Industrial Scripts
is a London-based script development and training organization, founded
by some of the UK's leading script analysts and sponsored by major film
companies, delivering a wide range of script development, information and
support services to writers and filmmakers from around the world.
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INDUSTRIAL
SCRIPTS NEWSLETTER - DECEMBER 2013
Dear
Karen,
That's a
wrap people! 2013 is in the can, ready to be chopped into some semblance
of coherence by history's editors and the ubiquitous best-of lists. So,
for the final time this year, we unveil the Industrial Scripts
Newsletter, sent from our new look account and mailing home (NB.
please ensure you add the email address newsletter@industrialscripts.co.uk
or our domain @industrialscripts.co.uk to your "safe" list to
ensure deliverability moving forward).
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2013 - BOX OFFICE DISASTERS AND SURPRISE HITS
3,2,6,2,2,6...
not a nightmarish number sequence from LOST, or the top of an English
batting card in the Ashes (wait, isn't it?) but the sequel number for
this years top earning movies, as IRON MAN 3, DESPICABLE ME 2, FAST &
FURIOUS 6, THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE, MONSTERS UNIVERSITY and MAN
OF STEEL continue the sequel and reboot trend of global box office domination.
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Even the Minions are in awe at their $918m box office...
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Whilst
those bonanza paydays help fill the studio coffers - if IRON MAN 3 were a
country, it would be 172nd in the UN's GDP table) - some
noted flops have been sucking the cash cow dry.
Every
year sees the vultures circle earlier and earlier, with predictions of
another movie exec joining the unemployment line - a touchy subject at
Sony after WHITE HOUSE DOWN, ANOTHER EARTH and ELYSIUM all
underperformed. Daggers were drawn in advance for production-problem (and
zombie) plagued WORLD WAR Z, which, despite re-imagining its entire third
act from epic snowy Russian battle to contained Welsh thriller, managed
to sail past $500m and into the years top 10. Perhaps replacing a
blizzard of CGI with some good ol' fashioned tension paid off with
audiences - a lesson we doubt Michael Bay will learn for TRANSFORMERS 4.
Many of
the year's biggest flops were entirely predictable - just as last years
JOHN CARTER saw a dated adventure yarn fall flat, so too did THE LONE
RANGER struggle for a wide audience en route to losing $200m. HARRY
POTTER and THE HUNGER GAMES benefitted from huge novel fanbases - but
ENDER'S GAME couldn't leverage a cult following for a 30 year old book
into a teen hit - no surprise there.
The
misses weren't confined to the blockbuster arena - THE FIFTH ESTATE
seemingly not learning from the box office failure of most Iraq War films
- if it's saturated in the news, people don't want to watch the story on
the big screen. Spike Lee might have had Scorsese's success with THE
DEPARTED in mind when lifting Chan-wook Park's OLDBOY to a US environment
- but audiences had other ideas as the film crashed to $4m on a $30m
budget.
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Fittingly,
in the year which saw the great anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela pass
away, two of the biggest breakout hits came in examining African-American
history, as Jackie Robinson biopic 42 and THE BUTLER both surprised
analysts.
For
sheer bang-for-buck, it's difficult to argue with production company
Blumhouse's year - THE PURGE taking $90m from a $3m budget and INSIDIOUS
2 parlaying a $5m spend into $160m of receipts. A solid brand built from
scratch, it's great to see a smaller player cracking the worldwide box
office.
A
quieter year compared to the glory of recent times for British cinema,
with ABOUT TIME and RUSH taking top honours with solid but not
spectacular performances ($75m and $90m) - though PHILOMENA provided the
feel-good surprise hit. If 2014 plays similarly, will there be calls of
crisis for Brit cinema's commercial ambition? When HARRY POTTER and JAMES
BOND aren't out to play, the money picture looks a little different.
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Alongside
our monthly shot of film intel delivered to your inbox, Industrial
Scripts are rolling out articles on our
news page mixing craft insight, industry analysis and some good old
fashioned top-10 lists.
READ OUR LATEST ARTICLES HERE
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"10 British
Screenwriters Who Broke Into Hollywood"
Brit Screenwriting talent is well known on these shores – Simon Beaufoy,
Richard Curtis, David Hare, Abi Morgan, Tom Stoppard, Peter Morgan,
William Nicholson… the list is impressive. But what about Brit talent
working in Hollywood? Industrial Scripts looks at British Screenwriters
who have made the leap across the pond to make a name for themselves in
La-La Land... read the
full article here
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"10 Films
That Prove Your Script Can Beat The Odds"
Every screenwriter at one time experiences the look of confusion and
ridicule in the face of a friend, producer or agent when they pitch their
craziest or most ambitious ideas – but fear not, even some of the greats
were once in the position of having to fight their corner on unlikely
projects which seemingly stood no chance of dancing their magic on the
silver screen... read
the full article here
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SHOOTING
PEOPLE INTERVIEW WITH BFI FILM FUND HEAD BEN ROBERTS
The
thinking of national institutions can often seem clouded in a fog of
secrecy or bureaucracy, but recent years have seen a very open policy –
culminating in a fantastic crowd-sourced interview with BFI Film Fund
Head Ben Roberts on the Shooting People website. Above and beyond the
usual soundbite style, the discussion answers questions from writers,
directors and producers in commendable detail – head on over to the discussion thread
for a great insight into BFI thinking.
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BEST-OF
THE 2013 BEST-OF LISTS
Stuffed
full with end of year best of lists? Industrial Scripts shares the
must-reads of the year in film…
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Amusing Snippet of the Month: Movie Board Games
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Tired of
expensive high-tech gifts for the kids? Worried about their body count in
Grand Theft Auto 5? Does a game of family Monopoly escalate to a visit
from the local police? What you need is a wholesome, movie inspired board
game! Why watch Indy's high-octane adventures in Raiders of the Lost Ark
when you can re-enact the experience on the kitchen table!? From WORLD
WAR Z to THE STING and even GOSFORD PARK, Total Film take an unexpected rundown through
the 50 best movie-to-board-game adaptations. Of course, the
track record in the opposite direction isn't so hot - ahem, BATTLESHIP.
Best of both worlds? JUMANJI, naturally...
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OPINION PIECE
Do
Screenwriters Know What They're Getting Into?
This
month the BFI whipped up a storm by announcing profitability statistics
for UK films - including the now infamous tid-bit that only 7% of films
were deemed to have entered profit. Should this number shock investors,
wannabe producers, the average tax-payer and most pressingly for many of
our readers - screenwriters?
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Many
industry players - including producer Ken Marshall (FILTH, SONG FOR
MARION) and the BFI's own Chief Executive Amanda Nevill and Film Fund
Head Ben Roberts were quick to point out the fallacies in relying on such
snappy soundbites - questions over definitions and methodology abounded.
What was the timeframe on returns? Did it reveal problems in exhibition
returns or conversely a problem in the recent high cost of financing?
For many
screenwriters, such debates are passed over as 'someone else's problem'.
Ask the average aspiring scribe to break down EIS schemes, bridging
loans, exhibition rights and territory advances, and you'll likely get
just as confused and bewildered a face as if you suggested act breaks
were optional and plot stakes were secondary to floral descriptive
passages.
So why
are screenwriters often the least financially savvy of all the cinematic
craftspeople - a incredibly puzzling trait given it's the writers who
conjure the ideas before going round with the begging bowl to realise
their vision?
Perhaps
the isolation breeds a sense of head-in-the-sand syndrome - both a vital
ability for a screenwriter who'll need to plough months and years of
their life into a speculative product, and also a fatal flaw which gives
them a disconnect from reality. Though a quality development process will
see a screenwriter thrown into a rich and dynamic creative world, it is
perhaps the only area of cinema which has such a prolonged period
initially away from the otherwise collaborative nature of the industry.
Production realities understood by grips, script supervisors or assistant
directors are often alien to the writer. It's not surprising that
fledgling writer-directors, or those who act as producers on short films,
are a step ahead of the game as they start the divination process for
untapped funds.
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A great resource for expanding vital intel...
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Screenwriters
ignorant of the financial side of the film industry are sabotaging their
own chances of success. One of the vital steps in screenwriters career
development is stepping out from under the wage slave split-personality
cycle which sees productive periods followed by stagnation as other responsibilities
bite. The eagle-eyed writer, rather than trying to land the big fish of a
script sale to a major player, sees the plethora of training grants,
development prizes, options and tax incentives for investors on small
films - and gets one finger on the rung of that ladder. But if you don't
understand EIS, then you're unlikely to have written that low-budget
contained thriller or highly adventurous arthouse gem which attracts
backers in the niche. If you don't think like a producer, surely you're limiting
your chances of production?
Specialisation
is key to the industry - no writer really wants the exec-producer
pitching in with lines of dialogue - and there's certainly a reason why
agents and producers are the champions of product, art and screenwriting
talent. But rather than thinking script first, money second, consider
where the money is held (public, EU, tax incentives, film markets,
prizes, grants, training, newly cash-rich production companies looking to
build a slate, kickstarter, loans) and ask if you're positioning yourself
to earn from your craft - and just when you'll see that money if taking a
deferred payment...
For
information on Movie Money Magazine, click here
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WordsWorth Writing Store continues steady growth..
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We are
delighted to reveal that our sister company, WordsWorth Writing Store,
which opened for business in early 2013, continues to build up steam with
steady sales and customer interest.
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The store stocks a
comprehensive range of storytelling and physical production software,
available at the most competitive prices and with brilliant FREE bonus packs,
unique to us, attached.
However
what we're particularly pleased about is that we will be the first UK
software company to provide ongoing phone support to our customers, so rather
than tearing your hair out on hold to some call centre in Kenya we can
call you back if something goes wrong.
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Unheralded Scene of the Month: CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR (2007)
In our
"Unheralded Scene of the Month" section, our consultants
nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn't received
the admiration it deserves.
It might
be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other,
more "showy" scenes and set-pieces. It might be a deleted scene
which is outstanding in its own right but wasn't quite in-sync or
critical to the final cut of the film. Warning: plot spoilers below.
Unheralded
Classic: CHARLIE
WILSON'S WAR
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The
film: In what seems a match
made in Hollywood heaven, satirically sharp director Mike Nichols
(CATCH-22, PRIMARY COLORS) teams up with White House screenwriter in
residence Aaron Sorkin (THE WEST WING) to deliver an insightful behind
the scenes look at how wars are really won - even if most of the world
don't know you're on the battlefield. The film looks back to the 1980s
when the US secretly armed the Afghanistan mujahideen in combat against
the Soviets - only to end up fighting many of the same forces twenty
years later.
The
plot: Playboy Congressman
Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) is knee deep in women and barely survives an
investigation into alleged cocaine use. At the behest of socialite,
political fundraiser and romantic interest Joanne Herring (Julia
Roberts), Charlie heads to Pakistan and is moved by the plight of Afghani
refugees from the Afghanistan - Soviet Union conflict. Whilst the US and
the CIA are providing low level assistance, Charlie sees scope to
increase covert support, and reaches out to black-sheep CIA operative
Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to find allies in Saudi Arabia,
Israel and in the US houses of government. In a clandestine victory, the
Afghanistan people are armed against the superior weapons of the Soviet
Machine and repel the invasion... but Charlie is rebuffed when he tries
to secure long term economic and educational investment in the region.
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The
scene: Away from Charlie's
main-plot, this scene introduces supporting player Gust, a live-wire and
hot tempered CIA operative who has just been refused re-assignment to Helsinki
- despite learning Finnish for the past three years. Gust blusters into
the office of Henry Cravely, Head of European Operations (played by MAD
MEN's John Slattery) to debate the job refusal. What follows is an expert
lesson in hiding exposition and setting up future tensions. Gust flips
through multiple strategies - citing his service, his accomplishments,
his skillset, notions of loyalty, before using a personal attack and
calling into question the entire leadership of the CIA. With no more
avenues to explore, Gust smashes the office window before walking away
with a cheeky smile to the enraptured office workers...
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Why
it's unheralded: Perhaps because of
the saturated news coverage of the war on terror in the past decade,
accomplished cinematic interpretations of the conflict and the region
have tended to fly under the radar - even with the A-List power in front
of and behind the camera, and with a $120m global take, CHARLIE WILSON'S
WAR is a rarely discussed gem.
Why
it's great: This scene is all
exposition - and in fact the direction of the film is entirely unaffected
by the action of the scene. Gust starts the scene denied his Helsinki
mission, and ends the scene as such. It's rare for a scene with little
plot function or character development to stick so powerfully in the
memory - but this is one of the all time great character introductions.
The scene clues the viewer into what actually goes down in the CIA, and
how they pull the strings of international politics - forget democracy,
the CIA will make sure that their man wins. By showing Gust's 'coarse'
nature, the script stacks the odds against his later success in the
Middle East, and raises the spectre that he might erupt at any minute.
Similar to the early scares in horror films, this character excess makes
for a great foreshadowing, where many scripts wait too long to push
characters to the extremes of their being. Conversely, the script drops
in enough proof of Gust's skillset for us to admire and empathise with
his treatment by top brass. Gust acts just like the CIA acts - at first
using intelligence, before eventually resorting to brute force. We're
getting a crash course in the agency's ways. Whilst the argument is
scintillating, the scene remembers to use small details; the
eavesdropping office workers add a sense of taboo, whilst the glazer
represents an intruding outside force, and the tension is broken by a sly
piece of humour as Gust winks to a colleague on the way out - keying us
in that there is balance and humanity to an obsessed, dedicated man. Rich
in every detail.
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SCREENPLAY SPEC-SPOTTER: DECEMBER 2013
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Information
is power in the film & TV industries, so here is our vital burst of
screenwriting-related intel for your mainframes!
Lionsgate does
the time warp
First time writer David Crabtree sells TIME TWEAKERS to Lionsgate - the
high concept sci-fi is being kept under close wraps. Crabtree has found
acclaim as a music video director, working with Nine Inch Nails and
Florence + The Machine.
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POX AMERICANA
finds French helmer
MESRINE director Jean-Francois Richet is set to direct Black List top-10
script POX AMERICANA by Frank John Hughes. Story looks into a covert op
in 1850 to assassinate a Navajo leader in New Mexico.
Fox drops
aircraft carrier drama
WILD BLUE - a TV drama set aboard a Navy aircraft carrier - has been
dropped by Fox at the pilot stage. Originally one of two Naval shows in
contention (HOUSE creators behind the competition), Fox has now dropped
both - meaning a pick-up elsewhere could be on the cards, or Fox might
make a third dip into Naval waters if the right spec hits the market...
Tina Fey is
accepting men
Tina Fey and Matt Hubbard (30 ROCK) land a pilot with Fox - focusses on a
women's college which accepts men for the first time. Hilarity ensues.
HOW TO PICK UP
GIRLS
Glad we've got your attention. Classic pick-up guide will be turned into
big screen outing - Virgin Produced to search for director and scribe.
UK as hot landing
spot for US comedy pilots?
ABC'S GALAVANT pilot is headed to shoot on UK shores - with Vinnie Jones
attached. Tax breaks lure US producers as runaway productions might leak
into the TV world ; 24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY also shooting in London.
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Anyway
that's about all from us for another month, but just scroll down for
details of our script development services and upcoming training courses,
not to mention our exclusive Insider Interviews series.
The
Industrial Scripts Team
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At
Industrial Scripts we run premium, high-quality training courses
which deliver serious value to participants. Our courses are tailored to
suit the requirements of the industry, and are led by professionals with
proven track records of success in their own individual area of the
business.
For 4
years we've been running training courses
in script reading, low-budget filmmaking and screenwriting. We currently
run 3 courses:
HOW TO WRITE A
SCRIPT - SCREENWRITING FOR BEGINNERS is our first
screenwriting course and has been designed for creative individuals who
possess great ideas for films or TV shows, but don’t know where to begin.
It delivers a huge amount of information, condensed into one intense day,
to participants new to screenwriting, new to writing, or both. Focussing
on both the writing process, and the industry writers find work in, the
course aims to heavily de-mystify the process by which people become
professional screenwriters, and help new writers navigate the sometimes
precarious early years of the screenwriter.
*Next course
date: Saturday 25th January 2014*
Our EFFECTIVE SCRIPT
READING 1-day training seminar continues to go from
strength to strength, winning consistently stellar feedback from
participants...:
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The
course includes comprehensive contacts documents detailing all the paid
script reading outlets in film and TV in the UK, and also offers
attendees indefinite, ongoing email and phone support once the course is
over. We can't turn you into a great script analyst overnight, but we can
speed you up and save you a lot of time and effort in the process. Click here to book.
Next course date:
Friday 31st January 2014
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EVERYTHING
AMERICA is our new course dedicated exclusively to
the business of working in the world's largest film and TV industry.
The
course covers agents, managers, attorneys, VISAs, where to stay, where
not to stay, the structure of the TV industry, the spec script market,
and much much more. It's perfect for UK Producers, Writers and Directors
with one eye firmly on America. Click here to book.
Next course date:
Sunday 26th January 2014
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We
formed Industrial Scripts to provide writers and filmmakers in the
independent TV and film sector with high-quality, industry-standard script development services
not usually available to them. Our consultants all have considerable
experience working for and with the very best companies, and are
currently very active in development (we don't believe in trading on past
glories). We offer 15 different types
of script development service, some are listed below, but you can visit our website
to view them all...
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Project Selection Service
- £39.99
"Should I spend 6...12...18...months of my life developing this
project?" is a question that haunts many writers, who invariably
have more ideas than man-hours. Here writers submit 10 loglines (without
synopses), and Industrial Scripts will put them in order of excellence,
encouraging writers to channel their efforts into promising ideas rather
than, as above, wasting time and energy writing themselves to a dead end.
This service also includes an overview (up to 250 words) on why
particular projects merit more attention than others.
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Coverage Report -
£124.99 * eligible for TALENT CONNECTOR
This report on feature-length scripts consists of 4+ pages of notes and
feedback to help the writer move on to his or her next draft. This is
most suited to writers either in the early stages of development (at 1st
draft stage, for example) or right at the very end of the development
process, when notes to help "tweak" the script are required,
rather than offering substantial changes.
Detailed Development Notes
- £269.99 * eligible for TALENT CONNECTOR
Our Detailed Development Notes service delivers an extremely detailed
analysis of your feature script, together with lengthy suggestions on how
to move forward to the next draft. These reports run to 12+ pages, and
offer a truly forensic analysis of the script, which will leave you in
absolutely no doubt of how to improve the project and move it forward.
Script Doctoring -
Fees Vary * eligible for TALENT CONNECTOR
Through our resident Script Doctors we offer writers, producers and
directors the opportunity to have their project re-written, doctored,
polished, re-structured and significantly improved according to their
requirements. Fees are by negotiation, to book any of our doctors to work
on your project or to request a quote please contact us with as much
detail as possible about your script, and your requirements.
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Industrial
Scripts brings you The Insider Interviews
- exclusive FREE content from leading industry professionals that you
can't access, anywhere else. Click here to access
these free interviews and either download them to your iPod, or read them
online:
STORY
Guru Robert Mckee
"Charlie Kaufman...what an as*...he's Mr. Theory! He's not an
anti-theorist!"
Download the podcast...
Screenwriter
Kevin Lehane (GRABBERS)
"I think the horror-comedy is a really tough genre...I wanted to
write a monster movie, like TREMORS, or GREMLINS".
Download the podcast...
Head
of Development Sophie Meyer (Ealing Studios)
"If I had to boil it down to one thing it would be "does it
make you care?"
Download the podcast...
Writer-Director
Ben Wheatley (KILL LIST, DOWN TERRACE)
"Short films are a waste of time...I thought if I was going to put
in that much effort, I may as well try and make something I can
sell..."
Download the podcast...
Screenwriter
Jack Thorne (THE FADES, THIS IS ENGLAND '86, THIS IS ENGLAND '88, THE
SCOUTING BOOK FOR BOYS)
"I wrote 12 plays before I had anything produced..."
Download the podcast...
Producer
Richard Holmes (RESISTANCE, EDEN LAKE, WAKING NED, SHOOTING FISH)
“I thought to myself "this is filmmaking: doing something you don't
want to do and for which you will probably be punished by God!””
Read more...
Film
Journalist Nev Pierce (Editor-at-Large, Empire magazine)
"Interviewing directors is my favourite thing...it can be thrilling
if you're meeting someone you admire...to sit down for 2 hours with David
Fincher...I feel incredibly blessed to have that kind of
opportunity".
Download the podcast...
Producer
Gareth Unwin (THE KING'S SPEECH, EXAM)
"I'd done something a bit daft just through eagerness and I said to
someone within The Weinstein Co. - "I hear I'm not in Harvey's good
books anymore" and she said "Harvey doesn't have good books,
there's just people he hates less that week!"
Download the podcast...
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Actor
Tom Hiddleston (THE AVENGERS, THOR, WAR HORSE, ARCHIPELAGO)
"(when the THOR call) came in I was just about ready to sing and
dance...it was the longest audition process I've ever been through...".
Download the podcast...
Literary
agent Rob Kraitt (Casarotto Ramsay)
'I once sold a book to Tom Cruise - it was before he and Michael Mann
made COLLATERAL. It was a big six-figure deal and doesn't happen very
often.'
[at the time of recording Rob Kraitt worked for AP Watt]
Download the podcast...
Literary
agent Nick Marston (Curtis Brown Group)
'There are these moments in agencies when one generation wants to leave
and the other generation has to somehow find the money to take over...
and in our case that came from the 'honey pot' of the Winnie the Pooh
estate.'
Download the podcast...
Studio
Executive Alexei Boltho (Paramount Pictures)
'A typical working day for me? Smoking cigars, that's about it really!'
Read more...
Screenwriter
Stuart Hazeldine (EXAM, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, KNOWING)
'I had to keep the faith, and finally the phone rang and it was a big
agent from ICM in LA saying he had read my two scripts and wanted to take
me on...'
Read more...
Screenwriter
David Scinto (44 INCH CHEST, SEXY BEAST)
'GANGSTER NO.1 is one of the best scripts we ever wrote, sadly in other
hands it was ruined. Bastardised. Mutated. Amateur.'
Read more...
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