STOP PRESSMay 17, 2012
Word feeds back from Radio 4 Towers that my producer has been unable to take my play though this commissioning round due to scheduling limitations. It's disappointing, but she's still very keen and this is only a postponement: she'll be pushing it again come the autumn. May 15, 2012 For my birthday treat (it's not in May, but never mind), I'm taken to an Elvis Costello gig in Birmingham's Symphony Hall as part of his Revolver Tour. Front row seats, three non-stop hours of Costello magic and a souvenir T-shirt. Does it get any better than this? May 10, 2012 Managed to get some serious work done on the stage play, which is now only a couple of scenes away from a completed first draft. Mind you, the rest of May is looking a bit chocker, so not quite sure when it'll be back on the radar again... May 4, 2012 Writers' Academy announce they've had 600 entries this year. Gulp. May 1, 2012 Entry submitted for this year's BBC Writers' Academy, with a couple of days to spare. It's had some great feedback and notes from the readers who've seen it, but it must be admitted it's a little bit of a high-risk strategy in its approach. Hell, I've tried the straight bat four times alrady, so this has got to be worth a shot. Hasn't it? April 22, 2012 Nice to be able to support a bunch of fellow actors at a special screening of their new feature film, The Casebook of Eddie Brewer (check out the website at www.thecasebookofeddiebrewer.com). It's a tongue-in-cheek psychological thriller with loads of laughs along the way and some great performances. Now all they need is some distribution, and they could easily have a cult hit on their hands. Well done, chaps! March-April, 2012 So anyway, that nice Mr Gates unilaterally decided a couple of months back to close down my website hosting service at the end of April. I suppose I should be grateful he gave me a few weeks' notice. Anyway, the process of transferring the site to a new hosting service (and re-registering the domain name etc) has required not only several weeks of arsing about with a registrar in Melbourne, Australia, but also endless (unpaid) hours of work and a degree in astrophysics. Which I don't have. Hence the temporary absence. My technical department (er, that's me) has been working on it urgently, alongside finishing the aforementioned TV script, and I am now back in cyberspace with a new registrar and a new hosting service. Thank you, Mr Gates, and goodbye. February 24, 2012 Target met, the words 'End of Episode' have been typed, and there's now a first draft waiting to be disembowelled. Time for another few days in the bottom drawer before more work on it. I also need to line up some willing readers for their notes. Meanwhile, a nice commission comes in from John Good, the theatre programme people, to write the programme notes for the forthcoming tour of Birds of a Feather, with Linda Robson, Pauline Quirke and Lesley Joseph reprising their TV roles. Good job I've got a contact for Laurence Marks... February 20, 2012 With a satisfactory scene-by-scene now reworked, it's time for the dialogue. A few days available this week to work on it, so hoping to have a rough draft down soon. February 13, 2012 Work completed on outline, treatment and scene-by-scene for the new TV script. Now to leave it to brew before going to first draft. February 7, 2012 The fully formed but only half-written stage play unfortunately has to take a back seat as work begins on a new TV script for submission to this year's BBC Writers' Academy. I'm aiming to turn this round sharpish so that I don't lose momentum on the play, but also to allow plenty of time for rewrites before submitting around April time. February 6, 2012 New pitches delivered to the R4 producer for her upcoming meeting with the commissioning editor. February 1, 2012 Two lovely meetings in one day. Lunch at Somerset House with a delightful script editor I met at the Screenwriters' Festival, who's very supportive and interested in what I'm up to. Then a meeting with a Radio 4 producer who will be taking a couple of my pitches for R4 afternoon plays to the next commissioning round this spring. Exciting developments... For earlier ramblings, check out the Blog page. |
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT MICHAEL'S WRITING...
'Bristling with theatrical ideas'
Sir Alan Ayckbourn 'Really powerful' - Matthew Graham, Life on Mars creator 'Very funny... entertaining characters... great vignettes. I enjoyed it and laughed, both quite rare!' - Micheal Jacob, Creative Head, BBC College of Comedy 'An amazingly good job... stories work well and are full of character and texture' - Simon Harper, Holby City senior script editor 'Strong, distinctive dialogue... well defined, powerful characters... and a real understanding of the medium.' - Emmerdale core writer Chris Thompson 'Intriguing and edifying... alive and full of energy' - actor Paul Copley 'Cracking dialogue, fascinating ideas, strong complementary characters' - Ronald Duncan Playwriting Competition judges |
