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© Robin Kelly 1997 - 2003
Sue Wilson, Senior Producer
They commission twice a year - March and top up in October. It goes from producer to editor of slot - selection goes to controller.
Slots for plays have got less - there is more competition. The enthusiasm of the producer for the slot is important.
They may have an `artistic policy' which reflects commissions i.e. if there is a season on war.
Listen to the slots. There is a great goodwill towards new writing.
Lot of competition for each slot - contact producer saying `this is my idea, what do you think'.
If you haven't had a slot done then send full script. Give a few ideas on page and she will select one which can be sent for treatment. Will check with the editor of the slot.
You can never give too much information.
Script - ideas led.
* Indicate flooring, size of room, what's happening outside, what time of year, what time of day
* Don't have scenes in same location in a row. It's the variety that interests listener
* Don't end scene 1 with same speaker that begins in scene 2
* Don't write same length of scenes; juxtaposition of lengths is quite important
* Don't write scenes for longer than 10 minutes/10 pages
* Is it clear what's happening?
* How do you know who is speaking?
* Not too many characters in scene
* 30 minutes - 10 scenes or less (27 min, 15 sec)
If you have 30 scenes there's only 15 minutes of dialogue
* Music - budgeting scripts important - with 30 minutes - there's no original score as there isn't the budget
* Actors - due to costs try to limit to: 30 minutes - 8 actors, 60 minutes - 10 actors, 90 - 12 actors.
* What she would like is submissions to be in the form of:
1) Three sentences about play (i.e. this is about an obsession)
2) Three-quarters of a page - outlining narrative - specific about scenes
3) a page of dialogue
* The more action you can put in a play the better
* Plays are selected for review board where it is discussed
* Scripts read at 30 minutes are 5 - 7 minutes longer
* You write to a rhythm
* Radio drama is film without the visuals - to be able to make it work the same way as radio is very difficult. It's only film and radio that can do expensive stunts
* Let your imagination run then it's up to your producer to make that happen
* Adaptation - do as treatment - what is important is understanding source material and doing it in a different way
Bonnie Greer, Writer
* All drama begins in the middle of something, at crisis point. No play starts at the beginning. Radio is more radical than film. Why? Because radio has the ability to create pictures in the mind. You only have the ear and you're pulling people in.
* Mystery is important - who are they, etc. Curiosity - you've got to make people ask `what is it?'
* Words in drama express structure, words are action, if they don't move play then cut it
* Look for emotional/psychological reasons
* It's all structure. Research, etc doesn't make a play.
* What pulls you in, what gets you going
* Drama is naked emotion, it's about people relating to each other at their most naked. We as writers need to know about the person next door. It may take years.
* Drop the characters in a situation and because we know them we want to see how they go.
* Exposition is spread throughout the piece
* Characters don't tell each other everything - See Ayckbourn's beginnings
* Character is a set of actions. It's not what you say, it's what you do. If you know it to be true and you can make it true on the page...
* You've got to know your world as god knows his
* Give them what they want before they want it
* Only put an effect in to advance the story. The human voice is more important.
* Nakedness and simplicity.
* Discover what you are writing i.e. `reconciliation' is my note. Find out what makes you write. Writing from the wound. Anger's not a wound, it's a reaction.
* You write for the really smart people who know it and have been there
* Soap opera = complication but drama = complexity
* When you find your character they will give you your next scene
* Even if it's the funniest thing, if it's not moving the play take it out
* A play is like hurdles - some you clear, some you don't. You don't necessarily have to get to that goal - drama is about the super-objective not the achievement
* Write down all the things characters say about themselves and others say about them
* Leave actors to make decisions and find the role
1: Introduction
2: BBC Birmingham Workshop