She Writes 2010 - Finalist and What's Next

I've mentioned this, but feel I really ought to devote a proper post to the subject.

"Prompted by the remarkable statistic that only 12% of British films are currently written by women, She Writes is aimed specifically at women screenwriters, and aims to change all that. Co-presented by our friends over at Birds Eye View, the programme is being supported by the Skillset Film Skills Fund and Scottish Screen and will run for the next year. The successful participants are a hugely varied group – they include editors, poets, development personnel and actors - and while She Writes is aimed at 'emerging writers', our 10 (8 individual writers and one co-writing team) are all already very much committed to their career as a screenwriter, and all come with impressive drama writing credits and hugely exciting ideas. "

The She Writes participants for 2010 are:
Laura Anne Anderson (me...)
Rosy Barnes
Kate Bingham & Grace Banks
Tracy Brabin
Avril Evans
Sally El Hosaini
Rosanne Flynn
Oonagh Kearney
Rachel Tunnard

The first part of the scheme was a launch party at the Birds Eye View Festival. It was nice to meet everyone else who will be involved, as everyone seems genuinely very nice. The next phase is a residential at the end of April, followed by mentoring, further residentials and masterclasses, actor studios, networking events, and the BEV Festival next year.

I don't enter many schemes or competitions, but She Writes did seem valuable, and I'm so pleased to have been selected. I'm going to work on my gothic horror throughout the scheme, although of course I hope it feeds back into my other screenwriting.

Roll on the end of April!

Birds Eye View

I'm back in Edinburgh now, and rested after my time at the Birds Eye View festival.

There were a few highlights for me. One was meeting my lovely fellow She Writers (more about that tomorrow), one was seeing Fish Tank by Andrea Arnold (so, so good), and the last was getting to see The Adventures of Prince Achmed - a beautiful silent animation, accompanied by a composition by Mira Calix.

I enjoyed the festival a great deal, although the downside of having it spread over a city as large as London is that I couldn't make as many of the events as I would have liked. We are a little spoiled with the EIFF - doesn't take long at all to get from venue to venue in Edinburgh!

Anyway, I feel all nice and inspired now, and want to get back to my writing in earnest...

Also, here's a photo of Gillian Anderson, introducing Fish Tank:

Birds Eye View: first two days

Things have been a little strange so far. I arrived at dinner time on Thursday - the Birds Eye View launch night. Got myself a lovely vegetarian dinner from Tidbits, then strolled along to the ICA with time to spare before the launch party.

Only problem was, of course, that the launch party was going on at the BFI. So, I'm directed towards the BFI, told that my ticket will be waiting there for me. Off I stroll, in the wrong direction, ending up at Westminster (which looks very pretty at night, but there are a lot of dark paths leading the way). Give up on the stroll, get the tube, get lost at the other end (why so many exits for one tube station!), find the venue in the end - 40 minutes late. Hurrah, thinks I, but it was not meant to be. My ticket had been given away - apparently this happens 5 mins before the even starts, so I shouldn't have even tried to make it.

This is what is known as a classic case of 'pulling a Laura.' It's already been repeated - yesterday - when I also missed Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which I'm also furious with myself about. However, I took myself off to an expensive London cinema to see An Education, then made it to the two other BEV events yesterday evening, so all has not been lost.

First up last night was Short Docs, followed by Entre Nos. Within Short Docs, two stood out for me: The Delian Mode, about Delia Derbyshire, early electronic music composer (who performed on the original Doctor Who tune but never received a composition credit due to BBC rules) and Amasan: Women of the Sea, about a group of wonderful Japanese women who 'free dive' for shellfish.

Tonight I'm hoping to see the International Shorts, Amreeka, and The Adventures of Prince Achmed - the first feature length animation ever made, which is going to be accompaied by live music. Cannot wait for this one, actually.

Have only 'networked' with the festival photographer, after I caught her taking photos of my head. I am counting this. Not met any of my fellow She Write-rs yet, and don't think I will until Monday night, or possibly tomorrow. So it's been a bit quiet, but that's ok...

She Writes and the Birds Eye View Festival

I'm sitting on a train to London at the moment, my new(ish) laptop connected to the train's wifi allowing me to blog. The wonders of modern technology, and all that.

I've been listening to The Smiths, watching the sunny, picturesque countryside and reading The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, trying to quell the nervousness that I always feel before Film Festivals. It's not really working.

The Birds Eye View festival will be a completely different experience from the Edinburgh Film Festival - which is the one I know best. At the EIFF, I have a cushion of local knowledge, several friends in attendance, and the fact that I often have mutual contacts with many of the other attendees. I will know nobody at BEV, I don't know the area, and there's no chance that anyone will have heard of me.

Despite my nerves, I know that this is A Good Thing. I will have to talk to people, I will have to make friends, I will have to talk about myself. I will have a miserable weekend if I am silent!

I'm going down as part of the She Writes scheme, which I've somehow been selected as a finalist for. The festival marks the start of the scheme, which will continue through 2010 with residencies, masterclasses, mentoring, etc. I think the official programme launch is Monday night, but I'm going to go down for the start of festival party, then various films and events over the weekend.

I don't know what my web access will be like over the next few days, but I'm going to try and blog from the festival. Failing that, I'll do a round-up on Tuesday, when I'm back.

If you are going to the BEV, do say hello...