Is Cheltenham SWF Worth A Return?

Chris Regan asked a very interesting question about whether I would try and go to Cheltenham SWF 2010 having been this year. I thought the answer was worth a post as its a good question and I have nothing interesting to say about anything else (and this might not be that interesting anyway, I’m working out my answer as I type this post. I am a rebel.)

The SWF is definitely something you should be going to with the intention of getting something out of it writing-wise. The socialising with other writers is great fun, but don’t get sucked in to going there for a jolly – unless you have money to burn, which not a lot of writers do.

The ticket cost me approx £300 as I managed to get in a ‘group of ten’ to make it cheaper. Then you need a hotel (£19 per night @ Travelodge as I got a special deal), food and drink money and you need to get to Cheltenham and back.

One of my aims was to meet other screenwriters and I certainly did that, but that alone wouldn’t justify the trip and certainly wouldn’t be the sole aim of returning next year. The seminars were a mixed bag. Some good ones clashed with each other or the speed dating, some contradicted others, some were just Q&A’s about certain films, but some gave interesting insights or at worst reiterated important messages that some of us writers ignore (know the industry better, write a script that will sell, don’t tell Armando Iannucci that he’s beginning to look like Alexis Sayle).

Was this worth the fee? Well, if you were being really picky you could argue that you could get most of this information by knowing the industry better (podcasts, trades, internet). There were some screenwriting masterclasses, I guess for the really new people, but I wouldn’t recommend going to the SWF as a writer if you haven’t got the theory. There simply isn’t enough time to go over it in the one hour seminars anyway.

Then there is the speed-dating. I can tell you right now that the thirty minutes (5 mins per date) were probably the most valuable part of the festival for me. The reasons being that I had projects near completion that I wanted to pitch and that I hadn’t pitched to anyone ‘in the industry’ before. At worst it was a great validation that the ideas were good enough to look into and I now have the contacts of people/companies that will do that. People that can make these projects happen.

So really I have to ask myself, ‘How could I get what I did if I didn’t go to the SWF?’ Networking – probably could go to a few writing groups, but wouldn’t meet as many. Seminars – possibly get similar info from the internet and reading the trades in a crowded WH Smith. Producers/Agents – well I certainly wouldn’t have got to speak to the ones I did as they don’t listen to unsolicited calls.

So I am certainly glad I went this year as overall it was worth it. But what about next year? Again, it depends what I need in a year’s time. If I have loads of writing work on then I probably wouldn’t go, the same if I had no new project ideas and no work on. If I had some new ideas/projects that I felt I didn’t have the right contacts for then I probably would go. It depends on the need to speak to Producers/Agents I guess. Also, if I have the money to spend on the whole thing.

It was noticeable that so many people were there for the first time, which suggests that not many people return and so that might mean that those people have adopted the same attitude as I have. In a way I hope I don’t HAVE to go back, but I would certainly like to if I can justify it.

Cheltenham SWF

So I spent most of last week in a Ladies College – Awuga! However, it was for the rather more serious reason of attending the Cheltenham Screenwriters’ Festival – No-woo-girl!

I had no idea what to expect but dragged myself away at the end of it absolutely exhausted but quite pleased with a number of situations. First of all, one of the main aims of the event was to network and boy did I do that! Actually, everyone was pretty shameless in this field and there were so many business cards frantically exchanging hands that I’m surprised that no fires broke out. So I now know A LOT of screenwriters. Which is lovely. It was like being at Uni for days 3 and 4 as you could go off in most directions and bump into someone you ‘knew’ (by that I mean exchanged paper with).

The seminars were more of a mixed bag. I went to a few screenwriting ones to make sure I wasn’t missing any theories from my armory, and I was satisfied that I wasn’t. The problem lies when you go to two different seminars on the same subject and they completely contradict each other. Also, I went to one that had  ‘porn’ in the title and they didn’t show any clips.

The weirdest bit was the number of people that thought I was a ‘proper’ writer. I explained I had a few  radio sketch credits and felt like a newbie but they weren’t having it. Brilliant.

But probably the best thing about the festival was the meeting the agents and producers or as they labelled it ‘Speed Dating’, which is great when you are talking about in a pub full of locals. I was fortunate enough to have ‘dates’ with both agents and producers and, although I didn’t get to first base with any of them, they all liked my ideas and five out of seven of them requested me to send them scripts directly. I must point out (brag) that the producer that didn’t ask me to send him stuff was from Screen Wales and I’m not Welsh so that was always going to be a tricky relationship, and the agent that didn’t ask for stuff did say I should definitely get an agent whilst just staring at me. Weird.

So overall, good. If I didn’t meet those agents/producers it might have been a bit of a waste of money, especially as there weren’t many of them visible throughout the four days. I also got to meet some other bloggers too which was good. My new goals are to finish my comedy pilots and a synopsis for a comedy feature which all have proper interest from actual people.

For that, I thank Cheltenham SWF.

Out of Focus

My brain is as much my enemy as my friend when it comes writing (and probably life!).

For example, when I know I should be writing a particular sitcom script, it will start saying ‘Ooh, by the way, I’ve got a good idea for that OTHER sitcom script you’ve got but are not working on today,’ or ‘Hey, how about this for a NEW sitcom pilot…’ or even ‘FILM! I’ve got an idea for a film!’

Yeah, thanks. I really need you to be thinking about other projects when I’ve set my self targets and deadlines for this sitcom that you had a great idea for whilst trying to write topical sketches an hour before deadline!

I thought I had some sort of compromise for this as I’m trying to work on both sitcom and film ideas in preparation for the Cheltenham Screenwriter’s Festival. That was until this morning when I heard ‘Oh my God, I have an amazing idea for a play.’

Bloggers Block

What to write about on here now? I’m preparing for the Screenwriters Festival in Cheltenham and working through my planned scripts. By the way, I dropped a planned rewrite of a pilot I had drafted a while back so I’m down to two pilots a feature treatment and its first ten pages. I might lose more as the sands of time leak on. In fact I’m pretty sure I will.

I’ve got meetings with agents and producers for only three minutes each and I’m terrified that three minutes will be too long! OK, so better focus. I’ve also got to get some business cards and a website (lets call it a web page for accuracy) ready. So the question shouldn’t be what to write on here now, it should be why am I writing here now???

Focusing on the SWF

So there’s a month to go before the Screenwriters’ Festival in Cheltenham and I’ve adjusted my original targets to having three comedy scripts and a feature treatment (with first 10 pages) ready in time for it. Mainly because I have secured agent/producer speed-dating sessions so I need something ‘pullable’.

Also because having a full feature script ready got put-off due to the fact that I got stuck with part of the story. To date, I have two advanced drafts of comedy scripts, a very detailed outline for the other and an outline for the feature, so I should be able to pull it off (or them off, if we keep to the dating analogy – yeah let’s not).

I’m excited about the event for many reasons and not just because I’ll be travelling on a train (woo woo!). I know of a few people who blog, post on forums that it would be nice to actually meet in person but its also given me a deadline to get my longer projects finished (abandoned?) and shown to ‘real’ people. I really hope I come away from it with some decent contacts and direction.

Anyway, I watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona last night. A fantastic film in my eyes. I’ve decided to only talk about films I like as so many other bloggers cover bad ones (and do it better than me). Woody Allen found the perfect character balance in this one and having a fiery Spaniard (Penelope Cruz’s best performance IMO) must have been a dream for Allen to channel drama and comedy through. Everyone was likeable too, despite Cruz’s madness and Javier Bardem’s serial womanising. The story was good too, with plenty of unpredictable twists and quirks too. Anne Hall worshippers will probably hang me but I reckon this was Allen’s best work to date. For me anyway.

(500) Ideas This Summer

Every now and then I get to go to a free preview of a film at the cinema. One of my main reasons for doing this is because the cinema is in danger of becoming obsolete. It usually costs £7.50 per person (so £15 for a couple) to go to, while my movie rental costs roughly £1.20  per film and I can have all of my friends over – all three of them. OK, I may have to a wait few months for it to become a rental but I also benefit from it being in HD (Blu-ray) which my cinema isn’t. So going to the cinema is a bit like going to the Natural History museum – its nice to see how people lived.

I had enjoyed watching The Proposal a few weeks back which was a funny, if still a template, movie. But last week my expectations were surpassed by (500) Days of Summer, which was an original and very funny movie. Without SPOILING the plot I can say I was impressed with the structure the writers adopted – certainly not templated. The dialogue and scenes also seemed refreshingly enjoyable, it really felt like the writers put their own personal thumb-print on this film. Listening to a podcast interview with one of them confirmed this and made me look at the ideas I had for films to see how personal they were. The answer: 99% weren’t.

They were ideas I thought Hollywood or low-budget Indies would like. They meant nothing to me. Of course plenty of writers write like this but my favourite films aren’t done like this and when I looked at my own experiences and life I found some ideas that are quite original and, more importantly,  interesting to me. Basically, I was inspired to tell the stories I want to tell rather than ones I thought of after seeing other people’s films. To not to try and adopt a ‘Hollywood voice’.

Anyway, (500) was quite inspiring without blowing my mind. It reminded me that originality starts from within, not from thinking like someone else.

This post has taught me that the above short paragraph sums up the whole post without the need of the rest. Sorry.

Funny old day

Yesterday, I tried and failed to get back into the full swing of writing again after a couple of weeks away. Well, away from actual writing that is as I was doing research and outlining on other projects. It was horrible. I genuine thought I had lost what little ability I thought I had before the break. Nothing was coming out, nothing was funny (and yes, I’m working on a comedy). I got depressed and nearly stalled my car on the way to Sainsbury’s – that’s how bad it got.

Today I woke-up (this post is proof) and suddenly things are flowing again, I even made myself laugh. Of course the trick is to make other people laugh but the main thing is I’m back on it. The thought of ’shit, I’ve rearranged my whole life to be a writer. What the hell am I going to do now that I KNOW I can’t do it?’ is put off for another day. Probably until tomorrow. Perseverance and a decent sleep work wonders.

I also watched Margot at the Wedding yesterday and had one of those WTF? moments. In fact I had a few during the film and more after. There was no wedding and it was quite gripping but it was like you’d just started watching the film half way through and then left before the ending. At bit like this post minus the ‘gripping’ bit.

NewsJack

So some good news… I wrote a sketch that got broadcast on BBC 7’s topical news sketch show NewsJack last night. Apparently not many non-commissioned writers get sketches on, they mainly get one-liners or Vox Pops on so its good news really.

I have to say my sketch got edited slightly to replace some of my gags with some of their’s, but we all have different opinions when it comes to comedy and it was well-received so I won’t complain (much).

Its good to keep getting these radio credits whilst working on the longer form (sitcom/film). I wonder what it take to be a commissioned writer given that I’ve written for nearly all the non-comm shows on the BBC in the last two years? Shit. That was almost a complaint, sorry.

Anyway, a weekend of writing ahead, I’m getting a lot more time to write these days so things are progressing. Who would have thought that would happen?

The Proposal

The Cheltenham Screenwriters Festival is in October and I’ve fortunately secured three five-minute speed dates with both agents and producers. Nothing focuses the brain more than that! My target for the event is to have the following:

Two completed comedy pilots (one is in draft 5, one is in draft -5)

The sketch show pilot (already done – tweaks required though)

Two movie treatments (high-level outlines have already been completed on about four)

I would like to have more to chose from but I’m setting my targets low unlike my New Year ones which would have me holding an Oscar by now. Also, I can’t pitch them all so I’d hope one or two of them would be a shining light by then.

I haven’t written a feature yet and purposely didn’t try to write one yet whilst I was concentrating on the thirty minute format. However, I’ve got the structure that I would like to follow for it so I won’t be going into it blind-folded – like I did with my first attempt at sitcom which is still lying in the corner of my room scorched round the edges and incomplete.

Back to writing…

De Terminator

Yeah, I’ve noticed every time I include the name of a TV show or a film in my title I get a huge rise in hits. Its an atom-sized victory but they all count. Anyway, my rewriting is a bit like going to the dentist. I know I have to do it, but I know its going to be painful and if I’m a good boy I’ll let myself have a treat at the end of it (work on something else).

I don’t know if its the same with other writers but whenever I have a new idea to work on I envision it as something glorious and expect it to give me the buzz I get when I first see something new and brilliant. Of course, the closer I get to writing it the less brilliant it feels and then misery ensues. When is a first draft ever going to be like an episode of The Office?

So I’m trawling through draft after draft of a script, losing confidence it it, gaining confidence in it. Writing blog posts instead of concentrating on it. When will it all end??? Page 53 I think.