Silver Screenwriting

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So by winning The Script Department’s opportune Silver Screenwriting Competition 2009, I’ve been flown to Los Angeles for meetings with Hollywood insiders and won a cool haul of prizes. So here I am – back in the UK, suitcase empty, study area a mess and the script to my left boasting the win in thick bold type – the latter is all I wanted but I ended up getting so much more.

I’ve spent the best part of a year in hibernation writing and rewriting SHIFT, and, whilst script-editors and writer-friends encourage, read and feed back nothing beats the accreditation of placing at competition. Nothing beats the accreditation of winning. Whilst always harbouring a passion for SHIFT I’ve always been aware that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Though employing the tenets of a standard thriller, its narrative hook gives it complexity and, hopefully, depth. It’s labyrinthine and multi-layered and, at times, convoluted but necessarily so. In short – it does itself little favours when presenting itself to readers. But I don’t care. I’ve loved it. I’ve loved writing it. I’ve loved re-writing it. And, up until now that fulfillment was a satisfactory reward.

Due to the time difference, I awaited Julie’s call long after all my colleagues had gone home. I simply expected more questions about my eligibility to be in the competition – why can’t she just email me? So in that regards, being told – “You’ve won.” – pretty much made my year. Seriously – to go back to LA, meet agents, managers…taste root beer (which, for uninitiated, tastes like Coke but with MORE sugar in it) was more than I could have hoped for but exactly what I wanted when I entered the competition.

So what did I take away from LA 2009? That Los Angeles is populated with more generous people than the rest of the world gives it credit for. From Julie and The Script Department going well above and beyond their capacity for hospitality to the writers, agents and executives that took time out of their heavy schedules to read some Japanese-sounding Brit’s ‘metaphysical thriller’ – and from them giving one-to-one advice and support regarding the maintenance of a Hollywood career to the yet-to-break-in writers who I was blessed to befriend at the Screenwriters Expo a few days later. Aside from the airfare, the hotel and the unrivalled access to inner-Hollywood, winning this competition has ensured that I’ve left town with two of the most valuable commodities any career-forging writer and/or director should have – validation and friendship…

…and a Macbook Air, Final Draft 8 and money. In short, I’ve been humbled and I’ve had a blast but now the real work begins. So, till next time, which won’t be long, adios y buena suerte and my thanks to The Silver Screenwriting Competition and Julie Gray.