COMEDY SCRIPT ROOM LAUNCH IN BELFAST
Shortly before Easter, aspiring comedy writers gathered in Blackstaff House for the Belfast launch of the Comedy Script Room 2018. The evening was hosted by Keith Martin (Comedy Producer/Development Producer Writersroom) and Owen Bell (Comedy Producer), who gave the group some top tips on what both readers and producers look for in a comedy script, and how a producer takes a script from first contact with the writer to first day of principal photography.
We would like to wish good luck to all the writers who attended and to all those who have submitted to the Comedy Script Room.
In 2018, we had the largest number of submissions to the Comedy Script Room from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to date, with a 38% increase in the number of submissions compared to last year.
BELFAST VOICES
Our Belfast Voices development groups feature sixteen of the best emerging writers from all over the country, including theatre writers. This programme will support them as they move into writing for television, online and radio. Over six months, these writers will participate in workshops and training on writing for digital, radio and TV, win exclusive opportunities to write and pitch for BBC shows and strands and receive support with writing their first television pilot script.
Comedy group:
- Seamus Collins
- Patrick Dunlea
- Mary Flanigan
- Oisin Kearney
- David Kinghan
- Matthew McDevitt
- Susannah McKenna
- Andrew Parkhill
- Michael Patrick
Drama group:
- Jonathan Bailie
- Emily DeDakis
- Ewen Glass
- Sarah Gordon
- Fionnuala Kennedy
- Alice Malseed
- Dominic Montague
The groups will be supported by Writersroom's Keith Martin and Vanessa Haynes. Vanessa has worked in script development for some of the most influential production companies in the UK including Kudos Film and TV, Baby Cow Productions, CPL (formerly Celador) and Talkback Thames. She has developed, produced and edited projects for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Comedy Central, BBC NI, TG4 and CBBC.
BIGGEST WEEKEND MICRO FILMS
May saw the launch of an exciting opportunity for brand new comedy writers. The Writersroom joined forces with BBC Music’s The Biggest Weekend to develop and produce a 60 second comedy film for each host city of the festival (Belfast, Perth, Coventry and Swansea).
Aimed at showcasing new writing, acting and music talent, these short films will premiere on the big screen at the Biggest Weekend festival (25-28 May) and be available on BBC social media after the festival.
From an open call to all aspiring screenwriters for 60 second comedy monologues on the theme of music festivals and set at the Titanic Slipways, the BBC Writersroom in Belfast selected 15 new writers for a 1-day workshop. The writers were put through an intensive development process, lead by Keith Martin (Development Producer) along with Marc McElroy (Producer/Director, BBC Tight Shorts) and Anna Hinds (Development Coordinator), where they learnt about writing short form comedy for social media.
At the end of the workshop, the writers were asked to submit their rewritten scripts with 6 writers selected to attend a second development session, from which one writer would be selected for their first BBC commission. As part of the development session, the writers heard their scripts read by emerging comedic actors who were then auditioned for the lead role.
From the shortlist scripts:
- Not Even Funny by Breman Rajkumar – being kept waiting is embarrassing especially if you are a girl dressed as Jack from Titanic and Rose has yet made an appearance.
- Pole-Dork by Eddy Baker – despite his brother having gaffer-taped him to a lamp-post, a shy young man has just had the best festival of his life
- Unsinkable by Patrick Scullion – believing he is more Molly Brown than Kate Winslet’s Rose, an aging queen wonders whether he belongs at a music festival.
- The Biggest Weekend by Eimear Lynch – an over-eager security guard, who loves his job, is making his final preparations ahead of the festival.
- A Titanic Slip Away by Carly Mills – a teenager needs to give her mother the slip to go to the festival and meet her music idol, but will Mum’s social media posts ruin her chances?
Ghosted by Dominic Montague was selected for production with Belfast-actress Julie Lamberton winning the part of Emma – a girl ready for a big weekend at the festival until she spots a guy who ghosted her and plots her revenge.
“It was such a great opportunity to work with the Writersroom, their support and advice was invaluable on the journey from creating a character through to telling their story and capturing that festival feel, all in a single minute. I’m really excited to see my work on the big screen and share it with the festival audiences in Belfast and around the UK!” - Dominic Montague.
Ghosted is scored by Derry based musician ROE (‘Wasted. Patient. Thinking.’), one of the BBC Introducing artists.
What the writers thought about the scheme:
Dominic Montague - It was such an incredible opportunity to work with the BBC Writersroom on the Biggest Weekend Monologues. I wanted to explore what would happen when that festival feeling was interrupted by running into an ex. The whole notion of ghosting is so interesting because it leaves more questions than it answers, it creates a vacuum. It was such a pleasure to explore that idea and to create a journey for the character that saw her finally get closure, or at least try to. That journey wouldn’t have been possible without help of the Writersroom team and the support of all the great writers and actors that I had the chance to meet and work with over the two development days.
Seeing the piece go from an idea on the page to a produced film was fantastic and I learned so much about the collaborative process that goes with that. Having to fit the story into a single minute of air time was a definite learning curve and the skills gained from that process will be invaluable for future work. Right through the process the Writers Room team were incredibly supportive, it was such a positive environment to work in. I recommend it to anyone, it’s a brilliant experience!
Eddy Baker - Everything was aimed at how to bring out the strengths already present in our scripts, and how to get every last drop of character and humour from what we'd written. I learnt a lot about how important it really is to get the character side of things working before you start worrying about jokes. If your audience don't have a meaningful relationship with your character, your jokes won't land half as well and you won't have that vital early spark that really sets you on the path of writing in your character's voice.
Being invited to the workshops gave me a huge amount of confidence in my writing. I now feel more comfortable writing for briefs, and I'm no longer afraid to delete or rewrite.
Eimear Lynch - For years now, I’ve only braved a toe in the water when it comes to writing. After two days in the BBC writers room I’m totally up for a skinny dip. Who’d have thought writing comedy could be so much fun? Usually I work alone at night with a drink or three. So, writing during the day, in day time clothes, in a room full of people was a touch terrifying.
I feel really lucky to have had a taster of my dream job. It did not disappoint. Now is the time to just throw myself into writing. Hold my drink, I’m going for a swim.
Carly Mills - The scheme was so interesting for looking at scripted comedy not only in social media, but in other formats- it has definitely given me the confidence to write more, and was a brilliant introduction to the basic tools for writing sketch comedy. The two days provided invaluable experience in learning that it’s OK to not get a laugh the first time, but to keep developing the joke to make it work. Keith and the Team were so supportive and encouraging of us all, and I think by the end of Day 2, our little gang of six highly over-caffeinated writers wished we were coming back the next day to do it all again.
Patrick Scullion - I’d recommend this experience to any new writer. The direction from Keith and Marc, as well as the support and co-ordination from Anna, made this Writer’s Room feel really focused and progressive, giving us useful tools for writing in the click-or-miss social media arena. Furthermore, chatting with fellow writers who are also trying to perfect the same minute of script over and over again, is a great way to bond with like-maddened individuals. I’m so glad I submitted a script to this scheme and am so excited to see the winning pieces at the Weekend.
WRITERSROOM AT THE BELFAST BOOK FESTIVAL
The Writersroom hosted ‘Screenwriting for Authors’ as part of the Belfast Book Festival 2018. Writersroom’s Keith Martin and award-winning novelist and BAFTA-nominee Glenn Patterson discussed the challenges a novelist faces when writing for the screen or radio. Glenn spoke about his own experiences of writing, as well as topics such as how to approach types of writing, choosing the best format for an idea, the key elements to consider, the art of adaptation and the practicalities and realities of being a scriptwriter.
