The year gets better and better

Despite the weather the worlds of film, television and books have settled down very well. 2011 was the best year Blake Friedmann have ever had. We did try to buck the recession by increasing the staff, on the grounds that when the going gets tough you need more muscle if you are selling. This year is following well and this week the book Chris Walker and I wrote - The Insider's Guide to Writing for Television - was published. You can see it on Amazon or at www.crimsonpublishing.co.uk

While no book will make up for a lack of talent, many talented writers fail to build cares because they  don't treat writing like a business. This week, on return for a delightful short break in Nice, I went to the BBC Writers' Festival. This will be my first time there and I was encouraged to hear what the great and good of British television scriptwriters think of the year ahead.

The resounding cry was for integrity in drama, for writers to have something to say and to find the best way of saying it. As an event that actually lasted a little over 24 hours it was relentlessly packed,: I went to 6 sessions on the first day and 4 on the second, with (frankly) not enough time between them to digest the wisdom or network.

However, it was brilliant and I will certainly try to attend again. If you want a similarly packed event the London Screenwriters Festival in October offers the same manic schedule (nearly 100 events in just over 2 days) but many of them are filmed so delegates get to see them even if more time is spent propping up the bar.

While the optimism that tends to shine through events like this (actually Joe Oppenheimer did tell the brutal truth about how hard it is to make a living as a feature film writer, which is why Chris and I wrote a book about getting work in television) is warming, there is not that much work around and writers need to be flexible, looking at prose as well as transmedia. If you cant get to LA in October for Storyworld (I will report back from there) then try Power to the Pixel in London or Story Drive in Frankfurt.

Comments

[Mark Naeem]

Hi,

I don't know from where i should start .

I'm Mark Naeem / 17 years old / from Egypt .

and I have a sci-fi movie story.

It's copyrighted here in Egypt for me .

i talked to FOX to buy it but they refused because i need to have a submit by a literary agent .

So,

Please, YOU can help me.

Please, Help me !

Please, I know YOU will help me .

and i will give YOU all your fees after selling the movie story.

Sorry for wasting YOUR precious time !
and Thank YOU for caring and reading !