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SCRIPTWRITER. TV. FILM. THEATRE. RADIO, Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Hi there! Welcome my Scriptwriting blog. When I'm not here I write Scripts, Sketches, Stories and Lyrics. All enquiries welcome.

Tuesday 17 March 2009

(137) Don't read this...

Read this:- http://jamesmoran.blogspot.com/2009/03/big-writing-faq.html


Another chunk of screenwritery gold brought to you as a public service by the sharing, caring Sheiky Corporation.

Saturday 14 March 2009

(136) Writing advice

Just added two sites to my award winning "All you need to know (UK)" column.
Just down there, to the right. No, a tad further. Yep, that's it, you've found it.

Some of you clever peeps may have already discovered the good Doctor but the lovely Julie's site is brand new, so rush over now and take a peek.

Course, if you didn't know about either of these excellent sites, you're in for a double treat.

Enjoy.

Brought to you as a public service by the sharing, caring Sheiky Corporation.

http://scriptdoc.blogspot.com/
Ah, but Doctor who? An award winning scriptwriter, consultant and tutor passes on some wisdom.

http://screenplay-writing.synthasite.com/
Julie Stewart shares her screenwriting knowledge and six years experience of script websites and comps.

Friday 13 March 2009

(135) Screen South Info Day: The Report

A big thank you to Screen South for facilitating a very interesting "Information Day" yesterday in Pompey at the
Arts Centre in our architecturally stunning Guildhall Square.

Firstly and most importantly they gave us a cuppa.
This was presumably to dull the blow they then delivered to a large portion of the capacity crowd when they they told us that Writers don't get any of the RIFE funding.

Hell no, they're writers, so they can write their own cheques!

However, tell 'em you are writer-producer-director and they even supplied the truck to load the dosh into!
(No, gullible of Surrey, not really, but the other reader gets my point.)

It was a nice touch when they got us to stand up and introduce ourselves and our industry related job.
This was great for targeting who to network with and/or flick biz cards at.

There were talks from the award winning documentary film maker Steve Bowles, local partners City Eye , Isle of Wight film network , Wessex media group the launch of the DV Mission website and the screening of last years winning films.

Everyone was friendly and interesting and there was some great networking at/after lunch, during which I met some cool talented people including a local lass who has written 10 episodes of Doctors.

We were invited to join a few local writers groups and a brand new screenwriters group which will hopefully meet and network once a month in Pompey.
Possibly in a pub. Doesn't get any better, does it?

The infectiously enthusiastic DV Mission guys want everyone to enter the 48 hour film challenge and sign up to their new networking site at http://dvmission.ning.com/

So go on, do it now. Both the site and the competition look great.

I had a one2one with, bizarrely, two, top local scripity filmy peeps, the aforementioned Steve Bowles and the lovely Susan Beckett from City Eye, who offered me their sagely advice but unfortunately no dosh.

Rounded it all up with a quiet beer and noisy chat about the perceived state of the film industry and the slim chances of selling a new spec script, in the pub over the road.

Nice.

Wednesday 11 March 2009

(134) Shakespeare, Hot Hunk: Bunk or Junk?

Shakespeare's Hot Glamour Shot Revealed!

"Tis just what I sought for my Facebook homepage or what I ought to have grace the drop of the back stage" the Bard said last night...er...via Thora Spectre, medium to the stars.



The portrait, unveiled yesterday at a press conference in London, shows a Hunky Shakespeare with an aquiline nose and a dark, thick head of hair.
A bit of "a pinup" as Shakespeare historian Stanley Wells told the New York Times.

Some Historians claim the rendering might be the only known portrait painted during the playwright's lifetime, and was painted only a few years before his death.

It was amongst a rich Irish family's art collection for nearly 300 years and was given to them by a literary patron of Shakespeare's. Some scholars at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which is showing the painting at an exhibit in April, claim that patron was his lover.

Their press handout gushes:-
"This Shakespeare is handsome and glamorous, so how does this change the way we think about him? And do the painting and provenance tell us more about his sexuality, and possibly about the person to whom the sonnets are addressed?"

So what sayeth you, oh sweet fair maidens of scribesville?

Real Shakey: Hunk, Bunk or Junk?

Sunday 8 March 2009

(133) Screen South Information Day

I'm going. Are any of you?

Be nice to meet up! I'll be this one on the day as this one is my snazzy fun blog persona. The other being, of course, my assured professional writer bluff. Don't worry, you'll still recognise me as the photo at the top really is me!

They haven't revealed the venue yet, apparently you get an email the day before to keep out undesirables. Yeah, OK, if I sneaked through, so can you.

In their words:-

"Screen South Information Day

**FREE EVENT**

Thursday 12th March, Portsmouth

Screen South will be joined by Sue Beckett from our Network Community partners for Hampshire & Isle of Wight: City Eye.


As well as City Eye board member and award-winning documentary filmmaker Steve Bowles, other contributors to the morning sessions will include Lena Samuels from Wessex Media Group,and Bruce Webb from the Isle of WightFilm Network.

The brand new DV Mission networking website will also be launching, with a screening of the 6 winning 2 minute films!


The day will be led by Screen South Head of Production, Development
and Training Miranda Robinson.

Information Days give an insight into what Screen South do, the RIFE
Open Fund process, along with information on other schemes and funding
available. They also provide the best opportunity to have an informal
one to one session with a Screen South executive. Please remember to
book your one to one when you arrive.

We encourage people in the region who are looking to apply for funding
to attend an information day.

To register free of charge, please submit 25 words or less about your
project/ideas, along with contact details to: info@screensouth.org.


PLACES ARE LIMITED - REGISTER NOW !!!

When you register, venue details and a programme will be emailed to you
a few days before the event."

Monday 2 March 2009

(132) Rebranding

Hi Peeps!

Just a quickie to let you know that following advice from the sagely Piers and Jason I have rebranded my website from the old tongue whistling Commission-Option blah blah blah to the more user friendly moniker of http://garethturpie.synthasite.com/

A tad easier to remember don't-cha think?

It looks better on the biz cards too and helps gets the name "out there" a bit more.

Hope you're all doing well.

Keep writing!