Taking Franco to France

On the Guild website, Edward Windus recounts the experience of taking a script to the 32nd éQuinoxe screenwriters’ workshop.

In October there’s a ping on my computer and I discover I have been selected as one of the eight elite in the advanced section. Another bonus is it is totally free: flights and accommodation in a five-star hotel in Evian, on the French side of Lake Geneva, are generously met by the organisation.

Established, like Moonstone, on the model of the Sundance screenwriters’ labs, the structure of the week-long programme is simplicity itself: each writer gets a one-to-one morning or afternoon session with around half-dozen of the advisors. I’ve worked with a maximum of three story editors on a screenplay, which I found fried my head, so six (or more) diverse points of view is going to be tough; this is why the programme requests second draft scripts. Luckily there’s a lot of champagne, good food, a sauna, Jacuzzi and steam room - in a complex that has hosted Bush, Blair and Zidane - to act as punctuation to the sessions.

Applications are currently open for the 2009 workshops - closing date 15th June 2009. Full details: www.equinoxetbc.fr