November 2003 | Screenwriters Lab
Feature Films from a Documentary Source
+ 2 follow-up Labs
This Screenwriters Lab focused on the making of feature film scripts from documentary sources. It drew participants from a diverse range of backgrounds including China, Sudan, Lithuania and Israel. Among the many talented writers at the Lab was Andrea Arnold, soon to be an Oscar-winner.
“My project was at a very early stage and I didn’t know how it would move on but I found in this environment it flourished. By the time I’d left I felt like I had very clear idea of what its emotional core was, who the central characters were, written the first act and had a plan to write the rest of it.” Andrea Arnold
Another participant was award winning documentary filmmaker Sean McAllister,
As a documentary film maker I have been struggling at making the transition to fiction film writing so the Lab for me was literally a breath of fresh air, a creative boost and a chance to share my idea with others after months of sitting at a blank screen. There simply isn’t anywhere (that I know of in the industry) to help with this transition in the way that I’m trying to make it. I know so many people that would cherish the intense creative experience.” Sean McAllister
Mentor Howard Dratch described the Lab as
“one of the finest experiences, both personally and professionally, I’ve ever had”.
Lab director
Corinne Cartier
Lab mentors
Howard Dratch - writer
Gavin MacFadyen - documentary producer/director
Hettie Macdonald - director
Roger Smith – writer
Lab participants
Rukhsana Ahmad - writer
Andrea Arnold - writer
Samina Baig – writer
Camilla Bray – Lab co-ordinator
Peter Domankiewicz – writer
Mena Fombo – Lab runner
Peter Gilpin – Lab chef
Ben Gooder – writer
Lyndsey Marshal - actor
Sean McAllister – writer
Chris McQuarry – actor
Andrew Rajan - actor
Gabriel Range – writer
Mark Rice-Oxley - actor
Jonathan Ruffle - writer
Leila Sansour – writer
Mia Soteriou – actor
Guest speakers
Peter Berry - writer
Ruth Caleb – executive producer
Kevin Macdonald - director
Nicholas Lom - lawyer
Visitors
Nicholas Bingham - PAL Trustee
Matthieu de Braconier – producer, The Bureau
Brock Norman Brock – Production Development Executive, UK Film Council
Robert Cheek - Head of Development & Production, The First Film Company
Elinor Day – producer, The Light Club
Shaun Dunn – producer, The Light Club
Martin Freeth – PAL supporter
Britt Harrison -Head of Development, World Productions
Luc Roeg -Director, AIN
James Lee - producer
Kevin Loader – producer, Free Range Films
Ivana MacKinnon -story editor, Celador Films
Rebecca O’Brien -producer, Sixteen Films
Nik Powell - Director, National Film and TV School
Roger Randall-Cutler - Company Director, The First Film Company
Colin Vaines – Head of Development, Miramax and PAL Trustee
Funded by
UK Film Council
Sony Pictures Entertainment (Columbia Tristar Film Distributors International)
Final Draft Inc
