Virtually There

This past weekend Chris Jones, filmmaker and writer of The Guerrila Film Makers Handbook, held a Guerilla Film Makers Masterclass at Regents College. Having got a ticket with one of the discount codes available, it seemed great value for money, a weekend fully packed with talks on all aspects of filmmaking and to top it all up, it started on Friday night with a talk by Gareth Unwin and David Seidler, producer and writer for "The King’s Speech", respectively.

There was just one problem: the ticket I bought wasn’t for me but for my husband. Having recently attended a Raindance course, it only seemed fair that I did the babysitting instead. So whilst Taro was off to acquire invaluable knowledge, I put on Pulp Fiction and sulked. Every once in a while though I thought I’d see if anyone was tweeting from the event.        

I was very pleased to see that whilst some people were tweeting about getting a Mexican wave going, Leilani Holmes (@momentsoffilm) was busy transcribing key moments 140 characters at a time and even though it wasn’t the same as being there, Twitter was the place to be for those of us who were unable to attend.

The weekend followed in much the same style and I have actually learned a few things virtually.

I could copy and paste all the tweets, but it would be a very long post, so instead you can check it out on #GFilm

Here are some of my favourite tweets:

momentsoffilm Leilani Holmes 

#GFilm Advice to new filmmakers Gareth: Just do it. The day you become a Producer is when you produce. A director when you direct.

momentsoffilm Leilani Holmes 

#GFilm Advice to new filmmakers David: Write from your heart. Something that comes from within.

momentsoffilm Leilani Holmes 

#GFilm David: You cannot wait for devine inspiration you just have to turn up and put something on the page.

Lunarcheeseshop Garret Smyth 

Homo sapiens is much more than fifteen thousand years old! (This is a test message, although none the less true.) #GFilm

WandaOpalinska Wanda Opalinska 

Chris Jones>Our subconscious can't distinguish real & imagined emotions, which is why we cry @ films <What do we think, tweeps?#GFilm

momentsoffilm Leilani Holmes 

We're in the business of creating powerful experiences. Movies are emotional training grounds. #GFilm

meddyford Meddy Ford 

'It's about making 10,000 phone calls and getting one result' Too true! #Gfilm

momentsoffilm Leilani Holmes 

#GFilm Nobody really cares if you make your film but you. There's competition and there's people who have more but it never matters. Work.

asylumgiant Mark Lo 

#GFilm BEWARE THE FETISH OF KIT :)

momentsoffilm Leilani Holmes 

#gfilm The material you end up with is your film. You may have to let go of the script and make the best film you can from what you have.

momentsoffilm Leilani Holmes 

#GFilm We're critiqueing a short. Audience a bit brutal here. A good indication of how people react & why to test screen where possible.

momentsoffilm Leilani Holmes 

#GFilm A feature stays around for a long time so you have to love what you do.

Lunarcheeseshop Garret Smyth 

#GFilm CHIPS! Someone is eating chips in the room. They smell delicious...

livingspiritpix Chris Jones 

Exhausted, exhilarated and inspired by the extraordinary people I met at the Guerilla Masterclass. The REAL future of the industry #GFilm

I also got my husband’s account of the weekend and like many people, he’s ready to just do it! He also brought me home a little gift, a DVD copy of Chris Jones’ award winning short “Gone Fishing”. Can’t wait to see it.

Gone Fishing Trailer from Chris Jones on Vimeo.

It is amazing what can be done in this day and age and that one can gather so much information from an event as it’s unfolding but I must emphasize that as thankful as I was for all the live tweets, this is just the next best thing (poor man’s solution) rather than a substitute to physically being there. So unless you had a good excuse, such as babysitting, then I hope you were there.

With 360 delegates, there might have been new friendships starting over the weekend that will last for years, or who knows someone could have met the love of their life? Whatever you got from the event, those are things that I have missed out on, although thankfully I’m already married. Social networking and live streaming can all be invaluable sources of knowledge and exchange of information essential for today’s fast paced lifestyles, but they lack the very important human touch.

Some of the delegates were quick to add their thoughts to a blog and I decided to list the ones I’ve come across. If you too have written down your thoughts and experiences of the weekend, feel free to send me a link and I’ll add it to the list.

What did we learn from Oscar Winning Producer Gareth Unwin and Oscar winning writer David Seidler? - by Chris Jones

Gareth Unwin, David Seidler & The History of The King's Speech – by Leilani Holmes


The Guerilla Film Masterclass #GFilm - by Leilani Holmes

Start Doing It, Stop Talking About It ~ Gareth Unwin – by Meddy Ford

Reality Bites: How The Guerilla Film Masterclass Bit Me Hard… - by Stuart Elms


Back to Life, back to Reality - by evermorefilms


Guerilla Filmmakers Masterclass in London - by Christopher Bevan


Things I Learnt this Weekend - by Alli Parker

I Have Several Projects at Various Stages of Development

Last Saturday I attended the Saturday Film School offered by Raindance.

Let me just start by saying that one might think that listening to the same person speak for most of the day could be tedious. Perhaps, but that was definitely not the case when I recently sat and listened to Elliot Grove, founder of Raindance, whilst he reminisced about his life and filmmaking.

I was sitting in an auditorium filled with other budding filmmakers, all hungry for his tips and know how on how to succeed in this cut-throat industry. There it was, one of the first things he said was why we would never succeed. He whittled it down to 3 reasons: lack of confidence, procrastination and our own weaknesses. They all ring true with me and I feel that I have now run out of excuses.

There was a good mixture of age groups and specialisations, some already making movies or getting started and others still looking for a way in; some open to anything that could help them gain extra insight and answers, others who sadly had it all figured out.

The first person I spoke to was a young girl sitting to my right. She had a love of filmmaking but had yet to join the industry and wasn't sure what role she wanted to have in it. She is a science graduate and her day job involves reading science articles and spotting mistakes in the theory. I hope she realises that she has a great skill and could offer herself as a researcher for sci-fi movies or science programmes. If she wants to write, well half of it is to read and she does it on a daily basis.

No Money No Problem
Once we were assured that money does not have to be an issue we became our only barriers. If you are now thinking, but my script has a aeroplane, I can't afford to hire one; I need a certain actor for it to work, I don't know him; whatever it is you think is a problem, then you are just searching for yet another excuse. If you are serious about it, passionate about it, there is always a way. You make do with what you have. Write that big script which will cost a million, why not? but also write the no budget script, the one you know can be filmed on your street, in your uncle's bungalow, at the local playground, the one that will only require your home made props and the available and very willing actors you've met along the way.

The award winning short Sign Language directed by Oscar Sharp and written by Stephen Follows is a great example of a no budget short.

Sign Language - a short film from Oscar Sharp on Vimeo.

The Big Announcement
Once you have decided this is definitely what you want to do with your life, it's time to make the big announcement. Tell the world what you want to be when you grow up. My announcement was made many years ago whilst still at Uni. When a lecturer enquired who we aspired to be I announced very boldly that I was going to be a famous Producer. Yes, I know, I still laugh and cringe at the thought of it. Even though it's still an area I would like to pursue, being a writer is what I'm in love with at the moment.

Life is what it is though, you can plan as much as you wish, but you never know where you will end and I've had a fantastic journey so far even if I'm yet to Produce a short.

I Have Several Projects at Various Stages of Development
That has to be one of the best lines delivered by Elliot and we will probably all remember it for a while. It says it all whilst saying nothing. What does it really mean? Is it not an easy way out when you are announcing to the world you are a writer, a director, an editor, yet you have nothing to show for it? Maybe some people will buy it and applaud you for it, but you also have to be true to yourself.
No one is out to get you, no one cares if you have many projects in the making or not, you are your worst judge and if you've made the announcement but have yet to take the first step then the only one you are letting down is yourself (unless you have a family to support and have quit your day job to become a writer).

We Make our Own Luck
Elliot also talked about luck and what we each call it. I believe luck doesn't happen, it's made. You don't get lucky by writing one script and then sitting and waiting to be discovered. You work bloody hard at it, work around your day job, push yourself, get your name out there, meet people and then after maybe a year or maybe ten years you get your reward, if you're lucky.

The Movie is a Lie
In the afternoon, we all enjoyed a session about Directing with Patrick Tucker and from that I learned the cinema is a lie - what we don't see on screen doesn't exist. It was a very interesting session in which he demonstrated various different shots and how they are best captured on camera, even if that means having to strike some very uncomfortable or even embarrassing poses. They might look odd in real life, but on screen appear natural.


At the end of the day, I felt refreshed and inspired, I was ready to get out there and make movies. It was time to network and meet all those like minded people whose minds had all been equally blown away. Where better to start then the pub next door filled with those same people.

I was glad to have met some fantastic people whom I hope to keep in touch with and who knows we could one day collaborate.

I wish all of those who attended the course good luck and keep smiling.

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.

The Juggling Life for Me

April is over and I survived. What a month! It's been mad but it's also been a lot of fun.

On the first of the month I was off on a writing frenzy in an attempt to get a 100 page script written within the month. I was very excited about the fact that I was going to be writing my first feature, but not quite certain that I would actually complete it. It was going to be a challenge!

As a Stay at Home Mum to a 1yr old and a 3yr old, life is busy and writing has to be worked around them and their routines, but hopefully after being home for about 3 1/2 years I've mastered that and it was not going to be a deterrent.

My main worry was the fact that on top of having weekends taken up by friends and family, Mr Russell was going to be home for 12days at the end of the month, at which point we planned on spending the days out with the kids. Not to mention that I had to fit a party into all that which required planning, shopping for, cleaning and preparing. Yes, writing was going to be a problem.

If I ever was any good at juggling, which frankly I just about get by, it was time to put those skills to the test. I was determined not only to complete the script within the deadline, but to also be there for my family and enjoy some well deserved days off.

WHAT DID I DO?

Set aside any other writing - I had just completed a 1st draft of a TV pilot, and even though it was fresh in my mind and I wanted to re-write it soon, I passed the ball to Taro, whom I was collaborating with. If I had any brain wave about anything not related to the main script, I would quickly jot it down somewhere and forget about it. There was no time for side-tracking.

Write whenever and wherever I could - I made use of the old-fashioned pen and paper on many occasions. I write faster than I type and it’s easy to cross out and start again, so it made sense. Plus, it can be used anywhere, even whilst sitting at the top of the stairs waiting for an over hyped child settle for the night. I would normally at this point play Angry Birds anyway, so why not write instead?

Set healthy goals - Once I had good solid descriptions for the next scene(s) down on paper, typing it up whilst adding flowers and dialogue was a lot faster and easier; without much thought I was churning out 5-10pages a day, well ahead of the 3-4page target. That was a huge motivator to keep me going at that pace and I love to compete, even if it's with myself. I suddenly had a new goal, to complete the script before the Easter break. Once that break came along, I knew writing would be hard and very stressful. I also wanted to enjoy it as a holiday rather than any other day.

Change my routine – I generally write better during the day when I’m still awake. Evenings are usually a time for relaxing in front of the TV, reading a book or tweaking a script. That works fine if I’m either working with no deadline or on a half hour programme or short, but for this challenge to work I needed more writing time. Mr Russell was very understanding and helped out by playing some games on the PS3 instead.

To Do Lists – Back in my working days I valued my To Do Lists. They were essential and I had them not only at work, but also at home. Lately however, I’ve been relying mostly on my memory, which I’m quite certain shrunk a little every time I got pregnant. So to get through busy periods, I get back to the organised, OCD me and get those To Do lists going.

Adjust to changes – Not far into April the Sun decided to visit. I love hot sunny days, I really do, but I had to re-think my routine. On a certain day, for example, I got the paddling pool out and let my eldest splash around. Not a problem, he could splash, the little one could nap and I could write. Perfect. I knew though that my niece who lives a few houses down was on half-term break and that both her and my son would love to play together, but it would mean that I couldn’t write. After trying hard not to give in, the mummy inside thought she was being unfair and to make matters worse, the Sun shinning in through the windows kept highlighting the need to get those clean. Minutes after giving in, my niece and son were over the moon splashing together whilst I cleaned the windows and my sis helped keep it all peaceful. That day, when all was quiet and the Sun was setting, I sat down and typed away.

It took focus, it took organisation and it took determination, but I got there. On the 20^th of April, the night before Mr Russell started his annual leave and with 10days left until the end of the month, I typed FADE OUT. That was a great feeling. I had done it and now have a feature. An extremely rough draft, which will need some work to even make sense, but a 100 page script nonetheless (even if I do admit to being disappointed at the fact that it’s 100 pages exactly and not just that little longer).

Oh hello May, so what do you have in store for me? Some Sun and tequila? Oh, yes, some re-writes and possibly a couple of shorts. I hear ya, challenge accepted.

How do you go about juggling writing and other commitments? Please share your experiences and views.

Someone Hasn't Done Their Research

Earlier this week I got half-way through my current feature and realised I didn’t know what to write next. I knew what the plot was but wasn’t quite certain of the location. Was my 15yr old character going to Juvi for his crimes or would he be tried as an adult? In my outline he was going to juvi but I then realised that maybe that wasn’t the case. I hadn’t actually done my research.

That wasn’t the first time I got to a point in the script where I was uncertain of the details, but had previously felt that I could get away with lines such as “add more relevant description here” or during a dialogue “they talk about blah”. Open notes: do research.

So I found myself taking a break from writing and did some research. I came across some real life examples, some of which were heartbreaking - it's a Drama afterall, and suddenly my script had an extra supporting character. Oh and in case you are wondering, he’s going to be tried as an adult.

This small set-back and the fact that my script is full of holes made me realise that research before writing is important. The story itself of course supersedes this, but with a solid story and a good and detailed outline the need for research (if any) will present itself at this early stage. Needless to say, my outline was poor. 

I've done a common rookie mistake. I was so eager to jump in and start writing that I didn't do the necessary preparation. As much as outlines and treatments seem like a task, they exist for a reason, and will generally end up saving you time rather than being time consuming. Capiche?

Further research for my story (which again should have been made in advance) will be to watch certain movies and read some scripts and books that could help set the right tone and mood for the story. Spot the odd one out: 

Requiem for a Dream 

Curious to watch Arronofsky's vision on this adaptation

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Seen the movie, read the novel, will read again for the tone

The Shawshank Redemption

Interested in the script more than anything due to the continuous use of voice over

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

I've only ever seen the play, with Christian Slatter, but I remember the very dark humour in it. Ken Kesey wrote this book whilst under the influence of mescaline.

The above list is purely for specific research. In general I make sure I always have a script and/or a book on the go. The most recent book I read was Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. He spent about 10years doing extensive research and consulting a historian for this book! Note to self: never write anything about World War I.

Working Title

Before embarking in the process of writing a new script, and even before having an outline or a more concrete idea of what the story is, I name it. By giving the next project a name, I’m able to file any research, notes, treatment under the same file name.

I don’t get too hooked on the title, as it generally is a working title and not set in stone. There is no reason why it can’t change; although from past experience at times the working title will still be the best fit.

Getting the script done is of course more important as you’ll have nothing if you have a cleverly thought of title but nothing actually written.

Even if the title is the last thing you think of, even if it changes many times, it is still a very important part of a script. People will form whole ideas of what your movie (or other) is about before they even watch it, and that could be bad if your movie does not meet the expectations created by its title.

The long running English soap, Coronation Street was originally pitched as Florizel Street, thankfully someone pointed out that it sounded like detergent and the name was changed. 

Screenwriter Don Coscarelli has a movie currently in post-production with the best title ever: John Dies at the End. Yes, it's giving the ending away, at least I sure do hope so, but I still want to watch it to find out the how and why. The fact that you know the ending only makes you expectant of it.

Don Coscarelli is best known as director and co-writer of Bubba Ho-Tep. Now that’s a mouthful! The name to me says comedy – which it is – and Ho-Tep tells me mummy, right again; but in a million years I could not have guessed from the title that it takes place in a retirement home where Elvis Presley and JFK (now dyed black) are both old and very much alive. Yet, the name is so odd it's memorable.

In keeping with the Bruce Campbell theme, the latest movie I watched with him in was called My Name is Bruce. I would have loved to be there when they came up with the title.

What's the film about? Bruce Campbell

Who's in it? Bruce Campbell

What's it called? Errr, Bruce Campbell?

Nah, too John Malkovich. Well, my name is Bruce.

Perfect! What?

We’ll call it My name is Bruce. Genius!

So that’s totally not how it happened, and the movie isn’t biographical, but is instead Bruce Campbell playing a fictitious version of himself. The title still works really well and is just as self-indulgent as Bruce Campbell’s character.

However, as much as we might put some thought into finding that perfect title, once the script is out of our hands, just like the spec can be re-written, the title could be changed, and this may be in fact more common than I might think.

Titles are also generally changed when a movie is sold to a different country; often to that country’s native language and will usually not be a direct translation. On occasions, even same language countries will change the titles, as was famously done with Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, known in the US as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Nevertheless, I would still like to put some thought and care into the title of my scripts and know that I have tried to choose a name that best represents it and could possibly help spark interest and sales of said script.

For now, I have provisionally called my current spec “Dear Life”, but every once in a while I think of alternative titles. Unfortunately all that comes to mind are song titles such as:

• Who Will Save Your Soul - Jewel
• Don't Look Back in Anger - Oasis
• Live and Let Die – Paul McCartney (uhm yes, ok it is a James Bond movie too)

I then remember an article on Titles by scriptreader Lucy V Hay and realise that song titles aren’t such a great idea. In fact, it's a great piece on what does or doesn't work in general and within different genres. 

So at the moment I'm stuck with Dear Life, which to be honest I'm not thrilled about although I might end up never changing this title, just wasting a lot of writing time thinking about alternatives and creating this blog entry all about it.

I now leave you with a cool little montage on Titles by Art of the Title, some food for thought.

It would be interesting to see how other people come up with titles, at which stage of the project and how often, if at all, it gets changed. And whilst we’re on the subject of titles, what is your favourite and worst film title of all times?

Writing and Cupcakes

Last night I finally got a chance to pop by the NFT cafe on the London South Bank to meet a group of writers. This was the fourth time the group got together since Christmas. It's all an extension to what started as a script chatting group on Twitter,  known as #scriptchat. After virtually meeting and chatting for the last two years about writing and filmmaking, the group decided to meet in real life. There are already groups who meet in the US, so it was nice to finally have a London tweetup, organised by the Europe scriptchat host Mina Zaher; cupcakes included (courtesy of Alli Parker).

I was nicely surprised by the amount of people who showed up. There must have been about 20 of us at one point. Some who I already 'knew' through twitter, others that I got to meet, and unfortunately some that I didn't but hope to at a further meet. The group consisted of writers from different walks of life, working on different genres and formats; some get paid to write, some would pay to write. Then there was me. I suppose if I was there, then I must be a writer too, or at least anyone who was there might think so.

I have screenwriting books that I bought about ten years ago, a short that I wrote even longer ago, and an ancient notebook filled with script ideas. That was it really. I've wanted to be a screenwriter for a while, but all I ever did was jot down ideas, read books, but never really dare to just forget about all that and sit down and write. I always had brilliant excuses to not write.

Last year this all changed simply because it had to. I was always saying that I would focus on writing once I went on maternity leave and even though it didn't happen when I had my first child, I finally took that step just weeks after conceiving my second son. Since the middle of last year I have been writing more and more. Alone and in partnership I have written a couple of shorts, a couple of spec pilots, some other bits and pieces and as of today have started that one feature I've been pondering about for a while.

Even though there are writers out there who started their writing careers whilst quite young, I don't regret not having started sooner. I didn't just sit by and watch life happen, I was enjoying it, experimenting, inventing, creating and, well, making life. So I got derailed but found so much knowledge and richness that I am now ready to incorporate it all into what I hope will be a writing and film making career.

Without further ado, hi. My name is Teenie and I'm a screenwriter.


(Interested in screenwriting? Why not join #scriptchat online on Twitter and real life. Details here.)