. We're going to have rehearsed readings!
The Country and Western script is almost done, yeeehaar!

Onward...

12 noon GMT

2009-02-21T04:05:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

the very lovely Pamela of My Visual Pitch has asked me to blog and take pics of what is going on at the Convent of Eternal Armament (Peckham division) at 12 noon today.

The sun is shining! I can scarcely believe it...

Interesting...

2009-02-18T09:10:00.001-08:00

"One of my standard -- and fairly true -- responses to the question as to how story ideas come to me is that story ideas only come to me for short stories. With longer fiction, it is a character (or characters) coming to visit, and I am then obliged to collaborate with him/her/it/them in creating the story."
– Roger Zelazny

Interiors

2009-02-18T01:21:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

I am researching interiors from different eras and just wondered if anyone could recommend websites, books etc that have great images of 50s and 70s interior design.

This is for an animation I am producing.

Thanking you in advance!

Script Editing with Euroscript

2009-02-11T07:21:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

I don't know about you but sometimes I think short intensive courses are worth their weight in gold.

I did a four week course recently with Euroscript and it was very good because it made you think on your feet and work hard. Just like in real life! It was very well organised, had a good venue in the The London Welsh Association and an excellent tutor in Andrew Clifford who kept the brisk pace going. Over the course of the four weeks, we looked at an early draft episode of Shameless, a treatment for a potential series 'The Law' by Clive Coleman, the writer of 'Spending My Inheritance', a first draft of very funny 'Intimate Apparel' by Robbie Morrison and an episode of Casualty.

As you might expect, there was reading to be done between each class. As there were only eight participants it was easy to get talking about the work and to come up with a consensus for what worked, what didn't and most crucially how things could be changed. We took it in turns to suggest ideas to Clive and Robbie! Though we were nervous about this, it was easier than we thought. Both authors were very receptive and neither stormed out in a prima donna tizzy.

Andrew gave us some very good handouts on all aspects of editing with plenty of practical examples to think about. Interestingly the one on structure mentioned the growing use of sequences including Chris Soth and the million dollar method.

Well worth the money in my opinion. Check out Euroscript here.

Tagged by Potdoll and Near By

2009-02-03T04:44:00.000-08:00

"Fabulous fucking blog" for the challenged. I couldn't get blogger to upload the accompanying sweary pic.
Many thanks to Pots and NB for my award.

As part of my acceptance speech I would like to burble incoherently in the manner of Kate Winslet. Thank you.

Rules:
Put the image on your blog
List 10 truths about yourself
Give the award to 5 other people
Provide meaningful quotation

10 truths...

I love walking fast.

I spend too much time in charity shops.

I get off on dental pain.

I'm good at funny voices.

I wish I could play bass guitar.

My obsession with you is no good for me (you know who you are...).

I can go into a trance at the drop of a hat.

I like being on my own, though I hardly ever am.

I once had an erotic dream about Rutger Hauer (as he was in The Hitcher)!

I never lie but always make the truth sound better than it is.

Meaningful quote... If self-doubt were parachute silk, I'd have enough for a pair of camiknickers for a canary.

Whoever you are, consider yourself tagged!

My night out

2009-01-30T06:57:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

last night Lock And Load was in attendance at the gala preview of the New Middle-Eastern Art exhibition at the Saatchi gallery and right swanky it was too.

I spotted a six-foot transvestite in a stunning orange outfit, members of Duran Duran and Krishnan Guru-Murthy off the telly. I felt a little overdressed for the occasion but the lovely transvestite assured me that one can never be overdressed. Much wine was quaffed, the security guards all seemed to be dressed in Prada and everybody enjoyed looking at everybody else's clothes. The art hardly got a look-in! On account of the copious free booze and the chance to overdress, the place was rammed but I'll certainly be back for a look when It's quieter.

LISA TRNOVSKI

2009-01-27T04:31:00.000-08:00

Lisa is the producer of Mum And Dad.

Go here for her diary of Slamdance.

URBAN SCRAWL AND JUSTIN HUSTLIN

2009-01-27T03:54:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

this may be of interest.

URBAN SCRAWL

53 stations on the Piccadilly line. 53 weeks. 53 brand new plays, one for each station. A major new project from Theatre503, TheatreVoice and Rose Bruford, with writers including Mark Ravenhill, Samuel Adamson, Simon Stephens, Jane Bodie, Dawn King and Phil Porter.

Plus, this t-shirt review for Justin Hustlin!

Guilty pleasure

2009-01-26T07:59:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

don't rush over, it's not THAT exciting.

I don't quite know why but I appear to developing a Country and Western script from someone else's first draft. I'm really enjoying it. There's something very liberating about NOT having to think up the original idea.

In other news: Justin Hustlin is nearly at the storyboarding stage. I'm rewriting Penny Dreadful as a radio script. It's very challenging to think in audio terms rather than visual. The editing course is going well and I'll post more fully when it's over. We get a script, read it and then get to feedback to the actual writer. Last week it was Clive Coleman, the writer of Spending My Inheritance and presenter of Law In Action and very dolly he was too.

DON'T GO IN BLIND.

2009-01-20T04:47:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

the meme about what writers are best/worst at revealed that lots of us fret about structure. Go here to FEEDBLITZ to read Joss Whedon's top ten tips.

2. STRUCTURE
Structure means knowing where you’re going; making sure you don’t meander about. Some great films have been made by meandering people, like Terrence Malick and Robert Altman, but it’s not as well done today and I don’t recommend it. I’m a structure nut. I actually make charts. Where are the jokes? The thrills? The romance? Who knows what, and when? You need these things to happen at the right times, and that’s what you build your structure around: the way you want your audience to feel. Charts, graphs, coloured pens, anything that means you don’t go in blind is useful.

Grace Jones - two tickets for the price of one!!

2009-01-13T03:13:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

I have two tickets to see the mighty Grace Jones at the Roundhouse in Camden on Tuesday 27th January but can't make it!

They cost me £80 but you can have them for a mere credit-crunching £40.

If you're interested e-mail me on hellesbelle21 *at* hotmail.com.

Paid work

2009-01-12T05:19:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

I actually have some paid writing work! So of course I'm blogging about it rather than doing it.
Didn't get through to the Athena scheme. Never mind. More time for paid work.
I start tomorrow on the Script Editing course. Our mission (should we choose to accept it) is to read an episode of 'Shameless'.
Now that's what I call homework!

Justin Hustlin

2009-01-08T04:58:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

it's all go on the Justin Hustlin front!
The promo script is nearly there, bar the shouting and my lovely animator Jason is raring to go.
I must say I'm rather enjoying this producing lark. Even the problems teach me something.

Script Editing

2009-01-07T04:31:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

I'm off for a short course in Script Editing courtesy of the lovely people at Euroscript.

What other short courses (of any writing persuasion) are you going on and what would you recommend?

A New Year and a new meme

2009-01-05T07:07:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

Happy New Year to everyone. I am determined to get the Justin Hustlin promo live this year and also produce one my shorts 'Lost' as an animation.

Meanwhile, Lucy tagged me thus:

'When it comes to writing, what do you know you're good at, and what aspect of writing are you worst at? (Procrastination is not permitted as either part of the answer.)'

Fortunately I am not given to huge amounts of procrastination. Life's too short!

Hmmm, let me see. I like writing dialogue and have been complimented on it though it's not necessarily the first thing I think to write. I think my worst is structure which I've been trying hard to amend. I find Chris Soth's mini-movie method very useful for this problem as it divides a script into eight manageable chunks. In common with everyone else, I'm better with subjects I feel passionate about though some subjects are just too close to home, like caring for someone with a disability. I've found my counselling course very useful for character insight (particularly motivation) and I want to develop that in 2009.

I now tag Dave, Jon and Sheiky.

Bah!

2008-12-23T08:24:00.000-08:00

Lock And Load wishes its congregation a peaceful Christmas and an ASBO free New Year.

Any New Year's resolutions in the comments section please...

Something interesting for the holidays

2008-12-19T08:33:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

I don't know about you but sometimes it's a good thing to step away from the computer for a while and think about stories in another way.

I gleaned this from Jurgen Wolff's brainstorm e-newsletter:

1: How to become a streetcomber
At the Idea Forum 2008, Richard Stomp, an innovation and strategy manager in The Netherlands, suggested that being out in the world is a much better way of coming up with ideas than sitting at your desk. He calls it "streetcombing" (like beachcombing, but in the city). He does this once a week, taking pictures of anything of interest. He posts the pictures and the associated stories on his website. Here is his six-step lesson in how you can become a streetcomber, too:

1: Find an interesting street
2: Watch with a child-like mind
3: Take pictures of everything interesting that you see (lots and lots - of course you can use video, too)
4: Put those pictures on your computer
5: Ask yourself, what is the concept behind this picture? What was the principle behind its interestingness?
6: Take that concept and start generating ideas for applying it to your own industry or current biggest challenge.

Dr Piers prescribes the Bechdel test

2008-12-16T05:47:00.000-08:00

Yes indeed my darling ones, following on from the last post, the fascinating and complex Piers recommends this.

In other news, I thought of a new slogan for the London Bridge Festival and won two tickets to the ballet so it's all go on the cultural front here, I can tell you.

Too cheeky? Not cheeky enough?

2008-12-15T13:34:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

in response to almost overwhelming demand, oh alright then, Sheikspear, here is my statement of intent for the Athena screenwriting development initiative...

"It occurs to me as I watch films how few of them have truly great complex roles for women. I don’t quite know why this is. I suspect that it is the result of a rather lily-livered constitution on the part of the ‘business’ that feels it must pander to its dream demographic of delirious fanboys who (apparently!) can only handle female complexity if it is willing to teeter about on stack heels and act as support to the main characters as they don improbable body armour and cut a swathe through the baddies. Don’t get me wrong, I like those films too but I think that many of them present good actresses with thankless roles. Surely there’s an audience out there for well-written films that give equal character complexity to men AND women? Why does the foregrounding of one male character mean that the female ‘love interest’ is just a cipher? And no, I don’t think it’s right to reverse the stereotype. So last century.

In conclusion then, I take up the challenge! To write a commercially viable screenplay that speaks to a modern audience that might (gasp!) comprise delirious fanboys AND fangirls, that doesn’t perpetuate the same dreary old clichés of emotionally underdeveloped hero and token woman who has pegged it by the final reel (I’m looking at you, Batman). No stress then…"

Some things for the weekend

2008-12-12T07:37:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

Lock And Load has barely had time to reload her Kalashnikov this week, so busy has she been. I liked Slumdog Millionaire but it had the most pathetic love story at its heart that made me grit my teeth. The Oscar for the most thankless role for a woman goes to Freida Pinto as Latika IMHO.

Leave To Remain is almost ready to send out for feedback. I do believe I owe Chip's a read too. I put in a writing exercise for my counselling class that had the pretension to assert that the narrative of a script was a metaphor for the psychodynamic counselling process. No, really. If you're slightly interested, I shall post it on the Shaman blog.

Now here's a PAID opportunity for you laydeez out there. Come and be part of an Art installation in Bermondsey.

' 2nd - 9th January 2009.

Models required to be wrapped in tin-foil for an installation.
£80.00 per day from 10.30 am - 6 pm, lunch, refreshments included.
Must be available throughout the full production period.

Must be women between 1,60m - 1,70m tall. Hips should be wider than shoulders, otherwise it's duifficult to take the sculptures off. Working in rotation with other models, to make approxiamtely 200 sculptures.

Location Bermondsey SE16
Close to the mainline Bermondsey station and the tube. '

I've put my name down. Drop us a line and I'll pass on names and contact numbers to the very lovely Dominic who is helping to organise it.

This in from Karen at Initialize Films, if Lucy's post wasn't enough for you. They also run the Athena screenwriting initiative which I shall be applying for.

Initialize Films launched a new script reading service last week, and we are currently promoting our introductory deal of two reports for £80 (plus VAT). I would be very grateful if you would be able to mention the service and our December offer on your website. Here is a bit more info:

"International script consultants, Initialize Films, are launching a new reading service, with a unique focus on project marketing, alongside dedicated development analysis. Experienced UK and European readers will provide writers and producers with in-depth and up-to-date advice on the international marketplace, and the potential placement of their projects within it. The reports will also examine the strengths and weaknesses of each script both creatively and technically, looking at structure, characterisation, dialogue, pace and tone, etc., as well as offering constructive suggestions for development.
The service launched on 1st December. From 1st January a detailed 6-8 page report on a feature-length script will cost £70(plus VAT), but all writers/producers submitting scripts during December can take advantage of our special introductory offer of 2 reports for £80(plus VAT) – so don’t delay!"

Initialize Films is a training provider backed by Skillset, providing professional consultancy to film funds, producers, directors and screenwriters. If you would like any more info on the company please drop me an email, or check out our website www.initialize-films.co.uk

Many thanks,

Karen

Karen Steele
Development Coordinator
Initialize Films

karen@initialize-films.co.uk
www.initialize-films.co.uk

Well, have a fab weekend. I'm off to watch Hellboy 2 on blu-ray.

Thou shalt switch off thy mobile phone

2008-12-08T06:35:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

what a tumultuous week it was. Daily bulletins from the Far East where my husband was trying to get home. In the end he was repatriated under armed guard by the British Embassy. Not half as scary as the golfers who filled the other seven coaches. 13 hours to Phuket then flying to Singapore then back to Blighty and the freezing cold weather. The airport might be open but it'll take a while for normality to resume in Bangkok, I imagine.

So, with no writing deadlines to attend to this week, I am concentrating on production for the Justin Hustlin promo. I am camera operator for my son's school play (I have no idea what I'm doing. I'll just wing it). Napalm got in touch and said there was a chance I might be able to interview Perry Benson, star of Mum And Dad, which will be released simultaneously in cinemas, on DVD and on the web on Boxing Day. You can read all about it on director Steven Sheil's blog here.

I'm away to a preview of Slumdog Millionaire tomorrow. It's had such good reviews but I'll be the judge of that...

Out with the old.

2008-12-02T05:20:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

in common with lots of you, I've had rejections from Red Planet and Son Of The Pitch this week. Nice to receive e-mails from both competitions which makes me think they are both worth entering next year.

We here at Lock And Load always enjoy a new God to worship so we have built an altar strewn with rose petals to Tim Clague who is clearly onto something as he is a finalist in both competitions. Get over here to read his pitch, which is a corker, I'm sure you'll agree. Also consider signing up for his Projector Films newsletter which is full of the good stuff.

Red Planet

2008-11-27T06:23:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

loads of bloggers are through to the second round!!

Congratulations to Jason, David, Laurence, Michelle, Aladdinsane, Caroline and all who made the second round.
Commiserations to those of us who didn't. If nothing else we have something good for the portfolio.

I feel really passionate about my script as it turns out and will continue to develop it.

In other news, my husband is in Thailand driving overland to Bangkok (!) What is the Latin for Never A Dull Moment?
Rather puts my Red Planet grump in perspective...

Another opportunity...

2008-11-26T05:04:00.000-08:00

...courtesy of the very lovely Brendan O'Neill.

Seven Stories have launched a competition for children's fiction.

As you can see from the widget of shame, I am NOT going to make it for NaNoWriMo this year. Sort of ironic when it was Lara who thought she might not be able to commit. I think she stole my mojo. That's my excuse anyway.

Memo to self: Planning for next year may include placing Lara on a desert island. I'm sure she won't mind...

Opportunity knocks.

2008-11-21T07:47:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

here are 3 interesting opportunities copied shamelessly from the WGGB newsletter.

1. Notes from the Underground - Creative Writing Magazine Seeks Submissions

Check out 'Notes from the Underground', London's new creative writing freesheet, on the web at www.notesfromtheunderground.co.uk. The editors aim to provide the very best in new short stories, cartoons, poems and non-fiction for their readers every issue and the publication is supported by their great website.

'Notes from the Underground' is intended to be a place where new and emerging writers can find a platform, so they want to see your work.

If you are a talented writer and want the chance to have your work read by over 100,000 people in the print version and countless more online, then go to their website and check out the submission guidelines.

2. BWB's playwriting competition topic announced

Babes With Blades proudly announces JOINING SWORD & PEN 2009-10, a playwriting competition devoted to increasing the number of quality scripts featuring fighting roles for women, sponsored by SAFD Fight Master David Woolley.

The 2009-10 theme is "FILM NOIR" by Chicago artist Kristine Borcz (view at http://www.babeswithblades.org/competition.htm). BWB is soliciting scripts for production that are inspired by this image. In order for a script to qualify for the competition, the scene depicted in the image MUST APPEAR within the script.

The winning script will be produced in Spring 2010 as part of Babes With Blades' 2009-10 Season. The winning playwright will receive a $1000 cash prize.

SCRIPTS DUE: FEBRUARY 28, 2009

WINNER ANNOUNCED: APRIL 2, 2009

3. 118 Need Jokes

118 118 need five new jokes every day for ever! (or at least for the moment) Writers will retain rights to joke but must not sell to any other media for at least a month. If you’re a stand up you can continue to perform the gag. Jokes must be sent to jack@jackmilner.com

WHAT SORT OF JOKES ARE WE LOOKING FOR? Original (no old re-workings please) funny, new jokes More specifically, they must be no longer than 110 characters (including punctuation and spaces), they must be reasonably clean and laugh out loud funny.

The target audience is 16-34. Try to imagine a 25 year old on a Saturday night texting JOKE to 118. Back comes a funny – he or she then laughs and sends it to their mate and even tells it to friends. Jokes from Writer’s Guild members or from writer’s with agents will be paid at the rate of £30 per one line gag.

Jack Milner is the producer and editor for this project. You can find out more about him on www.jackmilner.com.

Any questions then feel free to email jack@jackmilner.com

Overheard, oh well alright then, shamelessly eavesdropped...

2008-11-19T05:14:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

Lock And Load never fails to be amazed at the details people give out in the most mundane public situations.

This morning at our local postal sorting depot, I joined the queue to claim a parcel. In front of me was a youth and an older man with two huge dogs. He wanted his parcel but had lost his red card. He then took several minutes to rearrange delivery 'not Friday, I got probation then'. The postman then offered to deliver it to him personally before 11am! Oh, and did I mention he took a moment to serenade the (mostly) black queue with Elvis' 'In The Ghetto'? Blimey.

I collected my parcel, because sensibly I arranged my probation appointment for earlier in the week. It was the Penguin Dictionary Of Psychology which has not arrived a moment too soon.

What have you overheard recently?

Polite notice: the depositing of spent bullets in the collecting plate is strictly forbidden.

2008-11-18T07:53:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

another fabulous FREE seminar courtesy of those nice people at Flamin and Own-it:

* FLAMIN Seminar: Music Rights for Moving Image Work *

On Thursday 27 November (6pm-9pm) FLAMIN and Own-it present How To Clear Music Rights for Moving Image Work, a free workshop addressing issues around the use of music and sound in artists' moving image work.

This event will focus on how music and sound can be used legally; where can you go if you don't know the author of the piece of music or the musician playing the piece you have selected for your work; the steps you need to take if you want to commission a composer or orchestra to record the music for your film; and the clearance requirements of different exhibition platforms – gallery, cinema, broadcast, etc.

Speakers will include artist film-maker Miranda Pennell, Solicitor Anne Crompton (from Music Group, Harbottle & Lewis LLP) and Joyce Cronin, Gallery Manager (Exhibitions), Matt's Gallery.

Visit the Own-it website for more information and to book a place.

Pants.

2008-11-17T07:32:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

I'm in the process of a step outline for my Red Planet entry. I'm reasonably pleased with the first 25 pages of script but the rest is utter PANTS. Though tortuous, step outlining is certainly a useful technique for driving the story forward.

'Your step outline should tell you where each scene ends up -- what it needs to accomplish dramatically and narratively.'
Quote courtesy of COMPLICATIONS ENSUE.

How's everyone doing with their Red Planet entry?

Celebrants are reminded to wear flame-proof clothing past this point.

2008-11-17T04:00:00.000-08:00

So darling ones, I sent in my pitches for Son Of The Pitch but haven't had an automated response yet. Anyone else?

Must crack on with the next fifty pages of Red Planet and NaNoWriMo.

STOP PRESS: Son Of The Pitch Winners to be informed by e-mail at the beginning of December!

Kindly do not fire weapons during evensong.

2008-11-13T05:22:00.000-08:00

Darling ones, I don't know about you but I love a deadline. How else would I get anything done?

I've been gadding about all week with my mother, shamefully neglecting my writing. I'm so behind on NaNoWriMo I must cancel the weekend if I'm to make any kind of headway. Look at my total in the widget - pitiful!

I also see it's the extended deadline for Son Of The Pitch tomorrow. Bugger. Must get on...

Please speak clearly after the heavenly choir...

2008-11-10T05:32:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

just a quick update as the rain lashes down upon the windows of the Convent Of Eternal Armament.

The Metlab funding for the script development of Just Desserts has been pulled. Oh well, sign of the times I guess but it does free me up to concentrate on whipping the Red Planet entry into shape.

Just signed a contract with my lovely director/animator Jason. He's moving to Australia this week but thanks to the power of the internet our collaboration remains undimmed by distance.

Lagging well behind with the NaNoWriMo but enjoying the luxury of words. This just in from 51 screenwriting tips:

"Write your script in terse screenplay style.
Condense your narrative into short, strong sentences.
If a novel is a stew, a screenplay is a reduced broth.
Keep dialogue pointed and sharp."
Elizabeth A. Stevens
From her article "No Contest! (Ten Faux
Pas of Screenwriting Contestants)"

I'm not arguing with that. Happy cooking everyone.

DING DING...and I'm out.

2008-11-05T05:05:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,

the semifinalists for the BSSC 2008 are out.

Tragically Leave To Remain is not on the list. This is of course an absolute outrage but the plus side is I can stop checking the website twenty times a day...

Unless of course YOUR script is still on the list.

Let us know. Don't be shy now.

OSKA BRIGHT

2008-11-04T03:56:00.000-08:00

This is a Film Festival run by and for filmmakers with a learning disability. Visit their website here.

DIGITAL REVOLUTION

2008-11-03T04:23:00.000-08:00

Darling ones,
this workshop looks very good and it's FREE!!

I hope to attend. If I do I will report back.

The Creator's Guide to Going Mobile : a digital revolution made simple

Date: Wednesday 12 November 2008
Time: 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm (6-8pm presentations and Q&A followed by drinks/networking until 9pm)

Location:
Conference Room Suite
Accelerator
London Metropolitan University
Shoreditch Building
35 Kingsland Road
London
E2 8AA

Mobile phones will become the tool for reading digital books, playing music and games, looking at images and watching films and TV. No matter if you are currently a traditionalist or somebody who already works for digital media, the development will affect all creators in one way or another. Are you already thinking of joining the next revolution in digital media and distributing your work through mobile phones or inventing software applications? This seminar will give you an overview of the legal framework including licensing, royalties, data protection issues, and offers advice from people that have developed successful business models.

Booking:
73 of 100 places available
Full details and book now

Sound And Vision

2008-10-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

Darling ones,

you may remember this post about writing for radio.

As Penny Dreadful has a budget that would make Terry Gilliam wake up screaming in the middle of the night, I thought I would rewrite it as a radio play.

Thus it was that I responded to a Shooting People post from the very lovely Steve Bond.
He has kept in touch as he liked the synopsis and we are hoping to collaborate.
You can visit his site here.

In other news, I decided to go for the NaNoWriMo this year as I obviously don't have enough to do. I'm inching forward on my Red Planet entry. I've gone back to a one-page pitch doc for Just Desserts which has been wonderful for clarifying just what the hell I'm going on about. Thank goodness Son Of The Pitch deadline has been extended! I shall report on production of Justin Hustlin next week.

It's a busy life but a full one. Lock and Load wouldn't have it any other way.

Tagged...

2008-10-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

...by my old Metlab colleague and Smell of Napalm editor the very lovely Rich.

List the top five ways you distract yourself when you should be writing and
then procrastinate some more by sending it to all those other writers who
should really procrastinate more often (so we can all catch-up!).

Hmm, let me see...

1. Housework. Otherwise it would never be done.
2. Bloody FaceBook.
3. Other peoples' blogs. Networking, darling, networking...
4. My hotmail account. Simply MUST delete all those e-mails offering me penis enlargement, viagra or 'hot dates in my area'.
5. Stencilling local walls with pictures of armed nuns in the manner of Banksy. Well, not really but it WOULD get me out of the house you must admit.

I now tag the divine Lucy, Lara, Helen, Pots and Far Away

I blame Far-Away

2008-10-27T04:47:00.000-07:00

I should be writing not messing about on this...

Your friends and associates should generally find you a dependable and trustworthy person.
You are a thoughtful and cautious person. You like to think about your method, seeking to pursue your goal in the most effective way.
You like following the rules and being objective. You are precise and meticulous, and like to evaluate decisions before making them.
You feel morose and are prone to lethargy.

What does your drawing say about YOU?

The Female Eye Film Festival

2008-10-22T07:28:00.000-07:00

Now this looks interesting...

Lock And Load recommends...

2008-10-20T05:46:00.001-07:00

...that you go here for an interesting initiative courtesy of Northern Lights.

Metlab's Bitch...again.

2008-10-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

Thus it was that Lucy, Grant, John and myself met last night to discuss progress and plan the next few months.
Very useful it was too. It made me focus on what I really wanted to say with my script. I am now doing a pitch doc along the lines proposed by Adrian Mead in his excellent new book. Loads of people have posted about it. Go here for details.

I am going to Bafta next week to listen to Tony Garnett speak so I will report back about that.

Go Dodo!

2008-10-15T06:10:00.000-07:00

It is Lock And Load's pleasure to bring the following to your esteemed attention (as I promised the lovely Owyn) See you there:

"IMPRO COMEDY NIGHT - HALLOWEEN SPECIAL at The Half Moon Pub in Herne Hill.

Hosted by Satan himself, come and see a ghoulish group of hilarious, professional impro comedians fight to save their souls in this fast paced battle of wits. A devilish mix of classic favourites and brand new, never-seen-before game mayhem. Plus a private screening of Go Dodo's acclaimed spooky short, STORAGE. With all this, music and private bar, you would have to be a saint to miss out!

DATE: Thurs October 23rd
TIME: Doors open 7.30pm for an 8.30pm start
COST: £6 on the door
VENUE: Half Moon Pub, Herne Hill.

TRAVEL DETAILS:
HERNE HILL STATION (Zone 2) is a 10 minutes train journey from Victoria or Blackfriars stations. Turn left outside the train station, walk under the rail bridge and we are directly on your right - literally thirty seconds from the station! The last train home leaves Herne Hill at 23.35 and arrives at Victoria Station at 23:44.

WHY COME?:
Come along because this is a completely insane and unique, one-off impro fundraiser night to help get a new television and film production company on its feet. 'Go Dodo Productions' aim is to produce and encourage fresh, new writing, acting and directing talent - which can only be a good thing!"

Ding ding! Round 3 of the BSSC...

2008-10-15T04:25:00.000-07:00

One of mine got through! Leave To Remain to be precise. Anyone else? Congratulations if you did and commiserations if you didn't.

Go here to find out.

My DEARS! It's all been a mad whirl...

2008-10-13T05:50:00.000-07:00

I had an excellent meeting with my lovely animator Jason last Thursday. Justin Hustlin goes into production BEFORE Christmas!
Seeing as 2000AD weren't interested in Penny Dreadful, I have decided to rewrite it as a comic strip myself with Jason illustrating it. He recommended having a look at The Umbrella Chronicles in terms of style. Anyone else read this? Also, whilst I'm on the cadge, does anyone know of of a 'how to...' book for comic book writing that they could recommend?

Saw Lucy and Lara yesterday for a read-through of one of Lucy's projects with like, REAL actors. This was an eye-opener for me as i'd never attended one before. Very absorbing and interesting to hear the actors' opinions on their parts. Lucy bore up very well in the face of some stiff critique. My buttocks did clench a couple of times on her behalf. A useful exercise as Lucy felt she had plenty of pointers for the rewrite. Off to the bar for a beer and a chat afterwards. You can't say fairer than that. Great to meet Lara too, that's the great thing about blogging, you feel you know people already.

Owen, one of the actors has an improv event going on at the Half-Moon Tavern in Herne Hill on the 23rd. I'll keep you posted.

I stopped the traffic in my maidenform bra

2008-10-06T06:27:00.000-07:00

It's true. I stretched it across three lanes of the M6.

So anyway, I went to the BICS competition and gave a ten-second pitch to the panel (including the editor of 2000AD) Now they liked the pitch but hated the title so I was out. My brother and two small nieces came to show support and were delighted to see someone dressed as Batman. Later in the car, eldest niece told me I looked like the Joker because I was so pale. Tsk.

All good experience and I'll check it out again next year.

In other news, I started the Intro to Counselling course at Birkbeck and very good it was too. I may start another blog to record events as they unfurl. Obviously, that's just what I need, another displacement activity.

TO DO LIST: Just Desserts, Napalm review (The Edge Of Love), the next fifty pages of the Red Planet entry, production meetings for Justin Hustlin and the new SF novel that I keep dreaming about. Literally. Oh, and I'm still Secretary-General of the United Nations because being a 21st century woman, I have, of course, given up sleep.

Well, it's been a little slice of heaven but I must dash.