Hi There,
SCRIPT READING & DEVELOPMENT Q&A July 18th 6pm – 2 ½ hour session on zoom for max 8 people.
As of Thursday July 11th, there is one spot remaining for this session – Script Reading & Development Q&A – Philip Shelley, Script Consultant (script-consultant.co.uk)
THE GENERAL ELECTION
Is it just me or is there a release of stress, an optimism in the air, that has been missing for the last 14 years of gaslighting, hatred, dishonesty, greed and self-serving? (Or is it just an illusory and sadly brief honeymoon period?!)
Before I ran the Channel 4 screenwriting course, I ran the very similar Carlton New Writers Course. (Carlton was one of the big ITV companies back in the day.) On the very first year I ran that course, as well as Chris Chibnall, we had an excellent writer called Alison Hume (who was accompanied for some of the course by her new-born baby). Alison has gone onto achieve a lot since in screenwriting – she wrote excellent episodes on successful series like The Vice and New Tricks, wrote her own, authored film, Pure and TV show, Rocket Man, before going on to set up her own company and specialise in children’s drama with her very popular series, The Sparticle Mystery.
But last week Alison was voted in as the new Labour MP for Scarborough & Whitby. Congratulations Alison! I feel a glow of pride in the success of all the writers who have been on my courses – but to see Alison defeat the tories and arrive at Westminster feels really special. Best screenwriter in the Commons!
It was interesting to also see that another dramatic writer / novelist – the equally excellent BARNEY MORRIS – stood as the Green candidate in Salisbury (unfortunately he didn’t win).
ROBERT TOWNE
You may have seen that Robert Towne died recently. IMO he was one of the great American screenwriters – particularly for his 1970’s run of three brilliant screenplays / films, released within a 14 month period – The Last Detail, Chinatown and Shampoo. For me, these were formative movies, all of them wonderful, distinctive, memorable scripts.
Some Robert Towne quotes about screenwriting –
‘A movie, I think, is really only four or five moments between two people. The rest of it exists to give those moments their impact and resonance.’
‘I love movies. I think movies best communicate whatever I have to say and show; or to put it another way, when what you want to show is what you have to say, you are pretty much stuck with movies as a way of saying it.’
‘Good dialogue illuminates what people are not saying.’
SCRIPT LIBRARY
Since my last newsletter, I have added two more outstanding scripts –
CUFFED by Nicole Douglas-Morris
&
DEEPER SHADE OF BLUE by Tory Frost
https://script-consultant.co.uk/script-library/
CHANNEL 4 SCREENWRITING COURSE & MENTORING SCHEME
For the last few years, alongside the Channel 4 course we have run a parallel mentoring scheme for the short-listed writers who don’t make the final 12.
This Channel 4 press release tells you more about the writers on the course and on this mentoring scheme and about the industry people who mentored them.
Many of the scripts by the mentored writers are now in the aforementioned Script Library.
https://www.channel4.com/press/news/channel-4s-4screenwriting-announces-drama-writers-2024
OWNING YOUR WORK
I recently had to remind two of the 4screenwriting writers that they’d forgotten to put their contact details on the title page of their scripts that were going out to people in the industry. Now this may just have been an innocent admin error BUT it’s something I see all too often and I think sometimes this is about writers not owning their work, subconsciously being nervous about putting themselves out there. I think this is such an essential part of being a professional screenwriter – not just owning your work but presenting it to the world with a sense of pride and bullishness. As writers making your way into the industry you need to be able to articulate who you are and be prepared to talk yourself and your work up. Potential employers gain confidence in your work from your confidence in it. Or, as I say, it may just have been something that slipped their mind!
Some Random Recommendations –
The Belgrano Diary – a podcast series produced by the London Review Of Books, written and presented by Andrew O’Hagan, this is about the Falklands War in the 1980’s, the sinking of the Argentine destroyer, the Belgrano, with subsequent huge loss of life and the controversy that ran for many years about whether the UK government broke their own ‘rules of engagement’ in sinking the ship. Now, this may all sound a bit dry and technical, but it isn’t. It’s a brilliantly dramatic account of government cover-up, dishonesty, political expedience, the reality, horror and human cost of war. It plays out as a gripping investigative drama with an assortment of weirdly fascinating characters and ultimately is very moving.
https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/the-belgrano-diary
Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan
I also recently read Andrew O’Hagan’s doorstop of a novel. This book features a huge range of characters across the classes, all centred around this particular area of North London. I found this a really accessible, enjoyable read that has so much to say about the state of our nation.
Yellowface – a novel by RF Kuang
A brilliantly page-turning story that is also so much more – in its examination of cultural appropriation, literary theft and the nature of creativity. I loved it.
Like Brothers – a memoir by Mark Duplass & Jay Duplass
These brothers have made so many great shows as actors, writers, directors, producers. This book is about the work they have made – but mostly it is about their relationship as brothers and how that translates into their creative work. There are lots of great tips and advice about creating story and making films. It’s both instructive and inspiring.
Bindweed by Martha Loader
The stage play that Martha submitted to get her onto this year’s Channel 4 screenwriting course, the play is on at the Arcola Theatre in London only until this Saturday July 13th. Sorry I didn’t recommend this sooner – it’s a really powerful piece of writing – funny, involving and dark – about domestic male violence. Highly recommended.
https://www.arcolatheatre.com/whats-on/bindweed/
The next newsletter will be on Friday July 26th
Best wishes
Phil
PHILIP SHELLEY
Twitter: @PhilipShelley1
Friday July 12th 2024
