Broadcasting 0110 - Part One

Hello you

I've been having a mighty busy few days since I last dropped by to check on you all, but boy has it been good.

First of all, a belated thank you to Conor Dignam (Director, Emap's media group), Lisa Campbell (Editor, Broadcast) and their lovely Marketing & Editorial team at Broadcast who very kindly asked me to join in for a light lunch in order to discuss the contents - past, current and future - of that very shiny trade weekly and website. For those of you who aren't subscribers, you really should be. If you want to know your market - as a writer, director, producer, technical genius - then the pages of this weekly should be regularly digested. In fact, just the access to the online Commissioning Index alone is worth it's weight in megabytes and will soon become a subscriber-only section.

From my point of view it was refreshing to be able to put one's tuppence-worth forward and then listen to the challenges and ideas the Broadcast team have bubbling. At the best of times, both film and TV are challenging industries, but at the moment the bar has been raised with regards to 'challenging', with finance being pulled and budgets being slashed everywhere you go. Trade press, such as Broadcast and Screen International can have an enormous amount of influence on the reporting of stories as they break and so to actually sit back, take the time, and assess how they can best help the industries can only be a good thing. Well done!

And so for the rest of my week: taken up with the final tweaks and preparations for "0110: Twisted Tales & Glorious". We had our initial Writing Team meeting and believe me, there was something mighty special going on. The ideas were buzzing and the air was sheer electricity. I am thrilled to be working with so many exceptional people and this is just the beginning of it all.

Every day this week, we will be announcing a new 0110 writer on the main "0110" website and with that in mind, I am totally and utterly pleased to tell you that Writer No 1 is Laurence Timms. Well done, Laurence - it's great to have you on board and to finally be able to work together.

Get on over to the 0110 site every day and see the Team grow!

Where's the Pause Button?

"Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels." Linda Ellerbee

Too many demands on my time, not enough hours in the day and and no energy to write into the wee small hours. That's the week so far.

I have been desperately trying to turn round the most recent short for submission to the BSSC, but it managed to take on a life of it's own whilst I was contemplating my belly button still being an 'innie', and is now running at 18 pages. Too long for a short? Not sure - it's borderline. Red Pen needs to come out to play, I think. I also completed two more outlines over the weekend/this week so far, but I have put them away for now as I need them to fester a bit. I may pop them and Red Pen into my hospital bag so Red Pen can do it's most damning whilst I'm in labour. Perhaps not.

Talking of labour, I am increasingly having strange pains here and there and apparently the head is 3/5ths engaged - what that really means with regard to timescale, is another thing. All I know is, I feel as though I am really working against the clock. A clock that will permanently scream, cry, want feeding, help and constant attention. And that'll just be The Glenster ;0)

So for now, instead of blogging I am going to get Red Pen and do some short shortening - until next time, here's a freebie: Broadcast is re-launching itself with a new look and content, and from 17th May to 3oth May the website will be free to access.

(P. S. Yippee for Eastenders. Le Mitchell is going to be able do something other than dunk Beale's head soon! I am totally beside myself.)

UK Vs US?

In today's Broadcast there is a really interesting interview with Stephen Merchant, who is looking to try his hand at writing drama.

The article states "...he'll be looking to the US rather than British drama for inspiration." It then goes on, "...there's an incredible sense of personality and vision. They [the U.S.] take the genre and invest it with a whole new depth and I just feel like in British drama, we've become a little complacent." He then mentions the 'formula and copycat shows' on British TV, but the article does note "his reluctance to criticise his peers".

What do you think about the differences - if any - between our own homegrown and American drama? For better or for worse? For richer or for poorer? Do 'they' really do it better? Or do they just have more filthy lucre available? Do you think 'The Writing Team' (U.S style) may be the way ahead for UK writing?

Answers on a postcard. Or you could just post a comment here.