Getting Ready for the LSWF

I am getting ready to attend the London Screenwriters’ Festival and intend to make the most of it. There are many things that can be done in advance of the Festival to make sure you are as prepared as possible.

Here is what I’ve done so far:

Private Network – The minute I purchased my ticket, I got invited to join a private network where I could interact and chat to other festival-goers months before the event. I joined the network, added my details, and most importantly made sure I added friends and got involved in some of the behind the scenes activities. New people join daily and it’s never too late to join. The network will keep on going after the festival, so it’s somewhere to catch up with all those new contacts you made and those you missed!

Speedpitching – I filled in the form and signed up, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to pitch my TV Comedy to three different producers, agents, and commissioners. In anticipation of the event, many people have shared their knowledge and links towards pitching best practice, so there’s no excuse not to be prepared.

Euroscript Clinic – I have signed up and have booked a free session where my script (the same TV Comedy) will be thoroughly analysed by a script doctor. The surgery is a 50minutes one-on-one session with your own script doctor who can either talk to you about an existing project or even just about your writing career – so get booking!

Business Cards – All ordered in good time, just anxiously waiting for the postman to bring them. From what I’ve read numerous times, these are a must, so make sure you have some!

So now what? Yes, practice that pitch over and over and over and some more.

If you haven’t got your ticket yet, they are almost gone, so hurry up! You can click here for a £30 off discount code.

Hope to see you there.

Always Read the Label

You know how people say always read the label, and then you do, but only when something goes wrong? Or you get those long boring booklets from your Bank saying they've changed your Terms of Contract and it gets filed away without a second thought? Or even the many times you've clicked on that little box agreeing to the site's Terms & Conditions, which you are certain are just like all the other hundreds that you also did not read? Well...

painting by ML87

Earlier this year, my writing partner and I submitted a script to the BBC Laughing Stock competition. The deadline was looming and we were going through what was hopefully our last draft. The deadline was on a Monday, and it was the previous Wednesday. All that was left to do was a final read before moving on to the one page synopsis. I did a quick check of the rules and suddenly realised this would have to be posted. I had completely assumed that we could e-mail it without having actually read the guidelines in full! Our deadline was no longer Monday, it was Friday. We had one day to complete the synopsis and get the script printed ready for the Post Office Friday am. 

We made it, under pressure but it was delivered.

Some of you would hopefully learn from such an experience. Not I. Oh no.

This coming Saturday I am attending the Saturday Film School course offered by Raindance. I am very excited about it and have been looking forward to it since booking in early April. That was over a month ago. This evening I was asked the duration of the course and thought that I ought to check. As I read the course description I realised it was the first time I was reading that page, which thankfully was full of pleasant surprises, until I reached the end. The dreadful end - networking drinks.

Lately I have read a lot about networking and it seems everyone has some advice on how best to do it. As much as the thought of it makes me panic a little, I would still give it a chance. However, whenever I see the word networking, it seems to always be followed by the words business cards. This was no different. There it was at the very bottom of the course description. Shit!

The only business cards I have ever owned were some my grandmother ordered just for fun. The only information on them were my address and phone number; had she added an occupation, it would have to be student. I must have been 12. 

Yes, people have been talking about business cards, and I have been reading, taking it in, designing my card in my mind but never with a sense of urgency. I imagined that the minute I bought a ticket to an event that involved networking, I'd get them printed. Had I read the course description earlier, I would have realised that this is it!

The course is two days away and it seems impossible to get a sleek one, a la American Psycho printed. 

This time I will have to settle for the not so glamorous home-designed/ home-printed business cards, but by the end of the weekend I'll have placed my order. Who knows, it might even have a Watermark.

For those of you who have never seen American Psycho, or those who can't get enough of it, here is the business card scene.