Quest for 'gequality' on stage

A new project, 50:50 Quest For Gequality, is holding meetings in Cardiff on 21st April 2009 and Aberystwyth on 22nd April to explore ways of achieving gender balance on stage.

For more information about the meetings or the project in general contact fiftyfiftygroup@ymail.com

When Spielberg calls

For the Writers Guild of America Foundation, screenwriter Diablo Cody recounts how a call from Stephen Spielberg, before her first script Juno had even gone into production, led to the TV series United States of Tara.

Arts Council funding threat

From Lalayn Baluch in The Stage:

Industry leaders have warned of “disastrous” consequences for the culture sector if Arts Council England is forced to axe up to £14 million of its 2010 government funding package.

Cuts across unprotected government agencies, such as the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, are expected when Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling announces his second budget on April 22.

In expectation that cuts could be passed on from DCMS, the arts council last week announced that it was preparing for three scenarios - a 1.5%, 2.5% or 3% drop in its third and final year of allocated funding for 2010/11, which equates to £7 million, £9.4 million or £14 million.

In The Guardian, Lyn Gardner has blogged on the same subject.

"The arts," declares [Culture Minister, Andy] Burnham," have to live in the real world." I would say that the arts always have lived in the real world — in fact, much more so than the bankers and politicians. Most arts organisations are already nimble, lean, fleet of foot and ingenious. With proper investment, and with schemes to lease to artists the empty premises that are blighting town centres, the arts could play a major part in reviving the economy, and, as I've said before, give people reasons to be cheerful.

Theatre's bright young things

As Michael Billington warns of the danger of theatre succumbing to directors as auteurs, in The Sunday Times, Ed Caesar talks to 22-year-old playwright Polly Stenham and profiles other leading young British playwrights.

“The first play [That Face] was, in many ways, so easy,” she says. “It felt like a massive blag. I wrote it in four months, I only did three or four drafts, and it all happened so quickly.

“With this one [Tusk Tusk], it was so hard to write. It took 18 months, and 17 drafts. It was real blood, sweat and tears. I knew that I wanted to write about siblings, and I knew my characters, but

I didn’t stand back like an older writer would have done, and think, ‘What is the best way of dealing with these people and their situation?’ I just kept running and running at it like a demented pony.”

Disney's research into boys

In The New York Times, Brookes Barnes looks at Disney's new research led by Kelly Peña into what makes boys tick.

Children can already see the results of Ms. Peña’s scrutiny on Disney XD, a new cable channel and Web site (disney.go.com/disneyxd - not available in the UK). It’s no accident, for instance, that the central character on “Aaron Stone” is a mediocre basketball player. Ms. Peña, 45, told producers that boys identify with protagonists who try hard to grow. “Winning isn’t nearly as important to boys as Hollywood thinks,” she said...

In Ms. Peña’s research boys across markets and cultures described the television aimed at them as “purposeless fun” but expressed a strong desire for a new channel that was “fun with a purpose,” Mr. [Rich] Ross [president of Disney Channels Worldwide] said. Hollywood has been thinking of them too narrowly — offering all action or all animation — instead of a more nuanced combination, he added.

Amazon back-tracks on 'adult' books

In the face of widespread protests, online retailer Amazon has re-instated a number of 'adult' titles from its sales rankings that had been removed last week, reports Publisher's Weekly. Books affected apparently included numerous 'gay' titles such as James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room, Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain and Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.

American writers and publisher Mark R. Probst reports that Amazon told him:

In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude "adult" material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.

However, they now claim that it was all a terrible mistake and have offered an apology:

This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection.

It has been misreported that the issue was limited to Gay & Lesbian themed titles – in fact, it impacted 57,310 books in a number of broad categories such as Health, Mind & Body, Reproductive & Sexual Medicine, and Erotica. This problem impacted books not just in the United States but globally. It affected not just sales rank but also had the effect of removing the books from Amazon's main product search.

Many books have now been fixed and we're in the process of fixing the remainder as quickly as possible, and we intend to implement new measures to make this kind of accident less likely to occur in the future.

Update (16 April 09): More on this from blogger Meg Pickard, including the role of Twitter in the controversy.

In classic internet style, the voices of the Twittering community - so keen to call Amazon homophobic or start an immediate boycott or googlebomb just 36 hours ago - aren’t apologising for misunderstanding, or admitting they were wrong to lump a fairly liberal internet bookseller (which, let’s remember, still stocks all sorts of literature to cater for every persuasion) in with the Nazis.

Instead, they’re pouring suspicion and scorn on the explanation, criticising Amazon for not fixing the problem, or allowing it to happen, or speaking up earlier - essentially, blaming Amazon for all their hysteria.

Link courtesy of The Guardian Technology blog.

What Guild members are getting up to

MARTIN ALLEN wrote the episode of Coronation Street going out on ITV1 at 8:30pm on Monday 13th April.

ALAN AYCKBOURN'S radio play Man of the Moment is going out on Radio 4 as part of his 70th birthday celebration at 2:30pm on Saturday 11th April.

PERRIE BALTHAZAR wrote the episode of Hollyoaks going out on C4 at 6:30pm on C4 on Friday 17th April.

ABI BOWN wrote the episode of Holby City "Too Much to Ask" going out on BBC1 at 8:00pm on Tuesday 14th April.

KAREN BROWN'S radio play I'm the Boss is going out on Radio 4 at 9:00pm on Friday 17th April.

RYAN CRAIG wrote the episode of Robin Hood "Lost in Translation" going out on BBC1 at 7:45pm on Saturday 11th April.

ARNOLD EVANS wrote the episode of Doctors "Got the T-Shirt" going out on BBC1 at 1:45pm on Tuesday 14th April.

MATTHEW EVANS wrote the episode of EastEnders going out on BBC1 at 7:30pm on Tuesday 14th April.

DIANA GRIFFITHS'S dramatisation of Therese Raquin is going out on Radio 4 at 3:00pm on Sunday 12th April.

JAYNE HOLLINSON wrote the episode of Coronation Street going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm on Friday 17th April.

DEBBIE HORSFIELD wrote the episode of All the Small Things going out on BBC1 at 9:00pm on Tuesday 14th April.

ROBERT JONES wrote the episode of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency "Beauty and Integrity" going out on BBC1 at 9:00pm on Sunday 12th April.

PETER KERRY wrote the episode of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm on Wednesday 15th April.

DAVID LANE wrote the episode of Coronation Street going out on ITV1 at 7:30pm on Wednesday 15th April.

DAVID NOBBS'S adaptation of What a Carve Up! continues on Radio 4 at 11:30pm from Monday 13th till Thursday 16th April.

JESSE O'MAHONEY wrote the episode of Hollyoaks going out on C4 at 6:30pm on Thursday 16th April.

LYN PAPADOPOULOS wrote the episode of Hollyoaks going out on C4 at 6:30pm on Monday 13th April.

JULIE PARSONS wrote the episode of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm on Friday 17th April.

GILLIAN RICHMOND wrote the episodes of EastEnders going out on BBC1 at 7:30pm on Thursday 16th and at 8:00pm on Friday 17thApril.

ADAM ROLSTON'S debut play, A Sentimental Journey. The Story of Doris Day, a stage musical based on the life and songs of Doris Day has had its full professional premiere run at The Mill at Sonning Dinner Theatre in Berkshire. It has run for six weeks from February 25th and will run for a further two weeks until April 19th.

DAVID STAFFORD co-wrote the episode of Hazelbeach going out on Radio 4 at 11:30am on Monday 13th April.

CHRIS THOMPSON wrote the episode of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm on Thursday 16th April.

NICK WARBURTON'S radio play series Witness: Five Plays from the Gospel of Luke
concludes with "Beginnings" going out on Radio 4 at 2:15pm on Tuesday 14th April.

Mark Wilkinson wins Red Planet Prize

Congratulations to Mark Wilkinson whose script Ropes has won this year's Red Planet Prize, run by Tony Jordan's Red Planet Pictures.

Mark won £5,000 and a script commission from Red Planet.

Choose What You Read

In The Financial Times, screenwriter and one-time Guild employee Claire Wilson explains how she and some friends decided to challenge the tyranny of the freesheets with Choose What You Read.

It’s quite sad to get on the tube and see the whole carriage reading the same paper. I remember when the novel White Teeth by Zadie Smith came out – everyone was reading that. You could pretty much read the whole book over a few weeks just by looking over somebody’s shoulder. That hasn’t happened for a long time. You never see everyone reading the new Booker winner, because they’re all reading Metro. We’re missing out on so much.

You can find out more from the Choose What You Read Facebook Group.

Mike Leigh's early work

In The Daily Telegraph, writer-director Mike Leigh talks about his first films for TV.

The weather was particularly uncooperative during the [Nuts In May] shoot, he recalls. “There was one scene where the couple are meant to get caught in a serious rainstorm in Lulworth Cove and, of course, whenever we wanted to shoot it it was really lovely weather. So we’re definitely not at Lulworth Cove here.”

Writing scene description with John August

On his blog, American screenwriter John August has posted a video tutorial, "Writing better scene description":

Sony Radio Awards shortlists

Another day, another awards announcement - this time for the Sony Radio Academy Awards 2009.

In contention for The Drama Award are:

• Cavalry - By Dan Rebellato (BBC Radio Drama for Radio 4)
• Goldfish Girl - By Peter Souter (BBC Radio Drama for Radio 4)
• Mr Larkin's Awkward Day - By Chris Harrald (BBC Radio Drama for Radio 4)
• The Color Purple - By Pat Cumper from the novel by Alice Walker (BBC Radio Drama for Radio 4)
• The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists – By Andrew Lynch from the novel by Robert Tressell (Above the Title & Woolyback Productions for BBC Radio 4)
  

Shortlisted for the Comedy Award are:

• 606 with Danny Baker - Campbell Davison Media for BBC Radio 5 live
• Adam and Joe - BBC Audio & Music for 6 Music
• Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! - Komedia Entertainment & Smooth Operations for BBC Radio 4
• Miranda Hart's Joke Shop - BBC Radio Comedy for Radio 2
• The Now Show - BBC Radio Comedy for Radio 4

The awards will be presented in London on 11 May.

BAFTA Craft Awards

Short-lists for the BAFTA Craft Awards have been announced. In the Writer category it's between:

• Sam Bain, Jesse Armstrong (Peep Show)
• Simon Block (The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall)
• Russell T Davies (Doctor Who - Midnight)
• Peter Moffat (Criminal Justice)

In addition, two writers have been nominated in the Breathrough Talent category:

• Charlie Brooker (Dead Set)
• Tony Saint (Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley)
  

As you can see from the poll (right), Doctor Who won the vote for Best Drama Series from readers of this blog. I've now put up a poll for the Best Writer...

Josh Schwartz's new web drama

Last month Josh Schwartz, the man who created The OC, launched his latest series, Rockville CA, online. Unfortunately it goes out on thewb.com which is not available in the UK but there is a preview on YouTube (above).

In The New York Times, Schwartz spoke to Ari Karpel about the show.

Warner Brothers is hoping the duo can grab the attention of the coveted female 18-to-34 demographic in particular. The studio allowed them a creative freedom not typically given to producers at the network level.

“They said, ‘Here’s what your budget is, here’s how many episodes we’d like,’ ” Mr. Schwartz said. “I gave them a rough shape of what the show would be, and then we got to go discover it, cast who we wanted to cast and write the scripts without notes.”

The bite-size episodes presented Mr. Schwartz with a new challenge. “It’s not like you’re doing an hourlong soap where people are dying,” he said. “It’s smaller. Part of the excitement of doing it was figuring out how to tell stories in this format. It’s less incident-driven and more observational.”

The New York Times also has a round-up of some of the highest profile web series so far.

Five Minutes Of Heaven

If you saw Five Minutes Of Heaven on BBC Two last night, a reminder that there's an interview with the writer, Guy Hibbert, on the Writers' Guild website.

If you missed the drama (starring Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel) you can watch it for the next seven days on BBC iPlayer.

What Guild members are getting up to

PAUL ABBOTT has just signed a three-year, first-look distribution deal with FremantleMedia Enterprises and his new company, Abbott Vision. Paul said that FME's approach to project development was "spot on." He said: "Too many industry people are reacting to the economic situation by diving for their emergency media survival manuals. That's the opposite of where I stand. It's wrong, it's destructive and it will force creative talent into a tailspin. We should all be investing in imagination now. It's a lot more fun and it's the only credible asset that can rescue the screen drama industry."

SIMON J. ASHFORD wrote the episode of Robin Hood "Cause and Effect" going out on BBC1 at 6:25pm on Saturday 4th April.

SAMINA BAIG wrote the episode of Holby City "Careful What You Wish For" going out on BBC1 at 8:00pm on Tuesday 7th April.

RICHARD BURKE wrote the episode of Hollyoaks going out on C4 at 6:30pm on Wednesday 8th April.

RICHARD CURTIS wrote and directed the film The Boat that Rocked, now on general release nationwide.

MARY CUTLER wrote the episodes of The Archers going out on Radio 4 at 7:00pm from Monday 6th till Friday 10th April with each episode being repeated at 2:00pm the day following its original release.

HELEN FARRALL wrote the episode of Doctors "One for the Road" going out on BBC1 at 1:45pm on Wednesday 8th April.

RACHEL FLOWERDAY wrote the episode of EastEnders going out on BBC1 at 7:30pm on Thursday 9th April.

JULIA GILBERT wrote the episodes of EastEnders going out on BBC1 at 8:00pm on Monday 6th and at 7:30pm on Tuesday 7th April.

DAWN HARRISON wrote the episode of Doctors "Hole" going out on BBC1 at 1:45pm on Tuesday 7th April.

GUY HIBBERT'S award-winning drama Five Minutes of Heaven is going out on BBC2 at 9:00pm on Sunday 5th April. Starring Liam Neeson and James Nesbit, it explores aspects of Northern Ireland's troubled past.

DEBBIE HORSFIELD wrote the episode of All the Small Things going out on BBC1 at 9:00pm on Tuesday 7th April.

STEVE HUGHES wrote the episode of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm on Thursday 9th April.

ROBERT JONES wrote the episode of The No. 1 Detective Agency "Problems in Moral Philosophy" going out on BBC1 at 9:00pm on Sunday 5th April.

MIKE LEIGH: The BBC Collection DVD boxset will be released on 6 April. In six DVDs it contains all of the BBC's surviving Mike Leigh works, from 1973's Hard Labour to the Long Goodbye in 2000 , including classics like Abigail's Party, Nuts In May and Grown-Ups. It includes his own director's commentaries, a booklet, documentaries and a few rarely-seen short films from 1975.

BILL LYONS wrote the episode of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm on Tuesday 7th April.

DAVID MCDERMOTT wrote the episode of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm on Wednesday 8th April.

DAVID NOBBS'S adaptation of What a Carve Up! begins on Radio 4 at 11:30pm on Monday 6th April.

JESSE O'MAHONEY wrote the episode of Hollyoaks going out on C4 at 6:30pm on Monday 6th April.

DAVID STAFFORD co-wrote the episode of Hazelbeach going out on Radio 4 at 11:30am on Monday 6th April.

CHRIS THOMPSON wrote the episode of Emmerdale going out on ITV1 at 7:00pm on Monday 6th April.

JOE TURNER wrote the episodes of Coronation Street going out on ITV1 at 7:30pm and 8:30pm on Friday 10th April.

NICK WARBURTON'S radio series Witness: Five Plays from the Gospel of Luke continues on Radio 4 with Jerusalem going out at 2:15pm on Tuesday 7th and Tested on Thursday 9th April.

PETER WHALLEY wrote the episodes of Coronation Street going out on ITV1 at 8:30pm on Monday 6th and at 7:30pm on Wednesday 8th April.

BBC drama wishlist

Further to a similar piece earlier this month, BBC TV drama commissioning controller, Ben Stephenson, has been telling Broadcast about his wishlist for new dramas across all four channels. For example:

"We are going to evolve what we do on BBC2 a little bit [with dramas that are] author-led, ideas-driven and entertaining. What am I looking for? I like the word saga - something that takes a number of characters and follows them over a number of years."

Update (09.36): The BBC has also announced that Anne Mensah is to expand her role to become Head Of Independent Drama.

While remaining Head of Drama, BBC Scotland, her new role will bring together all independent drama output under one cohesive strategy, whilst individual commissioners will retain their own development slates.

Anne will lead a much more co-ordinated approach to all development and commissioning for the independent drama community across BBC Wales, Northern Ireland and London indies (England) as well as Scotland.

GF Newman on TV cops

As The Wire comes to BBC Two (hadn't you heard?!), in the BBC News Magazine, screenwriter G.F. Newman, who created Law And Order in the 1970s, calls for a new wave of British cop shows.

The group I'd most like to see influenced by The Wire is that minority of TV executives which signs off on all commissioning.

As a result they might think it safe at last to venture into similarly murky waters of realism here, rather than relying on imports from the US.

How and by what means we get to that point I don't much mind. That we get there and break out of this non-radicalised, non-politicised straightjacket television writers have been encouraged to wear under a surreptitiously repressive and watchful government, is essential to the very survival of drama on the box.

Guild website and email

There's a technical problem with the Guild website at the moment. Hope to have it fixed soon.

Update (2nd April): Problem with website and Guild office email is ongoing, I'm afraid. Will post here when it's sorted.

16.48: All fixed. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Iain Howe interview

On Gamezine (part one of two), Iain Howe, who wrote Killzone 2, discusses the best ways to combine narrative and gameplay. Part two of the interview is here.

There's a balance between narrative depth and narrative flexibility that has to be maintained. Major characters don't die randomly - their deaths have to be given proper meaning and, in order for the player not to find them uncomfortably jarring, they need proper foreshadowing as well. I'm not sure that a character that can be plucked easily from the story at any point, can actually be defined as being major...

Most 'multi-arc' stories actually branch and then rejoin down the line, creating a much simpler story tree than their name suggests. I'll have to see how the folks making Heavy Rain manage all their narrative arcs and their character arcs and handle having things messed with on the whim of the player before I make any judgement though.

I'm certainly in favour of the idea of dynamic storytelling, but I'm also skeptical about anyone paying the exorbitant cost of creating large sections of game that they know half of the players will never see. Whether players find the upsides overwhelming or not is a question that will be settled in the market place. Success is always emulated.