UK Scriptwriters: Recent Episodes
UKscriptwriters
We are Tim Clague and Danny Stack, writers from Nelson Nutmeg Pictures ltd. We talk about the UK scriptwriting scene - film, TV and new media.
Get our book here - http://www.tinyurl.com/UKscripthandbook
The last time we chatted to Justin it was episode 63, way back in July 2017. What the heck has he been up to? Let's find out. When last we spoke he was working on a second feature film and a new series. Spoiler alert: one happened and one collapsed. Which one? And why? Plus, why are all writers like Robinson Crusoe?
This episode we speak to Hayley McKenzie from Script Angel about everything to do with development. What is the role of a script editor? How can they help? Can they help you? What mistakes does Hayley see from new writers? Find out more about Hayley at https://scriptangel.com/about-us/
We've know Debs for years, starting our careers at around the same time - but with different paths and a different journey. She was a Screen International "Star of Tomorrow" and has won numerous awards for her shorts and features. She shares the story of how she even managed to discover the world of scriptwriting and what her greatest lesson is.
IMDB = https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3061605
Her feature; Pincushion on Amazon Prime = https://amzn.to/3ed4XRW
Andrew Walsh is one of the UK's busiest games writers having been involved since the early days of narrative design. A great speaker, who is a champion for games writers, especially via the WGGB. We ask him about the changes he has seen in the industry as well practical tips for people interested in this field.
Some links:
Andrew's site: http://www.andrewwalsh.com/videogames
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0909539
Twitter: https://twitter.com/englishscribe
Andrew Talked About:
Last Of Us Part 2 - https://amzn.to/2Ee8rpp
Heaven's Vault from Inkle - https://www.inklestudios.com/heavensvault/
Before I Forget - https://www.3foldgames.uk
Red Dead Redemption 2 - https://amzn.to/3aEFq25
Spiderman - https://amzn.to/318CSpO
In this episode we have a 'zoom' chat (it's all the rage) with Paul Pimenta. Paul didn't even start out wanting to be a scriptwriter! Now he is in LA, writing many episodes of TV, and has an agent. How did that happen? And is it a good move to make?
Where the heck have we been - again? We've been playing with dogs, that's what! In this 'old school' style episode we talk about how we got our children's TV series off the ground, called DOG YEARS. And we discuss how we ran our writers room.
- Youtube clips of BTS - https://youtu.be/o4h6QV8ugTU
This episode is a bit different in that it was recorded live at Writeidea Festival in Whitechapel, London in 2019. It's a fantastic FREE festival about all facets of writing. And we flew the flag for scriptwriting. Very much a Q&A session it covers a wide range of topics including, starting out as a writer, will someone steal your idea, how to get noticed, what can you do to move your idea forward?
In this bonus podcast Jan Caston grabs a chat with BBC light entertainment radio and TV legend Martin Fisher. In an overview of his career he talks about the early writing rooms, how radio can be a big break and also about changes to the biz.
Where the hell have we been? Why dear listener, we've been making our second feature, called Future TX. A sci fi adventure movie for all the family. How did we make it? When did it get off the ground? Who's in it? And why did we do it? All are answered for those that seek to hear our words!
See more about the movie at www.futuretx.co.uk
In this extra special edition, Jan Caston interviews TV comedy legend John Lloyd, best known for his work on programmes the Nine O'Clock News, Spitting Image, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Blackadder and QI.
Something a little different in this episode of the podcast. A conversation with David Hendon. He has found a way to get his scripts made, by having them produced as plays. He talks about the proactive nature of being a playwright and how it has helped him move forward with his career.
Vist - https://www.davidhendon.info - for more
In this episode, Danny talks to filmmaker Nev Pierce about his transition from film journalist (Empire, Total Film etc, interviewing top directors around the world) to an emerging writer/director in his own right. Nev has made 4 short films to-date, and has a few feature films in development.
Watch & Find out more at Nev's site
http://nevpierce.com
Twitter: twitter.com/nevpierce
Facebook: http://facebook.com/Nevillepiercefilm
Support the podcast and buy our ESSENTIAL UK Scriptwriter's Survival Handbook - http://amzn.to/2umyLGJ
Danny talks to writer / director Justin Trefgarne who gives the most amazingly candid and detailed story of his debut feature. How it almost never happened, but was saved by a chance meeting. How it ran out of money. How his lead actor had to leave due to having a baby! If you are thinking of writing, directing and producing your first feature then this is a MUST listen for sure.
Some links:
Justin's website - http://justintrefgarne.com/
His twitter - https://twitter.com/handheldcamera
Our book (buy it!) - http://amzn.to/2umyLGJ
In this episode we talk about some nuts and bolts issues. How to gain more work as a writer and how to get your finances in order, so you keep your working life on the straight and narrow.
NETWORKING: Some writers dread the idea of talking to new people. But of course new people can mean new business. What tips are there to make networking less stressful and to ensure these kind of events work in your favour?
BUSINESS: What do you actually need to do when you start earning money from writing. Do you need to set up a company? How?
BONUS: We also give a shout out to a new festival near us - http://shortsounds.co.uk - a festival dedicated to the hidden art of sound in film.
INFO: Photo is of a group of us from our own local networking event who met up in Cannes to celebrate the release of local short film Faithless - https://www.facebook.com/faithlessmovie/
LINKS: Find us on iTunes - tinyurl.com/ukscriptpodcast
And on twitter - https://twitter.com/UKscriptwriters
And on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ukscriptwriterspodcast/
Is there a career ladder that writers can move up on anymore? It used to be that you would start on regular 'soaps' and then move into ongoing drama and then onto your own shows. Is that even possible anymore? Experienced TV writer and WGGB rep for the South West, Martin Day, talks about his own career. It's had ups and downs of course, but most interestingly, what has changed most has been the business of TV writing.
See more about Martin at www.martinday.co.uk and find him on twitter - @sirdigbychicken
This episode we talk to Joe Martin about something a bit different - documentaries. Although Joe's latest film (Us and Them) is fiction he has previously created many documentaries, including the doc feature "Keep Quiet" about far right politician Csanád Szegedi. So he is ideally placed to talk about drama-docs and the increase use of story consultants within the doc world.
His IMBD = http://www.imdb.com/name/nm5630563/
This episode we interview Peter Stanley-Ward and Natalie Conway from Treehouse Digital. A couple of writers who are also an actual couple!
They made their way via a low budget horror feature into launching a production company and making fantastic shorts.
How did they do it? Who helped? What lessons have they learned? Is it better to make a feature and learn that way, rather than go to Uni? And we compare our self / crowd funded movie with their one funded via Creative England - which way is better?
LINKS FEATURED:
Treehouse Digital: http://www.treehousedigital.com
Litterbugs (their short): http://www.litterbugsthemovie.com
This episode is in two halves. In the first half we talk about how we are extending our network, who we are meeting and what preparation we do. A nuts and bolts, down to earth summary of how we are making progress as writers. In the second half we talk about keeping strong mentally. How do you take knock backs? How can you find support? What happens when you doubt yourself?
As mentioned:
Our book - tinyurl.com/UKscripthandbook AND ALSO tinyurl.com/ukscriptsmash
Now on iBooks too - tinyurl.com/ukscriptibook
Our movie - www.nelsonnutmeg.com
Our production company - www.nelsonnutmegpictures.com
Do you need an agent? What do they do anyway? What are YOU supposed to do anyway?
There are a lot of rumours and pieces of 'good advice' around this topic. So here we bypass all that and talk direct to Danny's agent, Jean Kitson from kitsonpress.co.uk. What she is looking for from a writer who approaches her? Catch Jean at the LSWF too!
A lot of scriptwriters move into being a writer-director. This has it's own challenges when it comes to developing a script.
Here we talk to two old friends of ours, Dan Pringle and Suki Singh about the journey with there respective movies.
Dan's is an elevated horror / gory drama called K-Shop - out now on DVD http://amzn.to/2aSpAov and also via Amazon Prime http://amzn.to/2b5h2b1
Suki's is a psychological noir called Emulsion. He has a special edition available direct. http://www.emulsion.tv
We often get asked to feature up and coming writers and film makers in our podcast. While it is great to hear from some of the top people in the biz, if you are a beginner to scriptwriting it can seem a million miles away from where you are now.
Mustapha Kseibati is on the way up. He's done some top notch shorts (starring Benedit Wong and Kayvan Novak) after starting out in the music video world. It took him years of being runner and edit assistant first. So his route is one of hard graft and taking opportunities when he could - and a few gambles. But he can tell it in his own words.
Watch his films on his website - http://www.mustaphakseibati.com
You may see Will Smith's photo and know you've seen him somewhere. He's acted in the Thick Of It, Paddington and with 'Harry and Paul'. But in this podcast episode we delve, of course, into his career as a writer. Writing on Time Trumpet, Veep, Omid Djalili as well as for The Thick Of It too. How did he get started? And how did that all lead to his latest project, a non-comedy novel called "Mainlander"?
This episode has a guest interviewer, Jan Caston, as she managed to bump into Will in Jersey and nabbed him!
We did a special LIVE version of the podcast on TwitCast and Periscope. This is an archive of that. So when you hear us answering questions, these are comments and notes sent in via that those apps.
Tony talks about being a writer / producer and taking control of your own career. He also discusses the Red Planet prize and why he continues to support it. And of course we chat about writing; Life on Mars, Dickensian and Moving Wallpaper.
SPOILERS
Do not listen to this podcast if you have not seen the new Mad Max and you intent to soon.
In this episode we talk to one of the co-writers of Mad Max: Fury Road - Brendan McCarthy. Brendan is not your typical writer, he is an artist and designer too. He tells stories through pictures - which is what films, especially action films, should be. We cover...
- How Brendan moved from being a fan of the early Mad Max films into working on the new one
- Why Fury Road took 17 years to make
- What happened when Mel Gibson was no longer attached and how that impacts upon the story
- The 'weight' that actors bring to the story
- How working on comics and design fed into films
- How he doesn't fit into a convenient box meaning some people struggle on how to 'sell him'
See more from Brendan at - http://artbrendan.com
James Cary was the creator of the radio sitcoms "Think the Unthinkable" and "Hut 33" and was lead writer on the sketch show, Concrete Cow. For TV, he has written for My Hero, My Family and Miranda. More recently he co-wrote the BBC Three series Bluestone 42 with Richard Hurst. Online you can find James podcasting, blogging and tweeting as SitcomGeek.
We talk to him about comedy, about writing material for others and about getting your own show off the ground. And also about the differences between radio and television.
A shorter episode this time. We reflect on the best lessons we learnt from the London Screenwriters Festival and urge you to come along. We ask what you want us to cover. And we plug three things.
1 - Who Killed Nelson Nutmeg, our feature which premieres at the London Film Festival on the 10th October.
2 - A spin off book for younger readers called Who Needs Friends Nelson Nutmeg? which is on Amazon now.
3 - A brand new book from us, full of our best tips ever called "The UK Scriptwriters Survival Handbook" - get it now on Amazon too.
The podcast is 5 years old! Danny celebrates by interviewing Mark Stay, screenwriter of UK family film Robot Overlords, and more! Recorded via Skype, so apologies for less than ideal sound.
Follow Mark on Twitter: @markstay
This episode we are at the Children's Media Conference (CMC) and meet up with Roland Moore. Roland has written for Rastamouse and Peter Rabbit for children but also created the daytime drama Land Girls. Now he has a feature on the way - "2:hrs" - and we talk to him about writing for different genres and how he developed his career.
More about Roland - http://www.rolandmoore.tv
More about 2:hrs - https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/2-hrs#/story
Watch out listeners! Its a super long episode as we finally managed to get hold of UK writing legend Chris Chibnall. Creator and writer of Broadchurch he also was show runner for Torchwood and has written for Doctor Who and Life on Mars. As it is a big lengthy here are some timings if you want to navigate to certain areas...
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02:00 - Broadchurch was my first ever spec script
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14:00 - Landing a 4 season TV series early on
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22:00 - My first 'short' and how it happened. Watch it here - https://youtu.be/g4TDDLylSws
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31:00 - Changing fortunes of TV and moving between genres
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43:00 - Life on Mars and Torchwood
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54:00 - Law and Order
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1:01:00 - Broadchurch
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1:11:00 - Broadchurch Series 2
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1:21:00 - Broadchurch Series 3!
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1:23:00 - Structure and craft
In this episode Tim speaks to Tom Williams about writing the true life war story; Kajaki. How did he hear about the story? How did he research it? How did he translate that raw information into a tight and highly dramatic narrative?
Apols for audio quality via Skype.
We talk about our new book, out soon, that sums up everything in the podcast so far. How can you earn a living as a writer? This book, the UK Scriptwriters Survival Guide, isn't about how to write, its about how to be a writer!
This podcast we spend over an hour talking to script editor Andrew Ellard. We felt these extra length was worth the level of his insights into some of your favourite shows. Plus we couldn't shut him up. Here is how he describes himself -
"I'm a writer and script editor. I’ve worked on various shows including Red Dwarf, The IT Crowd and Miranda. I also offer (paid) rewrite notes for your script. You may know me from Twitter (@ellardent) having seen my opinion/review #tweetnotes."
We recorded this at the Royal Festival Hall, so you get free background music with this one.
Lastly, Merry Christmas and hope 2015 is a good one for your writing projects.
Structure - the most important skill of a writer or the basis for generic and boring stories? Danny talks about the '5 act pixar poker idea' and Tim talks up non-linear structures.
Tim and Danny take a break from shooting their own feature to discuss how writers can use their skills on set.
This podcast is another interview special. We talk to writer Tim John about moving to Hollywood, how to fit in, how to find work there and why it all fell apart. A great episode for those thinking about hitting tinsel town.
You can find Tim's book on Amazon - or simply click here.
This is a special episode of the UK Scriptwriters Podcast with an important message from Tim
An interview special - with Jesse Cleverly from Wildseed Studios. Wildseed are giving seed funding to wild ideas right now. 50 x £10,000 in fact. What are they looking for and how do you take part? That's what Jesse outlines here, including what has worked so far.
Find out more at http://wildseedstudios.com
And a shout out of our project too - www.nelsonnutmeg.com
In this podcast Tim and Danny meet Wolfblood creator, Debbie Moon. Wolfblood is a show commissioned by CBBC and ZDF, but is also a genre show.
We ask Debbie about writing for genre, about how she got started and about her strategy to move on from children's shows into other slots.
Lots of competitions in the news; Guiding Lights, Nick Darke award, ComingUp scheme and more. PLUS Tim talks to Nigel Cole (director of Made in Dagenham and TV's Doc Martin) about working with writers and the difference between television and film.
This episode is about being proactive. What can you do to make sure you chase down every avenue? Are you an amateur or a professional. PLUS we launch our new feature film for children - Who Killed Nelson Nutmeg? www.nelsonnutmeg.com
In this episode Danny talks about the high quality entries that have come in for this year's Red Planet Prize. What works well? What are the common mistakes?
In the second half we discuss writing for children, the differences and similarities to mainstream drama. What would make a good spec script? How long should it be?
Lastly we talk secret and exciting plans for the future. What are yours?
A Danny free zone this podcast as we delve into the world of writing for computer games and interactive entertainment in general. We tried to get somewhere quiet at the London Screenwriters Festival and gather around a microphone. A bit hit and miss with the sound, but wise words all the same.
Alongside Tim are:
Steve Ince (20 years writing games, stretching back to the original Broken Sword and In Cold Blood)
Rudolf Kremers (independent producer at OmniLabs whose EufloriaHD comes out for PSVita tomorrow!)
* Tony Lee (multi format writer who is best known for comics and books but who worked on games in his early days)
We talk about how to get into the business, how to start, the opportunities out there and how to go it alone and just make stuff.
Danny is back with the Red Planet Prize. But we also talk about the BBC Writers' Room, Video On Demand, and why writers could get more out of the London Screenwriters' Festival.
And remember folks; wise up and be normal.
Coming to you 'live' from the middle of the Med, this episode Tim and Danny are joined by 3 people who are all at different stages of graduating and looking for work? Was the degree worth it? What kind of work are they looking for? What plans are they putting into place?
This episode we have a special guest; Mary Evans. Mary is a scriptwriter, but also has done a lot of research into self publishing books AND is also a writer for the TV Times. How does writing prose slot into scriptwriting?
Danny just got back from the BBC Writers Room TV Drama Festival. He spoke to writers there and Tim asks him - is this a golden age for TV writers? Note: we recorded this episode outside, apologies for the windy audio experience!
A business focus to this episode. Is freelancing for you? And are you fully exploring all forms of funding?
Danny has a lively chat with Jo Ho, creator & writer of CBBC's Spirit Warriors. They discuss Jo's career, everything from how she got a series commissioned as a new writer, her writing insights, and what she's up to now. Enjoy!
Tim and Danny consider the demise of retail stores such as HMV, chat about characters and how to make them interesting and deliver some interesting news for writers on opportunities.
Tim and Danny get stuck at the airport and so discuss:
News about film funding
Red Planet Prize update
Topic - time management
Topic - being a storyteller
* Reviews - Royal Affair, Frankenweenie and Beasts of the Southern Wild
A snapshot of Tim and Danny sitting around. They chance upon:
Darrin Grimwood - feature film writer
Pilar Alessandra - podcaster and writing guru
Linda Aronson - non-linear structure legend
Nish Panchal - agent
Jonathan Newman - director
and others.
A special Skype call episode where we talk to the co-founders of the Great American Pitch Fest (who are also writers themselves) Signe Olynyk and Bob Schultz. They're in the UK promoting their new feature, Below Zero and also talking about a pitchfest spin off being held at the London Screenwriters Festival.
But we wanted to ask them about a controversial issue. Is it right for writers to charge other writers for events? Why do they cost so much? Could they be cheaper?
It's a slightly different podcast this month. MA student Melissa Hermanny has some questions to ask for her essay and comes down in person to hear our ramblings. We include a couple of highlights here, with the full interview to come later. So in all we cover...
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NEWS - there are currently 50 opportunites for writers out there. See Kulvinders list at https://bitly.com/Opps4UKwriters2012c
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QUESTIONS - What do you get out of a festival?
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What do you do with your spec?
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How should you conduct yourself online?
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Who should you send your script to?
And remember to keep in touch. Find us on twitter and facebook. Search ukscriptwriters.
Tim and Danny discover there is little news out there so focus instead on 3 items from the mailbag.
Show not tell, but how do you keep your script punchy?
Historical research, how much to do?
* Working with actors, the benefits.
In this episode Tim and Danny discuss:
Latest opportunities for writers
Questions posed by listeners
How to work with other writers
What they are watching (and playing!)
We sit down with James Moran at the Southern Script Festival to talk about:
Writing for Film and TV
Working to a brief
How he got started
And his top tips for horror
- Two new UK based schemes for writers
- We answer your questions
- What work we are doing and how we got it
Mentioned in the podcast this month...
Red Planet Prize
Prequel to Cannes
BAFTA guru website
Our new(ish) facebook page
Stephen Fry's interview
Richard Feynman
Sullivan's Travels by Preston Sturges (in fact from 1941, not the 50s)
Fleabag Monkeyface
Reviewed:
Midnight in Paris
Drive
Arthur Christmas
The Artist
Young Adult
The Descendants
New Girl
Community
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Borgen
The links are in the podcast too if you have a snazzy device that reads them.
Mirroring the Ricky Gervais podcast format this month's episode has Tim as Ricky, Danny as Stephen Merchant and guest star Johnny Griffith as Karl Pilkington. This month...
- Danny gives an update on the Red Planet prize
- We discuss why writers remain in the shadows
- Practical tips to getting more work done
* Red Planet Prize is back!
Wise words from Jack Thorne
Joe Cornish and Edgar Wright on doing your research
Being more visual
Linda Aronson on new structures
* Hard work always wins
In this dialogue-special podcast:
Join us at the London Screenwriters Festival
We talk about dialogue, and share some new ideas
* Things we've enjoyed recently in games, TV and film
Along with the regular competition (courtesy of Industrial Scripts) and silly bits this podcast we focus on agents.
- Do you need an agent?
- What does an agent do for you?
- How do you approach an agent?
- Are you ready?
A one year anniversary for the podcast
Competition Time - courtesy of Industrial Scripts
Writer's Block - is it real?
Script Checklist - what to do before you send out the first draft
Contact Us - ukscriptwriters at hotmail.com
In this episode we go through the mail bag and answer 3 questions. Don't forget you can mail us questions at ukscriptwriters@hotmail.com and find us on twitter @ukscriptwriters
- check out using withoutabox.com for your script competitions entries
- Liquid Lunch
- Hosting a script development day
- Mail bag question 1: using real plays and real people featured in your script
- Mail bag question 2: should you write to a budget?
- Mail bag question 3: writing a pilot; the two ways
- Reviews - a round up of the slick TV genre
- Competition Time
* Listener's Question - 1 page per minute?
Listener's Question - films festival or online?
Cannes reflections
Web series - a route to success
Reviews - the good wife
* Competition time
- Thanks to Moviescope and IndustrialScripts.co.uk
* News on BBC Writers Academy
How do get yourself established?
Is it worth going to Cannes?
Review of Dr Who
Tim goes down a Picasso tangent
* Competition time
* Dear Podcast - two emails from listeners; one on Gnomeo and Juliet, the other on "do you need to do research, if so, what kind?"
Joss Whedon's 10 rules, part 1. Discussing rules 1-5.
Reviews - online drama Persona and the game trailer for Dead Island.
* Competition - easy question, with faintly racist overtones!
* BAFTA nominations - and how they affect us
When should you give up writing?
Chris Ware - the comic book guy reviewed
Being Human v True Blood
Competition Time
* How to get in touch
Are formal courses worth doing? What qualifications do you need to be a writer? We discuss:
- NEWS - lots of new opportunities at the moment. Plus Creative England, will it work?
- DISCUSSION - what should you study in order to be a writer?
- COMPETITION - Congrats to Liz Holliday who wins goodies, plus this month's question.
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REVIEWS - The Illusionist and Rare Exports
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PLUS - Merry Christmas and Happy 2011!
Using interviews with fellow writers, who we met at the Screenwriters' Festival, we discuss:
- How should we feel about attending festivals?
- Is genre a good thing?
- Should you plan out your script before you start work?
- Does the biz really want 'good' scripts?
PLUS we talk about "Alice in Wonderland", "A Town called Panic", "Misfits" and "Walking Dead".
AND FINALLY there is a chance for you to win Movie Magic software, DVDs and Moviescope subscriptions in our new competition.
A special 'pro-active' show looking at what writers can do - more than just writing scripts and sending them out.
How to be proactive and control your own career.
Is making a short film a good idea?
How much do shorts cost?
Reviewing "The Event" and "Social Network"
See you at the London Screenwriters Festival.
News and competition round-up.
Guest spot with Jack Thorne.
Discussion: collaborating with other writers.
Craft: creating great characters.
Review: This is England '86.
Contact us.
News - London Screenwriters' Festival.
Discussion - making a living as a writer.
Craft - the first 10 pages.
Reviews - The Eighth Day, Southland, Breaking Bad.
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UK Film Council closing
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Schemes and competition to enter
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Tim's new career in Origami
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Danny does a double name drop!
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Sherlock reviews
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Are we Infamous?