writer

What’s been happening?

This year there were a lot of applications made, a lot of writing undertaken, and many ideas put out there. From that were returned some opportunities that have proved really valuable.

EIFF Talent Lab

In August I was selected as one of the participants in the Edinburgh Int. Film Festival Talent Lab. Over the course of two weekends together we heard from industry professionals, drawn from writing, directing, producing, casting. It was intensive and it felt like I learned more about the film industry in those two weekends than I have all year. Really lucky and grateful to have been a part of it.

The full participant list:

Roisin Agnew, Catriona McNicoll, Morna Pearson, Dipo Baruwa-Etti, Mike Callaghan, Eleanor Capaldi, Toby Fell-Holden, Rebekah Fortune, Sarah Grant, Jack King, Josephine Lohoar Self, Ciaran Lyons, Razan Madhoon, Iqbal Mohammed, Eric Romero, Victoria Thomas, Reece Cargan, Chloe Chudasama, Emily Everdee, Rachel Gold, Jamie MacDonald, Nick Rowell, Annika Ranin, Sanam Soleimany

EIFF Talent Lab Participants 2021

New Talent Mentorship

I was lucky enough to be selected for the Glasgow Film Festival’s New Talent Mentorship programme, paired with filmmaker Siri Rødnes (Take Your Partners, Shetland). Over the next 6 months there will be an opportunity to develop my writing, learn more about the industry and find out any useful advice and support that Siri can give. When everything still feels so new and opaque in places, a bit of a guidance through it all is very welcome.

Thanks to Emma and all colleagues at GFF for this opportunity, and to MUBI, in association with ScreenSkills as part of the BFI Future Film Skills Programme, using Funds from the National Lottery.

Full mentee list: Eleanor Capaldi, Alice Cornelia, Bjorn Hanson, Jennifer Heaton, Catriona MacLeod, Paul Sng, Joanne Thomson, Scar Ward.

Round up

Through 2020 – 2021 I’ve been mostly trying to get through this wild ride of the pandemic like everyone else, focusing on writing rather than production for the moment. My last short from the before times, Glue, was nominated for Best of British at Queer Vision Film Festival, in association with Iris Prize and Encounters Film Fest in 2020. Having been accepted into Roze FilmDagen fest in 2020 it received an in person screening in the Netherlands this year. You can see the trailer below.

I’ve been taking part in story development workshops with GMAC, which has provided opportunity to explore ideas and try things out. I was admitted to the RADA Summer Course ‘Taking Text Apart’, which gave me the chance to approach writing from a different perspective and spend some time with Beckett, Checkhov, and Shakespeare.

Thinking of heading into the New Year, while there is most of the mentorship still to go, various opportunities to apply for and numerous ideas in the works, the pandemic has reinforced a sense of wariness, as there’s so much uncertainty. That said, all being well, I’m going to keep working on it all, and hopefully have something to show.

There are lots of people who help you along the way, even at this fledgling stage, and for anyone who’s read a draft, given me feedback, encouraged me when I wondered what on earth I’m doing (and why!) – thanks.

Take care, rest well.

Image Credit: Reflection Room by Flynn Talbot. Photo by E Sumner

Pencilled In

My submission to the University of Aberdeen’s Book Week Scotland Flash Fiction competition.

———

The blankness was intimidating. White vastness like untouched snow. Not a mark, an indentation, or a print. Except for her. This was square one. Of how many squares there might be she didn’t know. She hadn’t seen any others.

She looked at the shadows and lights of her arms and used them as a guide. A drawing from life, still. Finger outstretched, she daubed graphite liberally in front of her. Softly edging out fine lines in a pattern, cross-hatching. This would create the wall. The scale of it made her nervous, but false confidence took hold. It was better than none.

She began to push the lead into the paper with increasing force. When removed to create highlights it would leave a starker contrast. The background had to be not just dark, but like the midnight hours. As if you had your eyes closed with your hand on top too. Her arm was moving quicker and quicker against the resistance of the paper, when it moved. Jolted right in front of her. She froze immediately.

Deliberately slowing down she resumed with conscious care. A crease in the newly drawn wall was throwing the evenness of her lines off. With some more shading in exactly the correct place perhaps she could trick the eyes. Peering very closely, finger all that was separating her nose from patterns in rows, she pushed. It was one push too far, the weakened structure broke, a rip taking a trajectory of its own accord, rapidly splitting all the way down to the ground. Through the space, a solitary eye blinked directly into hers. “I think I’m your neighbour. I drew the square next door?” Like lifting up a bedraggled, loose piece of wallpaper she pulled the paper away and saw a stick drawing in their own line drawn home. Their uncomplicated circle face with oval eyes containing another circle each, and dots for the pupils, nodded her in. She stepped through the paper, careful not to smudge any of herself on either of their designs.

They showed her round, pointing out the garden, sharing ideas, and patterns. They were taken aback at her own appearance. She had worked on herself before her surroundings, creating more depth and detail, practising. Then she had turned outwards, drawing whatever felt right and true. “I’m more words than drawings,” they said. Smiling sympathetically to themselves. They handed her a book. “I wrote that. All from my own imagination.” She gladly took it. She had never seen a book before, and didn’t know what it would contain or if she could make sense of it. Slipping back through the tear in the wall, both agreed to keep it there until she had made her own door and outside, to see if she could get round that way. Until then, she would leave a small gap in the paper rip.

She rocked herself in her newly drawn chair. Ankles rotating in gentle motion, she set out to discover her book.

The story was inspired by the image above, ‘Wood cut ‘October’ by Eric Ravilious from Almanack 1929 Watt 686 209 Lan a