Updates and News
Christopher Vogler’s Top Quotes For The Hero’s Journey
Christopher Vogler is one of the most influential teachers of screenwriting for me. His book, The Writer’s Journey, about the Hero’s Journey and mythic structure has influenced almost everything I do – in filmmaking, screenwriting and also presenting seminars. I am delighted that he is coming to the London Screenwriters’ Festival this year, as well as running a sensational one day masterclass (HERE).
How ‘Gifted’ Screenwriter Tom Flynn Switched Genres and Got Disney Interested
It’s the film that’s keeping tissue companies everywhere in business… Gifted is the story of a young prodigy and her uncle’s fight to keep
Why you should expose your writing to a live reading by Vera Mark
So you are working on a screenplay, a short story or a novel. Perhaps you’ve finished a draft, or a rewrite, you’ve gathered
One Important Lesson for Success from ’71 Screenwriter Gregory Burke…
Write… Write what you can and MAKE THEM REMEMBER YOU! Working as a playwright was never Gregory Burke’s goal, and yet he found
Scene Description Spotlight: “Unforgiven”
By Scott Myers I remember reading the script to Unforgiven (1992) and being struck by two things: It was a clean read and it
Why we should all be learning from Legendary Screenwriter Paul Abbott…
Paul has been responsible for some of the greatest British television produced over the last few decades… …he is the creator/writer of Shameless, State
The Coen Brothers, Storytelling, and Fate…by Scott Myers
By Scott Myers One motif we see in Coen brothers movies is fate. Characters may dream. Characters may scheme. But their actions often have
Actor/Producer and Powerhouse Justin Baldoni challenges the status quo to develop first all-male talk show!
Wait, what? All male? Seriously? Picture it now…The panel, the topics and debates, the cheering audience. The colours may vary, the studio, the desk
Trailblazer Colette Kane is coming to the London Screenwriter’s Festival!
We are incredibly excited to announce that the inspirational Colette Kane will be a speaker at the London Screenwriter’s Festival 2017! Colette Kane is a world-class
My London Screenwriter’s Festival Experience…
By Rachael Howard So you writers will have seen a lot of posts about the London Screenwriting Festival… For those that don’t know, it
Year of Yes: How Shonda Rhimes (showrunner of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal) became a TV Titan…and how you can too…
By Emma Hallewell Shonda Rhimes is awesome. That’s just a fact. She’s one of the most powerful people in American TV, with her shows
Ten reasons to come to the LondonSWF launch on Wednesday 14th June with Ken Loach
So it’s the LondonSWF Launch this week (June 14th) – it promises to be an inspiring event and the PERFECT way to kick off
A Tale of Two Shorts by Ben S. Hyland
In 2014 I wrote a short film that I was convinced was going to propel me to BAFTA glory. The film was called ‘Stay’.
Three quick ways to transform clichéd or dull women characters… By Linda Aronson
Here’s how… There are three sorts of adventure film that routinely include weak women characters. These characters are there because they are thought of
Christopher Vogler and The Hero’s Journey… The Outline, Archetypes and Mythical Memo
Ahead of the masterclass by Christopher Vogler at LondonSWF this year, I thought I shoudl share some detailed insight into the heros journey… plus
How I Got My Screenplay Optioned Thanks To Lab and Script Feedback at LondonSWF by Tim Guest
As a result of pushing myself to get as much from the Festival as possible, I ended up with invaluable script feedback and advice
Robert McKee on Dialogue, Story and Being a Writer, Podcast with Chris Jones
Last week I sat for an hour with Robert McKee, discussing storytelling today, with a particular emphasis on long form screenwriting and the explosion
The Writers Room Special with Barbara Machin and Lucy Raffety.
https://vimeo.com/206601205?share=copy Last month twelve LSF delegates converged on Ealing Studios to participate in two exceptional Writers Room events led by leading Showrunners, Barbara Machin
Top 10 Ways Pilar Alessandra Will Take Your Script To The Next Level
It’s just under one month now until the two day Masterclass with Pilar Alessandra – Your First Draft With Pilar. If you have seen
Watch the Chilling Trailer for the Twisted50 volume 1 Audiobook
Marvel if you will, at the trailer for the Twisted50 Audiobook, produced by the fabulous Helen Lloyd. 50 Writers, 50 Stories… 50 Narrators… Enjoy
My personal journey to the LondonSWF… and beyond! By Cate Wood Hunter
This year has flown by faster than any other in my life. As it approaches its Gregorian calendar end I am trying to wrap
Discovering the Very ‘Best’ You – An Introvert’s Guide to Talent Campus by Kim L. Wheeler
Looking back at the whole Talent Campus experience, it’s amazing to realise the inner demons which many of us ‘Campers’ have conquered since we
Feel the fire… and do it anyway, by Joe Cawley
“So who wants to walk across fire?” If you were to make a list of the top ten things you’d be asked to do
How Talent Campus Connected Me With My Tribe and Passion by Bryony Quigley
I felt like a failure for more reasons than I can count (something common to most writers) and needed something to lift me up
Why Talent Campus is the next Big Event on your Calendar by John Tan
I’m by nature quite a non-emotive person. As in, if given a choice to express myself or not to, I would unashamedly go for
5 Ways Talent Campus Made Us Superheroes, And Can Make You One Too By David Poole
Hollywood loves superheroes. Audiences love superheroes. And while we all grumble about them now and then nothing beats a fantastic origin story. I have
1700 degree hot coals are not designed to be a carpet to success…
https://www.youtube.com/embed/TKkjEuV4F-U By Talent Camper 2.0… Alexis Howell-Jones 1700 degree hot coals are not designed to be a carpet to success. After the second part
Firewalk with me! How 30 writers walked across 750 degree hot coals
Last Thursday I led a group of 30 brave screenwriters, barefoot, across 750 degree hot coals in aid of charity. The experience for everyone
Feedback from the 7th London Screenwriters Festival #LondonSWF16
Each year we ask our delegates what their experience was like, and here’s what they shared this year. ‘The LSF doesn’t change your life
What did first time LondonSWF delegates think of their experience?
If you have never been to LondonSWF and are wondering should you come, here is some feedback from delegates who had come for the
Linda Aronson 21st Century Screenwriter… Read the first chapter of her book
Ahead of her outstanding two day masterclass at Ealing Studios on the 22nd and 23rd of October, I thought I would share Linda’s first
Against All Odds: The Inspirational True Story of Simon Fitzmaurice
This year at the festival we worked hard to bring Simon Fitzmaurice to London, running a crowdfunding campaign to help cover the costs. Today
The Lovely People at the Irish Movie site Scannain just wrote about Simon Fitzmaurice…
And what was really lovely to read was what Simon said about the festival… The London Screenwriters’ Festival was a real eye-opener for me.
Passion… By Vera Mark
Passion My one-word summary of the 2016 London Screenwriters’ Festival As I sit at Heathrow Airport waiting for my flight back home to Frankfurt,
The Festival That Never Really Ends!
This year will be the seventh year I have live tweeted and blogged from the London Screenwriter’s Festival. Over time it’s grown and expanded
Fight Club Script to Screen Live with Jim Uhls
When Jim Uhls was first given Chuck Palahniuk’s novel Fight Club to read it seemed unlikely that this was a book that would ever be realised on screen. Still, he thought, it would be interesting to be paid to adapt it into a screenplay. Roll forward and fates aligned that the project went into development and Jim Uhls was attached to write. Brad Pitt was cast in the Tyler Durden role, Edward Norton was an up and comer who was taking off with three great movies under his belt that year and Helena Bonham Carter had shed some of her Merchant Ivory image with a Woody Allen film she’d done, the sarcasm in that character suggesting she’d be great in the Marla role.
