Talent Escalator Programs
targeted initiatives

WRESTLING THE REDRAFT: A DEVELOPERS Workshop

Presented by Screen Australia & The Script Factory

An offer exclusively for Script Factory: Script Developers Initiative alumni,  this two-day course focuses on the challenges of guiding the redraft. It aims to help past Script Factory participants continue to hone their screenplay analysis skills, provide constructive feedback to writers and explore how to effectively manage creative relationships.

The workshop covers aspects of storytelling theory that cause stumbling blocks to both emerging and established writers. It includes practical sessions on screenwriting craft aimed at freeing up creativity, looks at issues such as unorthodox characters and ways to make them empathetic, and considers the most effective approach toward ensuring that the next draft delivers to its best potential.

What is it?

Successful applicants will attend a two-day workshop focused on the challenges of guiding the redraft.

The workshop will run from Thursday 27 October to Friday 28 October 2011 in Sydney.

This initiative is aimed at those whose core professional commitment is to feature film development.

Workshop outline

DAY ONE

Defining the universal conflict
Screenplays are primarily about specific characters in a specific situation, but the films with the most enduring appeal are those that present the characters’ problems as ones that an audience can recognise and relate to from their own experience. This opening session explores how to find the most universal conflict in a dramatic idea so that the audience is personally engaged in what’s at stake. This isn’t necessarily about making a story more commercial but rather ensuring its relevance to the writer’s target audience.

Analysing the material: we’re writing a movie
The initial stages of development are all about finding the best movie in the material. We’ll lay out an approach for determining whether the key elements of the story are in place and whether the current draft is exploiting the strongest aspects of the idea. Most attention will be given to how the story aims to engage the audience: What does the story mean? Does this ring true to a current cinema audience? How are we invited to care about the characters and the outcome?

Cinematic hooks
Continuing with the theme of how to begin your screenplay, this session explores how to give your idea a big screen treatment by borrowing recognisable hooks from cinematic genres. We will also consider how to create external drama in order to reveal even the most intimate internal character journey.

Development notes and the writers’ next steps
Too much feedback (however intelligent and constructive) can be counter-productive, this session considers how to write development notes that don’t overwhelm the writer but provide a useful resource for addressing the next stage of development. We consider how to adapt your style to suit the way each writer works and explore how to offer ongoing support between drafts. In this session we’ll consider useful documents to work on between full redrafts such as treatments, outlines and first act rewrites.
Overnight participants will be invited to read a second draft of a script and prepare feedback to the writer.

DAY TWO

One step forward, two steps back?
What do you do if the next draft is worse? How do you respond when the writer has taken a completely different direction to the one discussed in your development meetings? In this practical session we’ll consider how to respond to a second (and third and fourth!) draft by the same writer; how to keep everyone in the process positive even when progress appears slow; how to ensure that the next draft doesn’t repeat the same problems; and how to help the writer achieve clarity about the project when the woods are in the way of the trees.

Characters to serve the story
Has the writer created the best characters to serve the story? Do we care about those we’re supposed to in the way the writer intended? Are there enough characters or too many to serve the story? Writers spend months with their characters often resulting in characters who are too complex or contradictory for an audience who will only spend 100 minutes getting to know them. A key job for the developer is often to help the writer simplify the journey of the main character without feeling that they have compromised on truthfulness. Conversely, how do you help a writer flesh out an underdeveloped character?

The second act blues
Developers generally prove their worth most when it comes to dealing with the structure of the story. In this session we’ll give particular attention to the second act and how to ensure it remains focused on the dramatic question. Are there clear turning points that reinforce why we are watching this story? Do the stakes build convincingly? Is there the right balance between character development and plot? What else needs to be layered into the idea in order to ensure that there is sufficient material to keep the second act interesting?

Conclusion and questions about going forward.

Workshop preparation

Prior to the workshop participants will be asked to read produced screenplays and watch some films. These will serve as examples that can be referred to in detail throughout the course.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be individuals who have completed the Script Factory: Script Developers Initiative presented by Screen Australia.
  
  
• Applicants must be available to undertake the workshop.
  
  
• Applicants must also meet the general eligibility requirements set out in Screen Australia’s Terms of Trade.

Recipients of Screen Australia Enterprise funding who meet the above criteria are welcome to apply for this program.

Fees

No fees are charged for applications to this program. Participants’ workshop fees will be paid for in full by Screen Australia.

Airfares and accommodation only of up to $800 or $1,000 (for WA applicants) per participant can be claimed (on provision of a valid tax invoice with appropriate receipts attached) for non-Sydney residents who take part in the workshop.

Assessment criteria

Screen Australia will take the following considerations into account when assessing applications for this program:

• The Script Factory: Script Developer’s Initative alumni status of the applicant.
  
  
• The skills, experience and track record of the applicant and his/her ability to undertake the proposed workshop.
  
  
• The applicant’s potential to apply their skills in a practical environment.
  
  
• The professional development benefits for the applicant.
  

Assessment process

Applications will be assessed by a combination of Screen Australia executives and industry specialists as required. Screen Australia will advise applicants of the success or otherwise of their application.

Application materials

Applications must be made using the relevant Screen Australia form, and include all supporting material listed on that form.

[Page created 2 August 2011]