TENacity

GENRE BUSTING

Writing Genre Material that is fresh, ground-breaking and original

Saturday 27th June 2009, 10am-5pm

The Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton

Led by TV/Film Producer Claire Ingham and screenwriter and TV co-producer Phil Ford

How can writers write TV/Film genre pieces and still keep their work feeling fresh and new?

What strategies can be employed to satisfy the conventions of genre and the genre audience – without becoming formulaic?  This day-long workshop will discuss and look at TV and film genre examples that moved our ideas of the genre on, dealing particularly (but not exclusively) with thriller and science fiction pieces. By the end of the day, writers should have some new ideas about how to challenge themselves when writing genre material.

Cost: £50 (£45 concession)

To Book Download a booking form

Phil Ford is lead writer and co-producer of series 3 of Doctor Who spin-off series THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES, having already written 10 episodes for the first two series. His 150th television commission (co-written with Russell T Davies), one of 2009's DOCTOR WHO specials, is now in post-production. He is also writer of the new animated DOCTOR WHO adventure, Dreamland. He has also written for the BBC's other high-profile spin-off series, TORCHWOOD (and recently wrote an original TORCHWOOD novel for BBC Books, and TORCHWOOD radio play). Phil also wrote the online TORCHWOOD game that accompanied the second series. Writer of 22 out of 26 episodes of Gerry Anderson's new CGI series of CAPTAIN SCARLET, Phil's other credits include 86 episodes of CORONATION STREET, a three-part TAGGART, THE BILL, HEARTBEAT, BAD GIRLS, FOOTBALLERS' WIVES and WATERLOO ROAD. His series LIGHTSPEED is currently attached to Target Entertainment and the Endeavour talent agency in Los Angeles.

INDEPENDENCE DAY: WRITING FOR BRITISH FILM

Saturday 4th July, 10am-5pm

New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme

Led by TV/Film Producer Claire Ingham, with Dan Lawson (Screen WM)

What kinds of feature films are currently being greenlit in the UK?  Who's funding them, and how do you get your foot on the ladder as a new writer?  An overview of the films that have been made in the last few years: trends, funders, writing schemes; and how to gain access to development funding, commissioners and producers.

The New Vic Theatre is offering a discount for workshop participants for Bryony Lavery's new adaptation of The Wicked Lady on Saturday 4 th July at 7.30pm. Script has reserved a limited number of these tickets for just £10

Cost: £60 (workshop + ticket for The Wicked Lady)

£50 (workshop only)

To Book: Download a booking form and send, together with your payment to: Script, 107 The Greenhouse, The Custard Factory, Gibb Street, Birmingham, B9 4AA

3D TO 3G STORYTELLING: NEW NARRATIVE STRUCTURES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR WRITERS AND DRAMA PRACTITIONERS

Saturdayn 11th July, 10am-5pm

Gateway Arts Centre, Shrewsbury

Led by TV/Film producer Claire Ingham and novelist, screen and games writer Graham Joyce

From the traditionall structured TV and film stories that attempt to appeal to wide audiences (the audiences ITV controller Peter Fincham called '3G' - 3 generations watching together), to the 3D structures of games and online drama that cater for specialised or niche audiences, this day-long course looks at new ways of telling dramatic stories across screens of all sizes.

Cost: £50 (£45 concessions)

To book: Download a booking form

Graham Joyce is the author or fourteen novels and has won numerous awards for his writing, including four British Fantasy Awards and the 2003 World Fantasy Award.  He has also written screenplays of his novels and was recently hired by the creators of Doom 4 to help develop the storyline potential of the computer game.

VISUAL IMPACT: WRITING FOR THE SCREEN

Saturday 25th July, 10am-5pm

The Artrix, Bromsgrove

Led by TV/Film Producer Claire Ingham and award-winning novelist and screenwriter, Helen Cross

Writing for the screen demands many of the skills a writer uses in creating short stories, novels, radio and theatre plays - but it also requires new ways of visualising and thinking about plots and characters.  How difficult is it to make the transition from prose storytelling to writing for the screen, and what are the tricks of the trade?

Using a mixture of film clips, writing exercises and practical advice, this course will encourage writers to think visually about stories, characters, delivering informatio and developing a visual style.  It will also include a session with award-winning novelist and screenwriter Helen Cross, whose book My Summer of Love became a BAFTA award-winning feature film.  Her first original screenplay, Stratford Road , is currently in development with Red Room Films and the UK Film Council.

Cost: £50 (£45 concessions)

To book: Contact The Artrix Box Office on 01527 577330

Helen Cross was born and brought up in the village of Newbald in East Yorkshire.  Her first novel, MY SUMMER OF LOVE won a Betty Trask Award and became a BAFTA award-winning feature film, directed by Pawel Pawlikowski and starring Paddy Considine, Natalie Press and Emily Blunt.  Her acclaimed second novel was THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS and her third, SPILT MILK, BLACK COFFEE has just been published in hardback by Bloomsbury.  Helen has previously written several stories and plays for radio, including THE TYPIST FLEW TO AUSTRALIA. STRATFORD ROAD is her first original screenplay and has been developed with Claire Ingham at Red Room Films, with the support of Screen West Midlands and the UK Film Council.

All screen TENacity workshops are led by Claire Ingham

Claire Ingham is a producer and film and television script developer. She works on projects at all stages of development - currently ranging from the adaptation treatment of Eoin Colfer's bestselling novel THE WISHLIST to the final draft of Helen Cross' original feature STRATFORD ROAD – to a number of original drama series and serials for the BBC and Channel 4.  Claire has previously worked for a number of film and television companies in development roles, including Red Rooster, Alibi Film and Television, Sly Fox Films, SWISH and Ecosse Films. She was Head of Film and Television Development at Impossible Pictures for almost four years where she headed a small team, commissioning and developing a range of TV and film projects for all the major broadcasters, including Jed Mercurio's contemporary retelling of FRANKENSTEIN and Michael Chaplin's family film PICKLES.

HOLLYWOOD SCREENWRITING: JUMPING THE FIRST HURDLE

James Bartlett will be returning in November 2009 to run a day-long workshop on Hollywood Screenwriting, to include an extended session on how to pitch your idea.

In Hollywood, thousands of scripts land on the desks of producers, agents, actors and studio executives every day - how can you make sure that yours makes it past the first hurdle?  This workshop will discuss some of the simple but fatal "red flag" mistakes that screenwriters make - and how to avoid them.  There will also be discussion about the differences between Hollywood and the UK/ Ireland film industry, and an opportunity for writers to pitch their own script and story ideas. 

The workshop will be led by James Bartlett.  James is a writer and journalist living in Los Angeles.  He is a story analyst for Sundance, National Geographic Films, New Regency, UCLA and the Academy of Motion Pictures' Nicholl Screenwriting Awards.

For further details, please email info@scriptonline.net

POISED FOR FLIGHT

An exciting opportunity for disabled writers

Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Centenary Suite
7, 14, 21, 28 March 2009 (10am-5pm)

Script, in association with Outside Centre, presents an in-depth Introduction to Screenwriting Course to provide training for disabled writers to create their own stories for the screen.

The aim of the project is to promote the skills and employability of disabled people within the arts and to provide opportunities for writers to develop their careers.

Tutors are experienced film-makers and teachers, specifically trained by Phil Parker to deliver this course. Using team workshops, lectures and discussion groups, the course explores stages of development, script format, genre and how to get your script made into a film. The course lasts four days spread over a number of weeks, offering a valuable opportunity for feedback on your own screenplay. Suitable for beginners. Age 16+

The course is funded by Screen West Midlands.

Outside Centre is a disability-led organisation based in Wolverhampton, whose main objective is: “To Advance Disability in Society”.

Cost: £90 (£60 concessions)

To book: Please complete the Booking Form and send, together with full payment, to:

"Script"

Unit 107 The Greenhouse

The Custard Factory

Gibb Street

Birmingham

B9 4AA

Please make cheques payable to "Script".

For further details, please email info@scriptonline.net

SCREEN ADAPTATION

This scheme has now ended.  Thank you to all who participated.

The writers were:

Andrea Blundell

Andrea Blundell has recently returned to the UK after 5 years of working in Toronto's film industry where she had the unique opportunity to work on both sides of the fence, both as a screenwriter and as a Creative Analyst deciding who gets the funding.  She is presently hired to adapt acclaimed Canadian novel The City Man to screen and was nominated Canada's "Emerging Screenwriter" by Women in Film and Television.

Treatment Proposal: Under the Tongue (Andrea Blundell)

Under the Tongue is the story of two sisters coming of age in an Evangelical cult, balancing worries about approaching Armageddon with whether their new Stepfather will let them wear lipstick.  When devout Faith finds herself suddenly popular at her new high school and her rebellious sister Blondine finds acceptance with the Church's youth group, one sister falls from God's good books as the other rises.  But the lines of good and bad blur when the youth group becomes the centre of a scandal that rocks the small community and both sisters find themselves implicated.

Paul Brodrick

Paul worked in theatre and television production for nearly fifteen years before turning to writing.  He has co-written a pair of episodes of Supply and Demand with Lynda La Plante for ITV, wrote regularly for The Archers on Radio 4, and has also written for Doctors on BBC One and Family Affairs on Five. More recently, he adapted Dancing with Mr D as an Afternoon Play for Radio 4 and wrote a drama documentary about the My Lai massacre in the Vietnam War, All American Boys as a Friday Play, also for Radio 4.

Treatment Proposal: The Botathen Ghost (R.S. Hawker et al)

Victorian England.  Rosie, recently orphaned, is sent away with her nurse to live with her ancient great aunt in the family mansion.  As the winter draws in Rosie finds a new friend, but is the little girl calling her to play outside tp play really her friend?  And what is the dark and terrible secret the rest of the household are trying to hide?

Helen Cross

Details to follow.

Nick Hennegan

Details to follow.

Stephen Jackson

Stephen Jackson is a cartoonist who runs Chuckletown.com, a writer who has been shortlisted for the International Playwriting Festival and the Keats-Shelley Prize for Poetry, and an illustrator who wants to turn his own book Mirrorworld - an optical illusion adventure for kids - into an animated family film.

Treatment Proposal: Mirrorworld (Stephen Jackson)

When the muddling bungling Muddlemob raid Lemonville and kidnap all the inhabitants, only schoolboy Seymour remains in the deserted town.  Reluctantly he must make his own marmalade sandwiches and set off into the mountains to rescue everyone from Blue Cat Castle.  But first he must outwit the Muddlemob and face the Mirrormonster...

Trelawney Kerrigan

Trelawney started her writing career in international journalism writing news and showbusiness stories.  For the past several years, she has been focusing on building a career as a drama writer for television and radio, working predominantly with the BBC.

Treatment Proposal: Helen of the High Hand (Arnold Bennett)

The works of Arnold Bennett beautifully bring to life the unique spirit of the people of the Potteries.  In Helen of the High Hand, Bennett reveals the wit, warmth and need for emotional closeness hidden behind the proud facade of miserly James Ollerenshaw and the headstrong niece who breathes life into his tightly controlled world.  Written in 1910, this story celebrates a community that today fights to retain its dignity in the face of an economic wilderness.

Jessica Luxembourg

Jessica is an award-winning writer (International Student Playscript Competition, Arc Productions sponsorship) whose work has been performed at venues including the Hackney Empire, London (Babel Junction), The Soho Theatre, London (The Devil's Own Goldfish Scam) and the Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh (Insane Jane).  Her short film (Phil's Job) won the Time Out DVious Shorts Award and was produced by Blaze The Trail with Nick Rowe (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) in the title role and screened at Cannes, Melbourne and Raindance film festivals.  She is a graduate of the MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglie, and of Cambridge University.

Treatment Proposal: The Christopher Complex

The Christopher Complex is an adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations into a feature length "feel-good" teen movie set in the present day in and English boarding school based on Rugby, and in inner city Birmingham.  It's about two teenagers from very different backgrounds who both manage to recover from the traumas of their pasts and escape the malign influenace of their families when they learn to love and support each other.

Nicola Monaghan

Nicola Monaghan is the author of The Killing Jar, which won a Betty Trask Award, the Author's Club First Novel Award and the Waverton Good Read.  Her second nove, Starfishing, was published in March.  She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Writing, based at Birmingham City University.

Treatment Proposal: The Killing Jar (Nicola Monaghan)

When Kerrie-Ann was little, she was taught about the world outside her rough estate by Mrs Ivanovich, the butterfly expert next door.  Years on, she still dreams of the Amazon Rainforest, and feels as trapped by her life with drug dealer Mark as the insects in the bottom of the old lady's killing jar.  Struggling to protect her brother Jon, and deal with the Mark's various addictions, happiness may be cheap in the East Midlands, but love is costing Kerrie-Ann more than she's prepared to pay.

Tiffany Murray

Tiffany Murray is a novelist whose novel Happy Accidents (Harper Perennial, 2005) was shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize.  Her second novel, Diamond Star Halo, is due to be published in 2009.

Treatment Proposal: Diamond Star Halo (Tiffany Murray)

Details to follow.

Brendan O'Neill

Brendan is a Birmingham based screenwriter.  He is developing a number of feature ideas ranging from Scampenstein - a Frankenstein-wit-dogs childrens comedy drama feature animation - to Paper Aeroplane - a gritty inner city "Rapunzel on smack" tale.  Other activities include finding an agent or published for his magic realist novel Unitx O'Mooner - a novel about a young alien who crash lands in Ireland in 1969.  He has also had poetry published widely.  He is interested in writing team style collaborations on sit-com series.  Website:

www.o-neill.org

Treatment Proposal: The Tain

Brendan is adapting the ancient Irish story of the boy warrior Cuchulainn for the big screen and hopes to have it realized using CGI in the same way as Beowulf.

Elizabeth Parkes

Elizabeth has been writing for her own enjoyment since her twenties.  When she left full time teaching, she joined Coach House Writers, Oldswinford, Scrawl Reading Circle and Swan Playwrights, Kidderminster.  She has had a play produced at two local theatres.

Treatment Proposal: Amos Barton (George Elliot)

George Elliot's first novel is set at a time of change just before Victoria came to the throne and contains a clear anti-hero as the main protagonist.

Campbell Perry

Campbell is a freelance writer, specialising in music theatre for children and young people and is, currently, on a writing attachment with the Birmingham Rep adapting a Michael Morpurgo book for the stage.  Recent work includes a full-scale community musical for Mac, a cantata for Birmingham schools (Mac), a project based on The Tempest, for the National Theatre and an Arts Council funded piece for children aged 4 years + which toured in the West Midlands.  He is also working on a play for babies aged 12 months+.

Treatment Proposal: By The Tide Of The Humber (Daphne Glazer)

Lyn, by a quirk of fate, meets Eddie, the prison officer who found the body of her convict boyfriend Max, hanging in his cell.  Their meeting sparks an intense and passionate affair.  However, a shock discovery about her own mother's death, her father's stubborn silence and Eddie's ever-present wife and family act as a catalyst which puts Lyn on a path that will change her life forever.  Lyn sets herself a daunting physical and psychological challenge.  From the wilds of Spurn Point she pits herslf against the fierce tides of the Humber in an attempt to seim its width.  But, has she the courage and fortitude to find her true self and be set free from the ghosts of her past?

Louise Ramsden

Louise has written several pieces for BBC Radio 4, including two Afternoon Plays, a drama-documentary, two short plays for the Woman's Hour slot and the co-written series Blood in the Bridal Shop, broadcast last year. Three of her stage plays have been produced at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, including Gas and Air, which was selected as Critics Choice in The Scotsman and later transferred to London.  Her most recent stage play, Hundreds and Thousands, was written with the support of Theatre Absolute, and will be produced next year by Buckle for Dust, the theatre company of which she is co-Artistic Director.  She is currently developing new ideas for Radio 4, and for stage.

Treatment Proposal: Mark II (Chris Farnell)

Phil's best friend has just come back to life.

Thanks to the cloning techniques of Laz-R-Us services, the new MArk looks scarily like the original - but his arrival at school stirs up trouble.  After a terrible accident makes him question his real identity, the clone discovers a secret message from the olf Mark that turns his world upside down.

Can Phil save Mark II when his life goes off the rails?  And will the clone ever be accepted as the real thing?  A 21st Century Frankenstein story about grief, friendship, and what makes us individuals.

Christine Watkins

Christine writes for live performance and multi-artform work.  She has had one screenpay produced by the British Film Institute and two by S4C.

Treatment Proposal: Gone to Earth (Mary Webb)

18 year old Hazel loves her isolated life in the wild Shropshire hill country with a passion.  When local landowner Jack Reddin and newly arrived minister Edward Marston discover her, Hazel's natural sensuality is faced with a harsh choice.

Polly Wright

Details to follow.

SELECTION PANEL:

Catherine Edwards - Programmes Director, Script

Claire Ingham - Managing Director, Red Room Films

Alan Mahar - Publishing Director, Tindal Street Press

LEAP OFF THE PAGE ARCHIVE

For full details about the Leap off the page! programme, click here to view the archive.

Script teamed up with Light House to produce 3 short films as part of this writer development programme.

WORKSHOPS

We are now in the planning stages for more screen writing workshops around the West Midlands. If you have ideas for workshops you would like to attend, then let us know.

SCRIPT READING SERVICE

You can now send your script to us and receive a feedback report from one of our expert readers. For more information about this service please go to the Resource section.