Faithless

23 May 2007

I'm having a few problems with my first draft of Faith.

I've had to cut one character from most of the script because he was getting in the way of the story and really didn't add much to it. Beware of characters that are there simply for exposition.

However, I have decided to leave a scene with him in at the end as it ties up a particular plot thread nicely. Unfortunately this means I've had to lose about twenty pages of my script, which has put me back time wise. I'm having to work harder than ever to get this finished by the end of May.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

17 May 2007

Not much to report today, as I have my head down furiously typing to get my first draft of Faith finished before the end of the month.

The Epitaph rewrite is now complete and will be reviewed next Monday.

Back to the grindstone.

Agent Pack

10 May 2007

I'm working really hard on my Agent Pack getting it ready for sending out at the end of this month. I have decided that the following three scripts best represent my work to date: The Dead Side Of Life, Epitaph and Cross The Rubicon. Cross The Rubicon is going through one last polish and Epitaph is going through a major rewrite. Then I will finish work on their one page pitches.

An opportunity has arisen to rewrite someone else's script for a forty-five minute student film in pre production. The director isn't happy with his script and has shown an interest in me having a look at it. As of yet I haven't decided if I will take the project on, as it has a tight deadline and needs a lot of work. Obviously the Agent Pack is my main priority, but if I feel I have the time I'll give it a go.

BBC Writer's Academy 2007

03 May 2007

I have just electronically logged my application for this years BBC Writer's Academy. Last year they had over five hundred applicants and chose only eight writers. I have a feeling as they have widened the criteria this year the number of applicants is going to be significantly higher. As ever I shall be keeping my fingers crossed.

My agent pack is slowly coming together. I have my ten minute short and feature script completed and buffed to perfection, and I've completed the first draft of the ten minute short's one page pitch. I'm working hard on this pack over the next few weeks so that it will be ready to post at the end of this month.

Fossegrim

25 April 2007

The first draft of my short story (Hero) for the SFX Pulp Idol competition is complete and looking surprisingly good. I'm extremely pleased with the outcome. With scriptwriting you have to be economical with words, choosing exactly the right ones to get over your vision in as few as words as possible. Everything is done with an eye on the visual. Short story or novel writing is different, you can explore characters' thoughts on the page, which I find interesting and challenging at the same time. I'm really looking forward to get my teeth into my first novel.

My good friend Arne Reidar Mortenson contacted me yesterday as he and his pals at TVVest had decided they wanted a different, more darker and puzzling ending than the original ending of the script. A couple of hours later it was done and emailed back to them. They loved it. It's now called Fossegrim after a Norwegian myth about an evil water spirit. Filming will start soon.

Epitaph

19 April 2007

The rewrite of Epitaph, the project I'm working on with Tim Clague, starts today. We've came up with some good ideas of where we wanted to take the script, so now all that's left it to get down to it.

I have decided to only send one script to the BSSC now, and that script will be The Dead Side Of Life. It was everyone's favourite and therefor the natural choice.

I have decided to enter the BBC Writer's Academy this year. It's a big step, but one I feel ready to take.

I'm starting to get ten writer's packs together to send out to agents; one ten minute script, a thirty minute and a feature, all with one page pitch sheets attached.

My First Q&A

12 April 2007

I'm having a week off this week. No writing being done at all. Sometimes you have to have a break just to recharge the batteries. Back to normal next week.

Even though I'm on a break the ideas still keep flying around the inside of my head.