BBC Writers Academy

Applications are now open for the BBC Drama's Writers Academy

Outline

The training you receive from BBC Drama’s Writers Academy will give you the specific skills required to write for some of the BBC’s most popular series such as Doctors, EastEnders, Holby City and Casualty, and a springboard to write across all the BBC’s drama output.

To be eligible for this scheme, writers will have already had at least one professional (paid) drama commission in film, television, radio or theatre.

The Writers Academy will train up to 8 writers a year, over a period of twelve months.

Course Breakdown

The course will break down as follows:

Introduction to Writing for Continuing Drama Series

This is a 3 month training course in writing for Continuing Drama Series which will consist of a number of workshops and lectures accompanied by intensive writing exercises and analysis.

During this period each writer will write a broadcast episode of Doctors.

The training course will be lead by John Yorke, Controller, Drama Production and New Talent, and other industry experts from all areas of drama production.

Course participants will be required to attend classes at the BBC premises in Elstree for three days per week, and one day at Television Centre in London.

Some expenses will be paid for writers based out of the London area for this period.

Writing for Broadcast

After you have completed the initial training and the Doctors script, your work will be assessed. If you have reached the required standard for production on Continuing Drama Series you will begin the next phase of the training.

Writers will rotate across Casualty, Holby and Eastenders in turn, writing a broadcast episode, spending a maximum of 12 weeks on each show.

At the end of the 12 months, each writer will have written for each of the four shows.

Core team & HQ

The course will be run and administered from BBC TVC in London W12 and BBC Elstree Studios. The course will be overseen and run by a Course Producer.

The deadline for applications is: May 5th 2010. More information and how to apply is on the web site.

Save our Scripts

The Bureau Film Company is launching a new MEDIA-funded development programme called SOS: Save Our Scripts.

The SOS development programme is currently searching Europe for emerging producers and screenwriters.

Writers will develop their selected one page idea to a full length script, which will then receive feedback from financiers and key industry figures. Alongside this the producers will build their development skills, and new relationships with the participating writers, producers, and industry contacts.

The training will run from May until December and is made up of 3 intensive workshops and a number of one to one virtual script meetings. The workshops will take place in the UK, France and Belgium, and will be composed of a range of writing exercises, master-classes, and peer to peer development.

Writers must be able to display the strength of their writing ability, but cannot have had more than one feature film produced.

More information on the application process is on the web site - note a new web site for the programme will be launched soon.

The deadline for entries is the February 26, 2010.

If selected, the Initial Development fee is £250, and the Final Development fee is £250.

Darklight X Announced

Darklight X: New World Order (October 8 - 11), Ireland's celebration of art, film and technology, is a three-day event involving performances, screenings, workshops, seminars, symposiums, visual art happenings and much more. This year the festival is taking over Dublin's Smithfield district, where the Lighthouse Cinema and other venues will host a feast of events.

Highlights include:

• A public interview and workshop with legendary music video director Mark Romanek. Mark directed the classic video for "Hurt" by Johnny Cash, and has worked with everyone from Michael Jackson and Madonna to Nine Inch Nails and Jay-Z.
• The Irish premier of a major new video instillation, Three Potential Endings, from two-time Turner Prize nominee Willie Doherty, on Smithfield Plaza.
• A celebration of Oscar-nominated Irish animation company Brown Bag.
• Collaborations with cutting-edge Irish companies thisisnotashop, Synth Eastwood, Nartystation and Performance Corporation.
• A discussion with Anna Troberg, the Vice-Chairwoman of Sweden's Pirate Party the political outfit dedicated to radical copyright reform who recently won two seats in the European elections.
• Ten Irish filmmakers conspire to produce a brand new feature film in seven days! It's our latest DIY movie spectacular, Hotel Darklight!
• The World Premiere of Vincent Moon's stunning Irish-lensed concert movie R.E.M. Live At The Olympia.
• The debut of Virtual Cinema 2.0, the Irish Film Board's latest round of cutting-edge on-line short films.
• A screening of Brendan Muldowney's Savage, the most controversial Irish film of 2009.
• A weekend long Performance Lab with acclaimed artist Amanda Coogan.
• The EA Hub Gaming Station, a spectacular outdoor gaming extravaganza.
• O Canada! Screenings celebrating 70 years of the Canadian Film Board.
• Plus: The Straylight visual art trail and unexpected happenings aplenty...

Booking information will be available on the web site from Friday, September 11 2009.

SWF Approaches

The 4th International Screenwriters' Festival, takes place 26-29 October 2009 at the Cheltenham Ladies College in the English Cotswolds.

The festival will provide an opportunity for writers to connect with directors, producers, agents, development and studio execs, financiers and commissioners. It is a meeting place for screen storytellers in film and television, as well as in the fields of digital/online and gaming.

At the festival projects get picked up, new partnerships and alliances are forged and delegates are offered a menu of events that include keynote speeches, seminars, screenings, masterclasses, workshops and limitless networking opportunities with commissioning, production and agency talent.

The festival programme embraces all genres and attracts writers (both established and new), producers, directors, agents, developers, financiers and film executives. Last year saw some 600 attendees from 15 countries that included Australia, Spain, USA, Canada, France and Italy.

A 2 Day Ticket costs £246.00, and a 4 Day Ticket costs £389.00.

Also, Nicola Depuis is looking for writers with experience writing LBGT characters for film and television to take part in a symposium she is hoping to arrange at the Screenwriters Festival on the subject of writing LGBT characters for the screen. Please contact Nicola at 085-7874149 if you are attending the conference and have some background in this area.

The Next Stage

The Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival in association with Theatre Forum and the Abbey Theatre, with funding by the Arts Council, is organising a two-week programme aimed at performing artists and creators called The Next Stage.

Eighteen people will be selected to take part in a programme of master classes, talks, physical workshops and performances to broaden and deepen their experience of theatre from conception to performance.

The programme takes advantage of the unique opportunities presented by Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival and the world-class directors, playwrights, actors and designers who will be in town during the Festival.

Key information:
Dates: It begins Thursday 24 September and ends Sunday 11 October 2009. N.B The programme is intensive. It involves seeing 19 shows so you are out almost every night and participating in workshops all day including Saturdays!
Times: 10am - 6pm daily with performances most evenings.
Participation fee: (including 19 performances and all workshops and talks) €250

The closing date for applications is 5pm on Friday 21 August.

All information on now to apply is available from the web site.

Free Master Class for NI Writers

Northern Irish screenwriters have the opportunity to obtain one of ten free places on the Screenwriters' Master Class at the Galway Film Fleadh, as organised by Northern Ireland Screen.

Four of the ten selected writers will be chosen for a one-to-one with Christopher Hampton.

For full details contact Development Executive Natasha Geary at natasha@northernirelandscreen.co.uk by no later than 5pm on Tuesday, 23 June 2009.

Essential criteria to be considered for selection to attend the Master Class:

• You must be resident for tax purposes in Northern Ireland
• You must have previously received development money for a feature film or TV drama script
• Experienced television drama writers with at least one commission or broadcast credit
• Preference will be given to writers who have not attended the Fleadh before
• You must be able to demonstrate a strategic need for attending the festival.

In addition, in order to be considered for a one-to-one with Christopher Hampton, you will need to have had a feature film produced and distributed in a commercial cinema or a television drama produced and broadcast.

More Fleadh Workshops

The Galway Film Fleadh in conjunction with the Galway Film Centre has announced that American filmmaker Jon Jost (All The Vermeers in New York, Over Here) will host a five-day workshop during the Fleadh, beginning on Tuesday July 7.

The aim of the workshop is to familiarize participants with the myriad qualities which small digital DV and HDV cameras possess and to experiment in using these capacities in a creative manner. The workshop will also focus on the various types of in camera effects and how best to combine these with non-linear computer editing systems.

Those attending the workshop are advised to bring a DV or HDV (or Hi8) Camera and if possible a notebook computer which can be used for editing. The workshop will culminate on Sunday July 12 where participants will have the opportunity to screen the short films which they will make in the workshop at a special screening in the Cinemobile.

For further information please contact education@galwayfilmcentre.ie

The Fleadh, in conjunction with the Galway Film Centre, and in association with FÁS Screen Training Ireland, has also announced that Michael Fassbender (Hunger, Inglourious Basterds, Fish Tank) is the subject of the Acting Master Class at the festival.

It will take place on Saturday, July 11th and will be facilitated by leading casting agents, Ros Hubbard and Mary Maguire. Hunger will be screened on Friday afternoon, July 10th.

For further information or to apply for a place, contact Mary Deely at 091-770748 or masterclasses@galwayfilmfleadh.com

Those interested should submit a CV/Biography. The Master Class costs €50.

Fleadh Masterclass 09

The 21st Galway Film Fleadh and the Galway Film Centre, in association with Northern Ireland Screen, have announceed that Christopher Hampton will give the Screenwriters Master Class at this year's Fleadh.

Christopher's most recently released film, Atonement, won Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards for Best Picture. Cheri, directed by Stephen Frears, premiered at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival.

His other screenplays include The Quiet American, Mary Reilly, Total Eclipse, Dangerous Liaisons, Carrington, The Secret Agent and Imagining Argentina, the last three of which he also directed.

Prizes for his film and television work include an Academy Award, two BAFTAs, a Writer's Guild of America Award, the Prix Italia, a Special Jury Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Hollywood Screenwriter of the Year 2007 and The Collateral Award at the Venice Film Festival for Best Literary Adaptation.

Christopher Hampton's plays, musicals and translations have garnered three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, four Evening Standard awards and the New York Theatre Critics Circle Award.

He has written a wide range of award winning plays including The Talking Cure, White Chameleon, Tales From Hollywood, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Treats, Savages, The Philanthropist and Total Eclipse.

Christopher Hampton also wrote the book and lyrics (with Don Black) for the musicals, Sunset Boulevard and Dracula, and the libretto for the Philip Glass operas, Waiting For The Barbarians and Appomattox.

To honour the presence of Christopher Hampton at the festival, the 21st Galway Film Fleadh will screen Atonement, Imagining Argentina and The Quiet American.

The Master Class will take place on Thursday, July 9th in the Radisson Hotel, Galway. For further information or to apply for a place, contact Mary Deely at 091-770748 or masterclasses[at]galwayfilmfleadh[dot]com. Those interested should submit a CV/Biography.

Fleadh 2008

The Galway Film Fleadh (8-13 July) has announced its full programme online.

There is a fine selection of international and Irish documentaries and features, short film screenings, and special guests including Peter O'Toole, Jessica Lange and Bill Pullman. On top of this there will be masterclasses for actors, directors, and screenwriters, industry seminars, the pitching award, and the film fair. There will be plenty to do and see during the Fleadh.

Fleadh Writers Masterclass

The Galway Film Fleadh has announced details about its Screenwriter's Masterclass with Martin Daniel & Ted Braun on Thursday 10th July.

Martin Daniel is a professor at the University of Southern California, on what is regarded as America’s most prestigious screenwriting programme. He combines his American education and professional experience with a European sensibility derived from his Czech origins and decades of work as an international script consultant. In this session, he will share his unparalleled experience with Irish professionals at the Fleadh.

He will present a specially designed masterclass, which offers an overview of the Frank Daniel approach to storytelling on the screen, followed by a detailed, practical session on constructing and rewriting scenes. This masterclass is designed to be of benefit to experienced screenwriters, producers and script editors.

Martin Daniel says he is delighted to be returning to Galway this year. "I always enjoy working with Irish writers; I see a lot of parallels between the Irish and the Czechs, not least that they are natural writers and storytellers. They have both used language and creativity to survive with a strong cultural identity despite centuries in the shadow of a neighbouring empire."

The session will be moderated by Irish screenwriter and script consultant Mary Kate O Flanagan and will include opportunities for Q&A.

Martin Daniel Biography

Martin Daniel is a script development expert and teacher. He is a member of the faculty of the University of Southern California School of Cinema/Television (Writing Division), where he has taught graduate and undergraduate courses since 1996.

Martin is also a founding faculty member of the Maurits Binger Film Institute in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and was a core faculty member of the international screenwriting program North by NorthWest. He has taught screenwriting workshops and classes all over the world for over twenty years, including a one-year Fulbright lectureship at FAMU, the film school in his native Czech Republic. His students’ many critical and professional success stories include an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

For the past fifteen years, Martin has been on the script development team of European Audio-Visual Entrepreneurs, a European Union Media Program Initiative for the training of independent producers. He has consulted independent producers on the development of over two hundred feature film scripts.

If you would like to attend this Masterclass, download the application form from the web site, and return it with the payment to the Fleadh. Places are limited so please book early.

Fleadh Peek

The Galway Advertiser has advance information on this year's Galway Film Fleadh (8-13 July). The programme will be announced next week, but the Advertiser tells us:

Over the six days there will be 70 feature, 120 short, and 25 documentary screenings, actors and directors' masterclasses, debates, discussions, public interviews, workshops and launches. Special guests will include Peter O'Toole and Jessica Lange and films starring both will also be screened.

Lanois Masterclass

FÁS Screentraining Ireland is organising a masterclass with director, producer, and singer-songwriter Daniel Lanois on Saturday the 31st of May, 2008.

Called "the most important record producer to emerge in the Eighties" by Rolling Stone, Daniel Lanois has garnered praise for his work with U2, Peter Gabriel, and Bob Dylan. Like his sometime collaborator Brian Eno, Lanois has shown a flair for delicate, atmospheric touches, both in producing material for other musicians and in his own projects as a composer and recording artist. Stressing emotional vibrancy over the technical aspects of making albums, Lanois has recorded in such unlikely settings as castles and dairy barns in his efforts to elicit honest, spontaneous performances. The results of this visceral approach have ranged from the soaring intensity of his Grammy-winning coproduction (with Eno) of U2's The Joshua Tree to the moody, understated passion of Lanois' solo efforts.

He has worked in the film industry as a producer and composer working on Dune (1984), Birdy (1984), Last of the Mohicans (1992), Sling Blade (1996), and Sweet Angel Mine (1996) before underscoring Million Dollar Hotel (2000), and the 2006 Pixies documentary LoudQUIETloud. He has had original master recordings featured in numerous film and TV soundtracks including Philadephia, Trainspotting, Sopranos, and The Jacket.

The day will begin at 12pm with a screening of Lanois' documentary, Here Is What Is, followed by the masterclass with Lanois, and it will cost €50.

Daniel Lanois and Brian Blade will play live a live gig for about 50 minutes at the 9.15 pm screening of the documentary in the IFI, Temple Bar, Dublin 2. Admission for that event is €35.

Guth Gafa 08

Guth Gafa (15-18 May 2008), the annual documentary film festival that takes place in the Donegal Gaeltacht, has announced its programme for this year.

There will be twenty-five Irish and international documentary premieres, with an emphasis on human rights, the Irish language, and a special Polish season of films.

There will be two seminars targeted at film industry people: 'Film-making for Social Change' with a human rights theme, and 'Get Your Film Seen - the future of distribution' with the theme on models of film distribution.

The festival will also feature a FÁS Screen Training Ireland masterclass with a top international filmmaker, a series of side-bar events including the future of Irish language broadcasting (with a representative of TG4), RTÉ's regional policy, a panel on activist/grassroots films, and a special Radharc screening.

Cinemagic Dublin

Teenagers, and adults with children might be interested to know that Northern Ireland's Cinemagic Film & Television Festival for Young People is setting up in Spencer Dock, Dublin from April 23 - May 1. There will be plenty to do: screenings, workshops, masterclasses and special secondary School education workshops.

Filmbase is running a competition to win 2 festival passes (each pass admits up to 5 people) for the opening film of Cinemagic Dublin on the 23rd April. All you have to do is answer the following question and email it to Filmbase by Thursday 17th April. Details are on the web site.

Belfast Programme Online

The programme for the 8th Belfast Fim Festival (10-19 April) has been announced, along with the news that the Patron for the festival will be writer/director Terry George.

Speaking from his home in New York today, Terry George said: "The Belfast Film Festival has gone from strength to strength over the past 7 years and I am honoured to be part of this next phase of development. I am looking forward to working with the festival to build upon the international recognition it has gained to date."

Festival director Michele Devlin said "We are delighted to announce that director Terry George is the new Patron of the Belfast Film Festival and that his latest film Reservation Road starring Joaquin Phoenix, Jennifer Connolly, Mark Ruffalo and Mira Sorvino will have its Irish premiere at the Festival's opening night. Terry will be on hand to introduce the film and hopes to be bringing along some of the cast. He will also hold a screenwriting and directing masterclass."

There are several masterclasses going on during the festival, and all of them can be booked online. As well as the Terry George masterclass there will be one featuring Ronan Bennett on Writing For Screen, a Music Documentary Workshop, and a Skillset Careers Workshop.

David Simon Masterclass

On the 24th of January, in the Fizwilliam Hotel, Dublin, there will be a half-day masterclass on writing for television with David Simon, writer, producer, and creator of the TV series The Wire.

The masterclass will explore such issues as the writing process, the writer as exec producer, developing story and character, and the current US television drama landscape. Go to the FÁS Screen Training Ireland web site for details on how to apply.

Fleadh Masterclasses Announced

The Galway Film Fleadh / Galway Film Centre in association with FÁS Screen Training Ireland have announced the 2007 Actors' and Directors' Masterclasses.

The Actors' Masterclass with Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons will take place during the morning of Saturday 14 July 2007.

The Directors' Masterclass with German New Wave director Volker Schlöndorff, will be hosted the morning of Friday 13 July 2007.

The Galway Film Fleadh / Galway Film Centre in association with Northern Ireland Screen have organised the Screenwriters Masterclass with screenwriter Terry George, and it will take place Friday 13th July in the afternoon.

Admission to each masterclass is by application only, and costs €50. The deadline for applications is 5pm, Friday June 29th 2007.

Temple Bar Goes Festive

The Temple Bar Film Festival opens tomorrow with a launch at 6.30pm, followed by a showing at 7.30pm of the programme of short Irish documentaries that sold out at the Dublin International Film Festival last February.

This year the festival programme will include eight programmes of Irish short films (including a specially commissioned programme from Nicky Gogan of the Darklight Festival), two feature screenings (Karl Golden's The Honeymooners and Perry Ogden's Pavee Lackeen) and a panel discussion on the distribution of Irish film. Panelists include: Edwina Forkin (Zanzibar Films), Michael McMahon (Molotov Digital) and Derry O'Brien (Network Ireland).

Also as part of the festival, Filmbase is delighted to be hosting a masterclass entitled 'The Art of Action' with stunt co-ordinator/action choreographer, Roger Yuan. During this 1-day masterclass members of the public will see how on-screen action sequences are choreographed and filmed as Roger directs a group of actor/performers to perform action sequences in front of a steadicam operator.