Yes, it’s time for my annual “I’m going to start blogging again” post.

Ok, I’m probably not, because my priority is to write scripts, and by and large, throughout 2019, that’s what I’ve been doing.

I wanted to keep myself accountable, so to that end, I took a screenshot of my projects on 5/1/19, and just remembered to do it again today to compare and check my progress.

And I’m pretty pleased with what I’ve done. On 5/1/19, I had six projects on the go: Eleri Evans  (YA feature opening two pages – I have an outline elsewhere); Aunt Cookie’s (tv pilot) The Deal (feature) The Bond (feature) Alien: Evolution (competition short) and Sally (feature).

 

It looks more than six due to needing excerpts for submissions, or where I was debating which way to take the script (e.g. The Deal has two different endings).

To say I’m pleased with how re-writing has gone is an understatement. This is today’s screenshot.

• Goodbye Girl is a short, rewritten from a script I did from my Uni of Kent Writing for Stage and Screen course.
• Serena – previously Sally – is now a long short which I hope to shoot myself.
• Aunt Cookie’s was rewritten and has been submitted to various competitions and gigs.
• Alien: Evolution is a short written for a competition, and is now being rewritten.
• Snitch – previously The Deal – is now a first draft feature with a definitive ending.
• Umbilical – previously The Bond – was rewritten and has been submitted to various competitions and gigs.
• No Exceptions and Brave Face are shorts that came out of Talent Campus, and received Special Commendations from the Four Minute Screenplay Competition. Brave Face is another I’m hoping to shoot myself (along with Goodbye Girl).
• Marrowfat 241 is a speed draft sci-fi feature adapted from a short story  I wrote years ago, and is awaiting rewrites.
• And Eleri Evans is still hanging in there, awaiting her turn!

It’s already gearing up to be a busy opening couple of months, as I was lucky enough to be awarded a bursary from the Oppenheim-Downes Foundation, which is paying for two courses with Raindance.

Across ten weeks from the end of January to the end of March, I’ll be taking a Filmmaker’s Foundation Course and a Producer’s Foundation Course, which I hope will equip me with the skills to make a short film for my charity, The Net Community Hub.

Our aims are to reduce social isolation and put an end to loneliness, and the short film will hopefully raise awareness of these issues, as well as publicise the good work the hub is doing, supported by its volunteering partners, Walderslade Together.

The bonus is that these will also equip me with the skills to make my own films. So I’m raising a glass to 2020 – of gin and tonic, probably (seriously, I was given sooooo much gin for Christmas) – and making this year the big one.