TONIGHT
7pm-9pm
Join me for the first Action On The Side fundraising pub quiz
Raising funds for ActionAid UK and Me Too, the short film I am co-producing with Aude Konan
The questions were written by one of my students as part of their work experience.
We are running a series of monthly pub quizzes. Each one will raise funds for a charity and a specific film.
Hiding has received a Special Jury Award in the International Short Film Category from Golden Sparrow International Film Festival, February 2021, India
In the Uruvatti Film Festival February 2021, India, Hiding won best International Short Film and Best Producer – Short Film
Recently I’ve been thinking about what would be on my top 5 list of TV shows
If you’re asked objectively “what are the best TV shows of all time?”, then surely you are talking about which shows were seminal and changed the landscape of television for all time…
Let’s see
What do you think?
But, if I am asked subjectively, “What are your favourite TV shows of all time?”, then that has to be a list of rewatchability, where every episode is gold…
Then that list is somewhat more difficult to get down to only 5
What would be in your Top 5 Television Shows? Subjectively and Objectively
Congratulations to Nirusha Wijaymohan
She won Debut Filmmaker of Short Film in the Gona Film Festival (India)
HIDING has also been accepted into the UK Asian Film Festival 2021
Hiding has been accepted into the Global Lift-Off Film Festival. More details to come.
Hiding has been accepted into the February London Monthly International Web & Short Film Festival
Hiding is playing in the Berlin Lift-Off Film Festival, February 2021, in the New Voice Shorts section (Film #127)
You can buy a ticket to see the film online until March 1st 2021
When I did the Producing Masterclass in 2012, Stephen Follows told attendees to read 100 produced screenplays then 100 unproduced screenplays, and then good writing will jump off the page.
I, like many other screenwriters and producers, have a Dropbox folder with hundreds of produced screenplays, ready to read. I shared these with my HND students. I also have a tracking spreadsheet of which ones I have read.
I can recommend Stephen’s advice: read screenplays.
Are you a writer? read screenplays
Are you a producer? read screenplays
Are you a director? read screenplays
Are you studying film? read screenplays
Are you a DOP? … you don’t need to read screenplays. Go out and shoot something.
But, where do you find these scripts?
Here are a few links…
BBC Writers Room Script Library
for BBC TV, Radio, and Film scripts
The Script Lab
free account to access
The Internet Movie Script Database
Go Into The Story Blacklist.com
When downloading screenplays, make sure you access the .pdf versions, not transcripts.
Transcripts have been written after the film has been released. You want to see what was written before the film was shot.
.pdfs also give you the page number. This helps you to understand structure by page number (especially if referencing some of the scriptwriting gurus with their “this action happens on page number…”)
However, if you just want to read the screenplay online without worrying about page numbers, .htmls will be fine.
If you’re making short films, you need to watch short films.
I haven’t written a blog post on Letterboxd and how much I have taken to using it (yet), but until I do, I thought I would share these useful lists I am using to watch short films.
Crypt TV: short horror films (1)
Crypt TV: short horror films (2)
Letterboxd’s top 250 rated short films of all time
I’m also working my way through a Ranker list of Truly Scary Short Films You Can Creep Out To On YouTube Tonight
These lists help me to focus my short film watching. How do you pick which shorts to watch?
I just bought my ticket for the 2021 London Screenwriters Festival (Screenwriters Festival Online)
The event is fully online this year. I think one thing I’ll appreciate this year is that I can write my notes directly into Google Drive, rather than hand-write and have to type later.
The main reason I bought a ticket this year is because Showrunner Eric Kripke is speaking. He, of course, created one of my favourite shows (Supernatural), and also The Boys (starring two of NZ’s own). Plus I want to learn more about Showrunners and TV writing.
There are a heap of amazing workshops and sessions. The LSWF is always a valuable resource for writers. Tickets are only £60 and it starts this weekend.
Are you taking part?
As part of my Professional Career Development, this weekend and next weekend, I am taking part in the Fest Film Lab Sound Editing Workshop with Nina Hartstone and John Warhurst.
I love sound for film, and in a past life, I would have loved to have focused my energies fully into sound recording and sound design. I still sometimes do freelance sound recording on shoots, and I am currently teaching sound design. However, I am rusty. My hope by the end of the workshop is that I am more confident in my sound editing skills so I will feel comfortable doing the sound design on my own projects.
Busy Times 