When Women and Hollywood Came to London

By Hannah Billingham

A version of this article was originally published on Women and Hollywood, following founder and editor Melissa Silverstein's visit to the UK, earlier this month. 

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I work in script development in the UK, and am increasingly frustrated, infuriated and worried by the portrayal – or lack thereof - of women in film and TV.

Readers of Women and Hollywood are all too aware that the female half of the human race is perpetually presented in limited – and limiting – roles; in a sexualised, trivialised, passive and often unrecognisable manner. Or just written out of history - or the story – altogether; our experiences denied value. We know that this is a global problem, and an unquestionably damaging one at that. And we know how it has a very real impact on the way women and girls are perceived, and our subsequent status in the real world, and that this affects all of us - women, men, girls and boys - and our relationships.

Key to the problem is whose stories get to be told. The statistics remain pretty much the same, year in, year out. In 2012, on the top 250 domestic grossing films in the US, women comprised 9% of directors, and 18% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers and editors – the latter statistic representing no change from 2011 and an increase of 1 percentage point from 1998. (Factoids.) We may know this. It bears repeating.

Melissa Silverstein’s trip to London felt both timely and necessary – coinciding with this article: Sorry,Girls: ‘It will take about 700 years for women to be equal to men in Hollywood films’. Reading this, it would be understandable to give up at this point. It is tiring to have to constantly face and fight this – and, sometimes, overwhelmingly depressing. But fight we must. And who better to lead the charge… Cue then, the impassioned Melissa, with three events to refuel the fire:

- An inspiring panel, chaired by Melissa, in celebration of her book, In Her Voice: Women Directors Talk Directing. This was hosted by Women in Film and Television (UK) and Birds Eye View, and featured filmmakers Gurinder Chadha (Bend it Like Beckham, Bhaji on the Beach), Beadie Finzi (Only When I Dance), Tina Gharavi (I Am Nasrine), Shamim Sarif (The House of Tomorrow, I Can't Think Straight) and Susanna White (Generation Kill, Nanny McPhee Returns). The goal of Melissa’s book is to “normalise women’s voices as directors”. It was refreshing and encouraging to hear from such a strong and diverse panel of female filmmakers. A second volume of the book is in the offing.

- An illuminating presentation, giving an overview of the status of women and Hollywood in 2013, covering current statistics, looking at how Hollywood works, and interrogating how women do or don't fit into the current Hollywood construct. This was hosted by Women in Film and Television (UK) and Directors UK. 

- A night of networking, which I co-organised (as an extended-invite In Development meet-up), and for which we had an overwhelming response, resulting in a room packed full of talented, international women – and supportive, forward-thinking, very welcome men. Connections were forged, that will hopefully lead to future creative collaborations. Thank you to everyone who joined us. What an incredible night!

There is a definite appetite here - a desire for change. The industry has become predictable, safe and ultimately boring. The same old stories are regurgitated, when there are so many more interesting ones that are left untold. This is a travesty.

This sexism is seemingly now just accepted - because it was ever thus, because people don’t see the inherent problem. And because we’re sick of pointing it out, and tired of feeling like the lone voice. Last week’s Women and Hollywood events felt powerful. As a gender, we have a collective power we possibly don’t always realise.

We can send huge message by supporting women-centric films, pushing forward with our own projects and staying away from films which belittle, alienate, offend, mock or airbrush us out of existence. Women buy HALF of movie tickets sold - and this is something the industry needs to remember.

Thanks again to Melissa, for coming to London, setting the wheels in motion and reigniting that fire. The work of Women and Hollywood is greatly appreciated. Sometimes we need to be reminded that it is in all of us to effect change. Crucial to this is knowing that other people feel the same way.

Thanks too for reminding us that:

Our voices. Our stories. Our experiences. They matter.

If you are based in London, or other parts of the UK, and would be interested in female-focused future gatherings, I am in the process of organising these (outside of the usual In Development meet-ups), and would love to hear from you. You can email me here: londonfilmwomen@gmail.com

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Photos thanks to Jeremiah Quinn 

September Drinks with Angeli Macfarlane

 

 A huge thank you to Angeli Macfarlane, September’s special guest, for another great night of In Development drinks.

Head of Development at Altered Image, and a particularly insightful script editor, Angeli has recently worked on films including THE GUARD (John McDonagh), I AM SLAVE (Gabriel Range) and JUNKHEARTS (Tinge Krishnan). She previously worked with new filmmakers at Pathé, Film4 and the First Film Foundation; works internationally on features in English, French and Italian; and has lectured in screenwriting and film and television development in Europe, the Middle East and Australia.

Known to many of us through her brilliant training on the Script Factory and National Film and Television School's Diploma in Script Development, it was lovely to catch up, and hear her many words of wisdom about development, screenwriting and filmmaking. It was also great to meet some new members. Thanks to everyone, both ‘old’ and new, for coming along!

And on the subject of new members, last month marked the NFTS’s launch of the Script Development Diploma, as sole managers of the course, with a brand new intake of students.

To celebrate the ongoing success of this training – and because we’ve had him in mind as a special guest since we started In Development! – we’ll be joined for our October drinks by prolific producer, and Director of the National Film and Television School, Nik Powell. We hope this year’s class can join us!

From setting up Virgin Records with Richard Branson in the early 1970s, Nik made the move into the film industry and was Executive Producer and Producer on films including THE COMPANY OF WOLVES, MONA LISA, THE CRYING GAME, CALENDAR GIRLS, BACKBEAT, TWENTY FOUR SEVEN, LITTLE VOICE and LADIES IN LAVENDER. He is currently chairman of the BAFTA film committee. You can read more about him here.

Anyone who has ever met Nik knows he has lots of stories to tell, so this is set to be a great night. Invites are on the way.

If you work in drama or comedy development (at all levels), and would like to join us at this event, or our future monthly drinks, you are very welcome! Please do get in touch to be added to our mailing list.

Hannah and Sarah x

Summer Drinks - Chris Jones and Justin Edgar

July and August brought another two entertaining evenings of In Development drinks, with guests Chris Jones and Justin Edgar. Chris shared the inside scoop on his latest project, 50 Kisses, and plans for the London Screenwriters' Festival 2012; as well as answering numerous questions about his Oscar shortlisted film, Gone Fishing, the now legendary Guerilla Film Makers' Handbook, and his other filmmaking experiences so far. It was great to have the man who's always on the move sit down with us for a few relaxed hours of chat! 

Another filmmaker with lots on the go, Justin shared news of his latest feature film, teen comedy We are the Freaks (which is currently in post-production); as well as insights from his experience as a director, writer and producer with his company 104 Films, and news of his upcoming projects. 

 
Chris and Justin both attracted a great crowd on their respective nights, of people with a fascinating range of experiences; all with projects in various stages, as developers, producers, directors or writers. There was the usual great buzz, as news, contacts and information were shared, and old and new friends and colleagues caught up.


Many thanks again to both guests for joining us and everyone who came along. We look forward to seeing many of you again this month, when a very experienced script editor will be joining us as our featured guest: the brilliant Angeli Macfarlane. You can see her full biography on our profiles page. Cheers! 

Updates, Upcoming Guests and Another Member Offer!

It’s been a busy few months, and, while we may have neglected our blogging duties somewhat, we haven’t forgotten you, our dear In Development members. Rest assured of that.

We have a line up of yet more great guests joining us for drinks over the coming months. More on them in a moment, but first, a huge thank you to our June special guest, Marilyn Milgrom.

Fresh from a four-year stint as Head of Development at the New Zealand Film Commission, Marilyn fit us into her packed schedule of script consulting for the likes of the BFI’s Film Fund, the European producers’ workshop and network, ACE, and the Warsaw-based EKRAN Workshop; as well working on her own projects and tutoring.

Many of us got our first introduction to script reading and development through Marilyn’s training, via The Script Factory, so it was lovely to catch up and find out more about what she has been up to. Thanks to everyone who came along.

Coming up over the next few months, our special guests include writer/director, Justin Edgar, whose latest feature film is the 1990-set teen comedy, We Are The Freaks, which Hannah script consulted on. The film stars Michael Smiley (Kill List, Spaced), Rosamund Hanson (This is England, Life’s Too Short), Jamie Blackley (Misfits), Mike Bailey (Skins), Sean Teale (Skins) and Adam Gillen (Fresh Meat), and is currently in post-production. Justin is also a producer, and co-produced the BAFTA nominated Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, starring Andy Serkis. Other producing credits include NFA (No Fixed Abode), which premiered at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Also joining us soon will be Angeli Macfarlane, Head of Development at Altered Image. Angeli has worked in development for over twenty years, starting at the First Film Foundation, where as Deputy Director she associate produced several features including Golden Globe nominated The Flight of the Innocent. She then worked at Pathé UK, running a new writer's scheme, and went to work with Film4 developing films by new directors. Along with Robin Gutch (now Warp-X), she executive produced six short films for Channel 4. More recent films she’s been involved with, as script editor and producer, include Junkhearts, Death of a President, and I Am Slave - which if you haven’t yet seen (and we urge you to) is available to watch on 4OD. Consider it your (very powerful and compelling) homework!

Angeli trained us (and numerous others!) on the National Film and Television School and the Script Factory’s Diploma in Script Development, and has taught (as an external tutor and advisor) at the London Film Academy, the Central School of Speech and Drama, and on the National Film and Television School’s Screenwriting programme.

And July’s guest is Chris Jones, Creative Director of the London Screenwriters’ Festival.

If you’ve read his books or his blog, or heard him speak at seminars or festivals, you’ll know that his enthusiasm, tenacity and “make it happen” drive is infectious. Made famous as author of The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook, and with three micro-budget feature films under his belt, Chris announced his intention to make an Oscar winning short. The resulting film, Gone Fishing, made it to the shortlist stage. He has since turned his experience into a seminar, which, as it turns out, was attended by Rahul Gandotra, who went on to make The Road Home, which Sarah script edited. This film was also Oscar shortlisted. We’ll be very interested to find out more about Chris’s experiences – and uncover the secret to his (and Rahul’s!) Academy near-success.

(Rahul hoped to make it but is sadly unable to join us this month. We are looking forward to having him as our guest at a future date.)

We are also looking forward to finding out more about 50 Kisses, the screenwriting and filmmaking competition launched by Chris, through the London Screenwriters’ Festival, for which In Development member Steven Russell (of Loves Me Not Films & Scripts) is heading up the reading.

Hope you can make it. Invites are on the way!

Hannah and Sarah x

And now for our member offer…

In Development is delighted to let you know that we have kindly been given a group rate for our members to attend the London Screenwriters Festival on 26^th – 28^th October. The festival is Europe's largest professional screenwriters’ event and attracts top script consultants, screenwriters, directors, producers, agents and development executives from around the world. The In Development Group Discount is over 20% off the ticket price (bringing the normal price of £299 down to £234) and until the 31^st July you can spread the cost and pay in four instalments.  Direct any queries to groupsales@londonswf.com. To buy your ticket, either pay outright by clicking on the following link and entering the promotional code: INDEV2012 when buying your ticket or to pay in four instalments just click on this link.

4 Months @ £58.50 per month

END DATE: 31ST JULY

April Drinks with Jon Croker

If you’re a script editor or development person who also writes then April’s featured guest, Jon Croker, is certainly someone to meet. Jon worked for a number of years as Story Editor at the Film Council, on titles including The Iron Lady, Attack The Block and The Woman in Black. However, he was previously a writer too and since leaving the Film Council has made the transition into screenwriting full time. During April, Variety announced Jon as the writer of the sequel to The Woman in Black, (‘the most successful British horror of all time' The Guardian). We thought we’d invite him to join us and share his experiences on the project and how he made this transition.

Jon told us that he was asked to pitch his approach to the sequel, along with other writers, but the fact that he and the producing team were already comfortable discussing the material together in development terms could not have hurt his case. Obviously everyone wants a writer who understands and is adaptable to the development process, so this is potentially an advantage to us two-hat wearing types. 

Jon also told us about an improvised thriller feature he’s been working on recently, In Fear. He was on set each day with the director providing scenarios to actors who had no idea what was going to happen next! He would then work up material that night in reaction to what was improvised. Certainly sounded like good fun, so look out for that.

 

April's drinks brought another packed evening, with an excellent crowd of development folk to chat with. This included our featured guest for March, Jamie Wolpert; script consultant Marilyn Milgrom, recently back from a four year stint as Head of Development at the New Zealand Film Commission; feature film director/producer Neil Thompson of Formosa Films, who just secured SEIS funding to develop another three features; film director/producer Justin Edgar of 104 Films, currently editing his latest feature We Are The Freaks; director/producer Peter Chipping; script consultant Ellin Stein; development producer Steven Russell of Loves Me Not Films; script editor Lauren Cushman; production co-ordinator Laura Park, currently working on the new series of The Thick of It and down from Birmingham, multiple hat wearing, writer/director/producer, Brendan O’Neill of Stickleback Productions, to name but a few. 

At the time of our drinks Jon was already well into the first draft of the sequel, titled; The Woman in Black – Angels of Death. Now he is one of our In Development clan, we hope he has a chance to join us for drinks in the future and look forward to hearing more about  this and other projects. 

Thanks very much to Jon for being April's featured guest – a writer and developer with plenty of experience and insight to share!

Thanks very much also to director/writer Paul Henry for April’s photographs.

NB - As ever, if you'd like to be a featured guest or can introduce us to someone who you feel would make a great featured guest, please do let us know. 

March Drinks with Jamie Wolpert

It was a busy one this March as we welcomed Jamie Wolpert, the new Development Editor at the BFI Film Fund, as our featured guest. 

In Development members took over much of the Soho Theatre Bar, with a possibly record turnout for our first anniversary drinks. 

Jamie chatted with lots of his fellow network members and shared his first month’s experience in the new job, as well as insight into developing and script editing the upcoming Sky Atlantic series Hit & Miss.

As you might expect, the role of Development Editor is a busy one, with a constant pile of scripts to read, applications to assess, development meetings with the great and the good of the industry and a remit to keep an eye out for the upcoming talent.

If you’re planning on submitting a funding application to the BFI, Jamie shared a few observations from his first weeks: They currently receive something like 20-25 first-stage applications a week. Here, you pitch the project, in all its facets, before they request to read the script. Apparently the odds that they’ll request the script are quite good. However, where people tend to trip up at the first hurdle is if the initial application does too little to demonstrate the track record, experience, planning or strategy to suggest the production is viable. Jamie observed this can happen for quite different reasons, sometimes arrogance; ‘Everyone knows me so I don’t need to explain myself’, and sometimes naivety; ‘Here’s my great idea, now you help me make it’. Clearly the BFI Film Fund doesn't have the time or money to run your production for you, so the onus is on the applicant to make a good case for their ability to carry off this particular project.

Once you get to the script request stage, the fall-out rate is obviously higher. According to the BFI Film Fund guidelines, 90% of applications are ultimately unsuccessful. However, if there’s potential in the project, there may be an opportunity for a meeting to discuss it, (even if the ultimate answer on funding is no). It's useful, of course, to put a human face to those assessing applications, get their input and open lines of communication for the future. 

Thanks to Jamie for coming along and sharing these insights. We look forward to welcoming him to future drinks get-togethers, (when he has the chance, amid busy evenings of plays and screenings!).

Onto April’s drinks, and our featured guest is Jon Croker – former Story Editor at the UK Film Council, who's worked on projects including Attack the Block, The Iron Lady and The Woman in Black. Jon is now a full time screenwriter and was just announced in Variety as writer of the sequel to The Woman in Black (currently 'the most successful British horror of all time' The Guardian). He’s joining us to share insights from his experience on this hit project and others and to chat on the subject of moving between feature script editing and screenwriting. Should be another great night! See you there.

(Read more about Jon and Jamie on our profiles page)

The Woman in Black UK Trailer

February Drinks with Lucy Scher

“The secret of making movies is having the strongest possible script.” - Harvey Weinstein

It has been almost sixteen years since The Script Factory first came into existence, and, in that time, the company has been instrumental in promoting the importance of script development in the UK – and internationally - working with writers, developers, producers and distributors, among others; to train, educate, inspire and support the industry.

As Co-Director of the Script Factory, Lucy Scher joined from its earliest days in 1996, arranging performed readings and heading up their development and training programmes. She devised the UK's first ever course for script readers over a decade ago, and her illuminating approach to evaluating screenplays has swept the industry, been taught in countries throughout the world and led to the Script Factory's Diploma in Script Development ("the only comprehensive vocational programme in script development in the UK"), which she heads up in conjunction with the National Film and Television School.

The core of Lucy’s reader training is now available in a book, the highly recommended Reading Screenplays: How to Analyse and Evaluate Film Scripts. We were delighted that Hannah Patterson and Ion Mills from publishers, Kamera Books, joined Lucy to talk about Reading Screenplays; and further discussion was had with Lucy about her work in development and the future of the Script Factory, as the industry landscape evolves. A huge thank you to her! 

Lucy and the Script Factory helped us to launch (and co-hosted our launch party) back in March last year, as In Development originally grew out of our experiences on the Diploma in Script Development. In addition to established developers attending our February drinks, our guests included graduates of the Class of 2012, Paul Bryan and Sophie Mitchell. Congratulations to them and their fellow graduates!

Our March drinks are almost upon us, and this month’s special guest will be Jamie Wolpert, whose development credits include Sky Atlantic’s upcoming Hit & Miss, created by Paul Abbott and written by Sean Conway. Jamie also recently script-edited the tragic demise of Pat Evans (formerly Butcher) on Eastenders, and is the newly appointed Development Editor at the British Film Institute.

With today’s announcement of the appointment of Ben Roberts as the new Director of the BFI’s Film Fund, this is a great time to find out more about what is happening there, so we are very much looking forward to insights from Jamie, in his first month in the job. (And it seems very relevant to note here that Ben did the Script Factory's reader training years ago with Lucy!)

We agree with both Mr Weinstein (a happy sixtieth birthday to him!) and our very own Ms Scher, that it is ultimately all down to a brilliant script - and at In Development our focus remains on both movies and television drama. On that note, here’s the trailer for Hit & Miss, coming to Sky Atlantic in May…