Hi - Bye

Hello little ones

I was just popping by to pick up a change of clothes and thought I'd stick my head into the cyberscribe for a peek. Looks like you have all been behaving impeccably. How very dull.

Well, I shan't be lingering I'm afraid, as I still have lots of working ground to cover on one thing or another plus there's an extremely busy week ahead of me, zipping here, there and everywhere. I tell you, lords and ladies, blink and you'll miss me. I also am lead to believe, from the pages of my diary, that I have a zillion deadlines looming around me, so I shall have to be extremely work clever / time smart this week, for sure. 

Well, once again - you know the rules.  But this time, at least give me something to "Oooooooh" at when I get back.

Have fun watching The Oscars but don't eat too much popcorn.  You'll only get a sore stomach again.

Stay true to The Tenacity.

Onwards.

Do These (Digital) Shorts Suit Me?

Well, hello, me ol' Oracle mate.  You were indeed right.  I should have listened to your premonitions and not allowed myself to wallow all weekend.

I just heard a couple of hours ago I have been shortlisted for Screen East's DigiBytes 2009. Yippeee-freakin-dooppee!!!!  I have a meeting with the Screen East/UKFC peeps in two weeks' time with regard to one of my submissions, "Practice is Perfect" and as you can imagine I am extremely excited.  This short screenplay is one very close to my heart, but I'm not going to blab on about all that just now...in the meantime, here is the poster I submitted with my application which will give you a bit of its 'flavour'.

Now, what with my waffle all about Red in my previous post, I just could be one step closer to painting my very own picture with its digital essence.   Sweetie, dahlink, mwah, MWAH! x

Check, Check, Check

Four completed Outlines - check

Four 25WOL - check

Four Publicity Poster mock-ups - check

Three completed Screenplays - check

One Showreel - check

One Biography - check

Four Completed Application & Monitoring forms (one per film) - check

One full printer cartridge ready for 'The Mass Print' next week - check

Envelope (sturdy) - check

Minor adjustments aside: Weekend Off - check

Wish cyberpeeps a good weekend - check

x

No Test Tube Required...

Yesterday, I spent the day with Lucy at her ICA Lab which is excellently organised by Deva Palmier. It was an interesting day (spent without wearing white lab coats) and I was fascinated to hear other actors' understanding of the screenplay, characters and structure.  It was really a very enjoyable day and I for one would definitely consider taking a script there for a read-through in order to both develop and 'test the water'.  

It was lovely to catch up with Lucy as we haven't seen each other for such a long time - apparently last time was Adrian Mead's course - but it was also great to finally meet Nun with a Gun Elinor!  The fact we just "picked up from where we left off", knew each other's business like old mates and in Elinor's case - had never met - was probably a bit too much for a some peeps whose vision of "cyber geeks" was obviously something other than us lot.

All that fun aside, I'm glad to say I fully utilised The Kid-free tube travel time there and back by hammering at my Mac keyboard,  rejigging one of my Screen East subs and rewriting my biography. Again. 

Apart from a few tweaks here and there, I thought I was pretty much done on my Screen East submission - wrong. On Friday, I re-read one of the outlines I had written and decided it was total and utter cr*p.  In fact, I was so furious with my lame effort, not only did I hand shred the outline into teeny, tiny pieces whilst shouting loudly at it, I then deleted the whole damn file from Mac.  

So I started again, and it's much better this time - although I'm still not finished, but I am on my way.  

I am going to fill out the actual application form and print everything off this week, then I shall put into play my very own personal OCD (Obsessive Checking Disorder).  Very soon, I'll carry the package to the Post Office like a swaddled baby - wondering all the while if everything is included - and place it carefully into the woven, grey, plastic large letter/parcels bag. But not before Wednesday. No sireeeee, not in a zillion years.  

You see, Mercury moves forward again on Wednesday after being retrograde for ages. Wondering where those "lost in the post" things have gone?  Why THAT email hasn't been responded to? When THEY'LL call back?  I guarantee after Wednesday things will start moving again. And the stock markets too. Mark my words.* 

Ta-ra for now.

x

*The Don't Blame Me If I'm Wrong Waiver: 

The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you originally invested. Therefore, you should avoid investing more than you can afford to lose.

Featured Kaos

Kaos Films - they of the BSSC - have now announced further details of their British Feature Screenplay Competition (BFSC).  In a nutshell, the winner of this competition will have their screenplay produced (not put into development) and filmed with a pro cast & crew and budget of up to $2million.

Rules are pretty much similar to the BSSC in that the competition is open to writers from any country and screenplays must be written in English language, however, in this instance (being a feature comp!) the screenplay running time should be between 80 and 110 minutes.  The entry fee is also a little heftier too: £65 early bird; £85 before final deadline.

You've got until 12th September 2008 to get your 'early bird' script in although  I suspect a lot of people will be cracking the whip to get their Red Planet entry polished around the same time (deadline: 30th Sept).  

The final deadline for BFSC entry is 14th November 2008 and full rules can be found here.

Also, go check out Mr Beckley's short film, "Fatal" - he wrote it, directed it and 'just did it'.  Good on you, matey.

Working 9 til 5...I wish

And breathe.

A whirlwind of occurrences, that's the life I lead.  Well, only sometimes these days, anyway.

The week went something like this:

Monday - The Kid was still not very well having just parted company with a sicky, coldy bug but still managed to soldier on through his 8 month check up with The Health Visitor.  He smiled at all the right things, burped loudly followed by a bellow of giggles, frowned when The Health Visitor tickled him under the chin, bobbed up and down to imaginary music and clapped on demand, and then when he got bored he chewed his shoe and farted. I then dropped him off at nursery whilst I headed home to try and get some work done.  It's amazing when you are writing how quickly nursery/school pick up time comes round...6 pages written; 9 calls made; 7 emails responded to.

Tuesday - The Kid took a backwards step in his recovery.  All plans - blown out.  Spent day with ass hovering over sofa, wishing I could just sit down for two seconds without mopping up snot, puke or rocking back and forth...0 pages written; 0 calls made; 0 emails read let alone responded to.

Wednesday - The Kid made a fantastically remarkable recovery and had so much energy all day I bit the bullet and decided to take him to his swimming class.  After a hard hour in the gym I dashed home to make a few calls whilst my Mum was still enthralled with her Grandson.  Perfick...0 pages written; 4 calls made; all emails read; 1 child knackered after a hard swim.

Thursday - first of all, thanks must go to the most courteous Mark for organising another little Blogette/Facebook get-together.  Yet again, a  very enjoyable afternoon which - horror of horrors - turned into an early evening minus child for me.  My system was so shocked by the lack of The Kid's bathtime "splash-splash", the fight to get him into his sleep suit afterwards and then the gentle prodding to keep him awake for his bottle, that I felt the need to consume more than my original 'just the one'...3 new chapters outlined; 5 calls made; 2 meetings attended; 1 social gathering attended; email read & responded to; 1 very odd journey home having laughed out [very] loud at my book on many occasions and then realising I wasn't the only person in the carriage. :0)

Friday - The Kid's music class and this week he emerged as star pupil due to his innate ability to 'bop' like a home boy whilst clapping furiously and, for the most part, totally in time to the music.  He was so immersed in the class that he only twice realised I was sitting beside him on the floor.  If I'd only thought to take MacBook with me I could have done a bit of writing. The only foot stomping occurred when the bubbles stopped and apparently the teacher felt so awful looking at his big, sad eyes, she carried on with the bubbles for a while longer, just for him.  I fear a future actor and/or muso in the making.  Either that or a Dictator...3 pages written (somehow); 0 calls made; all email read; 1 very proud mum.

Saturday - Amidst all the very tedious household stuff that has to be undertaken every weekend, I noted that Zone Horror have "Cut! The 2008 Horror Short Film Competition" running.  This is sponsored by C4's Fright Fest  and is worth up to £5k in winnings for a 2 minute film.  Closing date for entries is Friday 13th (!) June 2008 - so all you genre-istas out there - get going!  0 pages written; 2 chapters outlined; 0 calls made; 0 emails answered; 1 very domesticated-out mum.

Sunday - hasn't passed yet.  Anything could happen...may check emails.

And breathe.

BSSC - Round 1

Well, it's been a bit of along time again...

Many thanks to Lucy who very kindly informed me that I have got through the first round of the British Short Screenplay Competition! Y'see, as a Mum of two, she completely knows where I am at the moment with regards to an incredible lack of cybertime - and lack of real time, come to think of it.

Well done to Lucy too, as she has also got through and many congratulations to all fellow bloggers (such as Jason and Elinor) who also got through the 1st round! Anyone else? Let me know!

The Colic Kid has been taking up far too much of my time recently. Apart from the dirty nappies (he cries as soon as he's got a dirty one and for the second time he managed to fart a poo at me during a 4am nappy change), reflux vomiting (like a fountain), vinegar breath (acid smell from the reflux), constant feeds (it eases the reflux) and colicky episodes, he is a delight. He's smiling loads, giggling, trying to say 'Hello', copies me waving, lifts his hands and arms to be picked up, loves Teletubbies and the juggling Specsavers advert, looks as though he'll be crawling soon, tries to sit up by himself and is just about to embark on his first PhD - ok, maybe not that, but he's pretty smart all the same.

Anyway, got to dash as that's my cybertime up. The Colic Kid has just finished an equation and needs his next bottle...

Breakfast With My Antagonist

Following on from yesterday's post, and the essence of "human beings doing", Good Dog reminded me of how little amount of time we, in general, dedicate to the most simple things in life. Simple but important things like sunrises and sunsets, the beautiful sweet aroma of roses and jasmine, the smell of grass after rainfall, the first genuine warmth from the sun after winter, the distant peal of a church bell, the silence created by snow fall.

Don't have a garden, park or nature reserve nearby? Stuck in the city? Try the mellow aroma of freshly ground coffee from your local coffee shop, a warm breeze that takes you by surprise as you turn a corner, the stale but tantilising waft from pub extractor fans, the warm, intricate mix of street smells of after a summer shower, planes slashing the blue sky far above the sky-scrapers.

The fundamental element of just 'being' and not 'doing' is allowing the senses to 'do' while you just 'be'. When I am writing I find I always start at a very 'base level' and include sensuous elements (that is, 'of the senses' as opposed to sensual, although they've been known to creep in now and again too!). Even if these don't make it to the first or final draft they are always there in my brain arena, hopefully enabling me to 'be' wholly part of the script/story and not just a creative bystander.

I often think a state of 'being' is entered when I start to write on a new project. Although I am mentally busy, I am not physically 'doing' much. I wine and dine my characters - the difference between dinner with your protagonist and then your antagonist is amazing, and not necessarily what you would think; kids characters I take to the zoo, the park or the Natural History Museum; sometimes I just 'observe' the entire screenplay character list (supporting artistes included) meeting in my local coffee shop. How do they interact - even the ones who never meet 'on paper'? What do they drink and eat? What are they wearing? How do they sit? What do they talk (or not) about? I guess in my case, this stems from my performance background but it's quite an interesting thing to try out as it tends to give your characters weight and vision in future drafts; more than anything, it gives you a firm grip on their history and backstory.

And all this because you were just 'being' instead of 'doing'. Amazing.

I just suddenly remembered my school motto was "Be Still And Know". I think they possibly had a point.

Wet Whitsun

It looks like it's going to be a soggy old Whitsun bank holiday weekend, which is a shame as I was hoping to attend to little bits and pieces in the garden. Oh well. There you go - never make any plans for a bank holiday. Guess I'll just need to crack on with some writing instead...

I leave you with this quote to ponder in case it all gets too much :

"The time to relax is when you don't have time for it." Sydney J. Harris

Mmmmm. How very apt. Have a great weekend whatever you are doing - or not doing.

Power of Three Alert

Actually, more like a Power of Three request.

Yep, 'tis that time. Red Pen has been really busy - but perhaps not busy enough - so I would really appreciate 'P of 3' volunteers please! A few lovely people have offered in the past but as I don't know their schedules I thought I'd just "chuck it out there".

The screenplay is a short (although at 15 pages, it's a 'borderline short') and it is one of my possibilities for entering into the BSSC.

Muchos gracias, in advance.

What's Up With June?

Right, now I am severely miffed. The stage beyond the proverbial that broke the proverbial has now been reached.

Let me explain something: if you are arranging a really interesting class/course/masterclass/meeting/night out on the beers in London, please - I repeat, *PLEASE* - do not schedule it for the weekend of the 9th, 10th or even the 11th June. In fact, don't schedule any time between the 9th and 22nd June to be on the safe side. That would be fab. As you may or may not know I am due to give birth around that time and possibly won't be able to get away to listen to your dulcit tones. Got that?

If I hear of one more event happening on this particular aforementioned weekend, just like the Women Writer's Network info on Robin Kelly's fab blog, then I am going to come along regardless and watch your faces pale as I go into the final stages of labour. Sure you got it? Most excellent.

You have been warned.

Oh, where to go, what to do...

"I love deadlines. I especially love the swooshing sound they make as they go flying by" Douglas Adams.

For those of you London-tied and not able to make "The Long Distance Screen Writer" course (Edinburgh, 9th June) run by the brilliant Adrian Mead, or are not attending Christopher Vogler's "The Writer's Journey" (9th & 10th June, run by Raindance), those nice folks at Living Spirit (Ealing Studios) are running a one day masterclass entitled "Making it in Hollywood" (10th June) aimed at directors, producers and writers. They are also chucking in a FREE copy of "The Guerilla Film Makers Hollywood Handbook" (worth £30) if you book and pay by this Sunday (20th).

If you aren't sure about this course or if you are just curious, Living Spirit are sending a free pdf interview with British Producer Jeremy Bolt to those who email a request to office*at*livingspirit*dot*com

If, like me you can't make any of these courses because...
a) they are all taking place on the same weekend, and
b) one of those days just happens to be the day on which your baby is due

...then just sulk.

Me and Red Pen are off to do some serious damage in shortscriptland. Have a great weekend all.

Ground Control to Major Tom...

Definitely another planet. And that's where it deserves to stay. Far, far away, in another Universe. It really has been one of those weeks, and that's as much as I'm saying. End of.

On a brighter note, I've managed to get loads of reading/notes done (really sorry for those who had to wait a bit), drafted and then re-drafted the aforementioned short AND we've gone and got all HD on ourselves this week too. After [far too] many months' deliberation over which LCD or plasma TV to buy, we eventually bit the bullet and bought one. It's fab. The only problem is it seems so big that last night I thought Phil Mitchell was going to submerge my head in Ian Beale's greasy washing up bowl too. (And when are they going to think of another less public school prank for Le Mitchell to play?)

We also had a V+ box installed today and have access to the BBC HD preview channel to ogle over - I was really not sold on the 'vast' difference between 'normal' digital transmission and HD - but now I'm a convert. Just watched a couple of minutes of BBC's "Bleak House" which is available to watch as HD. As the episode starts in the court room you can virtually make out the writing on scrolls/papers 20 foot below the camera on crane. Programme & film makers are going to have to watch out what they randomly pick up and use quickly for props if HD is really that clear! No wonder the airbrushed actors of the US were going mad when HD came out - all those pores and imperfections. Tsk tsk.

Yuk, now just think what we're going to espy when Le Mitchell shoves Beale's head down the Queen Vic bogs in the future. On that note, I'm off to ogle my TV and check out the curry menu for later.

Happy May Day!

Yipee! It's the 1st of May - one of my most favourite days in the year. Hell, it even features heavily in my 'pet' screenplay. (As opposed to featuring heavily in my pet, Screenplay ;)

Call it the Celt in me, but there's something so special about May Day, or Beltane as it was know in the pre-Christian [Celtic] epoch. Beltane marks the start of the pastoral Summer season and is one of the cross-quarter days in the Celtic calendar - these are days that signal the beginning of a new season and are half way between an equinox and a solstice. Special days.

There is always so much raw, unchannelled energy around on May 1st - a negative example of which was the May Day Riots of 2000 in London, Glasgow, Doncaster & Edinburgh. Nicer examples are the many festivals held around the UK over the May Bank Holiday weekend celebrating with Morris dancers, maypole dancers, music, good company, food and laughter.

This year, there is also a Full Moon on May 2nd, so in addition to the energy of May Day itself, we will have the lunar influence on the emotions with the touch of insanity and insomnia it sometimes brings.

I may be very wrong, but interesting days ahead. If there was ever a week to have/not to have local elections (dependant on which 'side' you're on), I reckon this is it.

So, here are my instructions for today:

Take a break - in fact take a whole lunch break - stand outside in the sun, shut your eyes and breathe in. A. Big. Deep. Breath. Feel the energy, and the promise of splendid things to come.

What's for you...

It has been a weird day. I have gradually been coming to terms with the fact that I may not ever be able to put pen to paper/fingers to keyboard again due to creative dissolution, but then, today I found myself not only completing a majority rewrite of one of my midi scripts (too long for a short), I also went on to outline a new short which I think will be destined for the BSSC. I'm not going to put myself under any undue pressure as a) I could viably give birth at any moment; b) I have 53 days left before the comp closes and, c) if I push it too hard the idea may lose it's appeal. Which leads me to Good Dog's place and the fact he's been assessing the merits and pitfalls of the "wait and see what happens" theory.

Reading his most recent post got me thinking and reminded me of a Scottish saying my whole family chant - "Wit's fur ye'll no go by ye" - translated as "what's for you will not go by you". My Gran says it a lot. My Mum even more. One Aunt even has her own version - when you want something so bad, "give it up to the Universe". In otherwords, sometimes focusing too much on one thing causes it to go another way, and that's usually in the opposite direction to the one you wanted. I don't know why, but it's true.

Take acting, for example. I have had some wickedly fantastic castings in the past, and in particular for roles in some really big blockbuster movies. The castings have gone like clockwork, I have made all the right noises at the approriate moments, I have gelled really well with "leading man X", I have had screentests which have been received with so much glee by directors and producers alike, I thought they might release that alone as the movie. But I didn't get the roles. Maybe I focused so much of my energy on winning those roles, I actually drove them away from me? Then there are the "good, but couldn't care less if I get them" jobs - they always come through. Makes you think, huh?

Finding that fine line divide between really caring and thinking, "next", is a difficult one - but it is a balance that should be practiced. Or should it? Afterall, wit's fur ye'll no go by ye.

You're It!

With gracious thanks to the delightful and erudite Riddley Walker I have been honourably been tagged with a meme of my Five Goals. With my utter lack of concentration at the moment, these have taken a considerable amount of energy to produce and I would probably revise them at the drop of a hat, but here goes...in no particular order:

1) Pay off my mortgage. What more can I say? With interest rates teetering on the brink of rip-off city once again and echoes of Black Monday making me shudder, I just want rid of the darn millstone for once and for all.

2) To be wholly 100% happy with who I am and what I am trying to achieve in life. Not much to ask, but a tough one. This also includes getting to grips with fear of failure and like my tag mate, to stop being scared.

3) To complete, stage and then finish the film development of my co-written full scale musical. I have been informed in the past that the musical is "a biggie: extracted from a similar mould as Les Mis" and will need "large amounts of moolah and a BIG theatre to do it justice - and, oh, it would make a fantastic film too". The only part left to finish of the stage version is the final Requiem Mass (large parts of which are indeed in Latin), which has been left for superstitious purposes. The screenplay has a fair bit of work to be done on it. Sir Cam, Sir Andy or anyone with a few mill sitting in a Mega Maxi ISA / offshore account, do drop me a note. Let's do lunch.

4) To have my pet screenplay - the one I keep coming back to and obsessing over again and again - produced and OUT THERE. There is so much being said in the screenplay, sometimes it scares me rigid. I often wonder if I wrote it subliminally as there are chunks info in it that I don't remember researching.

5) To ensure all those around me are healthy, hale and hearty; if they're not, at least try and cheer them up a bit with some ridiculous anecdotes.

Wow, that really took a lot of thinking - I could actually go on right up to number ten, but I 'm not going to. Now it's my turn to tag some other peeps - remember to keep the links going guys.

Here goes:

Lucy Vee - Bang2Write
Lianne - Light & Shade
Potdoll - My Forehead is Bleeding
Jackson - Pillock's Pad

Music - the Food of Words?

I have been writing a lot of late, in fact, so much I don't really know what to do with all the pieces of paper.

You see folks, for every centimetre the bouncing baby grows I gain pounds in weight and lose stones of creativity, and apart from 'to do' lists and letters to various companies, I haven't been able to write a thing. Until the last few weeks, that is - when I haven't been able to stop penning weird poetry and song lyrics.

Lyrics are a 'comfortable' thing for me to do. Once upon a time, writing them was a full time 'job' whilst co-composing for TV, Theatre and Film, and so the last few weeks have been like visiting a really wonderful, long-lost friend. Once I start 'pallying up' with them, I can't stop. Once I get a theme in my head I have to get the words down double quick otherwise I risk being driven insane by hooks, bridges and 'wrong' lyrics battering my already crowded brain. Then I lie awake going over the same verses again and again, praying it doesn't sound like a Stock, Aitken & Waterman cover version (I have never written anything like that in my life but there could always be The One that slips through my grey matter, so I have to be sure).

Staying with music - something I have noticed recently is what the baby moves a lot to. The Kaiser Chiefs' "Love's Not A Competition", Turin Brakes' "Painkiller", Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars", Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" and particular favourites, Nirvana's "Come As You Are", Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" Queens of the Stone Age's "No-one Knows" & "First It Giveth" and most tracks from the "American Beauty" soundtrack. Quite an eclectic mix for a "minus year old".

Funnily enough they, plus a few other tracks, form one of the i-pod playlists I played at quite a few decibels every morning whilst commuting from the Glenster's parents' house. Sitting in the nose to tail traffic over the M25 at junction 18, I would always be looking foward to picking my way across the remnants of my house and snapping orders at builders all day. It was inevitably a decibel or so louder on the way back after a day of fun and games.

Music has always been a huge influence in my life, having been brought up in the industry and most of my family still involved in varying degrees. When I write non-musical matter, I always have to have a 'theme tune' to work to; in fact, sometimes, along with an olfactory trigger that's all that influences the conception of a whole darn new world. Is that normal?

So, try as I may, I have listened to so many musical influences over the last few months, hoping that one of them would propel me towards my laptop, screenplay ideas gushing from every orifice - OK, maybe just the one good idea would do. Actually, ideas I have loads of - it's just doing it and formulating it that's the problem at the moment as I have a concentration span about as long as a flea's dick. Perhaps after the baby is born I will whack on a playlist, go smell the roses in the garden and see what happens...

So what do you need to write? Without what, would you be stymied? Do you need to work in total silence or do you write more in public places? What influences you to start over and hit the white space with Courier?