Where Are All The Heroines On TV?
I’ve been enjoying Atlantis with my kids and both my son and daughter love it. They like the humour, the emotional drama, the action and the adventure. But I was sitting there wondering, what sort of message does this send my daughter? The female characters are either passive love interest or evil. Don’t get me […]
Writing Drama With Ambition and the Rise of the Co-Production
We’ve long had a love-affair with American television drama and the list of US shows we Brits love to watch is long. Whether you were there twenty years ago with The Sopranos, E.R and Grey’s Anatomy, or ten years ago with House and Dexter, or are just discovering the joys of The Americans, Boardwalk Empire, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Walking […]
Screenwriter Interview – Chris Lunt
Hayley: Huge congratulations on the green-light from ITV for PREY. Can you tell me a bit about the project and its journey from idea to production? Chris: Hello and thank-you. I’m afraid I can’t talk too much about the specifics of the drama beyond saying it’s the story of a copper, Marcus Farrow (played by John […]
Screenwriter Interview – Jamie Crichton
Hayley: First of all, congratulations on being commissioned on Law&Order:UK (ITV) and on Ripper Street (BBC) this year. Can I take you back and ask what was the first spec you wrote and how did you know what to do next with it? Jamie: I was working at Really Useful Films and we’d optioned Michael […]
Screenwriter Interview – Robin Mukherjee
Robin Mukherjee is the screenwriter of award-winning feature film ‘Lore’ (2012). He’s written ‘Combat Kids’ for CBBC and many UK primetime series such as ‘Casualty’ and ‘The Bill’, as well as numerous radio plays and theatre pieces. Script Angel caught up with Robin to find out how ‘Lore’ came about and what it’s like as a screenwriter working in […]
Calling the shots on more than just Call The Midwife
An all-female directing line-up shouldn’t make headlines. As it enters production on series three, Call The Midwife has been making headlines, both here and in the US. The reason? Every director on the series will be a woman. Although this is said to be by happy accident rather than design, helped in no small part […]
Screenwriting Books
An updated list following some great suggestions from screenwriters of books that they’ve found particularly useful. Poetics by Aristotle The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by Syd Field Story by Robert McKee Save the Cat! by Blake […]
Screenwriting Short Courses and Workshops – UK
If you want to study screenwriting (or just need a refresher) but don’t want to commit to one of the great Screenwriting M.A courses on offer, there are lots of shorter courses and workshops worth checking out. The Two Phils – London – 11-12 May 2013 Skribita – Brighton – Writing TV (26-28 April 2013) Professional Writing […]
Surviving Script Development
Congratulations! After all that hard work and self-doubt you’ve finally had your spec script optioned / been commissioned to write a treatment or script. It feels like you’ve won the lottery. The euphoria is amazing, you feel like you’ve finally made it in the industry and your tv show/feature film is going to be made! Being commissioned/optioned is a fantastic endorsement of […]