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5 Reasons “Missing” Female Characters Might Not Actually Be Missing After All (Plus What Writers Can Do Instead)

So this week, Twitter broke two pieces of news. Sheffield Theatres here in the UK are pledging to have an equal split of male and female roles in plays developed in-house: their artistic director (a man, by the way) says it’s “not just about numbers, but also about the scope and range of parts female actors get to play”. On the very same day, it was announced that Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn will be helming series 2 of HBO’s TRUE DETECTIVE. It would be fair to say a minor avalanche of tweets erupted in my TL and @ box  at both announcements. I didn’t… Read More »5 Reasons “Missing” Female Characters Might Not Actually Be Missing After All (Plus What Writers Can Do Instead)

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4 Lessons On Writing A Killer Logline

You have just completed writing the world’s greatest screenplay. Congrats! Now it’s time to show it to the world and prepare to cash that million dollar check that assuredly is coming your way. Hold on tiger. Before any production company, or producer, is going to read your unsolicited script, you are going to have to entice them with a little literary foreplay. We call this a logline. A logline is defined as one sentence that provides enough information about the protagonist, antagonist, setting, genre, and story that the reader can fully grasp what the film will be. The logline must… Read More »4 Lessons On Writing A Killer Logline

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Producer Case Study: 4 Reasons I Optioned A Screenplay

I first came across Phil Peel’s work as part of my 2012/13 “Pitch Me” comp and enjoyed his screenplay, PHOEBE LANGTRY, a huge deal. I was also privileged to help edit his fab, fun (yet grossly titled!) comedy short film, JOHN LENNON’S TURD (you can read Phil’s own guest post on B2W about the film, HERE). So when producer Jason Attar contacted me asking if I knew any screenplays or screenwriters worth a punt on, I had no hesitation recommending Phil! Now Jason’s back, looking for MORE great writers for his new writing initiative, so I thought it would be a… Read More »Producer Case Study: 4 Reasons I Optioned A Screenplay

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5 Indie Storytellers Who Are Doing It Right

I gotta say, these days I’m more impressed with the Indie Storyteller. The writers with the entrepreneurial edge. The filmmakers who are bypassing the gatekeepers. I feel like we’re living in uncharted territory and the Indie Storytellers are out there, discovering new lands, planting flags, and claiming audiences for their own. What Is An Indie Storyteller? I define an Indie Storyteller as someone who takes their art into their own hands. They’re not willing to accept that gatekeepers are on the pulse of what the audience truly wants, and are willing to use the tools provided to bypass them and… Read More »5 Indie Storytellers Who Are Doing It Right

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5 Things I Learned In A 10 Min Q + A With Luc Besson

I’ve been a huge fan of Luc Besson since I was a teenager in the 90s and THE FIFTH ELEMENT came out (“I am Corbin Dallas!”) so I was delighted to receive KT Parker’s guest post on LUCY, which obviously Luc named after **me**! Thanks KT and enjoy, everybody … LUCY hit the screens in Paris last week and Luc Besson, who both wrote and directed it, was doing no less than 6 “avant-premières” all over town. Those of you who don’t live in France may be wondering, what on earth is an avant-première? Well, it’s like a première minus… Read More »5 Things I Learned In A 10 Min Q + A With Luc Besson

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5 Ways Transmedia Can Help Scriptwriters

Sofia’s Diary was a real inspiration to me when planning and creating the transmedia strategy for my Decision Book Series, so I was DELIGHTED when the show’s creator Nuno Bernardo approached me to write a guest post for B2W! This is a real treat for you Bang2writers on using the power of transmedia to engage your audiences, so enjoy! When I sat down to write Sofia’s Diary, my first Web series, back in 2003, I had no real scriptwriting experience, let alone transmedia writing experience. So, for me, it was always going to be a process of trial and error. As… Read More »5 Ways Transmedia Can Help Scriptwriters

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5 Transmedia Lessons Learned from “Loves Of A Cyclops”

“Transmedia” is the latest buzzword in the industry, but many Bang2writers still aren’t really sure what it means! Luke is talking to the team behind Loves Of A Cyclops this week to shed some light on this great opportunity to get your work out there and create a following for your project … Enjoy! Loves Of A Cyclops is a short film project … sort of. It’s also a photograph collection, a series of audio snippets, an immersive experience in web design and modern aesthetics, and a ball of quirky fun. it’s a great example of what Transmedia can be.… Read More »5 Transmedia Lessons Learned from “Loves Of A Cyclops”

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7 Tips On Sci Fi Arenas / Worldbuilding In Your Screenplay Or Novel

On Worldbuilding When it comes to worldbuilding and writing, I think this definition from Wikipedia is actually pretty good … Worldbuilding is the process of constructing an imaginary world, sometimes associated with a whole fictional universe. The resulting world may be called a constructed world (or conworld). Developing an imaginary setting with coherent qualities such as a history, geography, and ecology is a key task for many science fiction or fantasy writers. Worldbuilding often involves the creation of maps, a backstory, and people, including social customs and even in some cases an invented language, for the world. So with this… Read More »7 Tips On Sci Fi Arenas / Worldbuilding In Your Screenplay Or Novel

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10 Awesome Writing Tips From Robert McKee

Many thanks to Lesley, who has boiled down Robert McKee’s STORY for us into ten handy bitesize chunks to help us write our screenplays AND novels! Enjoy … “If the story you’re telling, is the story you’re telling, you’re in deep shit.” Robert McKee The above quote sounds quite controversial, doesn’t it? But then, Robert McKee IS controversial. Many people call him a screenwriting guru, but why is he so popular?We can’t name anything extraordinary at once: he is a writing instructor, he travels a lot with his Story workshop, he teaches authors to write and he tells directors how to make… Read More »10 Awesome Writing Tips From Robert McKee

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Top 6 Reversals In Movies

FYI – SPOILERS! I’ve said only recently I don’t read enough reversals in spec screenplays, in ANY genre. I thought it time to offer up some examples of those I’ve watched that I felt were effective. Before we get going however, here is the definition of ‘reversals’ I am using for the purposes of this post … “A place in the plot where a character achieves the opposite of his aim, resulting in a change from good fortune to bad fortune.” You may also want to read THIS POST, which contains a definition of what screenplay reversals are. There’s also a great… Read More »Top 6 Reversals In Movies

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4 Reasons To Love JUNO

On the day book 2 of The Decision Series, JASMINE’S STORY hits the virtual shelves, many thanks to @LizziesDecision ally and photographer/filmmaker Jendella Benson for this week’s excellent guest post about Diablo Cody’s Oscar-winning dramedy JUNO! Jendella has been taking pictures of young mums and their kids for her visual project on the subject, which included me and the Male Spawn. I was honoured to be part of the project and Jendella’s currently crowdfunding so she can set up her own exhibition and workshops on the theme of Young Motherhood. This is of course very dear to my heart, so please do… Read More »4 Reasons To Love JUNO

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10 Lessons Of Making A Microbudget Movie

With the premiere of his self-funded, micro-budget feature-length comedy fast approaching, American ex-pat and director of The Stagg Do, James DeMarco, considers the pros and cons of making an indie comedy with no money. Enjoy! Click HERE for tickets for the world premiere of the movie TOMORROW (26/06/14) or click on the pic below. To make it or not to make it? That is the question? The only question. It’s as simple as that. Either continue to wait for that elusive investment to arrive or to find a way to make the freakin’ thing. We just got tired of waiting.… Read More »10 Lessons Of Making A Microbudget Movie

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