FADE IN:
A flying start for April: I attended “How to Write for Film & TV Masterclass” at the London Book Fair – 17 April 2010.
Chair: Julian Friedmann, Agent & Co-founder of Blake Friedman.
David Nicholls, bestselling author
Dr Craig Batty, Author and Senior Lecturer in Screenwriting
Paul Ashton, Producer, BBC Writersroom.
Advice a plenty, but the basic bullet points were:
• It’s tough and very, very hard to sell a spec script…hmmm!
• Blog/Twitter about Screenwriting – another box ticked.
• Read 100 scripts a year.
• Include a synopsis with a submitted script.
• BBC are looking for the individual as much as the idea.
• Take any writing gig to get noticed.
• Create networks and market myself.
• Quality of writing conquers (to a degree) the idea.
• Be entrepreneurial.
• Contact my regional screen agency – bursaries!
• Look for the first script to sell me, rather than to sell ‘it’
• Edinburgh Film Festival to meet Film Producers
• Be industry savvy
• Understand film genres
• Submit to everybody – don’t wait for the phone to ring.
• Submit finished work to the BBC’s Writersroom.
Oh, I almost forgot:
• Finish the blooming screenplay!
FADE OUT:
