Dougie Brimson's Blog: A Write Old Life, page 8

Why the film world doesn’t owe you a living.

It is, as many people who work in film and TV will be acutely aware, award season. Or to put it another way, the time of the year when backs are slapped (or stabbed in), careers forged (or destroyed) and fortunes made (or lost. Usually in a sea of creative accounting).

The BAFTA���s, Golden Globes and Oscars are the main ones of course, but the business is awash with them and long may it remain so.

There is however, another side to award season. For it���s the time of the year when the hard done by come out from their hovels and give vent to their offence. And by hard done by, I mean those who claim to have it tough.

The two groups currently whining loudest are female directors and black actors and actresses. Both on account of neither group being represented in the best director or best actor/actress categories at the Oscars. This apparently, is an indication of the sexism and racism which runs rife through the entire industry.

What a load of bollocks.

Here���s a newsflash for you. Working in film and TV is tough, really tough. But it’s tough for everybody be they actor, actress, director or perish the thought, writer. Try being a 56 year old shaven headed heterosexual white bloke and see how many meetings you get at the BBC. Zero, that���s how many.

And here���s another newsflash. No one makes you do it. You made the choice to move into the industry and if it���s not working out for you, dig in and either get better or create your own opportunities. If you do that, you up your chances of it happening for you. That���s how it works. That���s how it���s always worked. And to��be honest, in an industry where talent is king, that���s how it has to work. If you don���t like that, get out. Get out now.

Not just for the sake of your own sanity, but because if you haven’t got the balls to fight that fight or are dependent on either tokenism or a tax-payer funded scheme to get you a job, the industry doesn���t really need you anyway.s

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Speaking of awards, could I just remind everyone that Top Dog has been nominated in the Best Action Film��category at the National Film Awards and that We Still Kill The Old Way is up for all kinds of awards, including��Best Action Film, at The Action Elite Awards.

These awards are voted for by the public (that’s you) so if you’ve seen either movie and enjoyed them, please click on the links and do what needs doing!

I���m also not a little chuffed to tell you that Wings of a Sparrow has been optioned by Trebuchet Film Productions and moves are now underway to raise the finance to make it. All being well, that will happen sooner rather than later!

Finally, if all goes to plan I���ll have another film to announce within a couple of weeks. And it���s a real cracker!

oscar, bafta, emmy, film, independent, screenwriting, author, ebooks, kindle, green street, top dog, writing

The Death of Football.

I am a football fan. This, dear reader, is a well documented fact.

Now to some reading that, it will be natural to assume that if I���m not watching Sky Sports I���ll be trawling the back pages absorbing every fact about every game in every league the world over. Well I have to tell you that this is far from the case. In fact it���s the polar opposite of what I actually do for the truth is, I find the vast majority of football boring as f**k.

You see I am one of those supporters who believe that if their team isn���t playing, it���s not important. For me,�� the great game really does begin and end at Watford FC and if they���re not playing, I have more important things to do than be bothered.

This, in essence, is why I rarely get involved in debates about football related issues. Yes, if something���s causing a stir in the media I might sling out the odd comment on twitter or Facebook and occasionally I���ll even blog about something but in the main, I don���t really care. As I say, if it doesn���t impact on life at Vicarage Road, it���s someone else���s problem. And to be honest, there���s usually enough football related drama going on at Watford to negate the need to get involved in crap going on elsewhere.

Once in a while however, something happens at my club which does demand comment. Today is one of those instances.

To give you a bit of background, over the last couple of decades Vicarage Road had developed a reputation as a ground where the concept of atmosphere was alien. There were no terrace anthems of the ���Keep Right On��� or ���Blue Moon��� variety, singing and banter amongst the home support was, to put it kindly, subdued. Even general crowd noise usually bordered on the safe side of medium. Certainly not enough to upset the patients in the hospital less than 200 yards away. ��

Recently however, a group called the 1881 have sprung up in the home end and things have begun to change. I won���t go into it all in too much detail here but suffice to say, thanks entirely to their efforts, the atmosphere has improved markedly and Vicarage Road is becoming a great place to be on match days.

Pretty much everyone recognises this with even the players frequently pouring compliments upon the fans and in particular the 1881 and with things going well on the pitch as well, you���d think everyone would be happy. You’d think that, but it is apparently not the case. For this morning a letter appeared in the Watford Observer from a gentleman called Ken Connelly.

From what anyone can gather, Ken sits in the same section as the 1881 and he is not pleased. He is not pleased at all.��This is that letter.

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Now I���m not going to attack Ken personally for what he’s written because he is of course, entitled to his own opinion and strictly speaking, he is absolutely correct. It is indeed illegal to stand at football grounds in this country.

However, aside from lining himself up for what I���m guessing will be a legendary piss taking at the game tomorrow, what he has done is underline one of my biggest gripes about modern football and that is the issue of designated seating.

I understand the case for it, I really do. But that case is based on a history which is no longer relevant in the vast majority of grounds in this country. As a consequence, it has now become the key factor on the demise of the traditional atmosphere at games as well as the main cause of the majority of arguments I���ve seen at Vicarage Road this season.

If there���s anything more annoying than the sight of people wandering up and down at 3.05 with their tickets in their hand looking for ���their��� seat I can���t imagine what it is. And what���s most annoying about it is that it���s entirely avoidable.

In fact if we are ever to see a return to the safe standing that so many are demanding, designated seating would almost certainly have to be scrapped anyway so why not do it now? Not only would it allow us to sit where we like but it would allow people like Ken to get up and legally move if something or someone was bothering them.

Football grounds are not theatres and crowds are not audiences. For too long now clubs have failed to grasp that simple concept and that has to change.

Because if people like Ken Connelly are allowed to hold sway over the wishes of the majority, football as we know and love it will finally be killed off.

If you don���t know, Top Dog has been nominated in the ���Best Action��� category at the National Film Awards which will be held at the end of February.

This is a real boost for the film but we need votes! So if you watched the film and enjoyed it, please click on this link and vote!

In other news, I���m currently in the middle of negotiations for options on two new screenplays and all being well, I���ll have these tied up next week so will be able to pass on details fairly soon (although I will tell you that one of them is the adaptation of my football comedy, Wings of a Sparrow).

green street, top dog, we still kill the old way, danny dyer, elijah wood, leo gregory, script, screenwriter, author, independent film, self publishing, ebooks, dvd, hooligan, gang violence

 

5 reasons why I love writing for older actors.

I shall, from the outset, put my cards on the table and say that I am, at least numerically speaking, old. ������I don���t feel old mind, and I certainly don���t act it. But it is fair to say that at 56 I���m much closer to my closing scene than I am to the opening act.

The reason I mention this is because for fairly obvious reasons, my age impacts on my writing output. Rule number two in Doug���s Guide To Writing is ���write what you know��� and since I know more about being a male over 50 in 2015 than I do about being a teenage lad in 2015, my central characters tend to be older and I hope, more realistic. There will after all, be a part of me in all of them.

Thankfully, this is working to my advantage. We Still Kill The Old Way for example, is clearly receiving more press than most of its contemporaries because of the age of the main cast which is great for me, the film and the actors involved. Most of whom are actually older than I am, which leads me nicely into the central reason for this blog.

You see generally speaking, when I start thinking about a project, be it book or film, one of the first things I consider is who is going to read or watch it. But recently, when it comes to screenplays, I���ve also been thinking about something else, who I can cast. ������And so with that in mind, what follows are 5 reasons why these days I prefer writing for older actors.

Choice – We have a huge untapped source of talent in this country and it isn���t lurking in acting classes or talent schools, it���s working in small theatres or sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring. Sad for them but great for writers like me when you’re working on something and putting together a dream cast because you know that there’s a bigger chance of actually getting them.

Gratitude – The main reason why they���re sitting at home is because the phone rarely rings. And it rarely rings because there are so few decent roles being written for people over 50 (let alone 60 or 70). As a consequence, if you create these age specific roles and cast accordingly, not only are the actors grateful, but they give you everything from vast experience to PR gold!

Talent – To me, it���s criminal that all this amazing acting talent is being allowed to go to waste. Aside from the ones I���ve already worked with, I can think of ten amazing actors and actresses I���d crawl over broken glass to hear reading my words yet I doubt one has had a decent film or TV role in ten years. That���s tragic, not least because, as has been proven with We Still Kill, people actually want to see these great actors on screen.

Fun – If you don���t think working with legends of the entertainment world is fun, you really shouldn���t be writing screenplays.

Inspiration – When an actor you���ve watched for years and who you have nothing but respect for comes up and not only praises your script but thanks you for the opportunity you���ve given them, it���s both humbling and gratifying. But equally, such praise drives you on to create more of the same which is exactly why I currently have two projects in development that will feature ensemble casts of actors over 60.

I can���t wait.

The audio version of Top Dog is now available to download by clicking on the picture to the left.

It’s been narrated by Karl Jenkinson who has done a brilliant job and��joins the film, the paperback and the ebook to give a clean sweep for this title which is something of which I’m justly proud.

In other news, details of the script I’ve just had optioned should be made public fairly soon whilst work is progressing on the screen adaptation of Wings of a Sparrow and a new project which is coming together very nicely.

I might also be releasing news of something else I’ve been involved with which may well shock a few people.

Watch this space!

ogilvy, ellison, we still kill the old way, top dog, green street, indie film, hooligans, krays, gangster, kemp,��

Writers: Are we our own worst enemies?

As you may or may not have noticed, my third feature, We Still Kill The Old Way, was released over Christmas.

For reasons I won���t go into here, I haven���t seen it yet but friends and family who have were certainly impressed and reviews thus far have been generally excellent.

As co-writer of said movie, I���m obviously pleased for all involved yet there is one thing that���s becoming increasingly irritating to me. So much so in fact, that the other day I actually did something I said I���d never do. I complained about a review. In fact, I���ve subsequently complained about three.��

The obvious assumption here is that these were negative reviews but in fact the opposite is true. Each was full of praise for the film and the performances with none giving it less than four stars.�� However, all three (and others to be fair) neglected to mention one specific thing, the writers.

Now to be clear, this is not a moan about me. As I���ve written many times, screenwriting is very much a hobby for me (albeit one that takes up most of my time!) as I consider myself first and foremost to be an author (and even that���s pushing it!). Furthermore, as I���ve also written many times, I���m never precious about scripts and am more than happy to hand them over to a director and let them take over. As long as they pay me of course!

However, whilst I���m always delighted to read the compliments paid to actors and directors, the fact remains that the starting point of any film or TV show is a writer with an idea sitting in front of a blank screen. Without them, there would be no film to talk of so��is it not right and proper that their role should, at the very least, be afforded the courtesy of a name check rather than a cursory mention of the script they churned out?

What annoys me most about this is that the people writing reviews are my peers and as fellow writers, I���d argue that they actually have a duty to talk up both their fellow scribes and the work that they do. For by not doing so they surely underpin the notion that writers are the least important people in the creative process when the reality is that the opposite is closer to the truth.

After all, do you really think Arnie came up with the line ���I���ll be back!��� all by himself? Or that Jack Nicholson just threw together the ���you can���t handle the truth��� speech from A Few Good Men as they were sitting on set? Of course not. They came from the imagination of some poor caffeine, alcohol and/or nicotine fuelled hack sitting in front of a computer in the middle of the night.��

So film critics of the world, the next time you heap praise on a movie, why not remember the individual who put it all together and give them a mention.

Not least because one day, that might be you.

Thanks to all those who I’ve spoken to over the holidays (and at Chelsea yesterday) asking about my next project.

I can’t say anything at the moment other than talks are well advanced for a new film and I’m hoping to pen to paper on that within the next few weeks.��In the meantime, I’m working on a new script and will then start work on another book as I am determined to add to my list by the end of the year. On which note, thanks to everyone who brought The Crew, Top Dog, Billy’s Log and Wings of a Sparrow over the holidays.

I hope you enjoy them!

screenwriting, screenplay. script, author, ebook, gangster, indie film, british film, green street, social media, twitter, facebook

My year in film: 2014.

I forgot to do this in my blog yesterday so, since I���ve no intention of doing anything today other than watching movies, I thought I���d do a quick resume of some of the best and worst movies I saw last year.

Obviously, I���ve not included my own films (primarily because I���ve only watched two-thirds of one and haven���t seen the other at all) but have instead, covered my five from the top and five from the bottom. Feel free to let me know what you think.

My movie of the year was without a doubt, The Grand Budapest Hotel. What I can only describe as a visual and comedy masterpiece, it is Wes Anderson at his absolute finest. I can���t speak highly enough of it other than to say it���s one of those films I���ll happily watch for the rest of my life.

Close behind was a movie released in 2013 but which I saw in the US in February so I���m counting it. If you���re a fan of great acting, then August, Orange County is a must watch. Meryl Streep gives a performance which is quite simply staggering but she���s matched in every scene by the rest of the cast. I watched it again last night and it was just as breathtaking as the first time I saw it.

Another movie I saw whilst in the US at the same time was Inside Llewyn Davies. It���s one of those films where nothing much actually happens but it just swallows you up and is gone before you know it. Loved it.

Two war movies blew me away this year (no pun intended) but for different reasons. Whilst the story was a bit lacking in parts, I have to say that I thought Fury was stunning. However, for sheer tension and realism, Kajaki beats it hands down. The fact that it���s based on a true story makes it even more amazing and if you haven���t seen it, you must.

A number of films promised much but ultimately disappointed me last year. Northern Soul was perhaps the biggest let down because I so wanted to love it to bits and all the hype promised great things. Don���t get me wrong, the music was brilliant and it looked amazing but the story was way off to me.

Another film I really wanted to love was The Hooligan Factory and to be fair, I almost did. The idea of a film which takes the piss out of the whole hoolie-genre was pure genius and all credit to the hugely talented Nick Nevern for getting it to the screen because it almost worked perfectly. But almost is the word which springs to mind whenever I think of it because it could have been Airplane funny and it wasn���t. I actually saw this with Gary Lawrence, my co-writer on We Still Kill The Old Way, and we both made exactly the same comments. I mean, how can you parody Green Street and not include a single hobbit joke?

On the subject of hobbits, as a huge fan of Tolkien, I���ve wallowed in the film adaptations but whilst it remains my favourite all time book, The Hobbit has really disappointed on screen and The Battle of the Five Armies is certainly the worst of the three. If I want to watch a dragged out computer game, I���ll do that. I certainly don���t want to go to the cinema to do it.

Finally, the worst film I saw in 2014 was without doubt, The Other Woman. I don���t even know where to start with the things I hated about this film other than to say if anyone ever wants to torture me, just sit me in front of a DVD player and put it on a loop. I���ll tell you everything you want to know inside 15 minutes.

��script, screenwriting, author, writing, film, cinema, streep, brad pitt, hooligan, gangster, dyer

2014. What a year that was.

About an hour ago, I sat down with every intention of writing a review of the last twelve months of my life. However, the more I wrote, the more it read like an update of the Forrest Gump script and if I struggle to believe some of the things that happened in 2014 given that I actually went through them, what chance would anyone else have? Suffice to say, both my working and personal lives were, to say the least, interesting.

Thankfully (for you), I don���t do personal on my blog (for personal, read private) nor do I use it for bleating about the negative side of what I do so what follows, in no particular order, are my top ten highlights from the last twelve months of what passes for my career.

1. Top Dog. Released in May to brilliant reviews, it went on to win Best Feature at the British Independent Film Festival where it also captured awards for Leo Gregory, Ricci Harnett and Lorraine Stanley. A night I will long remember.

2. Meeting my agent. Yes, after years of searching, I finally found an agent daft enough to take me on. His impact was immediate and largely thanks to him, 2015 looms very bright. Oh that I���d met him a few years ago.

3. We Still Kill The Old Way. Despite not having seen it yet, the reviews have been great so I���m guessing it���s good. However, it���s fair to say that it wasn���t the greatest experience of my creative life although working with my old mate Gary Lawrence was a proper giggle and I���ll certainly be doing more of that.

4. Paperbacks! The Crew, Top Dog and Wings of a Sparrow all hit (or returned) to the bookshelves in 2014 thanks to Caffeine Nights Publishing and as an author, that was and always will be, a proper thrill. Sadly, they weren���t joined by a new book although one of my main resolutions for next year is to remedy that.

5. Audiobooks. Aside from hitting the screens, Top Dog also gave me my first experience of the audiobook world. It���s a genuine cracker of a listen although it���s very odd hearing someone else reading my words out loud!

6. December. From a working perspective, it was the best month of the year because meetings took place which will hopefully shape 2015 and beyond. That should mean two more films over the coming 12 months. Possibly three.

7. BAFTA. Not many people know this but a few months ago I apparently came close to being selected as one of the BAFTA Breakthrough Brits of 2014. Given the immense talent of the two guys who won the writers awards, I genuinely have no complaints and am simply humbled to have been even considered in such talented company.

8. Stan Collymore. I know it bored the shit out of a lot of people but to me and many others, it was and remains a big deal. If you were involved, you understand.

9. Luther Blissett. Being able to spend time with one of my genuine sporting heroes was a true highlight of the year and helping him start along a new path was a real pleasure. Watch this space!

10. You lot. Despite being a writer for around 18 years now, I still continue to wonder how I���m getting away with it but the fact that I am is entirely down to those people who buy my books or�� watch those films I���ve been involved with. I can only offer you my heartfelt thanks and tell you that every email, Facebook message, tweet or review is genuinely appreciated.

So that���s that, the end of 2014.��It was a year I���ll certainly never forget for all kinds of reasons, not least two of my scripts hitting the big screen, but the positives have far outweighed the negatives and that’s all I could really hope for.

To all those people who helped make it so memorable, a huge thanks and to everyone I met along the way, be it in the flesh, on the phone or even in cyberspace, I hope that 2015 is as good for you as I plan it to be for me. But more of that soon.

Have a great and above all, safe new year.

writer, writing, script, screenwriting, facebook, amazon, itunes, ibooks, macbook, top dog, green street, we still kill the old way, the crew, sex, adultery, spandau ballet

Review: We Still Kill The Old Way @WSKTOW

Review: We Still Kill The Old Way @WSKTOW.

New Review: We Still Kill The Old Way

New Review: We Still Kill The Old Way.

So someone wants to option your script…

As those who follow me on twitter may have noticed, following a meeting last week I had an option taken on a new script.

This is obviously a very good thing for all kinds of reasons, not least that it could well result in another step toward retirement and a life spent tinkering on motorbikes in a workshop somewhere.

However, whilst obviously excited, I am not perusing the Screwfix catalogue just yet for having an option taken on a script is not the same as selling it. Indeed, over the years I���ve had options taken out on four projects which never progressed beyond that stage including both The Crew and Billy���s Log.

So what is the point of an option agreement and just as importantly, how do they work?

Well,��an option agreement is the first stage in the production process and locks a script or novel into an individual or company meaning that they can���t be shown to anyone else.

Usually, these agreements will be for a 12 month period which should be ample time to get the production process rolling to the point where an offer will be made for the full rights. However, if at the end of this period nothing is happening, the option agreement can be renewed or the writer can put the project back on the market.

Inevitably, most producers will try to secure an option for little or no money as it means their risk stands somewhere between negligible and none but in my opinion, option agreements should always involve a fee of some description for one very specific reason.

As a writer, my job is to create the starting line of a project in the hope that someone will like it enough to develop it further. If I���m lucky enough to find that person, I not only have to like them but have enough faith in what they���re telling me to feel comfortable enough to put control of my work in their hands. In other words, I need to commit to them and if I���m prepared to do that, is it unreasonable for me to expect that they commit to me? And how better to commit than financially? Not just because it sits nicely in my bank, but because I know that if they are willing to invest money in a project, they are deadly serious about getting it moving. Primarily because they will be sharing the risk.

Conversely, if a producer wasn���t willing to offer even a negligible fee for an option, then I would have to ask myself why. Are they lacking belief in either me or their own ability? Or could there be there another reason?

For example, if you were a producer and someone came to you with a script similar to one you were already developing, the best way to kill the new project stone dead would be to take an option on it because it would effectively take if off the market. If you could do it for no money, all the better.

I���m not for one second suggesting such practices go on of course, because all producers are obviously saints in waiting and perfectly above board, but hypothetically, it���s a possibility and one I���d advise all writers to consider when offered an option on their work.

After all, as a wise man once said, ���try standing at the check out in Tesco���s and see how much you get for a pocketful of promises.���

On the subject of scripts, my third feature,��We Still Kill The Old Way��hits selected cinema’s this week ahead of a DVD release over Christmas.

Co-written with my old mate Gary Lawrence, it stars Ian Ogilvy, James Cosmo, Chris Ellison plus a host of others and tells the story of a group of aged gangsters who get together to avenge the murder of one of their own.

Reviews thus far have been great so do yourself a favour and get along to see it!

Screenwriting: Why concept is king.

I was recently told by my agent that a very well-respected scriptwriter had just read one of my recent efforts and had told him that it was the best script he���s read this year.

Now as someone who rarely receives praise for anything other than my tea making skills (which are, to be fair, legendary. Then again, I usually practice them when I���m supposed to be writing) my initial reaction was ���holy f**k!���. This was closely followed by the obvious question, ���so what happens next?���

Thankfully, that question was answered fairly quickly and if all goes to plan, exciting times lay ahead. However, as I reflected on things over the next few days, I began to wonder how I���d managed to create a script which had received such glowing praise from someone who certainly knows their way around a screenplay. For as I���ve written before, I don���t really consider myself to be a screenwriter at all.

OK, I’ve had some success in that area but I’m not one of those writers who will happily polish a spec��script��to within an inch of it���s life before they even show it to someone else. No, I’m more of a concept writer because in most instances, I’m more than happy to throw together a decent first draft and show that around to see if it gains any interest. And that interest is generally dependent on the concept because��in my experience, scripts don’t sell scripts, concepts sell scripts.

After all, it surely stands to reason that not even a brilliantly written and constructed script will sell if the basic concept is flawed. By the same token, a brilliant concept will sell even an average script. Therefore my job,��as I see it, is to develop an idea to the point where a producer will get excited enough about it to start talking money. After that, the whole thing becomes a��collaborative process involving producers, directors and even actors with my role being simply to work with them to develop the concept to the point where the camera starts rolling.

As if to prove my point, about 18 months ago I received this email:

���had a concept pitch from a distributor you may or may not want a crack at pitching a treatment for���

A group of old-school, Krays/Richardsons era retired gangsters (Alan Ford, PH Moriarty, Berkoff etc) are all living off past glories in East London, thinking there’s no school like the old school. One of them is savagely murdered by a group of hoodies (they probably film it etc) and they go back to their old ways to exact revenge and clean up the streets. Think Harry Brown on crack with a smidgeon of the Wild Geese. And of course, nobody thinks its them because they’re OLD

Whadya think?

I thought it was brilliant and with the help of my good mate Gary Lawrence, we developed a half decent draft and then worked with the director to develop the shooting script of what became We Still Kill The Old Way. You see, it���s all about the concept.

And in case you were wondering, yes, the concept for the script which received that wonderful and confidence boosting praise is indeed, quite brilliant. But that’s all I can tell you about it for now.

Watch this space.

I am pleased to announce that Top Dog has been nominated in the ‘Best Action’ category of the National Film Awards to be held in London on 31st March 2015.

Obviously, we need votes so if you have seen and enjoyed the movie, please click on the link, do your bit and then help out even further by spreading the word!

If you haven’t seen it, then still vote! I won’t judge you.

wTop �� �� riting, writer, screenwriting, screenwriter, author, kindle, indie, film, cinema

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