deadlines..

Yes today I had a deadline to meet - finish writing and submit my 10 page feature treatment. So did I do it? No I didn't. Very unusual for me but, after 3 days of school holidays, Crusty Custard Mumple on a loop and an afternoon of extreme bungee trampolining with my daughter, I'd come to the conclusion that writing a treatment in 7 days was probably not possible. Instead I emailed off copious amounts of fascinating, distracting and thought-provoking (ahem) notes to sidetrack the producers along with a suggestion for a new date - which happily has been accommodated. [Lesson for producers - if writers have to meet a deadline - pay them afterwards not beforehand.]

As an aside - there seem to be so many other deadlines around this month - things to go in for, submit, write up bits for.. Don't you think? I wonder if its possible to meet all of them....

A day in the life of a scriptwriter

The day starts early - very early - my daughter is up at 5.30 without fail - rain or shine, so it's a bit hard to stay in bed much later than 6am. Early morning is spent getting her ready for school then hub drops her off just after 7.30. Then 'Eyes' arrives around 8 o clock.

Normally I've made a list - the evening before - of things I still need to do the next day. Right now I have all these edit scripts outstanding from the children's TV series. Doing them should have been a piece of cake - tweaking the shooting scripts here and there - but due to the extensive re-edit, not so. I have to view and transcribe it word for word. Laborious. This all needs to be typed and submitted along with the final accounts (grrr) and other paperwork in order to get the last chunk of funds from the broadcaster. I keep putting it off.

Unless there's a deadline, the daily routine is fairly fluid. The script log book gets checked through to see how long things have been out. Then I skip around the internet around to see what's happening everywhere. Plus I read the local and international trades online and the papers. Today I check the bank - wooee been paid for the first jazz article! Then look for stuff for my daughter's 5th birthday party (month end). Then notice the desk has half an inch of dust all over it - so take everything off and do a major polish.

But if I have a deadline - then it's straight to work - I can do an 8 hour writing day, more or less, before my daughter's back at 3. There's usually Sky news burbling away in the background unless hub is in, then it's the new Russian news channel or Al Jazeera or something that's not quite so preoccupied with the current movements of Paris Hilton.

That's about it.

Deadlines etc

mostly old but something new -

Mnet have resumed their New Directions scheme. They are seeking short dramas of 26 minutes in length and also a 48 minute documentary. Deadline is April 30th.
There are now two schemes - one for submissions from South Africa -
details available here. The other is for ONLY for short drama submissions from Nigeria, Kenya and Zambia and details are available here.

International deadlines
April 30th
BBC's 10th International Radio Playwriting Competition to find the next Pinter, Brecht or Soyinka. Details are available here.
May 14th
For playwrights, iceandfire and Amnesty International UK announce the first ‘Protect the Human’ playwriting competition "exploring individual stories of displacement and conflict."
May 15th
This year's All Roads Film Festival have just put out a call specifically for African films. "As the May 15th submissions deadline approaches, we are stepping-up our outreach to filmmakers, distributors and producers." For further information click on the link here: All Roads Film Festival
31st May
The forthcoming Africa in Motion film festival in Edinburgh have put out a call for 'emerging African filmmakers' to submit short fiction films or documentaries

Local deadlines
30th April
Mnet New Directions - see above
31st July
Maskew Longman Miller competition for original and unpublished drama manuscripts - information is available here.

Latest round up

Here is the latest round up of scriptwriting and film opportunities.

Previously I omitted DV8 who (apparently) still operate an open-ended online submission scheme for low budget South African feature film scripts. Visit their website here for more information.

Someone alerted me to another (online) prodco seemingly on the lookout for 'strong, character-driven scripts and novels' set in South Africa. Information is available here. I have not been able to check them out and they do request a $25 submission fee which is off putting. If anyone has further info - let me know (email address in my profile.)

For playwrights writing in any of South Africa's official languages, there's the Maskew Longman Milller competition for original and unpublished drama manuscripts. The deadline is 31st July 2007 and information is available here.

Just announced - the Roy W Dean Writing Grant is now open for applications. Co-ordinated via 'From the Heart Productions' a non-profit 501(c)(3) organisation dedicated to funding films that are “unique and make a contribution to society”. This writing grant is open to anyone around the world. The Roy W. Dean Writing Grant takes writers to New Zealand for one month to write anything, book, play film script, etc. Writers stay in a quiet country cottage and airline ticket and funds weekly for food and pub are covered. Full info is available on the website here.

To receive regular scriptwriting 'work alerts' for current South African TV and other jobs, it is worth joining SASWU (for info click on name in sidebar). For beginner scriptwriters as well as those who want to increase their knowledge, their twin organisation SA Scriptwriting Institute (see sidebar) will be running various interesting courses and master classes over the coming year. Visit the website for information.


Reminders
Mnet are currently looking for 13 x prime time stand alone 'made for TV 60 minute dramas.' The information is available here. The deadline is actually 28th February (not March as stated previously)

SABC are also looking for various stand alone dramas, mini series and comedies. Full details are in the latest RFP book downloadable from their website. There's still plenty of time to submit proposals for many of the briefs. Development finance is available for certain proposals.

There's still plenty of time to submit for the BBC's 10th International Radio Playwriting Competition launched to find the next Pinter, Brecht or Soyinka. Details are available here.
The deadline is April 30th 2007


Finally for those who may be interested, here's one for documentary filmmakers: ITVS have launched an INTERNATIONAL production initiative. 'This fund is designed to showcase international documentaries that tell powerful global stories that will inform, inspire and connect US audiences to unfamiliar lives, experiences and new perspectives from across the world.' There is one funding round for the IMDF International Call per year, and the deadline will typically be in February. The deadline for the 2007 International Call is February 9, 2007. Please refer to ITVS's website for further information . Click here.

Deadlines

Trying to meet a flurry of deadlines - finishing a short (inspired by a parent's question to my daughter's doll in the park) - plus working out a tricky feature treatment.

Another (TV) deadline wanted a couple of scenes written up from a vague paragraph. Knocked out 5 pages, read it aloud, quick revision then pressed 'send'. 3 hours later the company thoughtfully circulated a wad of additional information for writers. Agggh.

Laters.