South West Voices Part 2

Thursday, April 29, 2010

I told you all to make the most of it.

Good news is, I've been lucky enough to be invited to BBC Bristol for the first workshop. I'm very excited that my career is taking some positive steps forward this year. But I can't be complacent, I need to keep the momentum going.

South West Voices

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Calling all writers in the South West, follow the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/south_west_voices.shtml Make the most of it.

Scriptfrenzy

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Scriptfrenzy is going well despite being ill. Head full of snot and sticky gunk, which is making me giddy, and means I can't look at the screen for too long. Damn the space virus.

Competition

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

I've entered my second competition of the year, the Page Awards, the first being Academy Pictures. I decided to enter Second Skin, my TV comedy drama pilot. This is the first time I've entered anything other than a short or feature film, so it's a new experience. Will it bring me any success? Only time will tell, but I do have high hopes for this script. In the mean time there are plenty more competitions out there waiting for me to enter.

Second Skin Pilot

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The second draft of my supernatural comedy drama Second Skin is now complete, and I've sent the finished script off to the BBC Writersroom. Too soon perhaps? Only time will tell.

On the feedback for the script the main problem highlighted was the main character's job. He didn't have one in the first draft, as I portrayed him as a waster. An amateur mistake as someone pointed out to me. If he doesn't have anything then he doesn't have anything to lose and bang goes your drama. So I gave him a job and a business, which once failed, and which he has now built back up from scratch. He's lost the business once so he knows what that's like and because of circumstance he'll be at risk of losing it again. The drama is back.

The other concern was the general plot for the opening episode. One person thought it should be substituted for a bigger challenge. I thought about it, even wrote an outline for it, but eventually decided to stick with my original idea. After all this was only one person's opinion and I was under no obligation to follow it.

I let you know how I get on with the BBC Writersroom.

March Onward

Monday, March 08, 2010

I'm still waiting to hear back from the Canadian production company which isn't totally a bad thing, as it allows me to work on the outline for another episode. Being commissioned to write three episodes (one being the series finale) is obviously better than two. I'll send the third outline off hopefully by Wednesday. My entry for the Academy Pictures initiative is in, well before the deadline too. I know my outline has potential, but the usual paranoia hit home just after I posted the pitch off. Is the story too Eighties? Is it commercial enough to interest them? Will I be disappointed again and find out I didn't even make the final three? All things are possible, I'll just have to wait and see as I now have no control over the project or the decision whether it sound be made or not. I have also approached another agent today, and again it's a case of sitting back and waiting for the result. Us writers seem to spend most of our time waiting on one thing or other, and always at someone else's will.

Faith

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Faith, my feature drama, is being rewritten at the mo, to try and tie it down to one theme and rid the script of the jumble of thoughts it became. This means cutting a lot and adding new stuff. The main focus has to shift to the main character, where the original focus was on telling the tale of three characters. The other two characters will remain, but their plots will be reshuffled and shrunk to match the main theme of the script - (wanting a better life).

Still, much work to do before I can send it out to be read.

Also, not sure about the swearing. How much is too much? I think I might have to look at that after the rewrite.