By Emma Hallewell Two important characters in every film are the protagonist and their antagonist, so I’m always looking for ways to create more interesting and compelling antagonists in my writing. One of my favourite antagonists is Heath Ledger’s The Joker (The Dark Knight, 2008), and I stumbled onto a great video by Lessons from […]
‘There is no conspiracy to keep good writers out of the industry’. This was a quote from TV exec John Yorke that really resonated with me at the weekend during the Writing TV masterclass we ran with Pilar Alessandra. It’s actually a quote from Poldark screenwriter and LSF speaker this year Debbie Horsfield that John […]
Tangerine, a no budget drama about trans sex workers in LA has been taking the festival circuit by storm, and it’s easy to see why. Watch the trailer. What’s key here is that it was shot on iPhones. I am not advocating every indie film be shot on an iPhone, but if you are procrastinating […]
The Star Wars universe and characters give access to young hearts and minds to powerful truths and beliefs about good and evil. But most importantly for these young hearts and minds, it unlocks and unleashes courage and potential to take a stand for their OWN truths and beliefs. JJ Abrams knows this and there are […]
We all have great ideas we think will make great films or TV shows. And maybe they will. But the greatest impediment a project needs to overcome is not only great stories well told, but projects that inspire action from people involved at each stage of the process. Key to success is knowing that at […]
Robert McKee remains one of the most influential voices in storytelling training, and having had lunch with him and his wife numerous times, it’s easy to see why. He knows his shit. Seriously, I usually turn up for lunch, sit down and just listen to a master as he shares his most recent discoveries. After […]
Hitting ‘save’ for the final time on the latest draft of Rocketboy and I am pretty sure we have nailed it. So much has changed in this new draft, but the one big note I want to share is just about using fewer words. I posted on Facebook recently, in the midst of the redraft, […]
I spend a lot of time writing stuff. Nowhere near as much time writing creatively (drama) as I should, but still, it’s writing. I am always looking for tools to help me write both faster and more powerfully. Recently I have been trying out writing for just one person. Not a group, fans or a […]
A producer friend at a production company recently shared this email interchange with a writer. It painfully illustrates why most producers will only accept solicited submissions or via a reputable agent. Irrespective of the talent this writer may show in the future, this bridge is burned. I have redacted certain details with XXXXXX’s and of […]
This session was shot at the London Screenwriters’ Festival which is now become the biggest event of its kind, for writers and filmmakers alike. What are the main outcomes of attending? Meeting loads of new collaborators and like minded folk. Getting a MASSIVE creative shot in the arm by being around creative and dedicated people […]
I enjoyed these two films about cliché in Indie film (US above) and Brit film (below). Of course cliché exists because it works, and often works well (if only mechanically). But when it becomes highly visible in our work, it’s also a real problem – the answer? Turn the cliché on its head. The heroine […]
I posted this on the LSF site and Facebook yesterday, but it’s so good, I decided to share it on my blog. It’s a memo written by David Mamet to the writing team on ‘The Unit’ and has been circulating the web for some time. For me, it nails the essence of screenwriting, especially for […]
Find the emotional truth at the heart of your story and hold onto it Ripley protecting Newt in ‘Aliens’, Chief Brody afraid of the water, and by extension, the shark in ‘Jaws’, the King needing to overcome a speech impediment in ‘The Kings Speech’. All of these things ‘we get’ and can connect with on […]
If you meet the ONE person who changes everything, attending the screenwriters’ festival will have been worth it. Every year I consider why it’s so important to come to the London Screenwriters Festival for screenwriters, filmmakers and other creatives. I have written posts on why you should come, what benefits you will see, how much […]
A friend recently posted an interesting question, ‘does it really matter if people do not see your work?’ The main thrust being (and I paraphrase) ‘in the act of creating art, is an audience important? Does in fact longing for an audience impact on creative integrity negatively?’ I have never seen myself as an artist. […]
As I followed Hit Girl and The Mother F****r down a corridor at the absurdly opulent Claridges Hotel in London, I had to smile to myself at the surreality of this moment – I had been granted a short audience during a break in their non stop press junket, to chat with Jeff Wadlow, writer […]
Your dialogue may be awesome, but an experienced director and actors will take it to another lever. This short video is a fantastic example of what actors and a director can do with your work. The scene is a direct re-enactment of a conversation between a two year old girl and her father, only the […]
https://vimeo.com/31537915 As The World’s End is now playing in cinemas, I though I would share a cracking session we recorded with Edgar at the London Screenwriters Festival last year. It was delivered to a crammed room and the atmosphere was electric! Podcast version (downloadable below) Onwards and upwards! Chris Jones My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com My Facebook […]
It’s easy to write off Sylvester Stallone as an action movie star playing one dimensional characters. But that would be a mistake. In his long career he has won BAFTA and Oscar nominations for screenwriting, written and directed a diverse range of movies, and delivered staggering commercial successes. In this interview, he shows that he […]
With Stuart Hazeldine After trawling my archives, I discovered this cracking recording I made with screenwriter Stuart Hazeldine about working in LA, but living in the UK. It was held at Ealing Studios in 2009, just before his first feature film EXAM went into production. He candidly shared his experiences giving detailed roadmaps you can […]
We recently completed the new draft of Rocketboy, by far the biggest reworking of the script ever undertaken. We sent the script to a handful of trusted people for feedback and we are still waiting from a few to come back. Waiting for feedback and getting feedback can be a nerve wracking experience, so I […]
Yesterday, we wrote the final few words of ‘Rocketboy’. It was an emotional moment to get to the end, but also an emotional moment to see what happens to these characters we have fallen in love with. To write those final few scenes that you have been dreaming of, structuring and planning for so long, […]
Judy and I are closing in on the final few pages of ‘Rocketboy’ and I thought I would share our rather unusual writing process. You may know that I have been writing ‘Rocketboy’ on my own, on and off, for many years. The truth is I have lost count of the drafts, probably around 17 […]
As ‘Welcome To The Punch’ continues to pick up rave reviews, I thought I would share a rare, intimate and candid interview I did with writer director Eran Creevy a few years back about his debut feature ‘Shifty’. At the time, Eran had just begun developing ‘Welcome To The Punch’. What shines through in the […]
The new Guerilla Filmmakers ‘Breaking Into Hollywood Pocketbook’ is now selling well via our site here (http://www.guerillafilm.com/the-hollywood-pocketbook/) (in both hardcopy AND ePub / PDF, as well as Kindle here. I have had several requests for information about sending a spec script to LA, and so I asked Gen her opinion on what trips up a […]
