Filmmaking is a collaborative art form and anyone, who has ever made a film knows this obvious truth. Of course, there are instances when one filmmaker makes the entire film on their own or with very limited help. But these are rather exceptions than a norm. In my opinion, doing everything or almost everything on…
Scriptwriting In A Nutshell: External Antagonist and/or Obstacle
As a writer, you need to care for your external antagonist as much as you care for your main character. The external antagonist or the external obstacle that the main character is trying to overcome is going to drive your story; and a strong, consistent obstacle or antagonist can only benefit your story. Things, bad…
Scriptwriting In A Nutshell: Obstacles We Care About
As screenwriters, our job is to make our main character’s journey throughout the whole film as exciting and challenging as possible. If we don’t put any obstacles on the protagonist’s way, our film will be very short and most likely uneventfully boring. Film is a kind of imitation of life, and real-life is filled with…
Scriptwriting In A Nutshell: Make Your Characters Different
When creating characters, a common mistake many new writers make is to create characters that are too similar to one another. I made that mistake countless times myself. If the characters we have created are too similar to one another, they will act in the same way, will wear identical clothes, or will order the…
“Learning How to Read in a Year”
Nearly a year ago Little M. went to a dyslexia assessment centre in London to do the dyslexia test. The results were overwhelmingly negative and a huge blow for him, even though he never said anything about the sadness he felt. The stress of that day left his body and spirit on the train back…
Scriptwriting in a Nutshell: Character’s Goals and Stakes
Most stories begin with the main character/s wanting something, something the character cares for genuinely, has a lot invested in but for some reason can’t get. The character’s goal/s or want/s should be something the audience will also care about deeply and will be able to identify with. If you give your character/s what they…
“The Bad and The Ugly of Learning From The Grown-Ups”
A lot of the scientists, teachers and influential voices in the education sector tell us that children learn from observing and imitating the grown-ups in their lives. I believe this to be true and have often seen Little M. doing stupid stuff, which his dad or I have done. I know that our family is…
Ask Yourself If You Need a Sales Agent
You worked incredibly hard to complete your film; you spent years editing and begging people for favours, especially when your project had no budget for anything; the years of hard work have finally paid off and now your film is finished. You believe in your project and your talent, and deep down in your heart,…
7 Steps That Will Help You Market Your Film
As filmmakers, we work hard and put a lot of energy into developing, shooting and completing our projects. The whole process of putting a film together is so intense that it often leaves us with very little energy and shrinking financial resources to properly market and promote our film. Every time I finish a film,…
“Anything Can Happen”
I realise that this romantic notion of a suffering and starving filmmaker is still firmly imprinted on a lot my fellow filmmakers’ minds. But unfortunately, in our global, on steroids, changing market place, this idea only can harm filmmakers, not bring anything positive to their long-term careers. In reality, it doesn’t matter how great your…