International Emmy's (Part Two)

So after a short break, it was time for The Storyteller script reading. I was told to just sit amongst the audience, incognito, so the actors didn't know who I was until afterwards. The reason for this was that my presence, as writer, may make them nervous as to whether they are doing it 'right.' I was actually quite chuffed with the thought that I had the capacity to intimidate anyone at all, but this was short lived as the official photographer chose this moment to get some snaps of me, thereby blowing my cover.

Anyway, eight actors split the parts between them and did a marvellous job performing what I had written on the page. It was a weird experience, not one I've had before. A kind of mixture of detached interest, as if this had nothing to do with me, and nervous tension that it was crap all along and I was about to be found out. I was relieved that Brendan Burke, who was playing the protagonist, did not attempt a Scottish accent. He was kind enough to say that the dialogue worked really well with the Scottish twang he could hear in his head, but confessed in the Q & A that when the director sent him the script, he was a bit concerned about butchering it. Admittedly, it was sometimes strange hearing the dialect I had written, complete with British slang and swearing, come out with an American accent, but otherwise, the actor nailed the part and even looked uncannily like what I imagined the character would look like. In fact I thought all the performances delivered in getting over what I was trying to do and I was very happy with it.

But more than that, you write and rewrite and rewrite. And then you win something like this and you think yeah, I nailed that. However once you have a reading, and you get interpretations from the director and actors, you realise things can always be better! It was fascinating to see that what I perceived as some of the funniest lines, be greeted by complete silence, and others getting very generous laughter. But overall, what pleased me most was the fact that a few people commented that the protagonist, whilst being unpleasant and then likable again in equal measure, was always interesting and he never lost the audience empathy. It reinforced my conviction that 'unlikeable' characters make excellent protagonists, something I have been banging on about a fair bit on this blog!

After the reading I was introduced (officially) and presented with my plaque and cheque (wohooo) by Fred Cohen, Chairman of the International Academy of Television Arts, (and an incredibly nice chap). Fred and I then had a chat in front of the audience before questions were thrown open to the floor. Fred pointed out last years winner, Felicity Carpenter, was here again and even though we hadn't met yet, it was nice to know someone who had been through all this before was in the audience! A couple of questions came up that are worth mentioning here. Firstly, I was asked what improvements I would make to the script now that I had heard the reading? And I replied none. I made it clear that this did not stem from any arrogance on my part. If and when a producer/company is interested, and feels development is needed, I will more than happily oblige. But on spec, I felt that if it was good enough to win this award, it was time to move on and write something else. You can fall into the trap of rewriting and perfecting and messing about with the same script over and over, and that does no one any good. Writers need a portfolio, we need to demonstrate range and consistency, not just have one script to shop about. So instead of rewriting The Storyteller, I will take what I learnt and apply it to the next one.

Another question concerned the role of writers in the UK compared with the US. Interestingly, the questioner felt that we were valued more over here than writers are in the US. I suggested that we felt the opposite! Writers rooms are virtually non existent here and it's rare to have writer/producers or showrunners. So life may always seem greener on the other side but two key points are that the situation is beginning to change here, with shows being created and then produced/show runned by writers, and an interesting point by Dick Wolf that things may be about to dramatically change in the US due to the economic crisis. (But more of that in the next post.)

After about a couple of hours in total, the event was over. It was enormous fun and a fantastic experience. There was a brief break before the HBO hosted cocktail party, where I met a whole bunch of industry people from the US, UK and the rest of the world. My friend Toby, who was with me, suggested I hold my plaque during the party and work the room with it under my arm. At first I laughed, feeling I would look like a bit of a plumb. But I realised that he was 100% right and just what a good idea this was. Self promotion is not only useful, it's expected. You're in a packed room full of people who can make a difference to your career. You want to stand out. It's no time for being shy and coy. It worked too. It got me attention and made people want to come over and speak to me, rather than me having to approach everyone cold. There is no place for arrogance or ego, but networking is a massive part of this business and you do what you can, politely, to make the most of it.

At the end of a long Sunday, it was time to find a kosher restaurant for dinner with friends, not hard to do in NYC! Monday would include a lunch to honour Dick Wolf and of course the gala Emmy awards dinner. Come back soon to find out what happened!

International Emmy's (Part One)

This will probably be a trilogy of posts cos there's a lot to get through. But bear with me, some of it may even be interesting!

So my trip began a week ago, when we flew out from Heathrow to Newark. The plane ride wasn't bad, but due to my back, other pain issues, and general dislike of flying, was still not the most enjoyable 7 hours.

The Festival actually began with a party on Friday night followed by seminars throughout Saturday. But because I don't work on Shabbat (Sabbath) my wife and I took some time out to visit family Upstate.

So I didn't join the action until Sunday, and the first thing I went to was the TV Movie/Mini Series seminar. Basically what happens is that the four nominees have clips shown of their work, and then there is a panel with a Q & A. David Aukin and Hal Vogel were there from Daybreak Pictures with the excellent Britz. But from what I saw of the clips, it was a very strong category with films from Germany, Argentina and China. (The award eventually went to
Television por la identidad from Argentina and Britz was unlucky to be the only British nomination not to collect the Emmy in their category.)

What was interesting was that apart from Britz, the other three movies were all period pieces, from the Eighties, Seventies and Twenties. The 'P' word is usually a TV taboo so when I quizzed the nominees on this, the general feeling was that they had a sense of duty to tell these stories. The passion was clear to see and an overriding theme was what can we learn from past successes and failures to inform our world now? Aukin added that whenever they do a period piece, it should always say something about the world today, and not just be about a nice classical book (a slight dig at costume drama but I think it was more that this was not his thing, rather than that was fundamentally wrong).

Another point worthy of note was that, only getting to see the first 15 minutes of each film, it was fascinating to see what was packed into that time frame and how it was structured. Although each film was very different, all four had very clear protagonists and inciting incidents. It's worth thinking about, next time structure is being bemoaned as formulaic and stifling creativity, that stories are told this way (for the vast majority of the time) for a very good reason. Get that right and you have a good foothold. Mess around with it and you could be on a slippery slope. And don't think for one minute that within that structure, you can't be very creative, because obviously you can and these four films were being rightly honoured for being the best this year.

As for Britz, Aukin revealed that he and writer/director Peter Kominsky were sitting in a coffee shop 400 yards away from the 7/7 attacks in London. What shocked them in particular was the fact that the Muslim terrorists were British born and bred. The war on terror was clearly no solution, and was only exacerbating the world climate. At the same time Channel 4, who were extremely supportive, wanted them to follow up the David Kelly story, The Government Inspector, and so Britz was a direct response to all of this.

Aukin and Kominsky are both children of immigrants so had an innate understanding of the pull between assimilating and holding onto your own culture and history. But of course neither were interested in doing a political essay, and were conscious of the fact that Britz was first and foremost a thriller, and had to work on those terms. Nevertheless the script was thoroughly researched and Aukin stated that everything that happened in the film had happened somewhere to someone.

Finally, when asked why a TV movie and not a cinema release, the reply was simple. It was four hours of screentime. They couldn't do it in less without serious compromises for the story, which of course they didn't want to make. TV gives you a bigger canvas, with a greater scope and a larger audience. Plus the nature of the story and the dual protagonist also lent itself well to a two-parter. Cutting between the two stories simply wouldn't have worked or had the same impact. The reward was that the second part got a bigger audience than the first (which is pretty unprecedented,) the main reason being the strong word of mouth and resonance with the British Asian audience.

What came across really clearly in the seminar was that you had four very different countries, complete with different histories, cultures and traditions, who in turn produced four very different movies. But whilst doing that, the focus very much remained on what was universal, in both characters and themes (not to mention the modes of storytelling like I said above.)

When thinking about our own work, it's so important to keep this in mind. Even if we are telling a very personal or localised story, it has to resonate with an audience. As I'm sure I've mentioned before, my script The Storyteller, was the most personal thing I've written to date. But what pleased me the most is that other people 'got it' and it wasn't so interior as to alienate an audience.

What did intrigue me though was how American actors were going to interpret it. Come back soon to find out how the public reading went..!

Play

I'm back, knackered and exhilarated all at the same time. Thoughts need to be gathered and batteries recharged before I blog about my trip, but in the meantime a couple of people from over the pond have asked me to mention their sites. So have a look at:

http://www.fivesprockets.com/ and http://scripped.com/

I haven't had time to check them out in any detail yet but they look pretty cool. See what you think.

As a taste of things to come - I can't resist posting this pic...

This is NOT my award. (I did get a smashing plaque though with a mini Emmy statue on it.) But the one above belongs to the lovely people from Life On Mars. A special thank you to Cameron Roach, S.J. Clarkson and Ashley Pharoah, who indulged me enough to let me wave it around like a moron (and omg it's heavy!)

Play is suspended

Right, I'm off to New York, for International Emmy Festivities.

Try and cope in my absence, I know it will be hard.

All being well I will post about my experiences upon my return.

Goodbye for now, and happy writing!

Euroscript Networking Event - 4th December

Euroscript's FREE Christmas Stocking - Thursday 4th December7.00 for 7.30pm

Top Screenwriting TechniquesAll Wrapped Up And Tied With A Ribbon And FREE
In the spirit of Father Christmas, our December Networking Event is packed full of presents to help you plan, write, evaluate and market your scripts.

We've bribed our top tutors to come and give you a sneak preview of their best ideas, systems and methods. This isn't a panel event or discussion but real, solid expertise.

We'll teach you a selection of our top techniques for inspiring creativity, writing great scenes, effective script editing, selling your scripts and much more.

These come straight from our 2009 programme of events, soon to be launched, and on this one night you can get them in advance - free and with no obligation. Of course, if you do decide to book a course or two then you can twist our arm too!

And there really is absolutely no obligation, except to join us, have fun and maybe even buy a drink and socialise with the other writers, directors and producers who come to our popular Euroscript Networking Evenings.

Thursday 4th December 2008 7.00 for 7.30pm
FREE - BUT BOOKING ESSENTIAL - email: events@euroscript.co.uk
- and then turn up in good time to make sure you get in. This is going to be a popular way to start unwrapping your first presents for Christmas.

WHERE:Central London location. When you book you will be informed of the address.
We often run free networking events for writers, directors, producers and development executives. If you would like to be kept up to date, click here to be put on our mailing list go to http://www.euroscript.co.uk/join-for-free.html
Enquiries enquiries@euroscript.co.uk Phone + 44 (0)7958 244 656

Things we noticed watching tv this week 13 (spoilers)

Three very different shows to look at this week, and more importantly, all are British made. It came as quite a surprise to me that, for all the TV I watch, before this last week only Spooks was British. This is perhaps a bigger debate for another time, but in the meantime, I was thrilled at the return of Outnumbered (BBC1)

Created by Guy Jenkin and Andy Hamilton, I thought the first series was the funniest sitcom I'd seen in a long time. Broadcast bizarrely late on consecutive nights, it gave itself no time for word of mouth buzz and I was equally flabbergasted that some critics seem to think it was rubbish. Claire Skinner and Hugh Dennis play the parents, and they do their roles well, but I don't get what's not to like with the sublime children, especially the youngest two who are simply hilarious. Certain umbrage seemed to be taken that a fair degree of the show is improvised, thus enabling more natural performances from the kids. Now I know this is probably not what a screenwriting blog wants to hear, but it worked, and worked very well. And let's be honest, it hasn't done Larry David and Curb Your Enthusiasm any harm. The second season will be shown on Saturday evenings, and certainly deserves this far better slot. It kicked off with that horror of horrors, a family wedding, and two standout brilliant scenes when the little bridesmaid filled the bride with complete trepidation, and the little boy harangued the Priest as to whether Jesus was as good a superhero as the likes of Superman. I mean seriously, what's not to like?? I know I am supposed to be more analytical in this column, but it's just hilarious and watch it if you haven't already.

A far different tone was set in Apparitions (BBC1). Created by Joe Ahearne, this six part supernatural thriller is an astonishing commission for prime time BBC. It must say something about the clout of both the writer and star Martin Shaw, that they could get a show about an Exorcist on at all! With anti religious feeling seeming to be the fashion (I have already read this: Unfortunately, there are some who will regard this programme as justification for believing religious, supernatural tosh,) this is quite a turn up. But come on people, this is fictional drama, not Songs of Praise. And this from a religious Jew! It didn't matter that I didn't believe 95% of the theology. All that mattered to me was does the screen narrative work? And the answer was a bit mixed. It was spooky, to a degree, which was the point, and not half as gory as some press build up would've had everyone believe. Father Jacob, the protagonist, was played with gusto and it was nice to see a character so committed to their faith. The tone was serious and played entirely straight. Maybe you could argue it took itself too seriously, but this would be completely missing the point. No one would accuse Spooks or The Fixer, for taking itself too seriously. Because these are crime dramas/thrillers set in worlds we can all immediately buy into (despite both shows have some far fetched elements). So the challenge to Apparitions was to set up this world, with all its fantastical elements, and make us believe it. It didn't quite manage it... yet. The trouble was that everything was done so matter of factly. And it was that that I didn't buy. It was too realistic! If it had set up this exorcist wing of the catholic church as more of a secret, little known practice, that may have worked better in establishing the world where demons are everywhere. But this was only the first episode and it was refreshing not to have another cops n docs show (a reason stated by Shaw for wanting to do it). So I will certainly be tuning in to see where they take the series.

Finally there was Walter's War (BBC4). Written by Kwame Kwei-Armah, this drama was inspired by the life of Walter Tull who, after years in an orphanage, went on to become a professional footballer and then the first black commissioned officer to lead British troops during WW1. It was impossible to escape the significance of watching a drama about a black man becoming an officer in the British army, when the official regulations stated he was not allowed to be, just a few days after Barack Obama was elected to the White House. In terms of the drama, I was surprised it was only sixty minutes long. This seemed a rich world and subject matter that could've been explored more. But even so, the combination of subtle writing and a fantastically understated lead performance by O T Fagbenle, made sure it eschewed big speeches in favour of letting actions speak louder than words. (Never a bad idea when it comes to screen drama!) One memorable moment came when Tull rescued a fellow soldier who had dropped a hand grenade during training, only to be castigated by him, and then failed by the supervisor because if the officer dies, who will lead the troops. It encapsulated the no win situation Tull was in. And the drama, rather than make it a mission on behalf of all black men, was cleverer than that, and focused on Tull's quiet determination to do what he wanted to do, no matter what stood in his way. The fact that the thing he wanted to do was to become an officer and lead men over the top of the Somme, said all it needed to say.

So what to take away from these three, very different British shows. Well, I've mentioned this before I'm sure, but the world you create is so important. I know Walter's War is historical drama, but the world is accurately recreated so that the context makes perfect sense. So too in Outnumbered, the performances are completely in step, and improvised or not, everything that comes out of the mouths of the actors is so character specific, that it's a useful lesson anyway in character creation. Apparitions on the other hand is not quite there yet. I admire and applaud it for playing its drama straight. But these are not everyday occurrences. And pretending they are gives it a false note that is unintended and self defeating. I hope it's not too late to fix it.

Much more than a Script Competition (apparently, it sounds just like a script comp to me)

The reliable Robin Kelly got there first but in case you haven't seen it yet...

ÉCU is currently calling for short and feature length script submissions for its 2009

We at ÉCU understand that for many talented writers - especially those without representation - it can be difficult getting scripts read by the people that matter: directors, producers and heads of development. We also passionately believe in the powerful experience, for both a writer and an audience, of witnessing scripts being read live by professional actors.

That’s why we have decided to launch ÉCU’s 2009 Much More than a Script Competition.
We will read scripts in English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian before making an official selection of the very best to be showcased live at ÉCU 2009. The festival will be held at the Bibliotheque Nationale de Francois Mitterrand in Paris, France.

The selected scripts will have a short dramatic sequence read live by professional actors in front of an audience of industry professionals, indie filmmakers and the general public.

Two overall winners will receive an additional prize and the coveted title of Best Feature Script / Best Short Script 2009.

So if you want your script to stand out to industry professionals at the European Independent Film Festival, then send it in before the deadline of JANUARY 1ST 2009 or the late deadline of FEBRUARY 1ST 2009.

Click here to enter.