Factory News
Upcoming Writers' Factory events

Opportunities
Screen writing competitions and other opportunities

Events
Screen writing events and classes

E-BULLETIN: January 2010

Welcome to the Writers' Factory's E-Bulletin for January 2010.

These monthly bulletins contain information about future Writers' Factory courses as well as information relevant to screen writers across the UK and internationally. The Writers' Factory E-Bulletin is divided into three sections: Factory News, Opportunities and Events.

We would appreciate any feedback you have on our
E-bulletin and if you have any information that you would like circulated to our subscribers, please email this to info@playwrightsstudio.co.uk by the end of the first week of each month.

Events
Writing A Short Film
The L.A.B. - Learn @ BBC Scotland
An English Couple Inside Hollywood
Breaking Into Television
Screenwriting For Short Film Course
Screenwriting UK
Effective Script Reading
Screenlab : Exciting Treatments
Project Development Workshops
The Sitcom Weekend
Scriptwriter's Conference
The Absolute Beginner's Guide to How To Write a Screenplay
Writers' Lab
Comedy-Crossing the Boundaries
Read more...

Factory News

The Writers’ Factory is funded by Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council and is coordinated by the Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland. For more information about The Writers' Factory, please visit the website
www.writersfactory.co.uk

Opportunities

Screen Lab 2010
Scottish Book Trust
Location: Edinburgh
Deadline: 4 February 2010

You are currently writing short stories, novels or plays. Ever wondered what it takes to write for Film and TV? After the success of last year's course, Scottish Book Trust is pleased to announce the launch of Screen Lab 2010.

Screen Lab will show you exactly what it takes to break into one of the most competitive and lucrative areas of writing and will also include a day on adaptation.

Application Criteria: Screen Lab is open to writers at all stages of their career. Applicants who have not followed the application guidelines will not be considered. Successful applicants must commit to attending the entire Screen Lab.  

For more details, go to  http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/screen-lab-2010
 
Deadline for applications: Thursday 4th February  

writerSearch UK is a multiplatform writer development programme, teaching skills necessary to produce content for the internet, mobile phones, games, film television and radio.

writerSearch UK is a multiplatform writer development programme, teaching skills necessary to produce content for the internet, mobile phones, games, film television and radio.  The course for newly established freelancers includes instruction on the use of ITC and is supported by Skillset and BBC Training & Development. If you are a writer with experience or potential from the age of 16 upwards living in the Scottish highlands and islands you can apply to the course by submitting your original story. Please make sure that your story could work as a 10 minute film. Your story needs to be no more than one side of A4.  

Please Note: We do not need your story to be in script format as we will help teach you how to format your script on the course.
Date – 19th, 20th, 21st February 2010
Venue – The Waterside, Inverness, IV2 4SF
Price – £450 + VAT (£517.50 in total)*
For more information please visit the website: http://www.tapsnet.org/course.html?courseid=340

Scotland : Write Here, Write Now
BBC Scotland
Location: Scotland
Deadline: 26 March 2010

As part of the Scotland Writes initiative, the BBC Scotland Comedy department is launching a brand new competition – SCOTLAND: WRITE HERE, WRITE NOW – to seek out the country’s most exciting new comic writers.

The competition is open to Scottish and Scottish-based writers. They want you to write the opening 10-15 pages (no more than 2000 words) of a contemporary comedy drama or a sitcom. Set your script in Scotland with at least one Scottish character in the cast. They want to hear a contemporary Scottish story, whether it’s from Oban, Orkney or Edinburgh.

Email your script sample to bbcscotlandcomedy@bbc.co.uk by Friday 26th March 2010. accompanied by a completed application form, which can be downloaded from the BBC Writersroom website www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom

Alternatively post your script sample and completed application form to Scotland: Write Here, Write Now, BBC Scotland, Comedy Department, Zone 2.12, 40 Pacific Quay, Glasgow, G51 1DA. If you do not have access to the internet then please send the following information (typed) along with your script: name, address, date of birth, email address, contact telephone number & confirmation that you were either born or are resident in Scotland.

For more information, visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/scotland_write_here_write_now.shtml or the Scotland: Write Here, Write Now Facebook page at www.facebook.com/scotlandwriteherewritenow

She Writes is a new training programme for women screenwriters, co-presented by Birds Eye View and The Script Factory, and supported by Skillset. It has been designed to address the remarkable statistic that only 12 percent of British films are written by women. The programme, catering for eight emerging women writers, will take place over a year, during which time participants working on a feature screenplay will enjoy a residential retreat, attend specialist workshops, meet with mentors, gain a better understanding of the industry, have exclusive access to the Birds Eye View Film Festival, and workshop their projects with actors.

She Writes is now looking for eight women writers who must have at least one writing credit, in either short film, TV, radio or theatre, or at least one feature script either optioned or funded, but not yet produced.

For more information and to find out how to apply, please visit http://www.birds-eye-view.co.uk/1741/bev-labs/she-writes.html

From 19 January 2010 onwards, the Clore Leadership Programme are inviting applications for 2010/11 Fellowships on the Clore Leadership Programme. Each Fellow will have an individually tailored programme which will include:

• Two intensive residential leadership courses in Sep 2010 and June/July 2011
• Professional development through mentoring, coaching, training and group learning
• Time for reflection, discussion and debate
• A period of secondment, including experience of managing a challenging project

The closing date for applications is Friday 12 March 2010

For further information and to use the online application form, please visit the website http://www.cloreleadership.org

Screen Story Competition
Euroscript
Location : London
Deadline : 31 March 2010

Winners of the Euroscript Screen Story Competition write three drafts of their script within a specified time period.  Working one-to-one with a script consultant they receive as much face-to-face and written feedback as is required to complete each of the three drafts.  Once each draft is complete, they receive a full script report, usually running to five or six pages, together with an annotated script.  At the end of the process they are offered marketing advice

To find out more, visit http://www.euroscript.co.uk/about_competition.html

If you’re looking for work as a screenwriter, story editor, comedy writer – or even work within movie and TV production – take a look at the Screenwriting Goldmine Blog.

The pages take ads from quite a few internet sources, and should automatically update as the vacancies are posted.

To find out more, visit http://www.screenwritinggoldmine.com/

Events

Writing a Short Film
Vision Pictures
Location : Edinburgh, UK
Dates: 23 and 24 January 2010

An introduction to writing for the screen.

Participants will develop an understanding of what material is best suited to short films, how to structure the story and how to position their screenplay to get it made and seen.

Topics will include:

• How to select and develop suitable ideas for a short film.
• The narrative elements of a short film screenplay (characters, plot, dialogue).
• Story structure for short films.
• The roles of writer/producer/director and how they interact.
• What to do with the screenplay when it is completed.

For booking and further details visit www.visionpictures.org

Do you want to make a film, TV programme or try audio podcasting? Come and try a workshop at the L.A.B. - Learn @ BBC Scotland

Contact The L.A.B. on 0141 422 7896 or labscotland@bbc.co.uk or visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/learning/lab/ for more information

An English Couple Inside Hollywood
Euroscript
Location : London
Date : 21 January 2010

Euroscript are delighted to invite Alan Denman and Ayesha Walker to talk about their experiences and give their inside tips and trade secrets at Euroscript's first free networking event of 2010.

What is it like to work there? What makes a script “commercial”? Is it possible to retain your unique voice AND be successful? What are the differences between British and American culture? Can a British writer/filmmaker bridge the gap between the sensibilities of the two cultures and somehow combine the best of them?

To find out more, visit http://www.euroscript.co.uk/free_events.html

Have you got a cracking drama series concept but aren‘t sure of the first steps to get your idea realised?

Come and join writer Philip Palmer in conversation with BBC Commissioning Editor Esther Springer. Listen to experienced voices as they discuss the journey from two viewpoints.

For more information about the event and panellists, please visit http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/whatson/breakingintotv.htm

Delivered by Joe Hepworth, Screenwriter and Visiting Lecturer at the Northern Film School, this course provides the chance to develop your short film script from concept through to first draft. There will be regular screenings and discussions of short films to help understand the genre, and the opportunity to expand on the basic screenwriting principles covered in the introductory sessions. There will also be an opportunity to speak to specialists at regional screen agency Screen Yorkshire to find out what to do with your finished script. For more information call 0870 70 10 201.

Price : £150  

To find out more, visit http://www.industrialscripts.co.uk/

Screenlab : Exciting Treatments
Euroscript
Location : London
Date : 30 January 2010

Treatments are essential both for developing and for marketing your scripts - and yet the treatment is where many writers go wrong.

This workshop will teach you to write a strong and involving cinema, TV single or series treatment, using professional analysis and thought-provoking exercises.

Places are strictly limited to ensure personal feedback. Price - £85 (£75 concessions)

To find out more, visit http://www.euroscript.co.uk/treatments_i.html

Project Development Workshops
Euroscript
Location : London
Date : From 1 February 2010

Develop your script from initial idea to final draft. Euroscript is committed to helping you make your work the best it can possibly be - whether feature-film, short, sitcom, TV drama or series.

Whatever stage you’re at, from an idea that hasn’t even been put onto paper yet, to a draft of a script, bring your work along and receive constructive criticism to help you develop it further.

To find out more about these workshops, visit http://www.euroscript.co.uk/project_development.html

The Sitcom Weekend
Euroscript
Location : London
Date : 27 & 28 February 2010

In this intensive weekend you'll develop your own sitcom while you master the machinery of this very distinctive genre to create classic characters, settings and plots.

You can use the carefully constructed exercise on the course to work on ideas you bring with you, or to help you develop completely new material from scratch.

You'll leave the weekend with a portfolio of original, enduring characters; ideas for episodes and further series, and a bullet point first draft of your own sitcom.

Price : £150 (£135 concessions).

Visit http://www.euroscript.co.uk/sitcom_weekend.html for further details.

The Universities of Bolton and Huddersfield are collaborating again to host the second Northern Student Scriptwriters' Conference.

This two day conference is an exceptional opportunity for undergraduates, postgraduates and new writers to learn about the mechanics of the scriptwriting industry and to participate in workshops and garner advice from successfully established writers and producers of new writing.

Enquiries can be made via e.spenwyn@hud.ac.uk or 01484 472839.or visit www2.hud.ac.uk/northern-student-scriptwriters-conference.php

Conference Price (including tea, coffee and lunch): £80 (Concessions: £30)

The Absolute Beginner's Guide to How to Write a Screenplay
Euroscript
Location : London
Date : 13 & 14 March 2010

During this weekend, you'll cover the fundamentals of how to write a screenplay.

If your ambition is to write a film script, or you need a refresher course because you're stuck, then this intensive, hands-on workshop will give you the tools you need.

By the end of the weekend you will have the beat outline of your first feature script, stepped out structurally from beginning to end, and you'll have the expertise you need to begin writing the screenplay.

Price: £150 (£135 concessions)

For more details, visit http://www.euroscript.co.uk/absolute_beginners.html

The University of Bolton is developing a writer's programme in association with a number of production companies in the North West (AbbottVision, Red Productions, Lime Pictures,  BBC writersroom, LA Productions, Made In Manchester, R.S.J. Productions). This is a scheme for writers that want to develop their skills working in an industry context.  Writers will develop an original script as well as learn about team writing and producing.

In order to develop the scheme effectively we are offering free places to 16 new writers from the North West.  This pilot scheme will put writers into direct contact with the best TV, radio and web producers in the region. 

Who can apply for this scheme?

The scheme is open to writers based within the North West region who have already had a script commissioned or had a professional reading of their work (for any platform, film, radio, stage, TV or the web) or had material published.  You will be expected to be able to work effectively on scripted material from the start of the project.  This is not a scheme for beginners.

Applicants must be over 18 and not in full-time education.

If you wish to discuss the project further, please contact the University of Bolton on infowriterslab@bolton.ac.uk  Alternatively,  you can speak to Jane Stuart on 01204 903331 or Anna Zaluckzkowska on 01204 903237.

'Comedy Crossing the Boundaries - 360 Ways to be Funny' is a 3 day workshop for comedy writers wanting to forge a career in comedy entertainment. It is run in association with Skillset and BBC Training & Development.

This is a three day writer development programme for established freelancers, teaching skills needed to address multiplatform comedy content for internet, mobile phones, games, film, television and radio.  Writers will also learn how to pitch a multi-platform brief. 

Submit an idea for your own comedy TV sitcom, internet clip or mobile upload and watch your words come to life (or death) as professional actors read your lines and discuss your ideas in a constructive workshop environment.

Date - 5th, 6th and 7th March 2010
Venue - The Atrium, Cardiff, CF24 2FN
Price - £450 + VAT (£517.50 in total)*
For more information please visit the website: http://www.tapsnet.org/course.html?courseid=341

Playwrights' Studio, Scotland
CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD
Telephone: 0141-332-4403 Textphone: 0141-332-3208
info@playwrightsstudio.co.uk www.playwrightsstudio.co.uk
Charity No: SC036767