We are meeting on every Tuesday evening in November and getting together for our customary seasonal drinks in Renato’s on 7 December. All our meetings, except those on 30 November and 7 December, take place at 7.30pm in the Macready Room at the Bristol Old Vic — ask at the Siddons Bar on the first floor of the theatre for directions. Everyone attending meetings pays £1.
Several members have said recently that they prefer to hear a number of shorter pieces in an evening rather than a full-length work, so the slots for this season’s four open workshop meetings will be limited to pieces that take no longer than 30 minutes to read. As usual you can submit extracts from longer scripts as well as those of half an hour or less, but you could also bring along ideas, synopses or treatments for discussion.
Please get in touch if you have anything to workshop, otherwise we’re going to be heading for Renato’s much earlier after meetings this season.
Tuesday, 2 November at 7.30pm: Open Workshop
This week’s session features Mark Breckon’s screenplay treatment, Friends of the Library, and some embryonic work from Tim Massey.
Tuesday, 9 November at 7.30pm: Right Enough by Michelle Preston
Our workshop this week includes an episode of Michelle’s sitcom set in a charity shop run by two ‘mature’ animal rights activists. Here extremism extends only to buying custard creams instead of rich tea biscuits — until Bes and Maddie learn about the new turkey farm on the outskirts of town…
Tuesday, 16 November at 7.30pm: Open Workshop
Tuesday, 23 November at 7.30pm: Open Workshop
Tuesday, 30 November at 7.30pm: TAPS Screening (venue to be confirmed)
A screening of the Training And Performance Showcase (TAPS) script-in-hand recordings of Gas and Air by Ann-Marie McCormack and Bacon Sandwich by Tim Massey. TAPS is the UK’s leading independent organisation committed to training potential television writers and promoting their work to producers. TAPS’ Executive Director, Jill James, will be at the screening to answer your questions on its work. Details of the venue for the screening to follow.
Tuesday, 7 December at 8ish: Yuletide Drinks in Renato’s
Straight to the après Scriptwriters for some festive fun in our favourite pizzeria. Come and explain how you’re going to hit the big time in 2005.
Annual Competition
If you’re a paid-up member receiving this newsletter, you’re entitled to enter our annual competition to select scripts to stage as script-in-hand performances in our eighth New Writing Festival next summer. We’re still waiting to confirm a venue for the Festival, but hope to be back at the Tobacco Factory again. The deadline for entries is Tuesday, 25 January 2005, so now is the time to get cracking on your stage, screen, radio or television script.
Moonstone Success
Congratulations to Virginia Bergin whose screenplay CLARKe, which we read at a meeting in September, has been selected for development in a Moonstone Screenwriters’ Lab. The Labs give experienced screenwriters the opportunity to develop their scripts in consultation with established film scriptwriters as part of a week-long residential programme.
Joy of 8mm Screening
The Joy of 8mm is a project set up by Harvest Films that challenges budding filmmakers to shoot a three-minute film on a single 8mm cartridge, editing in camera. The filmmakers return the unprocessed film to the project administrators and view their work for the first time at public screenings. The next Joy of 8mm screening event will be held in two programmes, one starting at 4pm, the other at 7.30pm on Sunday, 7 November, at the Tobacco Factory, Raleigh Road, Southville, Bristol, BS3 1TF
Popular TV Drama: Nick Elliot
Nick Elliot, ITV Network Controller of Drama, is giving an hour-long talk on Popular TV Drama, illustrated with video examples of the best TV dramas and discussion of commercial viability, at 11am on Thursday, 18 November in the Peter Chalk Centre at the University of Exeter.
Theatre West
Please continue to support Theatre West’s excellent autumn season of new writing at the Alma Tavern. There are two plays remaining — Wild Lunch by Katie Hims, which runs from 2-13 November, and Deathsong by Southwest Scriptwriter Steve Hennessy, playing from 16-27 November.