I felt like a failure for more reasons than I can count (something common to most writers) and needed something to lift me up and yes, Talent Campus was it.
The girl that entered Talent Campus Ignition (the first part of Talent Campus) was terrified and couldn’t pitch to save her life, but I was told by the inimitable Chris Jones that if you ‘submit to the training’ you’ll come out changed… and trust me it’s true. I’ve been injected with a cocktail of confidence, motivation and inspiration. I decided to be 100% honest with a roomful of strangers and my life turned around within a few days. Because you can’t share your secrets with strangers and not become friends. And these people all loved writing, just like me. They were my people.
So thank you to everyone involved in Talent Campus, thank you for never letting me stay down. Thank you for those late night phone calls. Those emails. Thank you for bigging me up on Facebook (when I was obviously flagging). I am determined to make it (even if we have to race to see who makes it first). Because determination is the one thing nobody can take away from us.
So if you are wavering: “shall I enter, shan’t I enter. It’s so much money!” Trust me, it’s worth every single penny. These friends you make, these people you meet. They are yours for life.
Bryony Quigley
Screenwriter
@dialectofnotes
Posted by a member of the London Screenwriters’ Festival team.
