It seems about two thousand years ago, as in this time last year, that we published two books for Xmas. One a kids book, the other a collection of Christmas ghost stories. Both are on Amazon globally and both feature stories written by new writers in the LondonSWF community. So if you want a unique […]
This Girl is on Fire by Emma Johnson “Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise. Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise.” Maya Angelou There is a moment, just before you step onto hot coals, where the whole world seems to hold its breath. The guiding arm in front of you falls […]
It’s just over one month to the three days onstage in London. But the Screenwriters Festival this year is also SOOOO much more, especially for those who want to stay home and do it all online. Firstly, so yes, everything will be made available online. All the events over the weekend of the 10th to […]
Next year I am planning to make a low budget feature film and I am inviting submissions. It’s time to get back on set! The emphasis here is low budget and we ALL need to go into this with our eyes wide open. There will be rewrites, collaboration and plenty of compromise. Money will be […]
We live in a digital age where we are creating SOOOO much data, very few of us are archiving with an eye on the future. Or at least the long term future. For some reason, at a very early age, I realised that I should archive everything I create, ideally at the best quality, or […]
The London Screenwriters’ Festival is among more than 2,700 recipients to benefit from the latest round of awards from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund This award ensures that the festival will not just survive beyond the pandemic, but will thrive in these uncertain times. The London Screenwriters’ Festival is delighted to announce that it […]
One week in and not we are not even a third of the way there… LondonSWF365 seems to be doing exactly what we had hoped… Elevating energy, inspiring action, feeding the creative soul, loading the mind, and connecting like minded folk with their tribe. It’s exceeding even my own expectations and I had VERY high […]
The feedback from the first couple of days at LondonSWF365 is in and it’s bonkers good! I am delighted as we have worked really hard to make it high energy and exciting so as to enhance the learning, opportunities and experience of everyone attending. All sessions are recorded to watch later, so you can still […]
Buckle up… Nearly a month of screenwriting events begin tomorrow at 7:30pm, all live and available to watch on demand after for one year. We have over 100 sessions set up and around 50 world-class speakers. Now, here’s the biggest reason to join us: Momentum. For many of us, February will be a tough month, […]
I just spent five days deep inside an Arts Council Grant Application for the Festival, but in parallel the team has been ridiculously productive—launching new sessions, announcing new speakers and elevating the whole of February from Awesome to… even Awesomer! We planned the festival for February as we could see that on all fronts it […]
On the 31st of May last year, during the London Screenwriters Festival 365, I had the pleasure of watching Clive Frayne’s DIY Script Doctor session and subsequent script chat. I found that Clive’s thoughts about regional filmmaking chimed very close to my own, so we connected on Twitter. Our discussions on Twitter lead to a […]
I am sharing this rare interview with Stuart and Mark that I recorded after a screening of EXAM, a cracking British thriller set in one room. Mark, who died a few days ago, was a very close friend and also the editor of EXAM. I just wanted to share this footage as so little exists […]
In the early part of 1990, I found myself directing my first feature film at the age of 20. Standing in a freezing forest in Wales in the early hours of a February morning, I recall the convoy of trucks thundering up the side of the mountain. It evoked the opening shot from the little […]
When I reflect on any significant relationship in my life, that person has often gifted me something. Mark Talbot-Butler, who I just found out died last night, gave me the gift of rigorously high standards. Mark was best known for being a film editor, something I experienced first hand with him more than once. I […]
In the run up to Christmas, we ran a children’s book challenge to write one of twenty five short stories that we would then publish in a book, and also ask Santa to read! One for every night in December. We have uploaded then all now to watch here. Huge thanks to all the writers, […]
You can now get the book on Amazon HERE. As ever, debate among the judges was heated, but we finally arrived at a list! Please do leave a comment on this post, and if you are not on the list, keep going, it’s an insane job to judge art. We may also sneak some bonus […]
Deadline Dec 6th midnight GMT // 1,000 Words or fewer ‘Twisted 50: The Ghosts of Christmas’ is a collection of winter spine tinglers, fifty stories of the paranormal, fifty writers… fifty slices of terror. This special volume will be published on December 16th, just in time for that extra special gift this season… Can you […]
You can now get the book on Amazon HERE. Wow, well that was a whirlwind! We had 230 stories submitted to this initiative and each one was read by four experienced readers before selecting the 25 to go into the book. I plan to share an analysis of the experience in the coming days so […]
I just found out that Richie Brown, one of our writers from Create50, has sadly died. Richie was a prolific writer for Create50 and a huge supporter, both publically, and behind the scenes. A handful of writers really committed to elevating the whole Twisted50 experience for everyone, and Richie was one of them. During the […]
There are so many facets to direction, but Chris McQuarrie is bang on here… Lens, Light and Location. It’s just part of this killer interview he did with Chris Lockhart which is worth the watch. But this part REALLY resonated with so many lessons I have learned the hard way. Lens, Light and Location. Of […]
SUBMISSIONS NOW CLOSED This Christmas I am inviting you to write a bedtime story for children. Are you in? We want to create some magic for families around the world and get all of us… imagining, dreaming, creating, writing, rewriting, peer reviewing… and all on a short timescale and low word count. We will select […]
Maureen Hascoet de Cuestas is an extraordinary woman. I have known her for fifteen years now, we have worked together on many events. We have continued to support each other whenever things got tough. Often we needed just a safe place to talk and find solutions to what often felt like impossible challenges. Maureen […]
I just head that my old friend and filmmaker Johnny Kevorkian has died. I met Johnny when he worked on our first film, The Runner, in the spring of 1990. The production was crazy wild, we had so little idea what the hell we were doing! Johnny was around 16 and became the grip, in […]
By Sebastian Solberg The question I get asked most by aspiring filmmakers is ‘What camera should I buy?”. I hear this constantly. and the amount of times that not having the ‘right’ equipment has stopped someone from bringing their film idea to life is crazy! The truth is, to make great films, you don’t have […]
https://vimeo.com/383492750 Next Saturday I am hosting a special screening of my debut feature film ‘I Am The Prize’ along with in depth discussion on how I did it and how you can to. So… Making a micro-budget comedy feature film in 21 days is nothing if not educational. Here are my top 7 learnings: 1. […]
