Industrial
Scripts is a specialist story analysis & training organization, backed by
major companies, delivering a range of analysis, and support serv
Industrial Scripts is a specialist story analysis
& training organization, backed by major companies, delivering a
range of analysis, and support services to writers, authors and
filmmakers, globally.
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Dear
Karen,
December
lurches forward as the film world embraces box office annihilation
courtesy of JJ Abrams’ entry in the STAR WARS franchise. Here’s
hoping for a Hoth-style White Christmas...
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In a
new bid to find the best unproduced screenplays, Amazon has broadened
its script-submissions policy through the introduction of an app that
aims to make writing itself as efficient as possible.
Amazon
Storyteller uses cloud-based technology to help writers create
screenplays in the standard format. While other software like Writer
Duet offers a similar online writing package, Storyteller allows its
users to send their script directly to Amazon Studios.
“Amazon
is thrilled to support the evolution of our creative community by
offering advanced tools like Amazon Storywriter to assist both
established and aspiring writers in telling their stories,” said Roy
Price, VP of Amazon Studios. “Amazon is dedicated to producing
high-quality, original films and television series that customers
love, and enabling more writers to obtain access to creative
resources will ultimately help us discover great new talent.”
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LOCK IN wraps in London...
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LOCK IN,
an exciting crime short film backed by Creative England (as part of their iShorts
initiative) wrapped in London this week, and Industrial Scripts is
delighted to be supporting the film.
Written
by journalist Jamie Russell, the film is directed by Nev Pierce,
whose debut short, BRICKS - starring Jason Flemyng and Blake Ritson -
is currently in post-production. Pierce is Editor-At-Large at Empire,
the world’s biggest movie magazine. During more than 15 years as a
film journalist, he has interviewed everyone from Brad Pitt to Jack
Nicholson, Christopher Nolan to David Fincher.
A
taut, sinewy crime film, LOCK IN is the first of - we hope - a series
of superior short films to receive financial and marketing support
from Industrial Scripts.
Learn more about LOCK IN here.
Follow LOCK IN on Twitter here.
Learn more about iShorts here.
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5,000 take the journey with Hoss...
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DRIVE screenwriter Hoss Amini - Exclusive 8-week
Reflection Series
Over
5,000 people have now taken our free "8 Weeks with Hoss"
e-series, where the great man reflects on his long career in film and
TV.
Available
now as a FREE, exclusive 8-week e-mail reflection series, you can
sign up to receive 11,000 words of Hoss' insight and years of
experience by clicking the relevant link below.
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Hoss directs Viggo Mortensen in THE TWO FACES OF
JANUARY
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With
the Akiva Goldsman-headed TRANSFORMERS writers room leading to at least
three new movie ideas, Paramount and toy manufacturers Hasbro have
set up similar rooms for their G.I. JOE series and the proposed MICRONAUTS
franchise.
Goldsman,
who will act as supervisor for the two new rooms, will now step back
from the TRANSFORMERS franchise and pass his duties over
to room participants Art Marcum & Matt Holloway (IRON MAN) and BLACK HAWK DOWN writer Ken Nolan.
The
writers room experiment was devised as a way to utilize TV-style
participation as a means to carving out a new direction for the
franchise. The room itself was full of interesting choices, from
Black List writer Christina Hodson to THE WALKING DEAD creator Robert Kirkman and DAREDEVIL show-runner Steven DeKnight.
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**OVERDRIVE community grows**
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Apply to Join at Bronze (£5/$7)
Apply to Join at Silver (£19/$28)
Apply to Join at Gold (£79/$119)
Recently
soft-launched to selected clients, our new OVERDRIVE community already has over 60 vetted members
and is now open to wider applications.
In brief, we've listened to the producers, writers and
directors who work with us.
Just
about every online community these days seems to have an open-door
policy, where anyone can join, and there's no real tangible benefit
to them.
The
result of this is clear - sub-standard networking, unprofessional
behaviour, and no genuine value delivered.
Sometimes
you can make a great connection, but no-one would deny it's very hit
and miss.
With
OVERDRIVE, we're dancing to a different tune:
▪
Strictly capped membership.
▪ Vetting process which includes submission of CV and career goals
statement.
▪ Strict policing of member forums to ensure interaction and
networking remains of a very high order.
▪ A giant list of 40+ unique member benefits.
▪ Price points affordable enough (from £5/$8 PCM) for all, but high
enough to deter those merely playing around with script development
and not treating it with the seriousness it deserves.
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▪ Screenwriters looking to forcefully progress their projects through
an established and supportive system
▪ Producers looking to talent track and scout the next Hoss Amini
or Gregory Burke, as well as bring their coverage and development in
well under budget
▪ Directors on the hunt for their long-term writer or brilliant
spec, the one they're going to build their future around
▪ Agents/Funds/Execs and Trackers looking to lock in the next wave of talent, before
somebody else does, and before the commissions start flowing the the
dreaded "he's unavailable" response starts coming back...
Our vision is of an elite script development hothouse,
comprised only of producers, writers and directors with serious
promise.
For
all the above reasons, we only want the best people in OVERDRIVE. Indeed, for our vision to succeed, we have to recruit
the best people.
Think you've shown enough to join?
Get
your CV and application statement ready and Apply Now.
(or
click here to view all OVERDRIVE benefits).
Remember: membership is capped and once all the places
are gone, we'll be like Studio54: operating on a one-in, one-out
basis...
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The
Motion Picture Association of America has been awarded with $10.5
million against the MovieTube websites that they claimed were
streaming illegally pirated movies online.
Studios
belonging to the MPAA – Paramount, Warner Bros., Universal, Fox,
Columbia and Disney – sued the websites in the summer over films such
as AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON that had been illegally
uploaded to third parties and streamed through the site.
The
injuction, which included copyright and trademark claims, provoked a
group of tech companies led by Google to file an amicus brief that
halted proceedings until the MPAA redoubled their efforts in
mid-November. A permanent injunction was requested and granted as the
defendants were ordered to pay up to $150,000 per infringement or
£10.5 million in total.
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UK Screenwriting Survival Guide
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Written
by friends of Industrial, screenwriters Tim Clague and Danny Stack,
this book is recommended reading for new screenwriters and graduates
looking to work in the UK TV and film industries.
Full
of no-nonsense advice and cut-to-the-chase information, the book is
perfect for writers new to the industry who like their learning
served straight, without a side order of BS.
There
are many books peddling the notion of winning the lottery and selling
it big, but this book's for the hard-working majority of
screenwriters. It's all about how to firstly survive, and then
thrive...
Order The UK Scriptwriter's Survival Guide HERE.
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The Insider Interviews LIVE continues
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In
June we launched The Insider Interviews LIVE - an in-the-flesh
spin-off of our popular online series, that has in the past featured
the likes of Tom
Hiddleston, director Ben Wheatley, producer Gareth Unwin
and writer-director Stuart
Hazeldine.
The
new monthly Q & A/networking evening kicked off in London in June
with Aaron Anderson, ex UK Film Council Premiere Fund
and Scott Free executive, and in October, Tanya Tillet, agent at The Agency, took to the stage to share her advice
and experience.
Book now for January's event:
Bradley Quirk, Head of Development at Altitude
Film Entertainment, will be present to discuss his career, producing
and selling in the British film industry and how to grow a production
company in the 21st century.
Date:
Tuesday 26th January 2016. Arrival 6.30pm.
Venue: The Phoenix Artist Club, 1 Phoenix Street, London, WC2H 8BU
The Insider Interviews LIVE gives writers and
other script developers a great opportunity to network with our
featured guest and IS staff in a relaxed and friendly environment.
Tickets
to each month's event are strictly limited and if you would like to
reserve your seat at one - or all - the events head on over to our booking page before everyone else does!
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Fresh Content from Industrial
Scripts
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CLICK to visit Character-Driven
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Never miss an article - add our RSS feed to your
browser
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Our site was designed with content in mind
- and we roll out articles on a regular basis.
Never
want to miss an IS article? Add our RSS Feed to your browser or email client, here.
View
all our articles here.
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“From
1974’s BLACK CHRISTMAS – rightly credited with being the god-monster
of the modern mainstream genre – through to every postmodern twist on
the ‘final girl’ archetype, Teen Horror is now a mainstay of popular
cinema…” [read the full article]
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“Sci-Fi
is one of those odd genres – like the Western – that among script
theorists often stimulates more argument about ‘defining your terms’
than it does about structure, plot or theme. It is helpful first to
qualify the term ‘genre’, as film theorists and script analysts have
differing – though not mutually exclusive – meanings for the word. So
let’s look at those as the starting point for writing Science Fiction
scripts…”[read the full article]
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Click here to be emailed every time a new article goes
live!
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"There’s
a terrific viral that periodically does the rounds where a
restaurateur advertises on Craigslist for a solo musician to play in
his restaurant for five nights a week, with a specific set list, in
exchange for free publicity and exposure…” [read the full article]
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“Occult
literally means ‘hidden’ so all Horror could be described as occult
in the sense that all Horror deals with things that are suppressed,
repressed, traditionally denied or habitually ignored. The Occult
Horror sub-genre, however, specifically deals with the esoteric and
magickal (as differentiated from the magic of Paul Daniels) that
exists outside the exoteric realm of mainstream religion…” [read the full article]
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SCREENWRITING OPPORTUNITIES
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A
few opportunities for screenwriters to keep their eyes on....
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IS hits 600+ VERIFIED Client
Reviews
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Industrial Scripts is the 1st – and only – story
analysis co. to sign up to independent, impartial reviews websites in
order to allow its clients to publicly reveal what they think of the
company’s services.
We
are unique in that we rely on “verified” reviews rather than (faux?)
testimonials from friends and colleagues which, as most people
realise, are ultimately meaningless in a crowded, competitive
marketplace.
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 20 different types of script development service,
some are listed below, but you can visit our website to view them all...
If
you're developing scripts, in any capacity, you'd be hard-pressed to
find a more transparent service than ours. Just sayin...
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Talk is Cheap. We're all about the hard data. Click
to read verified customer reviews about us.
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"Which Logline?" Service - £40
"Should I spend 6...12...18...months of my life developing this
project?" is a question that haunts many writers, who have more
ideas than time. Here writers submit 10 loglines, and we put them in
order of excellence, advising writers to channel their efforts into
promising ideas rather than wasting time and energy writing
developing dud projects.
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Film Coverage Report - £135 * 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.
Film Forensic Notes - £300.00 * 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 14+
pages, and offer a truly forensic analysis of your script.
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.
View all 20 Script Development Services HERE.
Read 600+ verified customer reviews about us HERE
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Who's Hot & Who's Not -
November
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Who
had a month to remember? Who's been able to turn over a new leaf and
who is ready to take a fall?
Here’s
our run down of how industry figures fared in November.
GOOD MONTH
1) JJ Abrams
With tracking companies estimating that THE FORCE AWAKENS will have the biggest box
office off all time, it’s hard not to see it’s director as someone
who will be having a very Merry Christmas.
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As
the recipient of the BIFA’s Richard Harris Award, the 12 YEARS A SLAVE actor will join esteemed
luminaries like John Hurt, Julie Walters and Daniel Day-Lewis.
The
Scottish actor marks the next chapter of his career as his
directorial debut – BARNEY THOMPSON – finds U.S distribution with
Gravitas Ventures.
Nicholl
Fellowship-winning writer brothers Abel and Burlee Vang have been
given the reigns to their first feature production, Boogeyman horror
BEDEVILED.
If
acting alongside Julie Dench in WINTER’S TALE wasn’t enough of an
accolade, the award-winning thespian has recently signed on to direct
and star in MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS.
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BAD MONTH
The
Bollywood power company's stock has dropped after they were the
latest to be called out by Hacktivist group Anonymous due to
accusations of fraud. Global CFO Prem Parameswaran has hit back
saying “we would like to destroy the terrorists.”
It
may not be jail time but FULLER HOUSE star John Stamos is ready to start a
36-month probation for a DUI charge. Maybe next time it would be
worth waiting till he gets home to celebrate...
Ben
Stiller’s latest foray has yet to be released and LGBTQ activists are
already crying out against its portrayal of its trans character
played by Benedict Cumberbatch.
The
online studios caused controversy this week when adverts for THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE in New York were
called to be removed due to their depiction of a Nazi-fied version of
the city.
As
if studios didn't learn their lesson after the back lash from last
year's EXODUS, GOD'S OF EGPYT's producers are feeling the wrath
of audiences and critics now after accusations of white-washing have
once again resurfaced (and can you blame them!?)
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Amusing Snippet of the Month
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How Crazy Is Star Wars Making You?
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"Despite
an impressive show at the box office that has recently confirmed its
place as the second highest-grossing James Bond movie of all time
after SKYFALL, Sam Mendes’ second outing with the spy franchise has
hit middling reviews and tepid reactions from the audience. From
screenplay analysts who have uncovered how SPECTRE focuses largely on
putting Slot A into Tab B and critics who, according to the current
Rotten Tomatoes score of 64%, have deemed the film to only scrape a
“fresh” rating, the general consensus seems to be that SPECTRE is too
reliant on the established 007 formula..."
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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.
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Spec-Spotter - Development Intel
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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!
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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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Online Industry Training Courses
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Launched
recently, our online course dedicated to American television writing
is comprised of 6 core modules and 32 detailed lessons, including: Writing for Network & Niche
Audiences, How to Handle Multi-Protagonist Drama, The Many Faces of
Comedy, Planning from Pilot to Multiple Seasons and many
more.
In
addition, the course also includes detailed case studies of both
successful – and unsuccessful – major recent U.S. shows: GAME OF
THRONES, THE WIRE, BREAKING BAD, THE BIG BANG THEORY, TERRA NOVA and
LEGIT.
Book
this online course HERE.
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Write
a full spec script while taking our much-loved online screenwriting
course. Lessons include: the
Stages of Screenwriting; Testing Ideas; Conflict; The Hero’s Journey;
Developing Theme; Character Development and many more
(see full breakdown below).
Book
this online course HERE.
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Comprised
of 8 core modules and 31 extended lessons, this course delivers huge
value-for-money, and takes 100+ hours to complete. Lessons include: Tension Building; Varying
the Narrative; The Importance of a Title; Developing Great
Characters; Preparing to Submit your Novel; Self-Publishing
and many more
Book
this online course HERE.
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Offline Industry Training Courses
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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
5 years we've been running training courses in script reading, low-budget
filmmaking and screenwriting. We currently run 2 offline courses:
ULTIMATE SCREENWRITING
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 - and intermediates looking to hone their skills.
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.
New Course Dates: TBC Soon
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: Saturday 19th December
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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 listen to these free interviews:
Screenwriter & Director Hoss Amini (DRIVE, THE TWO
FACES OF JANUARY, THE WINGS OF THE DOVE)
""I remember the first time I got paid I actually felt like
I could legitimately be a screenwriter. That was, as a professional,
the breakthrough, I remember when it was and what script. I did just
about anything to try and earn something. But I remember creatively
there was a breakthrough moment.”
Sign up for Hoss' 8-week reflection series...
STORY Guru Robert Mckee
"Charlie Kaufman...what an as*...he's Mr. Theory! He's not an
anti-theorist!"
Listen to 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".
Listen to 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?"
Listen to 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..."
Listen to 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..."
Listen to 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".
Listen to 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!"
Listen to 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...".
Listen to 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]
Listen to 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.'
Listen to the podcast...
Ex 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...
Scott Free Exec Aaron Anderson (HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS
AND ALIENATE PEOPLE)
'I did meet a writer at some drinks who told me I’d written him the
nicest rejection letter he’d ever received and I thought: ‘my work
here is done.''
Read more...
Owner SUMS Film & Media Andry Brunskill (JET
TRASH, LILTING)
'You really want to feel that they love it and own it with you and
so, if it’s a 2/3 page treatment, you can sit down over many weeks
and months and grow it up together into something bigger. It’s also
much better in that sense because you can then, with the producer, go
and find development money for yourselves.'
Read More...
Shoebox Films' Ed Clarke (BRIGHTON ROCK, SALMON
FISHING IN THE YEMEN)
'I thought I wanted to be a producer when I went to film school
mainly because I had strength in breadth, as I wasn’t that good at
any one thing but I was quite good at lots of things, and that seemed
to me a good qualification to be a producer. But while I was there
one of the things I learnt was that producing was mad and not a very
sensible career option.'
Read More...
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Remember our promise - we never
email you more than twice a month.
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Industrial Scripts
is a London-based script development and training organisation,
founded by some of the UK's leading script analysts, delivering a
wide range of script development, information and support services to
writers and filmmakers from around the world.
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