As we closed the final day of the first phase of Talent Campus 6.0 last Sunday, I asked for some comments from the 27 campers who attended. These are the brave souls who experienced the screenwriters jet propulsion lab that is Talent Campus Ignition.
Applications for Talent Campus 7.o are now open and we hope we will again get support from Screen Skills knocking nearly a third of the cost of attendance.
Here’s what came back to me…
‘It’s hard to put into words the impact you and your brilliant team had on every aspect of me’
Angela Gregory, Screenwriter
‘Talent Campus has utterly transformed the way I think about myself and my writing. I did not expect to do many of the things I ended up doing and did not expect to feel the way I did when I completed them. In short this has been a life changing experience and I don’t feel scared about my future now’
Anthony Pickthall, Screenwriter
‘I came into TC with a daily physical pain – and by the end it had gone’
Jacob Holmes-Brown, Screenwriter
‘It was an amazing experience with at least 2 of the sessions individually worth the admission price alone’
Gary Thomas, Screenwriter
‘I came into TC genuinely ready to consider quitting on my dream of screenwriting in favour of something “sensible” – I was deeply tired, broke, defeated and feeling like an island in very unfriendly seas. TC has pointed me back to the simple and edifying joy of writing, pointed me back toward my voice and deeply challenged that feeling of defeat.’
Jacob Holmes-Brown, Screenwriter
‘Chris. Thank you for the stratospheric last few days. Your energy is indefatigable. The whole concept of TC6 is that of an evil genius. Are you sure you’re not building a “Death ray” out the back there at Ealing? I am now looking forward to every second of the next month!’
Keith Slott, Screenwriter
‘Talent Campus provides a safe way to explore an essential part of being a screenwriter. Whilst craft and talent are important, it’s increasingly obvious to me that the relationships we build are actually what provides the springboard to success. Inevitably, being a writer, we spend much of our time in our own delightful and self-serving world – our imagination – which is the safest place for each of us to be. Familiar, comfortable, responsive to our whims. Even the monsters, the murderers, the antagonists do as we wish. But out in the real world is where success happens. Venturing out into the real world is, quite possibly, the biggest challenge of all. And Talent Campus provides a safe, fun, and delightful way to break down and break through the barriers. Combining the interactive needs of a successful screenwriter (pitching, working with producers, taking notes, etc.) with some REAL LIFE (“Holy sh*tballs, did I just do that?!”) situations really helps to put things into perspective. Now, I’m living in the real world – and I can do anything!’
Sharon Axcell, Screenwriter
I want you to know that on day one of Talent Campus, every screenwriter present had their shields up, many experiencing fear and mild anxiety at what lay before them. And some were downright shutdown to the world and their own innate possibility.
Yet ALL instinctively knew they had at least SOME raw talent, and more importantly a BURNING desire to create. In that way, all we really do on Talent Campus is reconnect ourselves with our already present greatness.
Ignition is a mix screenwriting training, as well as the teasing out of the ‘real you’.
It’s IMMENSE fun and it gets results. So if some of the feedback reads a little evangelical, KNOW that these same people felt exactly the same as you might reading it. Repeatedly I was told how they nearly didn’t apply because of their fear of what happens on Talent Campus. Every one of them expressed how shocked they were by this mindset AFTER passing through the Talent Campus.
Remember you are not obligated to attend if you apply and get in, but you need to be part of the game to win the game. Apply below.
Chris Jones
www.LondonSWF.com
Posted by a member of the London Screenwriters’ Festival team.
