New dimensions – Joined up writing

Training programmes in screenwriting for TV, film and computer games give writers opportunities for work and as Mark Grindle notes, prepares them for the process of developing a screenplay.

There is an apparent sea-change in the provision of screenwriting training initiatives which addresses closely a UK-wide need for more highly skilled, business-savvy screenwriters. The recognition of this need is nothing new: the UK Film Council hoisted screenwriting up the training agenda nearly three years ago. What is new is an increasingly collective approach towards achieving this goal.

Screenwriting courses have proliferated of late. However, listening to the voices of attenders it would seem that courses are not all equal. There is wheat and there is chaff. Some courses are set up, delivered and over before you can say Robert McKee. Others are too expensive. There are further concerns over quality and restricted access to those from the regions. And few courses offer writers any sustained support while they write, or any sense of the actual development processes that a writer might encounter after their training.

The Scottish approach

The main Scottish development agencies (Scottish Screen, Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Enterprise) realised early that if true investment was to be made in developing emergent and established writing talent, a much more strategic approach was required in terms of training and development. Two years ago Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Enterprise commissioned Phil Parker to research the provision of screenwriting training in Scotland and, moreover, to answer the question as to whether there was an actual need for that provision in the first place. The conclusions of the report drew a resounding yes from both writers and industry, the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen then formed a partnership through which the Writers? Factory: Screenwriting Programme, Scotland was born.

Screenwriters often express the need to improve their craft and business skills and further their professional development. It sounds obvious, but without visible, long-term and sustained initiatives, writers generally don?t know where to turn. They have to spend their valuable writing and thinking time, not to mention often limited finances, on winnowing the worthwhile from the worthless.

Sustained support

So what sort of organisation can possibly deliver long-term, visible and sustained support to writers whilst ensuring access to a geographically and socially diverse population? Few organisations have the financial or political wherewithal to deliver anything near these objectives. Put simply the answer is not one organisation but many organisations working in concert. This has become possible because the sound of many voices screaming ?we need better scripts!? is at last being heeded. Gavin Wallace, Head of Literature at the Scottish Arts Council, comments, ?Working in partnership with the leading national agencies has been and continues to be fundamental to the ongoing success of the Writers? Factory. We recognised from the outset that making this significant advance into strategic support for screenwriting wouldn?t have been possible alone. This robust and committed collaboration reflects a mature culture.?

At the Writers? Factory, representatives from key organisations and experienced film and TV writers meet once a month to steer the project. But it is only by keeping the overall objective ? an improvement in the quality and capacity of Scotland?s screenwriting ? clearly in sight, that the whole really starts to become greater than the sum of the parts. It?s not just about money. The real value lies in the preparedness of all of the partners to share experience, perspectives, intelligence and capital with that common goal in mind.

A practical impact

In practical terms this has several implications for the screenwriter. Firstly, the Writers? Factory bursaries offer up to £10,000 to allow screenwriters to travel from Scotland in order to study their craft. The first bursaries were announced in July, sending one writer to the Graduate Screenwriting Programme at Emerson College in Boston, USA and another to EDeN?s Draft Zero scheme in London. They will benefit from an improved national and international perspective as well as developing their craft skills, to ultimately return to work in and from Scotland.
Secondly, the Writers? Factory is setting up Introduction to Screenwriting courses in Scotland. They have been commissioned by the training department of the UK Film Council and are aimed at students participating in adult or continuing education and career development programmes. They are intended to form part of an integrated approach to the provision of basic skills for the audio-visual industries in all parts of the UK.

There are only so many writers needed at any one time in the screen industries. Fast Track, a new initiative, was designed by the Writers? Factory to match industry need to the output of industry-ready talent. The scheme intends to expose intermediate level writers to the actual development agenda of the major broadcasters and games companies in Scotland. To date, this initiative has attracted interest from Scotland?s main broadcasters, SMG, BBC and Channel 4, key players in Scotland?s games industry, and numerous educational establishments with their eye on the pursuit of excellence.

In the audio-visual sector, the vision is clear: the games industry will increasingly need skilled screenwriters, as they will need the games industry. The current problem lies in the lack of a shared craft, working culture and terminology. Through links forged with the School of Computing and Advanced Technologies at the University of Abertay, the aim is to develop and refine the interface between traditional narrative screenwriters and the games industry and, to that end, a common purpose.

Meaningful partnerships

So, we?re holding hands and we?re doing it together. All very nice! Of course, it only takes one partner to lose sight of the overall objective or to seek to control ?the whole? and things go belly up. Questions would then have to be asked as to whether the real needs of the industry were ever a priority at all. But linking and balancing the interests of industry partners, regional screen agencies, the Arts Councils and local enterprise ? let alone UK Film Council, Skillset and the Scottish Industry Skills panel ? to form a real and meaningful partnership, appears to be the soup of the day. Long may it remain on the menu if the UK audio-visual sector is to compete in a global marketplace.

Mark Grindle is Co-ordinator of the Writers? Factory: Screenwriting Programme.
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