Festival-ed out?

It is now 48 hours since I returned from the Screenwriters’ Festival (and just over two weeks since the Frankfurt Bookfair, and less than a week before the World Conference of Screenwriters. I have not blogged recently because I have been overdoing the networking. With literally hundreds of meetings (true some are in the queue for Chai Latte or Honey Fluffies (yes that is what I wrote), the meetings still count.

James Schamus of Focus addressing the Screenwriters' Festival

I am trying to make sense of the patterns, of the state of the industry, of the temperature of optimism. Do we wind each other up at these gatherings just by being there, so we feel better about the industry? Many of the speakers are upbeat from the podium, a bit more realistic face to face.

The mood in Cheltenham was definitely positive. Even when an agent (often me) said that they were not actively looking for new writers, there were always a couple who sounded so interesting that the script or book mountain suddenly didn’t seem enormous.

The Film and Television Forum at Frankfurt was more meeting producers than writers; Cheltenham was both and I suspect that the Athens’ World Conference will be more about the politics and rights of writers than about business, though I see there are some producers there so I guess I will look for opportunities. We met with the London Bookfair and Frankfurt Film & TV organisers in Cheltenham to discuss events for the April 2010 London Bookfair.

Film and TV rights selling at the Frankfurt Bookfair

What was so great about Cheltenham was putting carefully prepared information before hundreds of people who seemed to appreciate it. I must check out the audience response sheets as it is so difficult to know what a cross-section of the audience felt. Those that come up to you almost always say nice things. But – as when you get a compliment about a script – you should immediately ask ‘What was wrong with it and what can I do to improve it.’

David Pearson and Kenny MacDonald did an astonishingly wonderful job of organising the Festival. The range and quantity of events and speakers was mind-blowing. They deserve medals and our eternal gratitude. The only shame is that the event is once a year. There is talk about regional one-day events organised as part of the Festival, all over the country.

If they can keep up the quality these, too, are not to be missed. I for one will be back next year (as many of the TwelvePointers posting in the TwelvePoint Forum have confirmed). I may feel daunted at the thought of another journey and so many new people passionate about scriptwriting in a few day’s time; but the adrenaline will kick in and already I am feeling less daunted and not a little bit excited. Bring it on.