Hi There,
This week I’m taking the easy option and passing the buck over to you the reader – with a survey of (I’m hoping) thought-provoking questions about your work as screenwriters, the highlights of which I can then pass on to you next week.
THERE IS A PRIZE!
TO THE PERSON WHO GIVES THE MOST INTERESTING SET OF ANSWERS – IN MY COMPLETELY SUBJECTIVE OPINION – I WILL OFFER FREE SCRIPT CONSULTATION ON THEIR SCRIPT (WORTH £120). I WILL ANNOUNCE THE WINNER IN MY NEWSLETTER NEXT WEEK JULY 5th.
It would be great to hear your answers to these questions :-
1. What TV drama \ feature film \ stage-play in the last YEAR has inspired you as a screenwriter? And why?
2. What novel (not just in the last year) has inspired your screenwriting and your writing generally and why?
3. What world event \ news has inspired \ energised you as a writer, or has motivated you to put pen to paper? And why?
4. What’s your number one tip for screenwriting success?
5. Which contemporary screenwriter\s do you find the most inspiring and why?
6. What do you consider the most important element for a (creatively) successful screenplay?
And finally, a question in which my course colleague Phil Gladwin and I have a vested interest…
7. What sort of new screenwriting-related courses would you be interested in?
NB My email address is at the bottom of this newsletter.
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CHIMERICA by Lucy Kirkwood, Almeida Theatre.
I went to see this play last Friday and it is a definite contender for me for Q.1. The thing I really responded to in this play was the scale of its ambition. As its starting point, it took that iconic photograph of the ‘TANK MAN’ standing defiantly in front of the tank in Tiananmen Square in 1989, but was about very much more than this – about the rapid rise of industrialisation in China, about the delicate political, trade relationship between the US and China – and about the human fallout resulting from this relationship; all structured as a personalised, character-driven thriller narrative, which also had a great sense of humour. It was powerful, moving, at times very funny and hugely engaging.
It did what so many good scripts do – it made me think about the world we live in, the cost of all the decisions we make – it made me think, for instance, about the collapse of the factory building in Bangladesh, (a factory that produced clothes for Primark, Matalan and other UK stores) resulting in the death of 1,129 people.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/23/rana-plaza-factory-disaster-bangladesh-primark
I think it’s quite rare for UK dramatists \ screenwriters to write about such BIG, epic subjects – but there’s such dramatic potential in this subject-matter. One thing I know I bang on about is the importance of WHAT you choose to write about. And the brilliant Lucy Kirkwood has hit on something highly dramatic here.
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‘The Authoritative Guide To Writing And Selling A Great Screenplay.’ July 13-14, London.
Just a quick reminder that the EARLY BIRD price of £197 deadline expires this SUNDAY JUNE 30th before reverting to full price of £229 from MONDAY JULY 1st
SO if you’re interested in booking one of the few remaining places, I’d encourage you to do so before midnight on Sunday – and save yourself £32.
Our two special guests are:-
Film executive and screenwriter BRADLEY QUIRK, (Pathe UK, BFI, UKFC) and literary agent TANYA TILLETT (Knight Hall agency).
Between them (and the Two Phils!) we think we offer a pretty comprehensive insight into the oppotunities for screenwriters in the contemporary UK TV and film markets.
You can find full details about the courses and how to book:
http://thetwophils.co.uk/seminars/
or
http://www.script-consultant.co.uk/training/
Until next week
All the best
Phil
PHILIP SHELLEY
twitter: @philipshelley1
e: philip.shelley@script-consultant.co.uk
June 28th 2013
