From the Film Vic Industry News:

Thoughts from the Feature Film Script Lab

We love supporting writers to develop their craft and create great stories for the screen. Last week we ran a Feature Film Script Lab for Victorian practitioners to develop their projects with the help of local and international mentors including John Sayles, Maggie Renzi and Joe Forte.

Eight projects were selected for development from 75 expressions of interest, and as participants returned to their daily lives we asked them to send us their two favourite things about the lab. Here’s what some of them had to say:

Jonathan auf der Heide
Project: The Alpha Directive

1. Having a two hour session with John Sayles has to be the highlight. He was like a freight train of ideas and I could barely look up from my notepad the whole time. It was so helpful to the script I’m working on and has unlocked a few problems I was having in development.
2. I found each lunch, dinner and breakfast to be a totally inspiring event. The food was great and the participants involved were all so generous with their thoughts and ideas. I’ve never felt so supported and invigorated during a script workshop.

Julie Ryan
Project: They Shoot Hostages, Don’t They?

1. Getting to know John Sayles’ producer Maggi Renzi who is not only knowledgeable about the industry, but very funny and warm
2. Taking off my “organising producer hat” and immersing myself in story for 5 days.

Cameron Cairnes
Project: They Shoot Hostages, Don’t They?

1. Getting mentored by the legendary John Sayles – what a privilege and an honour.
2. Getting to spend quality time with our interstate producer, Julie Ryan – totally invaluable when you’re trying to plan world domination.

Joe Forte, mentor

1. Getting to spend so much time with fellow mentors John Sayles, Maggie Renzi, Jocelyn Moorhouse, Andy Cox and Charlie Carmen, and listening to the way they all think about story, was an incredible privilege. What a brain trust!
2. I am very inspired by the courage of the writers I worked with.  It’s one thing to tackle story, quite another to tackle yourself.  A very intense and wonderful week.

Sandra Sciberras
Project: The Three Lucias

1. The opportunity to spend 12 hours a day for 4 days working solidly with your producer by your side saved months of development time.
2. Working with Jocelyn and Andy as mentors helped tremendously as we move towards a production script. They were different in their approaches but the united direction they believed the script needed to go in made the whole process productive and insightful. No matter how many scripts you write, this type of feedback is priceless.

David Redman
Project: The Three Lucias

1. Getting to spend a solid block of time with the writer / director of our project with invaluable input from the mentors we got to work with.  Normally we meet for an hour or two over coffee every few weeks so this was like a year worth of coffee in one week.
2. Getting to know John Sayles and his producing partner, Maggie Renzi.  Great stories from the trenches from both of them.

John Pace
Project: Yester Damon

1. Imagine the most inspirational shower you’ve ever had. Now make that shower a spa retreat in which you stay for a week. That’s exactly what Film Victoria’s 2012 Script Lab was like.
2. The best part about the 2012 Script Lab is that I went into it with a script but I came out with a film.

Polly Staniford
Project: Yester Damon

1. Focus and Results – Having a whole 5 days to work on one project with one writer. Normally I’m juggling lots of different projects week to week but the development process during the Lab was intensified and incredibly productive by just focusing on the one script. By taking us out of our normal, frantic lives, we made some incredible breakthroughs and have come out the other side with a richer, clearer, stronger and more exciting film.
2. Amazing people, Amazing setting – the calibre of mentors and other filmmaking teams was really inspiring – hearing stories of how mentors got their start and what other writers were working on, both during the official sessions and over lunches and dinners was stimulating, insightful and bonding. So often in development we work in our own little caves and it was great to venture out into the countryside and feel like part of a bigger filmmaking collective – everyone was so generous with their time, their knowledge and their ideas.

Peter Ivan
Project: An Oddball Solution

1. Jocelyn, Joe, John and Maggie. Walking, talking evidence that you can be talented, successful international filmmakers and still be grounded, genuine, caring people. To me, that’s more inspiring that any piece of script advice.
2. Momentum. Our project An Oddball Solution came out of the lab with so much good will and positivity behind it that we’re going into 2013 with renewed energy and determination to make the best film we can.

Brett Cousins:
Project: Breakable

1. I think I left Scriptlab with a larger community of filmmakers around me. I feel like I have created solid ties with other writers and producers that will be invaluable as I continue to establish my career.
2. I was really grateful for the advice of John Sayles and Joe Forte. Their stories were inspiring. Their advice has laid the foundation for an exciting next draft. It’s one thing to have a ‘session’ with writers of this calibre. It’s quite another to hang out with them for 5 days and shoot the breeze. A remarkable and unique experience.

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The lab was a great success thanks to the generosity of our mentors: Charlie Carman, Andy Cox, Jocelyn Moorhouse, Joe Forte, John Sayles and Maggie Renzi. Our thanks to all mentors and participants, and to Screen Australia for their support.

13.12.2012