Updates and News
Jeff Norton’s how to build the perfect world for your story By Cassi Camilleri
For many, hearing the term ‘world building’ triggers association with fantasy, magic, Dungeons and Dragons. And while all those things do feature a lot in conversations about World Building, there is so much more to it.
Mine your childhood for nuggets of horror gold by Sam Kurd
Screenwriter/Director Pat Higgins has made a career out of horror films; bloody tales of crazed killers and things that go bump in the night. His films tend to have a comedic edge (Strippers vs. Werewolves, anyone?), but he knows how to press the right buttons to send chills down the spine. In this special session he shared some tips on how to give your horror writing that personal touch.
How writers’ rooms can keep the juices flowing by Barbara Skubic
What do the shows Life on Mars, Hustle, Dickensian, and Besa have in common? Legendary television creator, writer and producer Tony Jordan, the boss of the Red Planet and a constellation of his own. During their discussion, Tony and Rachel Patterson talked about writing and writers’ rooms in these extraordinary times.
Taking stories from IDEA to PREMIER with Iain Smith, Producer
An hour in Iain Smith’s company? You could listen for days. In a career lasting over forty years, Iain’s body of work as a producer is astounding, including classics such as Local Hero, The Killing Fields, The Mission, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Fifth Element and Children of Men.
Nail the genre, sell the film by Abbie Heath
Sam Horley has worked in film sales for twenty years, and knows the minute she hears a pitch whether she can sell that project. In this short but incredibly fast-paced, information-packed session, she tells us how to get past the gatekeepers by being clear about what your project is.
How to unleash your inner warrior by James Alexander Allen
Harriet Bratt (or ‘Warrior’ as she refers to herself) is a transformational speaker and fire-walking instructor. Anyone who’s done the Talent Campus knows her from the grand finale of the experience – the firewalk.
Gold in the Bunker: Platforms for Past Screenplays by Kathy Fedori
Chris Jones asked during the live streaming of the Festival, “Do we have you in a bunker in Israel?” and indeed Julie Gray left Hollywood behind a decade ago. The author of Just Effing Entertain Me and the new audio book, The True Adventures of Gidon Lev, now finds herself creating, writing and recording in a bomb shelter in her building in Tel Aviv. Her message was to bunker down and create a new reality for your work. Her approach: to widen the net for story assets with alternative media platforms like she has done with the rascal Gidon’s story.
How funny stands the test of time By Trish Curtin
Oscar and BAFTA nominated screenwriter David Reynolds has been delivering the funny for a very long time. He’s one of those Disney / Pixar story mavens who played with our funny bones, tickled our tear ducts and blew our minds while reinventing both animation and attitudes to it.
Alternatives to burnout by Cassi Camilleri
Writing for a living requires one to generate boat loads of content all the time, and I’m not going to lie – I struggle. I consider myself a productive person, and thankfully operate that way naturally, but the pressure still takes its toll.
Burnout happens and some weeks I fail to come up with even one idea I like. Be it for a blog post or a scene, or anything else I’m working on. And yes, when your income depends on that, it’s scary. This is why I find mindfulness so important.
How community can improve your writing By John Morris
Writing is a lonely and isolating activity at the best of times. As you tap away, trying to expel words from your brain onto the page, you’re – normally – separated from others. But with life as it is, everything has become isolating. Whilst it’s a great time to write more, it’s also a stressful time that isn’t easy on anyone, and a situation that can easily hamper creativity. The first ‘Sunday Morning Writing’ workshop, run by Bob Schultz, was a great way to interact with other screenwriters as we all tried to create something.
Feedback from the London Screenwriters’ Festival 2021 Hybrid Event
This was our tenth festival and both online and onstage… Here’s what writers had to share about it… ‘I have met other like minded
What did you miss at the first LondonSWF Lab?
Last night was the first online Lab at the London Screenwriters Festival. There are still another eight to go – if you have a
5 Things I Learned from Reading 50 Screenplays by Anson Gordon-Creed
Do you have a low budget screenplay waiting to get made? We are looking… (find out more HERE) So… We received over fifty submissions
Feedback for LondonSWF365 in February 2021
We finally have the feedback from the online LondonSWF365 Festival we ran in february and here it is…
Message to attendees of London Screenwriters’ Festival 10
IMPORTANT… Please read, this is about your ticket to LondonSWF’10 (The Tenth London Screenwriters’ Festival on stage in London). Hello and welcome again from
The London Screenwriters’ Festival to receive £42,015 from second round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund
The London Screenwriters’ Festival is among more than 2,700 recipients to benefit from the latest round of awards from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery
Do you have all 88 keys? Interview with Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award winner John Patrick Shanley
If you’re a writer, you cannot and must not miss this interview.
Session at LSF365 inspires real life regional feature filmmaking
https://youtu.be/c1dKUWuO3T8 On the 31st of May last year, during the London Screenwriters Festival 365, I had the pleasure of watching Clive Frayne’s DIY
It’s Been a Strange Year, or: How I Learned to Stop Rolling Over and Love 2020 by Vera Mark
A crazy, sometimes bitterly challenging year draws to a close. 2021 will show what we’re made of, individually and together. I for one intend
Embracing bad ideas can make you a better writer: Sean Robert Daniels
By Anita Reid When the dogs wake up at 4am, you have to let them out and feed them. The next things to do is go straight
A Tale of Writing Tips Gleaned From Reading Over 200 Short Stories For Santa
By Savannah Morgan, Resident LSF Elf on the Zoom Shelf ‘Twas the night of the deadline. Submissions were closed. There were poems, and fart
The 500 Word Santa Challenge… The view from the readers side
The London Screenwriters’ Festival Team have been busy in the run up to Christmas, planning a fantastic opportunity for kids to get a Christmas
Can you write a 500 word children’s bedtime story for Christmas?
This Christmas I am inviting you to write a bedtime story for children. Are you in? We want to create some magic for families
Support an AMAZING Woman and LSF staffer, on a Mission To Elevate Her Community and by Extension Change The World…
Maureen Hascoet de Cuestas is an extraordinary woman. I have known her for fifteen years now, we have worked together on many events. We
The Legal Side of Things – “Check yourself, before you wreck yourself” by Sofia Carter-Sohlen
Julian Wilkins, IP and Media Lawyer, Member of Q Chambers and Editorial Director of Blue Pencil Media Partners Limited, returned to the London Screenwriters’
Why do you write and other questions from Robert McKee, by Cassi Camilleri
https://vimeo.com/427042331 ‘Why do I put myself through this hell? Why don’t I go get a job like normal people?’ Seconds into his Masterclass and
How Felicia Day Kept Me Inspired on My Quest to be a Screenwriter by Savannah Morgan
“Have you seen The Guild?” asked the rogue next to me. Two seconds later I was dead, so I never got to ask him
Get it ON THE PAGE: with Pilar Alessandra by Cassi Camilleri
‘It’s all about those first ten pages. After that, they stop reading.’ How many times has that phrase struck fear in your heart? Well,
The Screenwriting Legends YOU Need in YOUR Living Room by Lynda Kennedy
https://vimeo.com/424543614 What a weekend. I had a beer with David Goyer on Friday, wine with Dave Reynolds on Saturday and a late lunch with
David Goyer in Conversation: Takeaways via Batman Quotes by Alexis Howell-Jones
Having scribed films and TV about iconic characters including Batman, Superman, Sandman and Leonardo Da Vinci, David Goyer had (unsurprisingly) some great stories to
How does Sherlock’s Steven Moffat feel about feedback? by Keith Slote
I remember going to this session at the Festival. It was a one off evening prior to the 2017 Festival proper (the team were
Three Kickass Women: Eve, Villanelle and Lucy V. Hay by James Alexander Allen
A prolific script reader, Talent Campus mentor and creator of the Bang2Write community, Lucy has been a staple of the London Screenwriters Festival since
Peaky Blinders: Decrypting TV Success with Kate Phillips and Jamie Glazebrook
By Paul Arrowsmith For any writer looking to write a returning series, this video provides ample details of the process starting from Steven Knight’s
Ten Things I Learned About Period Drama from Downton Abbey’s Julian Fellowes
By Leilani Holmes During this incredible Downton Abbey script to screen, John York mentions to Julian Fellowes that the opening clip of Downton is
Paul King: What I learned writing ‘Paddington’ by Cassi Camilleri
By Cassi Camilleri Stories are trial and error, and that is a maxim writer director Paul King practically opens this session from the London
Bananas for Writing by Eileen Wilson
Over the last month, I’ve been; in bed with Dracula, cuddled up with Sherlock and had a Welsh Priest in my bedroom pontificating about
