French TV writers come together

Anyone near the south of France that is interested in TV series (and the writing thereof!) should check out "Scénaristes en série", an annual get-together that was started by 10 French series writers and is becoming more international. The idea is for writers, producers, actors and distributors to get together in a series of debates and masterclasses. They promise to show the best-in-class series from Spain, the UK, Germany and Canada.

It will be held at the Palais des Congrès in Aix-les-Bains (Rhône-Alpes, if my memory serves me well), October 18-21. Contact: Tel : 01 48 03 18 25 (in France) or visit Scenaristes en Série. There are several regional airports in the area, plus a special TGV train leaving from Paris! How's that for style?

No movie downloads from here yet

I had thought of offering movie downloads from the site, which is an exciting development on the web. The theory is that we can break the distribution bottleneck and allow anyone anywhere to download material. But the dispute in the US between representatives of the producers and writers turned up a little detail that bothers me: the writers are getting paid peanut shells for DVDs and downloads!

Unlike the rest of the world, where writers retain authors' rights and therefore benefit to a modest degree in the use of a work (notably through the sale of DVDs and now downloads), this is not quite the case for the US. And the writers are rightly questioning this. So until they come to some sort of agreement, I don't feel comfortable promoting downloads of movies. Shame, as it is the way to go.

"Le fils de l'épicier" picks up script award at Namur

Eric Guirardo and Florence Vignon picked up the Best Script award at the 22nd Festival of Francophone Cinema in the Belgian town of Namur for "Le fils de l’épicier/The Grocer's Son". When his father becomes ill, a disillusioned young man has to step into his shoes and manage the village shop.

Director Guirardo had planned the film since 2000, and finished the writing with Florence Vignon after he spent time filming travelling tradesmen in France.

Check the film's site in French.

Macedonian-Polish action spec wins the first Central European Pitch Forum

I mentioned this event a few months back. Here is an extract from the (enthusiastic) press release concerning the winners. Nice to see a genre film picking up the main prize.

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Veteran Macedonian-born Swiss writer-director Mitko Panov took first prize and 5 thousand euro along with it at the closing event of the 2007 Fade In Central European Pitch Forum, the continent’s first story market, for his Balkan-set drama-actioner Witness.

The 2 thousand euro-worth special jury prize went to Paolo Poti from Italy for his drama screenplay "The God of the Hills", while the award for the best Eastern European screenplay was given to Hungarian writer team Péter Gál and Csaba Tóth for their chiller "Weekend". Young Hungarian director István Madarász got the Best Pitch award for the presentation of his unique action thriller "Loop". The lavish awards ceremony and networking dinner, attended by a hundred-plus film professionals from all across Europe, closed a very intense three days in Pécs in the south of Hungary. Beautiful weather was kind to the organizers, as the picture-perfect city—a European Cultural Capital-to-be in 2010—showed its most stunning faces to attendees of its international film festival Moveast and its flagship event pitch forum. 13 screenwriters from all over Europe showed up with 11 projects. Their screenplays were all written on spec—meaning the authors developed them on their own volition—so the writers arrived in the hope of selling their screen stories to the attending producers.

To find out more (and maybe present something next year), visit Fade In.

On the photo: president of the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe Christina Kallas listening to award-winning Polish director Kryzstof Zanusi. Photo by Laszlo Simara.

Belgium to send "Ben X" as Oscar contender

"Ben X", the award-winning debut film from film journalist Nic Balthazar, has been unanimously chosen to represent Belgium as a Foreign-Language contender for the Oscars. The Dutch-speaking film, which has been hailed at home and received the Grand Prix at the Montreal World Film Festival, is a gripping tale of a slightly autistic boy that is bullied at school. It combines a remarkable internal monologue with extracts from video games. The performances are universally excellent.

The film is based on a book written by Balthazar that was subsequently adapted as a play. It is built on a true story (but obviously considerably changed). Expect to hear more about it. Visit the official site (in English and Dutch).

The Coppola syndrome: could it happen to you?

You've probably heard by now the Francis Ford Coppola has had his portable computer and back-up stolen. He has made a heartfelt plea for at least the back-up to be returned, as it contains not only his latest script which is about to go into pre-production, but 15 years of archives.

Yikes! It made me think about my current set-up. How much could I afford to lose? The vast majority of semi-cooked ideas exist in print form. That's OK. I still have copybooks full of notes and press clippings. So what about my back-ups? Well, like many people I don't do enough of them. And the problem that Francis Ford has suffered is that he didn't count on someone actually stealing the backed-up hard disks!

Any way around this? A quick survey of writer friends drew everything from shrugs of shoulders to stern warnings about making copies and storing them in friends' houses in case your place burns down or Mossad breaks in and steals everything. Online storage doesn't really seem to have entered the writers' habits yet.

Either way, it's something worth thinking about. Do you have any back-up tips?

"Le spectateur fantasmé": writers consider the spectator

Anyone who writes must at some stage has wondered about the possible spectator. But who is this spectator? What do we know about her? Should we accommodate her already at the writing stage and, if so, how? To what degree?

For the 6th time, the SACD France and SACD Belgium are hosting a talk at this year's Festival de Film Francophone in Namur, Belgium on October 1. The talk is split into two sections: a morning debate between the various guests and a later public encounter in the festival marquee.

Details can be found on the FIFF site. The Namur festival is a cool event, as the whole town is taken over during the week, and they host numerous workshops and production forums. There are also a host of premières, which this year include 14 films from as far apart as Senegal and Lebanon.

PS: I'll be in Namur on October 4 if anyone wants to hook up, just leave a message.

"Kings" chosen as Ireland's "Best Foreign Language" at Academy Awards

IFTA, The Irish Film and Television Academy has announced that Tom Collins’ ‘Kings’ starring Colm Meaney, Donal O’Kelly and Brendan Conroy has been officially selected by an independent IFTA jury for submission to the 80th Academy Award(S)®, for the ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ category. This is the first time that an Irish language film is being submitted from Ireland for this category.

"Kings" tells the story of a group of Gaelic-speaking young men who in the mid 1970s left the west of Ireland, bound for London, filled with ambition for a better life in a place where they could be kings. Thirty years on they meet to mark the passing of the youngest of the group. For some of them, those thirty years have been hard. Their muscle has been spent, their hopes dashed on the roads and building sites of Britain, to be replaced with a sense of hopeless disaffection. ‘Kings’ is a story of a lost generation, rich in humanity and emotion, and with a heart-breaking resonance not just for the Irish in today’s changing world.

According to director Tom Collins, "‘Kings’ has been a remarkable journey for me over the past four years. To receive this latest accolade is quite overwhelming and I am indebted to the Irish Academy for their support. I know it’s always dangerous to have messages in films, but I hope people will watch ‘Kings’ and empathise with the whole experience of emigrants in a foreign land and how hard it is for them to find their way home. This is a universal story – it’s not just about paddies…” Specifically concerning the relationship with the original play "Kings of the Kilburn High Road" and the playwright Jimmy Murphy (see below), Collins had this to say to Screenplay Europe: "I regard Jimmy as a friend and one of Ireland's best writers. Kings is doing exceptionally well which wouldn't have happened without [him]".

"Kings" was produced by Newgrange Pictures and goes on release in Ireland on September 21.

People's Choice Award 2007

The European Film Academy has made its nominations for this year's European Film Awards. As ever, it's a rather high-brow list that includes "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days", "The Edge of Heaven" and "La vie en rose".

As in previous years, you can do your bit too, as they are running a more mainstream selection for the People's Choice Award that includes "The Last King of Scotland", "La vie en Rose", "Black Book" and "2 Days in Paris". Check the selection here.

"4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days" to open in... Romania

After four months of travelling successfully around the world, the multi award-winning "4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days" is only now set to open in its home territory, Romania. The hard-hitting movie will open at the Bucharest National Theatre (that's one premiere I'd like to attend) before moving to other venues. There are also reports that the film will be shown outside major towns in mobile cinemas, a move which is interesting.

The reason I mention this is to underline the difficulty of coordinating movie releases in Europe. Although the 25 countries are technically a single market, only the major studios actually enable Europe-wide releases. All the countries act like separate markets. There are large distributors and movie chains such as UGC and Kinepolis, of course, but every movie has to find a local distributor and start individual campaigns that fit around the majors' releases.

Another way to look at this as writers is that although you always hope that you are writing something with global appeal, you are largely dealing with a series of local audiences. It's also interesting to note that many of the most successful European films have been intensely local. This has been true of "Billy Elliot", "Goodbye Lenin", "L'auberge espagnol", "Adam & Paul", "12:08 East of Bucharest" and now "4 Months".

For more about "4 Months...", visit the blog.

UPDATE: Nov 25. "4 Months..." was awarded the Bronze Horse for Best Film 2007 at this year's 10-day Stockholm film festival ending Sunday November 25.

Intro to scriptwriting in Manchester

Scriptwriting courses tend to be concentrated in capital cities. Here's one that's open to anyone in Manchester, UK. "Due to the success of our previous courses we are pleased to announce our next 6 week project at the Dance House, Oxford Road (opposite the BBC) starting on Monday 8th October 7.30pm - 9.30 pm.

The programme is an introduction to the basics of scriptwriting for screen and is open to anyone 18+ regardless of experience. The course is ongoing and the first 6 weeks will focus on formatting scripts, dialogue, character and developing plots. Writing can be a lonely task, these sessions give participants the chance to meet like minded people from all different walks of life and also fresh eyes and minds to bounce your ideas off. Previous participants have said the course has given them 'confidence about their ideas', 'created a portfolio of work' and has 'given me goals'."

On the face of it, this looks like an intro for people that have always wanted to but never got around to trying scriptwriting. The course is priced at just £35 for the 6 weeks. If you require any further information, e-mail primarycreations@yahoo.co.uk or call 07857 906 014 and tell them Screenplay Europe sent you.

"Atonement" to open Venice fest

Amongst the many films that will play at Venice this year, "Atonement" is being billed as the most expected. Directed by Joe Wright, it has a script by Christopher Hampton ("Dangerous Liaisons", "Total Eclipse" and the upcoming "Coco avant Chanel") based on the award-winning novel by Ian McEwan.

The World War II drama is Wright's second feature, although he has directed numerous dramas for British TV. Keira Knightley's role is being tipped as a career-defining performance. Wright had famously berated the Bafta voters for not giving her the best actress for "Pride and Prejudice".

See The Telegraph for an interview with Wright in which he talks about Knightley, budgets and filming Dunkirk.

Belgium: workshops and round table

French-speaking writers might be interested in two upcoming events in Belgium. Laurent Denis, an award-winning scriptwriter and producer with Cookies Films, is running a workshop focused on building characters and writing dialogue in August and September. Later workshops will cover an introduction to scriptwriting and writing a short film.

Check the details on Cinefilms.

A new event, Brussels Film Days, is to be held in the Wolubilis complex this September. In addition to avant-premières and open-air screenings, the writers association ASA will host a round table on the theme of the script and professional scriptwriting on September 13. Writers and directors will be present - although it doesn't say which ones. More details on the ASA site.

"Kings" showcased in L.A. and Dublin

The Screen Directors Guild of Ireland, in association with the Directors Guild of America, have announced the winner of the Directors Finders Series 2007 as "Kings" directed by Tom Collins, written by Collins and playwright Jimmy Murphy. "Kings" follows the story of a group of six young men who leave their homes in the West of Ireland in the mid 1970's to go to England in the hope of making their fortunes & returning home. Thirty years later only one makes it home - but does so in a coffin.

As part of the award, the film will be showcased in the state-of-the-art Director's Guild of America Theatre, Sunset Boulevard, L.A on 28th September 2007 to an audience of American distributors, with a view to securing a US distribution deal for the film. It will also be featured at a special Awards Ceremony hosted by director Jim Sheridan on 23rd August in Dublin in The Clarence Hotel, to precede the L.A Screening Event. This event is being filmed by TV3.

To find out more, visit the Irish Film Board.

Adapting from books: "The Pianist"

A great story is a great story, and will almost inevitably make its way to the screen. British scriptwriter Ronald Harwood made a magnificent job of writing the script for "The Pianist". As he explained in The Guardian, this was no accident. He had already covered war issues and totalitarian regimes (including his native South Africa), before being called by Roman Polanski to adapt the book. He maintains his closeness to the subject was important.

Harwood has now contributed to a book about adapting novels to the screen, "Ronald Harwood's Adaptations: From Other Works into Films: From Other Media into Films". He goes into "mouth-watering detail" (as one reviewer said) about what adaptations actually involve.

His article in The Guardian is already a treat, if a little unflattering for scriptwriters: "What conclusions, if any, are to be drawn from my experience in the movies? Certainly, I have learned that the screenwriter's relationship with the director is at the very heart of film-making, but the cult of the film director is now so pervasive that the screenwriter is mostly consigned to oblivion. If a critic admires the film the screenplay is ignored; if he finds fault, the screenplay comes in for a mauling. Thus, the screenwriter must learn that he is not an equal partner; indeed he is somewhat subservient."

For the full article, visit The Guardian.

Antonioni dies at 94

With the death of Bergman and French actor Michel Serrault, it has been a pretty sad week for movie-goers. Now Michelangelo Antonioni, the pioneering critic of post-war Italian society has died at the age of 94. Antonioni's first break came as a scriptwriter, working with directors such as Roberto Rossellini and Enrico Fulchignoni. His debut feature was "Cronaca di un amore/Story of a Love Affair" in 1950 although he didn't achieve true success until "L'avventura" ten years later.

His key films are without a doubt "Blow-Up" and "Professione: reporter/The Passenger". Although he suffered a stroke in 1985, he continued to film. His latest work was "Il filo pericoloso delle cose/The Dangerous Thread of Things" from the "Eros" trilogy.

Antonioni on Amazon US

Ingmar Bergman dies at 89

Ingmar Bergman, one of cinema's key figures, has died at the age of 89. The writer and director of dozens of films and plays died at his home in Faro, Sweden. Over his remarkable career, Bergman was nominated no less than nine times for Oscars as a director, with three of his films picking up best Foreign Film awards.

Bergman's filmography includes "Wild Strawberries", "The Seventh Seal" and "Cries and Whispers". His career started as a projectionist's assistant, later studying to be an actor and director. His first filmed work was the script for "Frenzy", directed by Alf Sjoberg in 1944. Over the coming years, he would chalk up strong critical and commercial success with his often harrowing movies.

His last public work was the TV fiction "Saraband". He once famously noted that he had difficulty watching his own films in retrospect as he found them "depressing". Given that many sprang from his own experience, this might be understandable to a degree although it hints to me that he never found closer on many of the issues.

For more about Bergman, visit Ingmar Bergman Face to Face.

Ingmar Bergman on Amazon US

Paul Laverty: the "spectacular lie"

Paul Laverty, the long-time writing partner of Ken Loach, has just been interviewed by the Santa Barbara Independent about scriptwriting and their choice of subject matter. The film "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" picked up the Palme d'or in Cannes last year. It takes an uncompromising look at the struggle for independence in Ireland and the subsequent Civil War. Although many people considered it as a metaphor for the Iraq war, Laverty denies this entirely. A far better parallel (which Laverty does not make) could be made with the Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation, not just in terms of the direct brutality of occupation but also in terms of its effects on the resistors. The core story is, after all, about two brothers that have to face each other.

An interesting quote from the article: "Did you feel drawn to screenwriting because you felt you could reach a wider audience and bring more attention to issues that were important to you? Choosing the subject matter, the characters and premise to a story, and how we attempt to tell it reveals a great deal about the filmmakers. Our choice of material is of course affected by our values, politics, and how we see the world. It strikes me that a great many contemporary films glorify the pursuit of wealth, romanticize violence, and usually set up “Western values” as superior. It’s often simplistic and very crude; black and white. In the end, it makes for a spectacular lie about how Westerners see themselves. They lie to the rest of the world, too. I have zero interest or respect for this type of filmmaking, no matter where it comes from."

For the full article, visit Santa Barbara Independent.

Paul Laverty on Amazon US

Paul Laverty on Amazon UK

The danger of "the scene"

It's always exciting when a new scene is discovered in a country. Whether it be Taiwan, the UK, Czech Republic or Denmark, media and the industry just love to be able to bunch films together by style. The stark reality of Belgium and the kitchen sink dramas of the UK are just two examples. Over the past few years, Denmark has been the source of interesting films that manage to find commercial audiences. The figures for domestic films are remarkable: in the first six months of 2007, over 1.8 million tickets were sold - one half million more than the same time last year - and fully one-third of those were for Danish films.

But the inevitable downside of a scene is the almost irresistible temptation to apply a formula. An awful lot of money is involved, so why not hedge your bets by following previous successes? In an article in the Copenhagen Post, Claus Ladegaard of the Danish Film Institute, said the Danish industry was definitely in a crisis and may have rested too heavily on its earlier laurels. ‘We probably should have looked more critically at our own success a bit sooner,’ he said. ‘Often, as soon as someone discovers a particular way to make a film successful, others follow and then movies start resembling one another.’

It's a danger that exists already at the writing stage. All the writers with a few pages of sub-"Pulp Fiction" know what I'm talking about. But trying to second guess what producers and audiences will like is dangerous. The throughput time from paper to screen is so long that whatever trend was discernible will be totally outdated by the time it would take to write and shoot it.

For more about the Danish hangover, check the Copenhagen Post. For news about Danish film, visit the Danish Film Institute.

Louis Gardel: a scriptwriter controls nothing

Veteran scriptwriter Louis Gardel ("Indochine" and "Himalaya" as well as massive amounts of stories for French TV) gives a few sobering thoughts when explaining his work methods for the Cineuropa website: "I’ve understood very well that a scriptwriter controls nothing at all and that, for the result to be good, for the film to measure up to what I dreamt, someone “strong” has to do it. I’m very attentive to that".

Gosh man, do you have to say it so loud? Someone might hear you. He does, however, have a point. Scriptwriting is an in-betweeny thing to do, as the ultimate calls are taken by the director (in Europe) and the producer.

Now that I've given you the bad news, check out the whole article for some interesting insights on Cineuropa.