Having attended the London Screenwriter’s Festival on a few occasions in the past, I thought I knew what to expect.
In many ways I was right.
I knew I would learn a lot from the amazing speakers. I knew I would reconnect with the tribe and make new friends. I knew I would laugh a lot and soak up the positive energy and come away feeling invigorated, inspired and fired up to write and take life on, feeling ten feet tall.
All that happened at London SWF24, and so much more. The difference was: I jumped in, feet first and faced some fears.
Actor’s Table Read
As I had booked my ticket very early, I studied the regular emails and deadlines carefully.
I wanted to get the most out of it, so I decided to submit some pages of my half hour TV comedy Pilot to the Actor’s Table Read.
I was ecstatic when I was successful. On the day of the Zoom table read, felt like a young child at Christmas, especially since I had looked up the actors, who were cast online. They were exactly who I had pictured for these characters!
For the first few takes, the director, Catherine Arton, tried many different variations, before having a group chat. Then the final take was magic. Seeing my words come to life and receiving feedback from the talented actors and director was an invaluable experience. I took many notes and immediately tweaked my script.
I can’t recommend this experience enough!
Pitch Fest
Last time I pitched at the London SWF was back in 2015. I had only written one thing and wanted to know what pitching is like. I learned a lot from that experience, which helped immensely for this year.
This time, I felt more confident in my writing, I had three projects to pitch: A half hour comedy TV pilot and two comedy shorts.
Prior to booking the pitching session, I studied the execs, who were going to attend and chose who I would like to speak to the most (no point pitching to someone who is looking for a feature horror, for example).
On the day, I was there nice and early. We all entered the room in the order we had arrived, armed with a floorplan of who was sitting where.
I found chatting to the other pitchers in the queues helped calm the nerves.
I strategically chose someone, who wasn’t first on my priority list, to get the first one, and the nerves, out of the way.
To my surprise, she seemed interested and requested all of my one-pagers.
The second person I spoke to, I was convinced would be interested, but I was wrong. He very politely let me know that it wasn’t for him, however he liked the idea of the story and gave me some superb advice on what to do with it: “This would be a good concept short. Make it under 8 minutes and send it to targeted festivals,” he said.
Who knew that one of the most positive outcomes from the Pitch Fest would come from a rejection! I was very grateful for his kindness and advice.
All in all, I spoke to five execs and producers, and the feedback was overall positive.
If anyone is hesitating to book the Pitch Fest next year, don’t! Do it! Don’t hesitate, and you will leave feeling happy and proud you did a scary thing!
Pitch Factor
Fresh from the Pitch Fest, after attending a few sessions (more on those later) and meeting up with the tribe in the bar (more on that later also), I popped upstairs to the Final Draft Hall to see what the Pitch Factor was all about, not sure whether I would have the courage to do it.
The Pitch factor is very different from the Pitch Fest. You don’t pitch in the hope of an exec, or producer being interested in your project. Instead, you put a fiver in a jar, go on stage, where you will have three minutes to deliver your pitch to two execs. The best pitch wins the jar of money. It’s more for fun and to overcome your fears.
After a short intro, Joey Tuccio and Pat Higgins were perched on stools, on the stage, there were lights, there was a red circle, and we were invited to line up to pitch, if we wanted to.
I jumped up, without thinking about it, and just lined up. I was fourth or fifth in line, my heart was pounding. I was gripping onto the crumpled up fiver with my sweaty hand. I wanted to leave the queue, but no: “You’re here, just do it, no regrets,” I told myself.
It was my turn. I was just about to climb the stairs with my shaky legs, when they reset the stools on the stage, so that the pitchers would be more centred on the stage and in the light…I wanted to run. Instead, I climbed those stairs, introduced myself and gave my pitch. They laughed, thank goodness, as it’s a comedy. They asked questions, smiled, were kind and encouraging. I did it! I faced a big fear and it felt amazing, adrenaline pumping through every core of my being.
If you’re hesitating to participate in the Pitch Factor, don’t! Jump in. You won’t regret it!
The Sessions:
This year, I was laser focused on what I wanted to get out of the sessions, so I primarily concentrated on all things TV.
First things first though. Chris Jones’ opening session is a must! It is the most positive experience. It sets the tone, gets you fired up and you understand what London SWF is all about. It’s about being part of something, belonging somewhere, facing your fears, learning, connecting and letting loose!
The sessions, as always, were incredible, inspiring, informative and gave me a lot of food for thought on where to take my projects, my writing and where screenwriting fits in with my life.
I was particularly emotional, and bursting with pride, attending sessions that included the amazing Philip Lawrence, whom I had first met at the London SWF in 2015 as a fellow delegate, whose writing career in television has soared since! Doesn’t get much more inspiring than that!
My tip would be to know what you want to do and pick the sessions accordingly. Saying that, you can watch them all back, so go to the sessions you fancy. You will get loads out of it either way.
The Tribe
One of the most amazing, and important things to happen at the London Screenwriter’s Festival are the connections and friendships you make. You can walk up to any group of people and be invited into the fold. You form genuine friendships very quickly, because everyone there shares so much: The same dreams, obstacles, sensibilities, interests and aspirations. It’s more than that though. There is a deeper connection in the knowledge that we “get” each other.
This year was no different.
I reconnected in person with so many dear friends, met some people in person for the first time, even though we had connected on social media, through mutual friends. It was like meeting old friends, whom you have known all your life.
It was like coming home.
I also met up with the supremely talented actress from my table read, Eliza Leonard, and we hit it off, chatted, bounced ideas off each other and made plans to shoot that concept short together.
If you hesitate walking up to people and saying hello, don’t! Jump in, you won’t regret it!
So my top tip for having the best experience at the London Screenwriter’s festival is to face your fears, meet loads of people, put yourself out there and jump in feet first.
I feel grateful, happy, inspired, re-focused and changed!
Thank you London SWF
Dorothee Kuepers // Screenwriter
Posted by a member of the London Screenwriters’ Festival team.
