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Representation

9 Female Movie Screenwriters Worth Watching

It’s widely known that television is much more likely to be the female screenwriter’s stomping ground, with Tinsel Town in particular a super deluxe sausagefest. But I’m glad to say there ARE women in the man’s world of film! Whilst the likes of Diablo Cody and Nora Ephron may be two of the best known female screenwriters at the moment, I’m going to take a look at some of the female names we may not know quite as well … Let’s hear it for the girls! 1) Leslie Dixon, Limitless. Dixon has had a long and fruitful screenwriting career, but it was 2011’s… Read More »9 Female Movie Screenwriters Worth Watching

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11 Experts Share Their Notable Trans Characters Of Recent Years

2014 was – according to TIME magazine – a ‘transgender tipping point’. Increased visibility of transgender people in the media – Laverne Cox, Laura Jane Grace, Paris Lees – brought the trans community into the spotlight. Here in the UK, transgender characters are starting to become a staple of our rich diet of cops and docs, popping up as bit parts in Doctors, Holby and Casualty with increased regularity. Last year, Hollyoaks introduced a trans character, Blessing, and Paris Lees became the first openly trans person to play a trans person on UK television in a cameo on the show.… Read More »11 Experts Share Their Notable Trans Characters Of Recent Years

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33 Experts Share What They Want Next From Female Characters

Personality first, gender second? The Bang2writers are writing more and more female characters now, but it’s not just as simple as that. We can ALL fall into “the usual” representations, or screw up and write trite, incorrect or two dimensional stereotypes. It’s also important to note any one of us can do this regardless of our experience with writing, or even if we *are* women ourselves! As I often say, I have seen NO correlation between gender of writer and how bad OR well they write female characters, yet I’ve literally read thousands  of screenplays over the last decade and… Read More »33 Experts Share What They Want Next From Female Characters

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33 Experts Share Their Notable Female Characters Of Recent Years

Delighted to unveil the very illuminating thoughts of various industry pros I’ve managed to pin down this week! DO make sure you click on the links of their names to find out more about them. Remember, you can also find out what these Industry Pros want NEXT from female characters – direct link at the bottom of this list. Enjoy! Over To The Experts … 1) Tony Jordan, screenwriter & showrunner. Carrie Mathison – Homeland. Complicated, fucked up, intuitive, loyal and proactive. Red – Orange is The New Black. Direct, uncompromising, funny. Alicia Florrick – The Good Wife. True modern… Read More »33 Experts Share Their Notable Female Characters Of Recent Years

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8 Female-Centric Biopics That Need Writing NOW

Biopics and true story dramas DOMINATE awards season, so with the Oscar Noms out last week it would seem that **this** year it’s all about the menz. As I always say though, the problem is not male-centric stories, but that there’s just too many of them! With it being a “man’s world” throughout history, one might be forgiven for thinking it’s all rather inevitable that the fellas will take over the true story genre … If it weren’t for the fact this is utter BILGE! There ARE amazing women of history and not just since women’s suffrage and emancipation either –… Read More »8 Female-Centric Biopics That Need Writing NOW

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Writing Women: 5 Lessons From Shakespeare

I’ve said it, countless times now: I’ve seen NO correlation between gender of writer and how “well” s/he writes female characters. In my experience, a male writer is just as likely as a female writer to write a GREAT, complex, flawed character who just so happens to be a woman. ‘Cos that’s what we’re aiming for, right? RIGHT. “Shakespeare’s a dead white guy, but he knows his shit!” YES, Shakespeare is well old and NO, he’s not PC because he was writing a trillion years ago, but he STILL managed to pull of complex female characters who were a helluva lot… Read More »Writing Women: 5 Lessons From Shakespeare

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4 Disabled Characters Writers Can Learn From

As we all know, it’s much easier to complain than it is to create, so I’m going to look at a few disabled characters and stories dealing with disability. For full disclosure, I’m disabled, so might have some different perspectives to an able-bodied person. Let’s start with someone who a lot of people will recognise, even if they don’t identify him as ‘disabled’; Tyrion Lannister. 1) Tyrion – Game of Thrones  Played by Peter Dinklage, who was born with achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism, Tyrion Lannister is, what some may refer to as, a ‘little person’. What Tyrion lacks… Read More »4 Disabled Characters Writers Can Learn From

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5 Reasons J.J Abrams’ STAR WARS Doesn’t “Owe” Anyone Gender Diversity

[CHRISTMAS 2015 EDIT: Okay, so this post is even more hilarious in retrospect now we know Rey is not the “token female”, but the PROTAGONIST in an otherwise male-centric franchise! But hey, apparently that’s STILL not good enough because now Rey is “too good” – yes, this is actually a thing! OMG … Well, at least you’re consistent Twitter in that you’re NEVER fecking happy. This is why we can’t have nice things or GOOD FEMALE CHARACTERS you nunchucks. CLICK HERE for a free ebook on how NOT to write female characters and if you’re one of the whiners?? DOOF! Punch… Read More »5 Reasons J.J Abrams’ STAR WARS Doesn’t “Owe” Anyone Gender Diversity

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9 Ways To Celebrate The Progress Of Female Characters, Writers & Makers

Great news, Bang2writers: I think we can safely say 2013 was a good year for female characters. Why? Well check this out:  And this: Aaaaaaand this:  [If you want to read more, click on the pics.] The three movies above were not the only big budget fare this year to feature unusual female characters; THE WOLVERINE featured not just one, but TWO Women of Colour in prominent roles; PACIFIC RIM also featured a WoC in a prominent role: Mako Mori, who was widely praised for her representation by feminist commentators. In addition, there has been a veritable EXPLOSION of commentary about… Read More »9 Ways To Celebrate The Progress Of Female Characters, Writers & Makers

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Heroes, Villains & Disposable Men (AKA 5 Reasons Male Characterisation Needs An Overhaul Too)

On Male Characterisation It’s not fashionable or cool to talk about male characterisation … but then when Bang2write started, it wasn’t cool to talk female protagonists either. Look what’s happened since!!! Critique of any kind is very important in challenging the status quo. However we are SO focused on female characters I fear we are in danger of two things … i) Putting undue pressures and expectations on individual films, characters and their makers/writers Commentators love to wax lyrical about supposed “empowerment”. Yet a single work cannot stand for ALL women or undo decades of BS. As I’m fond of saying,… Read More »Heroes, Villains & Disposable Men (AKA 5 Reasons Male Characterisation Needs An Overhaul Too)

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6 Reasons Sweden’s Bechdel Cinema Rating Idea Is A (Well Meaning) Mistake

So, you probably read this week Sweden will be installing a rating system on whether a movie passes The Bechdel Test. Just in case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last thirty years, The Bechdel Test refers to the comic strip by Alison Bechdel, Dykes To Watch Out For, where she joked back in the 80s she only watches a film if it “features two women talking to each other about something other than a man.” Thus, The Bechdel Test was born. And here it is: I’ve had quite a few exchanges over Twitter the past week about… Read More »6 Reasons Sweden’s Bechdel Cinema Rating Idea Is A (Well Meaning) Mistake

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How Do I Write A Great Character?

We hear all the time about two dimensional, stereotypical or even downright offensive characters. None of us can believe we’d EVER write something **like that**, so instead we point figures at those who do and keep on writing our stuff, sure ours are that much better. A lot is said about the “usual” characters, too: how readers are seeing the *types* of characters, doing the same types of things, for the same types of reasons, in the same types of stories. Then there are the writers trying to go against the tide  and do *something different*. Though admirable in intent,… Read More »How Do I Write A Great Character?

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