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 […]

CREATIVE STEALING – YOUR RESPONSES

Hi There, I hope your writing is going very well. This fortnight, your responses to my last newsletter, ‘CREATIVE STEALING’. ‘Hi Philip, Inspiring newsletter, thank you. I like STEALING. I tend to do this with dead authors, using their literary works as inspiration. For example, I’m currently adapting Hamlet to a monastic setting in 12th […]

CREATIVE STEALING

Hi There, STORY PROMPTS / STEALING CREATIVELY One of the things I often find myself talking to writers about is the importance of having a fund of great ideas that you’re interested in writing about – and the need to be constantly replenishing this supply of killer ideas. This is particularly the case once your […]

INTERVIEWS & CVs

Hi There, INTERVIEWS & CVs INTERVIEWS I’ve been in the lucky position over the last few years of being the one who does the interviewing rather than being the one interviewed so I thought it might be helpful to share some observations about job / course interviews and CV’s. This is particularly fresh in my […]