The Writer Bubble

 
For a long while I’ve been going to networking dos for writers. They’re great. Vital, even. Catching up with friends, forming new relationships. Sometimes writers at the same level, sometimes a bit further along the path willing to shine a torch on the road ahead of you, other times writers just starting out to whom you can pass the benefit of your experience thus far.

But hanging out with only writers can in itself be a comfort zone and that’s a one way ticket to Rutsville.



Yes, many of us writers also produce, script edit and get stuff made but we do also need to find dedicated producers that want to work with us, connect with other people in the industry, script editors, TV execs, commissioners.

We need to stop thinking of these people as gate keepers trying to keep us out and more like, well… people. Friends, colleagues that you are going to have a fabulous time working with.

“Oh, I can’t talk to them, I’m only a writer.”

I was very lucky. My ticket to the International Drama Summit at Content London 2016 came to me free as a finalist in the C21 Drama script competition. At nearly £400 it’s not cheap. But getting out of the writer bubble gives you a different perspective on the business and makes it seem less scary and impenetrable.



So began three amazing days of sessions and speakers from across the globe, all about the gogglebox. Many of them were on the creative side – Tony Jordan, Jed Mercurio, Marnie Dickens, Tom Basden and Anna Winger ON THE SAME PANEL!!! - while others were more business-skewed like the session on Drama finance after “Brexit”.

Polly Hill from ITV. Not keeping you out.

And it was a level playing field. No us and them. No green room. Everyone in the business together. No egoes, no “oh, I can’t talk to them, I’m only a writer.” Everyone friendly, good natured and receptive. One minute you’re on the escalator with a showrunner from South Africa, the next you’re chatting in the coffee queue to an American producer with $$$ burning a hole in his pocket, desperate for a good script.

As a writer trying to knock on the door of telly, I came away feeling there ISN’T someone trying to keep us out. Sure, we have to have a certain level of skill and that comes with time and hard work. But if you’ve got stories to tell, people want to hear them.

These are my top tips based on the things I was hearing at C21.

• Don’t be afraid to tell YOUR story. It’s unique to you and that’s what they want. Don’t try and skew it to fit an existing formula. Producers, program makers and ultimately audiences want to be surprised. But whatever you do, tell it with PASSION.
"Avoid the middle at all costs. Go for extremes."
Jane Tranter (Producer, Bad Wolf Productions)

• We all have something to say. The wounds in our lives that we’re trying work through in our writing. Drill down and find yours. Go to the places you don’t want to go within yourself to find what you’re really about. Then write that. 

"If you want to be universal, be specific."

Sarah Phelps (Writer, And Then There Were None)

• “Auteur driven” was on everyone’s lips. They want the next Fleabag – but that doesn’t mean you have to star in it or have your main character talk to the camera (see point 1 above). They want dramas that are so specific to that writer’s voice, experience and worldview. Intimacy and specificity are the key.

"Small, intimate, worthy can still be big in scope.

Universal themes in International Shows."

Sharon Tal Yguado (EVP, Fox Networks Group)

• Think of your audience. Given what’s going on politically it’s clear that great swathes of people feel unrepresented and this applies to TV too. It’s an image of Britain we like to export but not everyone lives in Downton Abbey. Not everyone is middle class and owns their own home. Not every woman is Olivia Coleman. If you’re worried you’ve got nothing to say because you grew up on a housing estate, didn’t get a media degree and you’re not a white heterosexual man, stop worrying and get writing.

"Entertain the people who have been missed out."

Greg Brennan (Producer, Drama Republic)

Above all, the main message from C21 was "Make great content and audiences will come."

Philip is the winner of the C21 Drama Script competition and was mentored for his final pitch by Tony Jordan.