Updates and News

It was a very emotional moment taking in your applause. Not because I love standing on a stage – it is comical that just before Chris Jones’ LSF Opening, I told a writer about my stage fright and how I cannot speak to an audience bigger than two people.

You see, The London Screenwriters’ Festival is all about the sharing. I still remember how I felt that first time – excited, nervous, ready to kill in exchange for caffeine – and how I wished someone had thought to write a blog with hints ‘n’ tips on ways to get the best from your LSF experience…

Having attended the London Screenwriter’s Festival on a few occasions in the past, I thought I knew what to expect.

Last weekend I walked across leafy, sun-dappled Regent’s Park and into a whirl of hopes, fears and ideas. Along with a crowd of other established and aspiring writers, I was headed for the London Screenwriters’ Festival 2024.

Walking into those bustling halls, I expected the usual conference jitters, a sea of unfamiliar faces and awkward networking. Instead, I found myself embraced by a vibrant community of writers, all at a similar point in their journeys – a wave of connection I hadn’t anticipated.

I have just uploaded all out pix now from LondonSWF 2024 to our Flickr account and you can check them out, download and use them for your own socials.

Many writers work tirelessly on perfecting their pitch and take dozens of classes in an effort to perfect their pages. But what happens when the trained writer is thrown into a meeting? This is a prime opportunity to build a relationship, but writers are often ill-prepared.

Christopher Booker will examine the basis of storytelling, providing an answer to the age-old riddle of whether there are only a small number of ‘basic stories’ in the world.

Ever wondered where your story ideas come from? Discover your hidden wells of creativity and use them to write the kinds of scenes, locations and characters only you can access. Writing that resonated profoundly with a truth that impacts more heavily on the reader.

The X Files and beyond! Join us for a tasty breakfast, networking and a cracking conversation with Screenwriter, Producer and Showrunner Frank Spotnitz.

Get into the mindset of studio executives, film producers, agents, managers, and TV execs to get the lowdown on High Concept, the commercial obsession with ‘Similar but Different,’ Genre-Bending, Gender Bending, Geo-Bending, and more.

The best session we have EVER run at the Screenwriters Festival was the audio drama session with dirk Maggs. Dirk is at the top of his game, with decades of experience and so many HUGE projects under his belt.

Creatives in general (and writers in particular) tend to look to the past for inspiration. In screenwriting, the movies and/or shows that made us fall in love tend to be reflected in what we try to recreate.