THANK YOU!
Hi There, I’d like to thank all of you who got in touch to respond to my last newsletter. I was really gratified by all your responses and your generosity has left me feeling like an emotionally needy egotist! (but massive thank you nonetheless). Anyway, there were so many fascinating responses, in particular to my […]
HIGHLIGHTS& LOWLIGHTS OCTOBER 2023
Hi There, TV FACTUAL DRAMA Here’s a section of a review from The Guardian of The Reckoning, the new factual drama mini-series about Jimmy Saville ‘Stripped of context, The Reckoning is a rigorously well-made thing. Steve Coogan is brilliant in the lead. He is a fine actor, as well as a fine impressionist, and the […]
LONDON FILM FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS 2023
Hi There, LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 2023 In early October, I made my usual pilgrimage to the London Film Festival. The LFF is brilliantly curated – the quality of the films they select is so impressive. And in some instances, it’s the only chance for us in the UK to see certain films. For two Fridays […]
TV DRAMA SERIES – BOILING POINT
Hi There, TV drama series are such a great art form in the way they can enable you to get so enjoyably involved with a story world, a set of characters and their inner lives. This was brought home to me by episode one of the new BBC series BOILING POINT, ensemble TV drama at […]
SUCCESSION – AN EVENING WITH THE WRITERS
Hi There, SUCCESSION: AN EVENING WITH THE WRITERS. SOUTHBANK CENTRE I went to this event last Wednesday and here are a few reflections – First, how unique to go to a packed-out, sold out event in a 2500-seat venue that was a celebration of screenwriters and screenwriting. The writers in question were creator and showrunner […]
CHANNEL 4 SCREENWRITING COURSE 2024
Hi There, This week a look ahead to the – CHANNEL 4 SCREENWRITING COURSE 2024 We will be accepting entries for 2 weeks from Monday Sept 18th to Monday Oct 2nd. The entry criteria are the same as last year. We will not accept scripts that you have previously submitted ie you have to submit […]
CHANNEL 4 SCREENWRITING COURSE – SUCCESS STORIES
Hi There, This will be my last newsletter until Friday September 8th as I take a break from it over August. A few weeks ago, on July 4th, we held the industry drinks evening for this year’s Channel 4 screenwriting course, to introduce this year’s 12 writers to potential employers (producers, development executives, script editors) […]
CHARACTER VOICE-NOTES PART 2
Hi There, This week, the 2nd part of the excellent voice-note / character monologues that came out of my CREATIVITY FOR SCRIPTWRITERS ONE DAY COURSE in London on Sunday June 18th. I wanted to share these with you because I hope, from the quality and richness of the different characters created over about 90 minutes, […]
CHARACTER VOICENOTES
Hi There, The Sunday before last, June 18th, I held my one day CREATIVITY FOR SCRIPTWRITERS course for the first time since pre-lockdown. The writers really entered into the spirit of the day and so many brilliant story ideas and characters emerged from the day. We do an exercise in which I ask them to […]
CHANNEL 4 SCREENWRITING COURSE 2nd WEEKEND – SOME REFLECTIONS
Hi There, CHANNEL 4 SCREENWRITING COURSE 2ND WEEKEND We’ve completed the Channel 4 screenwriting course for another year (apart from the industry drinks evening coming up in a few weeks at which we introduce the year’s 12 writers to potential employers and agents from the industry) and I wanted to reflect a little on the […]
