feeding back

I quite like the idea of Michael Arndt's script feedback 'form' that Jurgen Wolff mentioned on his blog recently. To read JW's post click here.

'He gives his friends a form to fill out. On it, they are asked to rate from 1 to 10 how well each of the major characters comes across, and how effective they felt each of the major scenes is. He also gives them a list of ten things he thinks might be wrong with the script and asks them to rate to what extent (again, 1 to 10)'

I like the fact that this type of feedback is writer-led - so could be more useful in the early drafts. The questionnaire could be adapted to suit a particular script. It could also help eliminate vague or conflicting PO3 feedback - (for those that go that route)

Hmmm. Might try it.

history

no queue

Hub was wondering why he gets no visitors to his blog and I told him it's because he doesn't update it; 'like one of those shops in Zimbabwe with no food on the shelves - no one goes in.' So he says 'But some people would still come in, because there'd be no queue.'

pages

Pages, pages how many do you write? Of course it depends whether you are working part-time or writing full-time or not. I read somewhere recently that 5 pages a day is reckoned to be a reasonable writing count (for a full time writer). That does seem very doable. At that daily rate you can churn out a feature script in just over 3 weeks.
In the past I've tended more towards manic writing bursts - where I literally write upwards of 20 pages in one day, rather than make steady progress . Usually when I write loads, it is because I've had plenty of time to think through the entire story. Also some stories are more straight forward than others - more easily told.
On the current project, I'm happy doing anything between 0 and 5 pages a day. Yes O pages of writing sometimes(!) But on the 0 days, I'll be planning out what's next and making all kinds of notes. This 'multi-layered time' thing requires pieces of story information to be revealed stealthily - so it has to minutely planned.

Hmm pages, pages - what about you?

plaque

This may be as close as I ever get to seeing my plaque. However I finally have the euros in my bank - yippee!!

So be warned - when it comes to chasing up money owed - if polite enquiries fail - then a stream of increasingly rude and threatening daily emails will probably do the trick.

Laters

..progress

Ok so this is a 'scriptwriting in progress' post - so non-writers or those wanting a more exciting read, turn away now.

This script that I'm writing is based on a true life story - in a way it's an offbeat 'zero to hero', pivoted around some big historical moments.

The other day I realised I had to layer the timing of events and kind of zap back and forth between different places. Why? - mainly because I want the story to link 'moments of revelation' that occur at different points in the protagonist's life. Also I realised that bringing in the antagonist (and the real conflict) at the act one turning point (around 30 pages in) just won't work - it's far too late. People will be thinking - so where's this story going?

I've avoided using the words 'flash back' and 'flash forward' here and I'll avoid pointing them up as such in the script (even though they are there). You see the story is threaded together with a fairly sparse present tense VO. Generally I don't think viewers and audience have a problem with stories that skim back and forth time-wise - so it's getting it down on the page simply - which is the difficult part.

Thinking it out and chopping it up often takes longer than actual writing. So now back to the computer - but at least I know what I'm doing. I think.
Laters

plans...

Now that things are moving forward at a rapid pace once again (isn't it funny how life can just stodge up for weeks on end with not much happening apart from the rain) the big trip can be planned. Too soon to try and make it during the next school holidays here - so it looks like I'll be back in Blighty & Brum for 3 weeks just before Christmas coinciding with the big 'summer holiday' here and maybe even go to NY on the end - (all part of research of course.) Cor - not been back for 6 years. Had lots of visits here from family and a few friends and even imported my mum in the meantime (ha!) and now my sister and new hub are due over here in the next couple of weeks or so. Even so I'm wondering if I'll have a bit of culture shock - what with everything having gone up so much in the meantime, or maybe I might not even want to come back again. That's the worst thing about moving so far way for so long: estrangement from close friends. In an ideal world I'd spend the SA summer here (Nov - April) and then the rest of the time in the UK. Although that's not an entirely impossible scenario, it would require a considerably higher income (!).

Another plan involves storage - getting a built-in floor to ceiling shelving system thing up one wall of the office. Hub probably has around 3 million photo stills (negatives mainly) but for the last 5 years everything has been stored on CDS and DVDs which now amount to hundreds of discs and tons of ring binders - stuffed into every available wardrobe and cupboard and shelving in the house - in no particular order. I once worked at the Ronald Grant archive (and Cinema Museum) in SE London (I wonder if he's still around? - update: blinking heck he is - just found this on the web - have a look:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnLsvLPGZzA
nice little job where the assorted bunch of blokes spent day after day rummaging through filing cabinets stuffed with classic Hollywood film stills and memorabilia whilst keeping up an never-ending thread of lurid celebrity gossip. That archive seemed to have absolutely no system of organisation whatsoever and just relied purely on memories & instincts of the dedicated staff to locate requested stills. I sat in front of an Amstrad one day a week and typed up invoices and then posted them. (BTW on the vid everything now looks a lot more ordered than it used to)
So anyway organisation is pretty high up on the 'to do' list at the moment...

In other news - I saw a big hairy eyebrow of a caterpillar crawling across the floor to hide under the fridge.

lunar

Partial lunar eclipse today and a new moon - not visible from these (or those) parts at all but it is supposed to be about beginnings.

I remember last September 22nd eclipse was the first day of a shoot. We were actually shooting during the time of the eclipse at a large local observatory - so at the appointed time, the place was suddenly swarming with eclipse-watchers filing into the smaller observatories. Then just as everything grew chilly and the shadow crossed the sun (or whatever way it happened) production phones started ringing crazily with the powers-that-be bizarrely telling us that we weren't authorised to shoot (!) and ordering us to stop immediately. So much crisis management was going on in the background.

My advice to anyone planning to shoot during an eclipse? Avoid it.

words

We writers are fond of deluding ourselves aren't we? - particularly about our own work. A little while ago in this very blog, I commented on some prep work for my own writing - "Being a monologue it is fairly organic - zapping easily back and forth between disparate places, people and incidents over time in a way a script could never do." See I wrote that just down there a few posts back.

Now I've had to rethink that 'in a way a script could never do' - why not? - I mean why ever not - why can't a script do that? In fact as the script progresses it is becoming more and more obvious that that this is exactly what it has to do - so yaa boo and sucks to whatever informed that thought. See the thinking process can be meandering, smug and not always correct . So here's to 'multi-layered temporality' or something like that - if I can get it right

I didn't ever want to have to mention Madeleine on this blog - but now I've done it so here goes. This whole weekend I've been glued to the Sky News Madeleine developments and over the last 24 hours have probably scrutinised every available analysis on the internet. It's not as though there's been a dearth of more interesting or pertinent social issues to follow (particularly here in South Africa!) But I do admit I've been a compulsive Madeleine news follower pretty much from the start - every new trail from Praia da Luz I've probably discussed at length with hub. My Madeleine interest is more to do with the way the story is playing out - with its twists and turns, highs and lows. At one point there was even a 'Schrödinger's cat' type paradox - when two sets of potential DNA results could have meant that Madeleine was dead and that she was alive (with both probabilities existing at exactly the same time.) Even Lynda la Plante's best split screen TV hasn't thrown up a conundrum like that..

And today I skimmed through hundreds of online Madeleine blog comments and conspiracy theories, commentaries and blog psychics reports and psychics' analyses and photographs and drawings. And the worst of all these things - something that really took my breath away and chilled my blood was a poem (posted a couple of months ago) & supposedly written to satirise the pseudo psychics - a poem written from the point of view of dead Madeleine - talking about 'why and how her mother killed her'... I won't go into detail but you can probably find it fairly easily....

And after that, I stopped looking - because I'd found what I was looking for - in all the stories and facts and fictions - here was something so awful, and nasty and compelling and vicious - that it almost rang true -and yet it was just words...

scope

I was wondering if there was something in the stars that might explain why projects that have been dormant for the best part of the year should suddenly spring into action - all at the same time. A quick visit to TJMacgregor's September horoscopes for writers (Aries) here tells me that "After the 7th, when Venus turns direct in Leo, you’re writing at the speed of light. Suddenly, your plot and characters are behaving the way they should and your writing is smooth, even." That sounds good - despite not explaining the shift - so maybe it is down to Saturn's move on the 2nd ...

Anyway, am now around page 20 of the script. A snippet of feedback pointed out - ever so politely - that the antagonist is completely missing in the opening pages. I was planning on bringing him in at the end of the first act but realise (ahem) that this is probably a little late. So a bit of hasty re-jigging went on today to pull him into the story a bit faster.

Laters

green

Ok - the big pitch meeting was today and when I say 'today' I mean it happened this morning - of course otherwise I wouldn't be blogging about it (in accordance with the karmic law of favourable outcomes) especially since said meeting has already been postponed three times. So although not directly film related - it is still writing related (jazz thing) So what I'm really saying is that the green light is now on.

Plus in other news the bean count audit was approved yesterday by the powers that be - meaning that the final tranche of funds due from the series can at last be released.

So four days in and September already seems a whole lot breezier, brighter and more benevolent than August...

Laters

september

September already and oh how this year has sped by - and to top it all it's this blog's first birthday tomorrow. One year of words. One year of wondering. One year of rabbiting (ad noone in particularum).

So what do you buy a blog who has everything? (ha ha) Actually I may well treat it to one of those technorati 'favourites box' things - they seem quite cool and smart in a Quality Street, non elitist kind of a way. Anyone know where I get one from? Or failing that I may go for a colour change...
Hmmmm

headway

Even though I've been blogging now for nearly a year, I don't think I've mapped the entire course of a new script before. The current project was mentioned when it was a mere one pager so I may as well carry on.

This hasn't been a typical way of scriptwriting. The one page contained a word on which most of the story is pivoted - the word 'accident'. Then came the treatment - which was just a chronology of events that didn't really focus on either the character or story direction. More drastically, for some reason the treatment missed out the crucial word 'accident'.* Then a long monologue which told the entire story from the POV of the lead character and finally a flexible one page structural outline.

So now I'm finally writing the script and on page 12 so I'll keep updating on how its going.

Laters

* Hmm - so I suppose what I'm demonstrating here is that it is possible to completely forget the 'raison d'etre' for a story while getting lost in the detail.

finished

- well finally finished the monologue which rambled on for a whopping 26 pages in the end. Don't think I've ever done so much preamble before starting scripting but it has really helped focus the story. Now I'll move on to a one pager - mapping out the acts and key turning points - then finally on to the script.

I did up Lianne's meme but I've taken it down now.

In other news, I've been chasing up my plaque and euros. The latest from the accounts department in Lagos is that the euros are on the way to them (from Italy) before they send them on to me (by which time they may well be worthless)

Laters

pastures green

Well the blog has been getting short shrift these days what with everyone decamping to greener and more voyeuristic cyber pastures. But I've started it and so I'll finish - anyway this space can now be used for more leisurely musings. Blogging is so much more sedate and it doesn't really matter whether only 4 or 5 people read a post - does it? Still I'm bemused to discover that the virtual massive is perfectly happy to parade the entire contents of a life - online.
Hmm. Who was it said 'keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer.'

What else? Well the short story or rather monologue is becoming longer and longer by the minute - rather like the type of hand-knitted scarf you'd never wear.

A synopsis for 1 of 2 scripts that I'm supposed to be engaged on very soon came though - containing the priceless phrase 'post pneumatic stress disorder'.
Anyway at last money is being spoken about so - onwards. Write, write, write.

POV

In an exercise designed to solve issues pointed up by recent notes and feedback, I've been working on an extended monologue that tells the film story from the main character's point of view. Thanks to a little blogchat first with Pot I didn't rush into scripting.

The monologue is providing background and family stuff which won't even make the script eventually - but paints in the social backdrop (AIDS/crime). The character is complex and needs to be very engaging, self justifying and persuasive otherwise the audience might not buy into his worldview or morality. Every now and then (in the monologue) he launches into a long rant on some aspect of society. So his emotions and everything are laid bare through a bleak humour.

Being a monologue it is fairly organic - zapping easily back and forth between disparate places, people and incidents over time in a way a script could never do. In my mind I'm already highlighting what's going 'in' and what's 'out'.

Anyway around 9 pages of prose so far and still a long way to go. Think it will end up around 18 pages. Progress has been a bit stymied with my daughter off sick from school this week.

Later

opportunities

Call for scripts
Red Pill Productions, a Johannesburg-based production company, is looking for intellectually challenging short and feature film scripts, and groundbreaking documentary concepts. 'We are particularly interested in ideas and themes that explore the darker side of (South African) life.'
Please send a one-page synopsis (not a full script) of your script/concept to stange.natalie 'at' gmail.com.
Red Pill is currently in pre-production on “Triomf”, a feature film based on Marlene van Niekerk’s award-winning book of the same name (visit the blog by clicking here) and “Project Turmoil”, a feature documentary about a criminal gang who unleashed a reign of terror on the Cape Flats during the 1990s.

VUKA! calls for entries
The MultiChoice VUKA! Awards, an initiative that encourages newcomer and professional filmmakers in South Africa to make PSAs (Public Service Announcements) about worthy causes, is calling for
The deadline for entries is 20 October. For more information email vuka 'at' thebomb.co.za or visit http//vuka.multichoice.co.za.

notes

The long awaited notes arrived today - 4 pages of feedback on an 8 page treatment - which is exceptional value for money in my book - especially since they were free (thanks to the UKFC's script development submission feedback scheme)

So while I have a good think, I'll finish grouting.

meanwhile

Realised last night that there's a holiday today here - Women's Day - so no school (which means no writing) and then because it falls on a Thursday, there's another holiday tomorrow too - so no school and no writing then either. Then its the weekend.
Just when I'm all ready to wade in...

Heads, bodies and legs

A good title don't you think? Must use it sometime - so if I leave it up here on the blog to stew awhile maybe the script will come too. Actually I just googled it and came across this - an internet version of the drawing game. In the 'Sky Stories' children's series I did a while back - there was one Australian story about the 'Ungambikula' who carved out the first beings from different body parts.

Anyway after clearing the decks (or desk) last week for the 'powers-that-be', I find that the 'rewrite' project that was simmering away quietly on the back burner is now boiling up on the front again. Plus I'm aiming to get a new script written (in response to notes) by mid September.

That's about it for now. Onwards.

Visitor

My trusty statcounter alerted me to my first ever visitor from Sierra Leone sometime last week - searching for 'film opportunities Africa' or something - so I hope this blog was some help.

Good to know that there's even sporadic internet access over there. Regular readers may know that I was born in Bo and lived in Sierra Leone until I was 5. My father was a Mende. Believe it or not - at that time Sierra Leone had the second highest standard of living in the whole of Africa.
Now it has the second worst in the world.

Later

whale

While I'm busy catching up on form-filling admin things, here's a whale jumping at Hermanus.

Later

social

all I wanted to do was pitch a film story to a new US company with studio links but I kind of ended up joining their social networking site to do it but it seems like they just want you to post pitches up on their site and who seriously is going to be up for that? and anyway I think I sort of pitched because the company is one of my new 'friends' so I sent a private comment (or two) so now new 'friends' arrive everyday and it's kind of rude to not accept isn't it? and the whole thing kind of pulls you in after a while - even though no one else seems to be too worried about trying to pitch direct but how do people keep up social networks on this scale and why ? and what do you do if you decide you just want to bail out..
or maybe you can't?

Preciousness

Long rambly post ahead.
What is the point of having a blog if you don't use it occasionally to blow your own trumpet - albeit anonymously (and even for minor successes)? Well my first radio play didn't win anything but was very highly commended in the BBC International Radio Playwriting Contest (reached the top 50 out of 1200 entries worldwide - the names are now up here for a short time). So a pat on the back there. I kind of knew my play was 'busking it' with way too many characters (after a massive culling from the original film script). You were supposed to have only 6 and I think I had 8 and a half.

Plus certain elements had to be completely re-worked for radio. Sex and death probably work better on film. But as a re-writing and craft exercise - turning a film script into a radio play was fairly illuminating - particularly in regard to writing and 'preciousness' (more of which later).

So would I do another radio play? Yes probably but only for a ready opening like another contest - as it seems for Beeb radio drama you have to submit via a dedicated producer. They did re-launch radio drama over here a year or so ago but all seems to have gone quiet in the interim. Anyway there's another half hour radio competition deadline at the end of the year (though it's for 'Africans living in Africa' and I'm unsure whether I fit the criteria - will have to confer with Barbee there - tee he)

So what did I learn from this exercise? That I prefer writing for film and I think visually rather than aurally.
But I settled on a better title for the play. That stays. Thinking about making a story work for radio as opposed to film was a good exercise to hone the story. Now I'll take all the improved story things back to the film script. The key character was originally an artist. This didn't work for radio and was changed. But now I'm going back to the artist. One big plus for radio is that you can convey thoughts. Plus radio has to pack a punch from page 1. The film script has a kind of 'slow burner' opening which I'm going to have to work on.

In the film script there was a key scene where 'a pitched battle ensued' (where did I read that line on a blog recently?). Anyway mine was kind of inspired by that scene in 'Once Were Warriors' when the Maori mentor delivers a Haka and twirls a sword (and the whole audience flinch in expectation.) I wanted to capture that strange energy and the sense of not knowing whether what is happening (on screen) is true or not. Anyway of course this 'pitched battle' - being totally visual had to be severely curtailed for radio.

The main thing I learned from the whole exercise was about 'preciousness'. One key issue for many writers (me included) is a lack of ability to dispassionately assess what you've written after you've written it. We become precious. We hold on to things that should go and are unable to see what doesn't work well which is why we need to hand it out; get it read, do PO3 or whatever.

When I was at art college in Leeds (across the road from the Merrion Centre), we used to do life drawing once a week - our easels arranged in a circle around a large, lardy, naked woman who had perfected the art of smoking without ever dropping the ash from the end of her cigarette.
One day after we'd been busy with the charcoal for about half an hour, the tutor stopped us all. He told us to each take our drawing and hand it to the person on our left. We were then supposed to carry on sketching the life model - working with someone else's drawing. Everyone was stumped. Some were horrified. One girl cried. Most thought 'what can I do with this pile of *?'

Then we just had to stop being precious and get on with it.

Writing

OK so this post is popping up all over - I'm linking to it here because it is funny.
For advice on your writing career read this.

Right that's enough faffing for today. Back to work

In the dark?

Then try Google's little black number - the search engine for the energy conscious.

Click here.

On ice

Another weekend, another children's birthday party. This one at Cape Town's hub of hedonism - Grand West - not the casino but the adjoining ice rink which still seemed a little too grown up for 5 and 6 year olds - but hey what do I know? The place was full of whirling teen skaters, flicking corkscrew curls as they skimmed mesmerising figure eights backwards under the disco lights. Very filmic.
Meanwhile the 5 and 6 year olds stumbled and skidded slowly round the edges, clambering back on to the decking once in a while for a piece of ice cream cake.

Later

Opportunities round up

Update - (New!) GENESIS - dramas for television in African languages by South African scriptwriters.

SABC 1 Presents : GENESIS Four (4) dramas for television in African languages by South African scriptwriters. GENESIS is an exciting project aimed at promoting African languages through the production of compelling, innovative and dramatic stories in African languages. The 4 X 48’ minute television dramas will be broadcast on SABC 1.

Themes can encapsulate anything from the comic to the tragic, the traditional to the modern, the scientific to the magical, and even the extra-terrestrial. Stylistically, GENESIS also wants to extend the boundaries of the visual language and the cultural codes used on South African television.

APPLICATION PROCESS: South African writers are invited to submit a 2/3 page idea (treatment) for a dramatic story. The ideas or stories may be original or they may be based on pre-existing texts such as plays, dramas or even proverbs, and where necessary ALL copyrights cleared. Submissions may be in any of South Africa’s official languages but preference will be given to XiTsonga, SiSwati, TshiVenda and isiNdebele.

SELECTION PROCESS:
8 writers wil be shortlisted for development.

WHEN & WHERE TO APPLY:
The closing date for submissions is Friday, 31 August 2007.

For further information and entry form contact Ramadan at the following email: ramadan 'at' nativesatlarge.co.za

2. MNET EAST AFRICA IS calling for script proposals for the production of an East African television series. The production, with a budget of $1.1 million, will be shot in Kenya and will feature a regional cast and theme.
“We are not restricting the scripts concept but are looking for a theme based on the dynamics of everyday life in East Africa with family appeal”
The drama series to be screened next year, is one of a series of initiatives on film making in East Africa by the South African channel, which has announced a training project in Nigeria for 10 Kenyan film makers later in the year.
Deadline for submissions is 17th August 2007
The full brief can be downloaded by clicking on this link here:

3. Call to Commonwealth filmmakers
Broadcasters and independent filmmakers from across the five regions of the Commonwealth are invited to submit initial entries to the Vision Awards by providing a written scenario for a short film. This year's entries are to be based on the chosen theme for 2007: 'Changing communities, greening the globe'.
Up to fifteen applicants will be short-listed by an independent selection panel and awarded £1,000 each to assist in the production of the finished film.
The winner will receive £2,500 and a trophy, and other awards will be made. The winning entries will, from January 2008, be broadcast Commonwealth-wide, particularly on and around Commonwealth Day (10 March 2008).
An application form and brochure may be received by sending an email to VisionAwards@rcsint.org. Applications can also be made online at the website - click here.
UPDATE: Deadline has now been extended to 27th August 2007

4. For radio playwrights across Africa, details of the next BBC African Performance Radio Play competition are now up on their website.
The competition is open to Africans not normally resident in the UK.
Entries can be on any subject as long as it touches the lives of Africans. They must have a cast of no more than 6 characters. They should run to 30 minutes when acted out.
There will be three prizes. The first prize is £1000, the second is £850 and the third prize is £650.
There is plenty of time to get writing as entries should arrive no later than 1 December, 2007.
Full details are available on the website - click here.

5. Finally - a call for animated shorts:
ASIFA and Toon Boom Launch International Animation Contest
ASIFA (Association internationale du film d'animation) and Toon Boom Animation Inc. have announced the launch of International Animation Contest for the Web, open to worldwide creative minds. The contest is open until September 24, 2007 and is calling for animated shorts that are two minutes or less based on the theme, "Global Warming". To take part in this International Animation Contest, please follow the information on Toonboom Animation's web site, the registration form will be soon downloadable from here.

Hmmm..

Today I was wondering what ever happened to that prize that I was supposed to have won a while back. I jaunted around the internet and found myself here. There over on the right hand side there's mention of the 3 winners and even a photo (!) (not of me of course because I didn't go) But someone is holding my plaque! - it has my name on it - I ENLARGED it and saw. Aha proof!
I'm due some euros - but where are they?
And where is my plaque?

Hasty emails have been despatched.
Watch this space...

circles and spirals

So on to 'the stories we tell and why we tell them.'

Some people say that we all only really have one story, which we tell over and over again in different forms. Sometimes it’s a circle and sometimes it’s a spiral. *

I read an interview somewhere, ages ago with the Weinstein brothers who spoke about how their Jewish experience informed the stories they wanted to tell ‘We make films about the outsider who comes in and changes things’.

The stories I tell are often about 'the insider who doesn’t fit in and wants to run away.’ A different migrant experience. When I look over vastly different scripts I've written - it is a theme that keeps popping up.

So here's an interesting exercise - try and sum up what you write about in a short phrase or a single sentence...

* sometimes it's simple and sometimes it's a bit more complicated

writer or writer-director?

OK not blogged for a while - so a bit of a rambly one this one. There's been talk elsewhere about the need for scriptwriters to multi-task these days and consider being 'writer-directors' or 'writer-producers'.

Having come into writing more from the filmmaking end in the first place I'm inclined to agree that this is the way forward. In these digitally diverse times, there's a greater need for writers to extend their creative repertoire. Plus directing feeds writing and vice versa. 'Writer-producer' is a more difficult one (in my opinion - since writers and producers tend to exhibit diametrically opposed personality traits) But then again - being industry savvy, personable and business-like in approach can only enhance a career.

A bit of a tangent now: I started off making strange little art films with no recognisable beginning, middle or end - in which people wandered about and said and did odd things. There were (politely) called 'anti-narratives.' I was more interested in telling stories (but this was a bit of no-no then in art filmmaking). So in my early shorts, the stories fought to be recognised.
One day I attended a degree show 'installation' at some big Art College. At the front of the room was a large TV, placed with the screen facing the wall. The audience filed in. The TV was switched on and in the darkened room we were treated to a 20 minute viewing of the 'glow' projected on the wall from the monitor. After 4 minutes I ran to the door and demanded to be let out citing claustrophobia. I think it was actually an early manifestation of 'fear of storyless-ness' - ( if there is such a thing.)

Later - characters from my 'anti-narrative' shorts returned in more conventional stories.

(Some people say that we all only really have one story, which we tell over and over again in a different form. Sometimes it’s a circle and sometimes it’s a spiral. This is starting to sound like a topic for another post.)

Back on topic: There's this mystique about directing and I have no idea why since writing and re-writing is often harder than directing. Of course the two demand different skills. Writers can be self effacing, writer-directors can not. Writing is often solitary, directing is team work. The director involvement is also shorter. Writing can go on endlessly. Directing demands more social/ people skills. It is also stressful, requires meticulous planning and involves a massive amount of crisis management. However directing is also great fun - so long as there is a good, experienced producer and competent crew to back up a 'new' director.

So over to you. Writer only or writer-director (and why)?
Plus if anyone has any queries about writer-directors - then drop a comment. Ta

desk

in the meantime.

a small piece of mountain

seen from back garden this afternoon.

Last day of school holidays today yippee!

Later

thatandthis

Quick early blog this one. Yesterday watched all-singing, all-dancing pigs in a shopping centre foyer and ate in Woolworth's cafe. Here Woolworths is in fact Marks and Spencers - the local version. Unbelievable but true - same chain but with local versions of products and SA stuff like water brussels etc. Clothes, layout all almost identical. Maybe inverted snobbery makes Brits reluctant to believe this until they step inside the store and feel instantly at home. Come Christmas you can even find butter basted turkeys with the M & S labels on them.

In other news the old lady next door is in hospital unable to walk - but did she fall or was she pushed? Hub inquired about her health (from her adopted daughter) over the garden wall and was told it was a broken hip. Straight after their conversation, the adopted daughter wrote a letter to the neighbour opposite accusing her of gossiping saying that her husband was very sorry for what he had done. Neighbour opposite brought the letter over to us. Hmm.

Am waiting for notes on a treatment before embarking on the first draft of a new script. The SA producer (who went to Cannes) sent an encouraging email outlining various ways forward - even mentioning money - but all very much on the back burner there yet. Still waiting to hear back on various projects including a SHORT outstanding since January. I put that in bold capitals so that blog karma will bring about an immediate response now. Usually works and better to hear something than not hear anything at all huh? This break from writing has enabled me to rethink strategies and paths and all that stuff. After the scripting 'hiccough' earlier in the year, I'd been turning my attentions to overseas - since writing for local production tends to be rather creatively 'encumbered'. But maybe it is time to put aside such thoughts and leaf through the RFP booklet once again - there's still some August deadlines approaching...

A big question mark this year is Sithengi whose future will be decided at the end of the month by the board of directors. It's unlikely that the international film and TV market will continue in its present form, or even run this year since it is now a bit late in the day to set it up. Sithengi has been an important feature of SA's film and TV industry for the last 11 years. My first time there I landed a meaty writing job - unfortunately the company liquidated 4 months into development. But Sithengi provides a chance for everyone to catch up. I've met some great people there. One key advantage is that it is small and intimate - more like Dinard than Cannes. Plus there's always a writer's forum, chance to meet international commissioners and often a couple of new writing schemes or competitions launched. It'll be a pity if it doesn't continue. Let's see.

Holidays

With holiday school cancelled at the last minute, had to try and find exciting pastimes for my daughter. Yesterday went to see Shrek 3. (I never saw 1 or 2 mainly because I wasn't inclined plus my daughter was probably too young to sit through feature films before.) It didn't matter since, despite the fact that the storyline goes a bit AWOL from time to time, I was totally won over. It's a visual feast - combining Maurice Sendak style chunky creatures, Paula Rego-esque surrealism and walking, talking trees straight out of the Wizard of Oz! Told my mum she must go (I mean all that stuff can be wasted on the very young.) Now will have to go and look up 1 and 2.


So although not much writing getting done, have been contemplating writing children's films. Hmmm.

Reasons to be cheerless

Clinical depression and the prospect of a shortened lifespan are some of the joys successful scriptwriters are more likely to face, according to TV psychologist Raj Persaud.

Read on here.

Headline

Najwa Petersen wife of music legend Taliep Petersen (Ghoema, Kat and the Kings) appeared in court this week to apply for bail. In a news story that has gripped the nation; Najwa is charged with the murder of her husband who was gunned down at their Cape Town home in December last year.

Today's local tabloid carried the headline: 'The devil wears pardah'

Who's writing what we see?

A new report on how screenwriters of British films are recruited shows that there are opportunities for the UK film industry to encourage a wider range of screenwriting talent, including women as screenwriters in particular.

Read on here.

July, July, July, July

Party over and done with thank goodness. Though the witless magician pulled off my daughter's wig (fancy dress plait thing) in front of everyone and of course she burst into tears. Tssk

Anyway after a record 22 postings in June I think I'll return to normal frequency. With the flurry of career peaks and troughs lately, I've been getting sucked into mini-dramas all over the place.

So what else?

Is it a Sufi saying or something - about how you can travel the world and learn a million things and come back and have exactly the same understanding as someone who has been shut up in a room the whole time, gazing at a cabbage...
hmm something like that..

Anyway I was thinking about that after reading comments to a recent post over at Stacks. Made me think about writing and (what I think Faith Popcorn termed) 'cocooning.' Should a writer take all his/her cues, sustenance and inspiration from boxed sets, DVDs, TV and existing shows and films? Or rather draw from what people loosely term 'real life' (whatever that is). And anyway does it make any difference to scriptwriting? What type of knowledge is the greatest asset for scriptwriters? - worldly or TV? Is it more important to know different people or to have seen a zillion programmes and be able to reference icons and invoke familiar character types?

Yes yes - probably best to just get on with the writing. But any thoughts?

sweets

I'm sitting here gobbling sweets from a mini-tub that I've bought for my daughter's birthday party on Saturday (she's 5 today actually) - while she's asleep.

First I swallowed (whole) a fluorescent, lime green worm and now I'm sucking what looks like a pair of gummy false teeth which I should really have tried out first in front of the mirror. But hey I'm not 5 .

Scriptwriting thoughts will resume shortly.

fish packing

There's a small ad that appears in newspaper classifieds all over the place here - for 'fish packers in Alaska'. Yes you can earn zillions of dollars a month apparently packing fish there. Students sometimes contemplate it for a year off; 'Hey I could go and pack fish for 6 months, then earn enough to travel.' Maybe it's even a fantasy for domestic workers, packed into taxis on the early morning run from the townships to the plush suburbs. 'Maybe today I'll hand in my notice and go and pack fish in Alaska. In one year I could earn enough to buy a house.'
I met a woman who did it once - she said it was dark all the time, cold, nasty, smelly and depressing. She flew back home after 6 weeks.

After yesterday's episode of Oprah aired, I doubt there'll be too many new takers here. A pretty young woman hobbles on stage and tells Oprah her story.

She was on board a fishing trawler somewhere near Alaska, in the middle of a terrible storm. She leaned inside a menacing-looking fish disembowelling machine - trying to pull out the tails or something. Anyhow, because the sea was so choppy she'd fallen right into this lethal metal vat. Although it was switched off, the motion of the sea tossed the ship and triggered the 'on' switch. The vat's metal chomper-blades whirred into action and started to chew up the woman's legs. She couldn't get out or switch it off. Plus she'd found out that very morning that she was pregnant. High drama on the high seas. Meanwhile crucial medical help was helicopter miles away, through a storm across the ocean...

At this point, the programme cuts to a solemn-faced Oprah who reminds us of the salient facts - gross, gripping and rather unbelievable. I feel sick.
Happily a year on - the victim is now recovered (legs pinned back together), smiling and healthy. Baby is healthy too. Phew. A happy ending.
Fish packing in Alaska anyone?

Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award

THE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES FOUNDATION TO RECOGNIZE A YOUNG TELEVISION SCRIPTWRITER

Are you under 30 years of age and a non-U.S. citizen residing outside the U.S.?

Can you create a completed half-hour to one-hour English-language television drama script for a family audience?

If so, you may be eligible for a US$2,500 prize and a trip to New York City. The deadline for submissions is July 15, 2007 and the winner will be presented with the Award at the International Emmy® World Television Festival in New York on November 17, 2007. The winning script will be read by actors in front of an audience at the Festival, and the winner will be invited to take part in the red carpet festivities at the 35th International Emmy® Awards on November 19.

Sir Peter Ustinov, the quintessential writer / director / performer, graciously gave his name to the Foundation’s Television Scriptwriting Award. In addition to his acting career, Sir Ustinov was an accomplished writer, as proven by the 23 plays he wrote, two of which were nominated by the Writer’s Guild of America.

The competition is designed to motivate novice writers worldwide and offer them the recognition and encouragement that might lead to a successful career in television scriptwriting.

The Foundation organizes and administers the worldwide exchange and educational programs of The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. It has its own Constitution, Officers and independent Board of Trustees.

Rules and Regulations

I. Eligibility:
· The Applicant must be a non-U.S. citizen or resident not residing in the U.S.
· The Applicant must not have reached his/her 30th birthday as of December 31st of the current year.
· The Applicant must deliver an original completed DRAMA script for television, written in English.
· The script must be a minimum of a half hour and a maximum of one hour in length.
· The script must be intended for a family audience.
· The script should be a stand-alone, not a program that is part of a series.
· All Applicants must provide a completed entry / release form to be eligible.
· Applicants may not have had a script produced on television prior to date of entry.
· Material that has previously been sold or is currently under option may not be submitted.
· Only one entry per scriptwriter will be accepted.
· There is no charge for this competition.

II. How entries will be selected:
· The Judges’ decisions will be based on original story; dramatic situations and scenes; compelling characters and how they are developed; crisp, believable dialogue; and use of the visual medium. The Judges’ decisions will be final.
· The Winner will be presented with the Award in November at the International Emmy® World Television Festival in New York City.
· Applicants will be notified only if they are selected by the Judges as one of TEN (10) Finalists. The Winner will be selected by the Judges from among the Finalists.

III. Entry Submission:
· Deadline for receipt of submissions is July 15, 2007. Entries may be submitted via regular mail or by e-mail, although email is preferred. In either case, in order to have your script considered, please include all of the following:

1. A cover page for the script listing the title of the script, the author’s name, address, telephone number and email, if available.

2. TWO (2) typewritten copies of the script held securely by a binder (if submitted by regular mail), or an attached file containing the script (if submitted by e-mail).

3. A signed original copy of this entry / release form, copies of which may be obtained from the International Academy, from participating organizations or from the Academy’s website at www.iemmys.tv

4. A ONE (1) page resume or biography of the writer attached at the end of the script.

E-mail entries should be sent to: tracy.oliver 'at' iemmys.tv

thousands

Bit of a meandering rabble-babble about anything and nothing this one - seeing as several of my regular readers are on holiday or out of their country. Plus it seems to be raining torrentially absolutely everywhere on the planet. Plus there's not been too much in the way of opportunities to post about for the last couple of months and no information yet on the re-incarnation of Sithengi this year.

So maybe now is a good time for a word on rejection.

Long ago when I was (we were) green, my producer friend and I were touting my first script. One evening she spied a top, top producer in a pub and (unwilling to waste any opportunity) decided to pitch him then and there.
Before she even launched into her opener, he stopped her in her tracks, asked a few telling questions and then guffawed loudly at her response. 'You think you know about rejection? Well I've had thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of rejections.'

belonging

Rian Malan on South Africa and the Alcock boys. Read here.

unbelonging

The fascinating back story of Molly/Misbah.
Read here.

aloe

The aloe vera in front is almost in full bloom so here's a pic.

Later

etc

Quick post as there's lots of work to get on with. The jazz thing suddenly mushroomed into something much bigger while I wasn't paying much attention. Oh if film were so easy.

Book fair was great. My daughter held Shrek's finger. Antje Krog spotted in the caf at lunch - fab haircut. Also in the caf - a youthful Eric Miyeni holding court. Gcina Mhlope seen checking in at her stand. And on the podium Kiran Desai enthralled audiences.

Later

Book fair

The highlight of Cape's Town's cultural calendar kicked off yesterday with the annual book fair. Apparently it was mobbed.

I'll be off to take a look today.

Superstition

One inspiring book which I picked up on the Charing Cross Road in 1989 and return to time and again is 'The Fragrance of Guava' ( Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza in conversation with Gabriel Garcia Marquez.) My copy has two Freetown addresses scribbled in the back so I must have taken it to Sierra Leone. Anyway it's basically one long conversation with Marquez organised into short chapters. There's one each on his two most famous novels, then one on Origins, Family, His Craft, Education, Readings and Influences, Work, Waiting, Now, Politics, Women, Superstitions Mania and Tastes and (lastly!) Fame and the Famous. It is thought provoking and I took it out again yesterday when I started thinking about superstition.

I'm not that superstitious though I detest Friday 13th. Early this year it fell in the middle of holiday school so I kept my daughter home. In a month there's another - in holiday school again so I'll do the same. That's one of my few concessions. My mother holds this 'reverse superstition' thing where she almost goes out of her way to disprove it. She wore green when she married for the 2nd time on Friday 13th (and no - it didn't last).

Everyone seems superstitious here, in one way or another. One of my hub's female relatives will get up in the middle of the night during an electrical storm to cover all the mirrors with a sheet to prevent bad luck.

© F Jason
In this photo a sangoma (witch doctor) is interviewed by a journalist. Her beliefs don't allow her to look in the face of a white man. Instead he must direct his question to the small circular mirror she is holding.

Last year was sent The Travelers - a book of photographs by Elizabeth Heyert taken at a Harlem undertaker. Macabre and fascinating - it is a series of huge colour photographs of dead black Americans of varying ages - dressed up in their Sunday best for their journey to heaven.
Anyoldhow sometime ago, this book was lying on the sofa when the 'light bulb people' came round. (South Africa is becoming more eco-friendly and so light bulb people were despatched to every house in the land to exchange the old light bulbs for the new two-prong low energy ones - bulb for bulb - totally free. While hub was up the ladder unscrewing bulbs all over the house, the Xhosa light bulb official started looking through this book with great interest. Then she took out a notebook and started writing things down. Of course being a nosy writer, I had to ask what she was writing. She said 'the birth dates and death dates of the people in the photos - to use to play the Lotto!

Dead people have great powers...

Later

Chinua Achebe

There was a writer, Nelson Mandela recalled of his 27 years in jail, "in whose company the prison walls fell down".
Chinua Achebe of Nigeria, whom Mandela honoured on his 70th birthday as a fellow "freedom fighter", was yesterday named the winner of the £60,000 Man Booker international prize.
Read on here.

Strike

There's a strike on - an on-going strike by public servants across South Africa that's expected to peak today when solidarity action from other unions kicks in. Teachers (and other professionals) here are badly paid and are holding out for a 10% pay increase across the board

So daughter is at home - therefore not much writing today. The school is actually open, but yesterday she brought home a letter containing this worrying sentence:

"If it should happen that protesters gain access during class time then we should sound the alarm intermittently and teachers will lock the children and themselves into their classrooms."

daft ideas

Onwards and upwards. Ok today I thought I'd chat a bit about blogging and writing and self-consciousness and daft ideas all kind of rolled in together. Maybe a train of thought will emerge.

A while back I did something which I hardly ever do - which was talk about one of my scripts on the blog and I even posted part of a statement. It was all to do with the local TV drama news story here. As it turns out that 4 part TV drama series was pulled completely (despite a re-edit) That was after the story had gone wide - even being reported in Variety here. Anyoldhow this blog received a fair number of hits from people googling it. Then my script came 2nd somewhere (I'm fond of slipping that in). Since then I've had a few requests for reads (even though I've now re-worked it for radio.) Maybe this disproves the whole self-conscious karmic blog thingy.

But what I really wanted to talk about today was 'daft ideas'. I'm sure all scriptwriters get them sometimes. At the time, the idea appears to be the most stupendously, magnificent one imaginable.

Once I wrote up a film synopsis about a 'dancing minotaur'. Yes you read that right. (OK so I went to Art College.) I even submitted it and received an ever-so-pleasant letter which must have been typed by someone fighting to keep a straight face. 'While this is certainly an unusual and original premise, we do not feel that in the current climate there is a huge demand for a movie about a dancing minotaur'.

Ha ha.

So that's mine - what's yours?

Ousmane Sembene pioneer of African cinema 1923 - 2007

DAKAR, Senegal: Sembene Ousmane, the father of Senegalese cinema and one of the pioneers of the art in Africa, died at his home over the weekend after a long illness. He was 84.

"It's a great loss for Senegal, for Africa and for cinema," said Tidiane Niangan, the director of a government-run cinematography institute in Senegal, who confirmed he died on Saturday.

Read on here

Watch here

neighbour

The 82 year old lady next door, popped round to ask if I'd seen a bunch of flowers that she'd signed for at the door but which then disappeared. I said 'no'. She huffed and puffed and then asked if I thought she was mad. I arranged my features into a suitable expression and then said 'no'. I asked if it was her birthday and she said 'no' - the flowers were for a friend in hospital. She then launched into a story about a woman who was stuck in her bath for 3 days and had to drink the bathwater until people came and broke down the front door and found her. Then she started to rail against her son in-law. I kind of knew she was going to get round to this. They argue a lot these days. One of their windows is about 3 yards away from where I type. When they fight it sounds exactly like Egyptian geese.

Rumbles

The scribosphere's been keeping an eye on it. But now 'Spoof blog parody of young controller is the talk of (UK) television.'

Read the Guardian story here.

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.

Love

Here's a short doc opportunity - Call for Proposals for the ENCOUNTERS Shorts Workshop.

Encounters South African International Documentary Festival and the Jan Vrijman Fund of IDFA are inviting proposals for documentary films of up to 10 minutes duration on the subject of LOVE. New love, old love, unconditional love, secret love, true love, puppy love, forbidden love, love at first sight…

In this 4-day workshop filmmakers will further develop their proposals with the view to producing a finished film within a 10-month period. Encounters and the Jan Vrijman Fund will cover the costs of flights and accommodation, workshop tuition and meals.Eligibility Candidates must:· be filmmakers from either Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia or South Africa· have filmmaking experience – at least one completed film to their credit as either director / producer / writer

For full details click here.
Deadline: 5pm on Wednesday 20th June 2007.

Applications to be sent to Mandisa Zitha :mandisa@encounters.co.za

Scriptwitterings

For international script news in bite sizes click here.

Submitting TV proposals (local)

A number of recent hits to this blog have been searches for 'how to submit proposals to the SABC' and 'submitting proposals to local broadcasters' - so I thought I'd post a general overview on 'how to' - based on my own recent experiences.

The SABC issues a RFP (request for proposals) booklet once a year usually at Sithengi. This contains tenders for numerous programmes across a range of genres including: religion, education, factual, drama, entertainment, children and reversioning. Last year, in an attempt to provide greater scope for programme development, they also introduced 'research and development' (R & D) briefs across all genres. Since the future of Sithengi is hanging in the balance at present - the next SABC RFP booklet could be issued at any point over the next few months. The RFP booklet is usually available to download from their website or a hard copy can be picked up from any of the main SABC offices. In the current booklet, there are still a number of drama R&D proposals whose deadlines are yet to expire - so it is still worth looking through.

The RFP booklet contains a comprehensive guide on how to submit and a list of names and contact numbers of all the various commissioners. There are a few schemes where individual writers can submit proposals directly but most of the time proposals must be submitted via a local production company. Small or new companies can sometimes pair up with more established companies, in a 'joint venture' to make a submission. In some instances the genre teams may guide newer companies - if they sense an idea has merit. It can be worth sending an email query - or phoning..

So how to submit? First of all, it is best to read through the RFPs carefully and see what attracts. Then do what it says on the tin. Many of the RFPs provide strict guidelines of what materials need to be submitted (in addition to the company and other administrative documentation and budgets). For drama they usually require a step outline of one episode, a synopsis of the remaining episodes (for a series) a character bible and 10 pages of sample dialogue.

For factual and other genres the application materials vary but usually require a detailed proposal of not less than 10 pages showing evidence of research. Evidence of research means proof that characters (for the documentary etc) have been located and that experts have been approached, logistics worked out etc. Sources of archive material, historical references, supporting organisations should also be listed. If a particular presenter, anchor or personality is to be used within the programme then a letter of intent from them or their agent should be included.

It is important to adhere to the language/ representation requirements of the brief and address these adequately in the proposal. If applicant team members do not speak the language of the proposed programme then they need to provide evidence of how they will meet the language requirement, who will be involved and how etc.

For all genres the proposal must provide what the broadcaster terms 'a goal statement.' This is a brief sales pitch for the programme - describing what makes it stand out from other shows and who the audience is.
A synopsis should then provide more detailed overview of the programme content.
A more detailed treatment should then provide a breakdown of at least one episode for factual programmes (and most other genres.) The treatment should describe the specific format, style, content, new media elements, graphics etc.

The key word to remember when writing up a programme proposal is simplicity. Keep the language easy rather than academic. Make the proposal fun to read - convey a sense of the style and energy of the programme in the language. Make reference to similar programmes.

Always read through and check the proposal carefully before printing it off. Make sure that all the correct materials have been assembled. Companies based in Cape Town can actually hand deliver proposals to the SABC in Seapoint right up to the day of the deadline. These are then sent up to Jo'burg overnight. Short listed candidates are supposed to hear within 2 months of the submission deadline.

In the past the SABC have also run road shows for unsolicited proposals. It is also worth checking out their website for separate RFPs that may be issued throughout the year.

Mnet have put out several drama industry briefs over the last year and it is worth checking out their website for updates. They usually require a comprehensive proposal and a full script or sample script for drama proposals.

eTV run an occasional regional documentary strand which is usually advertised on their website.

If anyone has a query about any of this (or anything else related to the world of scriptwriting) then feel free to email me (address in profile) and I'll respond in a future post.

shower

I did promise a post-a-day in June. No writing today or even any thoughts to offer about writing or screenwriting.

Went on a family trip out to Hout Bay for fish and chips and to watch the seals in the bay. I thought I saw a crocodile - but they're freshwater aren't they - not salt water?

Then it was off to a 'baby shower' in Gugulethu for my (wait a minute I have such an extended family here - it gets a bit confusing sometimes) husband's youngest sister's youngest daughter's baby which is due next week. She (J) has had the most vibrant and (outwardly) healthy pregnancy I've ever witnessed. Today at the shower - only a week away from giving birth, she looked stunning in pink furry top and blue contact lenses bomping down on the dancefloor. The average age of the mainly females guests was 22 - so all the oldies gave the speeches - in Xhosa. So of course I had to come up with something off the top of my head - in English - about how we're all looking forward to this baby and how every child is welcome into this family.
Hmmm - maybe this is what growing up is all about - I never once thought when I was younger, that I'd ever be doing this.

Then the DJ turned the music up. Food and beers came out. More folk poured in. I stomped around to the heavy, heavy dub dub kwaito sound until a one-eyed man started to lurch around rather erratically, then I knew it was time for us all to go home.

Laters

June

I like June. Egyptian geese are back again on the Parkway. They travel in pairs - well one usually sits forlornly on top of a lamp post and brays until its mate arrives.

But this is a scriptwriting not a bird-watching blog. Posts were a bit sparse in May but I'm going to try and post daily in June.

Haven't blogged many script opportunities lately since there don't seem to be many new ones around, but will try and get a clump together soon.

Later

Titles

I'm in the odd position of having two (hotting up) feature scripts that both have the same noun in the title. For karmic blog purposes, let's suppose this word* is 'rabbit'. (N.B. There are no rabbits in either script) So let's say one script is called Blue rabbit and the other one is called Rabbit and me. Whereas Blue Rabbit is about a self-styled rabbit who is not really a rabbit at all but exhibits the airs and graces of a rabbit, Rabbit and me is a slice of life, biographical story of a real live rabbit. Still reading? I'm just hoping I won't start confusing them in emails etc. *This same word features in the title of a major US TV series so clearly is in the ether at the moment.

Maybe my repertoire of titles is drying up. I hope not. Each title was right for that script. I always think that the title is often the key to writing the script and works best when it sums up the essence of the story. Most of the time I can't start writing until the title is there. Recently I changed a title - (even though the script came 2nd somewhere.) There was a naff word in the title that I was never happy with - but as I hadn't managed to come up with anything better - it stayed. However when I reworked the story into a radio play, the emphasis changed and suddenly a gloriously simple and apposite title appeared. Perfect.

Anyway titles or rabbits - what do you think?

Soyinka

The god of war is my muse.
Nobel Prize-winning writer Wole Soyinka tells Helen Oyeyemi why literature must struggle against injustice. Read the full article in the Telegraph online here.

The Voice of Conscience - Soyinka talks to Maya Jaggi in The Guardian (28/06) here.

net

The nearest internet cafe (if you can call it that) from here is a 2-boother inside a grocery kiosk, the other side of the taxi rank - about a 7 minute walk towards the mountain. I decide to try this first.

Taxis (minibuses) are still the most popular form of public transport in South Africa. The local rank is still divided up (a throwback) - on one side, taxis service the black townships of Khayelitsha, Nyanga, Maccassar, Philippi and Gugulethu. Over the railway bridge, taxis run to the so called coloured areas of Bonteheuvel, Mannenberg, Athlone and Heideveld.

The small internet booth is run by a woman from the DRC who informs me that she doesn't know anything about the computers so not to bother asking. I pay my 5 Rands (about 35p) for half an hour to find that the dial-up is slow and pages take ages to load. After about 10 minutes (of my half hour) the owner tells me that she needs to close up. She waves her hand impatiently - telling me that I can come back later and finish. I make a mental note not to return.

Next I try the internet cafe owned by 3 Nigerian brothers further up towards the main road. Sandwiched in between 2 of the 50 or so local hairdressing salons, this 15 booth joint is packed and noisy. Across the road, kwaito booms out of speakers set either side of the doorway of a plastics store. Outside, taxi drivers shriek at passers-by; 'Wynberg, Claremont, Claremont Wynberg!' I pay my 5 Rands and take a seat in between a student surfing Oprah's site and a Ghanaian woman who joggles her young son on her knee while speaking to relatives in Accra via video messaging. (If you want to road-test the most ingenious uses of new technology - try any big city in Africa). There are now 47 unopened messages in my inbox but the server is slow and it is hard to concentrate. There's a message from the producer in Cannes but I can't open it. On the PC screen of the adjoining booth, is a jerky 'frame grab' video image of the Ghanaian woman who sobs into webcam, 'We both miss you so much.'
I make a mental note to come back only if I have to.

I practically sprint the two miles along the main road to a state-of-the-art internet cafe in a copy shop. Here everything is broadband and flat screened. The sofas are bright and colourful. I zap through my emails in 8 minutes. The meetings in Cannes sound positive. My half hour costs R4.

I make a mental note to come back (that's when I have to).

Script Frenzy

For those needing a kickstart to get a new feature script written - why not try the Script Frenzy challenge? More details here
It is free and there is no prize - but you can give yourself a pat on the back - if you complete the challenge.


Serious local telecommunications problems are currently impeding my blogging activities - normal service should resume shortly.

script shop

Sell your script to companies in Hollywood (and other places)!

Visit this blog to see who wants what, where, when and how.
Click here

Updated daily.

Fat 100

Yes the 100th blog post today! Wooee!

Give yourself a pat on the back,
pat on the back,
pat on the back,
give yourself a pat on the back
100 posts today
far away!

Seems to be that quiet time of year when script somebodies are not at their desk or they're at Cannes or not at Cannes or on their way or pretending to be.

Now is probably a good time to take stock of what's happened so far this year. I've submitted scripts and synopses left, right and centre that I've yet to hear about. I did a crash course in Xhosa (although far from fluent, I did gain an 'overview'.) I stepped off a lucrative scriptwriting job (for jolly good reason) and won 2nd prize in a script competition that no one has ever heard of. I had 2 rejections from Beeb drama that were so fabulously positive they could be mistaken for acceptances - almost (ha!). I wrote and submitted a short I haven't heard about yet, reworked a feature drama into a radio play for a comp and found a UK producer for another feature drama submission. Also did plenty of honing, tweaking, refining and re-writing and am now working on these jazz stories. Plus an SA producer is in Cannes with my 'hot' project - let's see.

Distant shores beckon perhaps.

(any other Shiny Show fans out there?)

TV

Radio was quite big in my home as a child since we didn't have a TV until I was well into my teens - a fact which often bemuses producers and others that I work with nowadays. I remember my grandmother in Wigan had a huge radio on her sideboard that was always tuned ready for 'Waggoner's Walk'. When her programme came on, she sat in front of the radio and listened.

I don't remember missing out by not having TV - although in one lesson at school we were asked what our favourite programme was and I sat anxiously wondering what I could say. It didn't matter anyway because the first child said 'Starsky and Hutch' and so did the next and the next and the next. So when it came to me I just said 'Starsky and Hutch' and hoped I was pronouncing the title correctly because I hadn't a clue what it was.

Later on when we did have a TV - viewing was carefully regulated by my mother (who now doesn't have a TV at all.) After 7.30pm TV watching was over. I don't know whether they had the watershed but my mum's cut off time was well before it! I remember standing in my pyjamas peeking through a central heating grill half way up the stairs trying to watch the end of 'Z Cars'.

Now here with satellite DSTV there are over a hundred channels - more to choose but less choice (of anything that I really want to see.) When I first moved to these shores, I watched Eastenders probably more avidly than I had in the UK. The characters and storylines were familiar compared to those in the local soaps. Also Eastenders had a regular early evening timeslot and was pretty much synchronous with the UK transmissions. Last year they suddenly revised the schedules and lumped Eastenders into an omnibus edition on Sundays. In a family - even with a split decoder - TV watching is often about bagging your programme ahead of others - ahead of the children's TV and ahead of the sports or news. So for me, Sunday afternoon was out. BBC Prime is still my channel of choice - despite being crammed with lifestyle/makeover programmes fronted by curious hermaphoditic presenters with plastic spectacles and names that are either monosyllabic or double barrelled.

In this household, local stations are 'must see' mainly for news or local sports. The main broadcaster SABC attracts the greatest share of the South African audience - mainly because it is free-to-air. The vast portion of the population does not have access to anything other than terrestrial TV, if that. Radio has a wider reach particularly in the rural areas. In the townships there are often up to 30 people in a room - all watching a popular local TV drama such as 'Home Affairs'.

snip: this rather rambling post has been cut. I'll write more about the local broadcaster in a separate post

thisandthat

Not too much to report - still awaiting various outcomes from here and there and this and that. One local organisation was pleasant enough to email back and say that their hold up was due to 'language issues.'

Am a bit annoyed that a DVD I posted to a producer in the UK on 28th April did not arrive in time to be included with another submission. Agggh - probably all my fault - should've sent it speed post or courier but it would have been a whopping R497 (nearly 50 quid) Anyway - cross fingers that they'll accept it late.

For those who may be interested, I'm writing up a series of interviews with some of South Africa's jazz legends - which I think I might post here (after they've been published).

98th post - getting there slowly - hope to find something exciting for that all important 100th!

Laters

dancing

Was driving through Heideveld yesterday when T Rex - Cosmic Dancer came on the radio. Eish - not heard that in years. Now the lyrics are stuck in my head

I was dancing when I was twelve
I was dancing when I was twelve

Blower

After a petulant pots filter, controlling cap, lazy LAN and burnt telephone wire (my fault that one) the latest telecommunications defect is an intermittent and evasive router fault that has developed gradually over the last fortnight.

This one is also infuriatingly undetectable. The minute the phone is put down, the ADSL switches off - so the phone has to be taken off the hook to go back online. So no calls can be received while online half the time.

But the other half of the time, it all works perfectly.

They've checked the exchange and say everything is fine. Whenever the Telkom blokes come (which is twice this week) the fault mysteriously goes away. And when they've gone, it comes back again.

Hmmmm. Maybe it's the weather. Or something to do with those disappearing bees...

Race matters

John August answers a query about type-casting and race in Hollywood;

"I am an African-American aspiring screenwriter and I was curious about how the industry views us. Are Black screenwriters seen as being able to only write material with themes pertaining to our race?"

Read the rest of the post here.

May

There've been a lot of holidays here lately: Friday, then Monday was a school holiday and yesterday another bank holiday - so maybe things can get back to normal now. Plus the last couple of weekends have also been taken up with children's parties - my daughter's friends now turning 5. So come Saturday it was off up the N1 to BugZ - a play park with giant dolls houses, paddle boats, mini trains and trampolines and ponies and the like. Think I might have my next birthday there.


Later