If you read my blog you will know that I am all about encouraging action, and action RIGHT NOW. As I run the London Screenwriters’ Festival I am constantly being asked by screenwriters if I know any producers who would make their script into a movie – and while do know many producers, I also [...]

Get your film in cinemas with our unique competition
50 Kisses Competition – Write Film / Make Film / Distribute Film: a unique competition from The London Screenwriters’ Festival. Get your script produced and get your movie released in cinemas. A unique competition that guarantees 50 scripts will be shot and 50 films will be theatrically released next year. Are you in? Read on… [...]

Is TV where the best drama is produced?
News that Aaron Sorkin is back in the saddle (The Newsroom ,this summer – trailer above) did give me a little bit of a heart flutter because for me at least, the best writing in drama is now in TV. I suspect this is largely down to the fact that long form TV drama can [...]

Watch killer Guerilla Film on BBC 1 tonight at 11.15pm… ‘Sus’
Tonight, BBC 1 at 11.15 is the Network premiere of low budget Brit drama ‘SUS’, written by Barrie Keeffe and produced by my good pal Mark Sutherland. You may recall Mark from the Production Office last year when he shared his experience and philosophy for film making with us all – it was pretty inspirational. [...]

Come to the London Screenwriters’ Festival 2012 for £24 a month (10 months)
Christmas has come early! You asked for it… so it’s back! Come to the London Screenwriters’ Festival in 2012 for £24 a month, for 10 months… You can sign up with the button below… The London Screenwriters Festival is rapidly becoming the worlds biggest and most important event of its kind. If you attended last [...]

‘Make it real but unusual’, Linda Aronson closing advice
‘A good kick in the conventions…!’ Pete Dodd, Director This weekend we ran the 2 day 21st Century Screenwriter Masterclass with Linda Aronson. Nearly 200 screenwriters and filmmakers crammed into Tuke Hall at Regents College to listen in awe at an extraordinarily detailed seminar on contemporary screenwriting. The delegates said it best… ‘What worked 50 [...]

What is your Tweet Reach? get stats on your hashtag
Apparently, our TweetReach with the #LondonSWF tag was over two million impressions. Holy hot tweets batman! What the blazes does that actually mean? At the festival, I ran a short social media workshop for people who were reluctant to engage with new social media sites and tools. At the end, screenwriter Daniel Martin Eckhart (@dmeckhart) [...]

Advanced Screenwriting Techniques with Linda Aronson
This weekend I am hosting a two day advanced screenwriters masterclass with Linda Aronson, The 21st Century Screenwriter. I am particularly excited about this as Linda was our top speaker at this years festival, and for once, I can actually sit in the audience and get all the good stuff that everyone else is getting. [...]

42 Ways To Improve Your Screenplay
Screenwriters Slogans For The Wall… by Alexander MacKendrick © The Estate of Alexander Mackendrick www.alexandermackendrick.com At the London Screenwriters’ Festival, Paul Cronin delivered a terrific session on Alexander Mackendrick and the preverbal language of cinema. Paul also sent me some scans (above) of the aphorisms Mackendrick had stuck to his wall when he taught screenwriting [...]

‘Four Nights In August’ competition – what did 23 film makers do with the same script?
The London Screenwriters’ Festival Four Nights In August competition is now closed. And what an amazing experience it has been. We had 350 submitted screenplays, from which we will chose two joint winners… You can read them here… ‘Why?’ by Milethia Thomas and ‘Everything You Need’ by Dave Turner. The competition was then opened up [...]
How to land a primetime BBC1 TV series with NO past credits
Three years ago Rob Thorogood had spent a decade writing scripts, sold one spec that went no-where and had one radio play commissioned. He was at the edge of sanity. His relationship with his wife and kids was strained. What else could he do? And that’s when he made a choice. To find someone who [...]

What is happening now is less interesting than what may happen next
On Film-making: An Introduction to the Craft of the Director by Alexander Mackendrick, edited by Paul Cronin, is an extraordinary collection of notes and essays from film maker, writer and film teacher, Alexander Mackendrick. Responsible for three of Ealing Studios’ most loved films, Whisky Galore!, The Man In The White Suit and The Ladykillers, Mackendrick [...]

‘Everything You Need’, joint winner of the LSF Screenplay Competition…
Yesterday, the winners of our script competition were announced, and I thought I would share the second of the one page screenplay. So I present to you ‘Everything You Need’ by David Turner (blog at http://armyofdave.com and Twitter at @armyofdave). Do leave feedback as to what you think for Dave. And remember, you can make [...]

‘Why’, joint winner of the LSF Screenplay Competition…
Yesterday, the winners of our script competition were announced, and I thought I would share the two one page screenplays. First up is ‘Why?’ by Milethia Thomas… Do leave feedback as to what you think for Milethia. And remember, you can make this script now as part of our film maker challenge. And more up [...]

The One Page Movie Competition Officially BEGINS NOW!
The script leg of the ‘Four Nights In August’ competition closed last week and now we have a winner. Stop the press! WE HAVE TWO WINNERS! Yes we had a tie, so we decided to split the award. First, and in no particular order, is ‘Everything You Need’ by David Turner. And sharing that top [...]
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BECTU debate and the National Minimum Wage…
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Avid or Final Cut Pro X? Tips for setting up your first feature film cutting room.
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The phone rang, and from that moment, everything changed… PART 1
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The phone rang, and from that moment, everything changed… PART 3… The conclusion…
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SciFi London Case Study Project 3: Simon Cox
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SciFi London Challenge Case Study 2: Luminous Sky
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