Is Television Dead? March 15, 2009
Posted by James D Hartland in Newsnight Review, Television, UK Film/TV industry.add a comment
On Friday night Newsnight Review did a special 35 minute show on the future of Television, covering issues like whether the UK drama is as good as American, has TV run out of ideas and become too formulaic, should the BBC ignore ratings and go for higher quality niche shows, will the economic crisis stop innovation in shows, and a bunch more topics.
I finally got around to watching it on iPlayer today and it was pretty interesting stuff, worth checking out before it is removed from iPlayer. It was surprisingly drama focused which is a good thing, I was expecting it to be a lot more about X factor and phone-in style TV shows.
If you want to make it extra fun to watch though I suggest you play a drinking game where every time someone in the round table discussion says the word “risk” or “risky” you have to take a drink.
Show is available until 11:44pm Friday 20th March 2009
Stinger Screening June 28, 2007
Posted by James D Hartland in Digital Shorts, Directing, Events, NFM, Screen Agency, Short Film, Stingers, The Badass, UK Film Council, UK Film/TV industry, Writing Samples.add a comment
The other day I attended the premier of this years Stinger films. Notable for one of the films being mine! In fact not only did I write it but I also directed it.
(Stinger = Northern Film and Media’s name for their local branch of the nationwide UK Film Council funded Digital Shorts scheme. Northern Film and Media being the North East’s local Screen Agency.)
For those people reading this blog in the UK who have aspirations of becoming a professional in TV or Film then getting in touch with your local Screen Agency and finding out about schemes like the Stingers is essential. Screen Agencies are wonderful resources. They can offer all sorts of free training, job opportunities, funding, career advice, and much much more. Go contact them!
Anyways, so it was the premier of my film; The Badass.
The event was held at the Gate cinema in Newcastle, which was a pretty typical cinema, although the screen did seem huge when I walked into the room, knowing that soon enough my little HDV short film would be shown on it.
15 Short films had been commissioned this year as part of the Stinger scheme, some with 3k budgets and some with 10k budgets; and all these films were shown back to back. (Badass was a 3k film).
As with previous years, some films were good, and some were bad. I’d like to think my film was somewhere nearer the good side! People did come up to me afterwards and said they enjoyed my film but I’m generally cynical of such statements because I don’t believe anyone would tell me it stank if that’s what they thought.
Truth be told I wrote the Badass 2 years ago and I wouldn’t say is representative of what I am capable of writing these days (You can check the script out on my writing samples page), so if it did stink… well I am better now!
I’d also be the first person to hold my hands up and say I am not the words greatest director. In fact, off the back of doing this film I basically decided that rather than be a screenwriter with aspirations to also maybe direct, I am now comfortable to be a screenwriter and nothing more.
I think everyone starts off wanting to direct, and the sooner you can realise what it is you actually are actually going to do in the industry then the sooner you can start learning your craft and making a living from the industry. This is an interesting topic in and of itself, so I will perhaps come back to it in another blog. But now back to the screening —
The screening was notable perhaps most of all for one thing. They showed all the films in 4:3 aspect ratio. Which for you none techie people means they showed films in old fashioned square vision rather than widescreen, despite the fact all these films had been shot in widescreen. Just about every one I spoke to afterwards was annoyed that all their hard work had been diminished by a lousy projection. People also seemed to comment on the picture being way darker than it should have been, something I kinda picked up on during my film but not to the point that it made me think the look of my film had been ruined.
After the screening all the writers, directors and producers hung around and got their pictures taken. I squinted every single time the flash went off so I hope I don’t look like an idiot in the pictures. I’m a short arse so I was at the front of all the pictures, so any idiot faces being pulled will be easy to spot.
After that there was a party in a nearby bar. No free booze was provided, nor was there any free food which upset my parents who were very hungry. I wasn’t expected to be fed so it was OK. I’d rather they spent the money on films than on sausage rolls.
If I can moan about one thing of the party it would be to say that the music was way too loud. In what was basically a forum for people to network and catch up and generally discuss stuff, having to shout in each others ears to be heard was somewhat frustrating. I attended last years party in a different bar and while it was loud I certainly don’t remember having to shout over music to be heard. I’m not really an out going party person anyways, I’m a writer for christs sake!! So for me having to shout to be heard is more than just an annoyance, its a hindrance to actually talking to anyone.
If anyone at NFM ever reads this blog then please note… no loud music at these things in the future!!
That about wraps up my thoughts on the night. I cant really go into which films I liked and which I didn’t because I might offend people with my comments, or just offend them by having really lousy taste in films!
Here are some stills from the Badass for your viewing pleasure. These are just DVD dumps so it will look way better in its native format.
Also… the picture at the top of the blog… that’s not a still from the film its a photoshop job by a friend 
Writing for Television April 29, 2007
Posted by James D Hartland in Alan Plater, Debbie Horsfield, Events, John Yorke, Michael Chaplin, NFM, TV, UK Film/TV industry.1 comment so far
“Writing for Television” was a seminar I attended in Newcastle yesterday featuring John Yorke (Controller of BBC Drama), Alan Plater (Z Cars, and everything else since), Debbie Horsfield (Cutting It), and Michael Chaplin (Grafters, Monarch of the Glen).
I would like to say that it was a great seminar and that I hope they do it again, but frankly it was a bit poo, and beyond that it was also a a bit of a swindle for anyone who paid (I got a free place courtesy of NFM)
The problem was essentially that there was no structure to the talks. It wasn’t like they spent an hour talking about how commissioning works, then an hour talking about something else; instead it was essentially that each writer got up and waffled on about their career for an hour. This was entertaining enough at times (especially in the case of Alan Plater, the guy pictured) but as an exercise in actually learning anything useful it was a waste of time. Each person’s talk soon descended into a simple list of “then after X I wrote Y, then after Y I wrote Z” and that is frankly no use to anyone. I was bored at several times during the day, and I don’t think I should have been.
I think back to the Northern Screenwriter Conference I attended a while ago and the format of that day was so much more informative, and much more interesting as a result. They had blocks of time assigned to a certain topic and got two or three writers to talk about that one topic.
With only 4 guest speakers on hand this Writing for TV wouldn’t have been able to replicate that exact same format but some kind of structure would have been a godsend. Why for example didn’t they get Alan Plater to give a talk about how TV has changed over the past 40 years? Of course he touched upon that stuff quite a bit during his 60 minute talk, but had they given him this as a specific title for his lecture and that was his specific topic to stick to then his talk would have been far more informative. The same goes for the other speakers, they should have been selected because they could give a specific 60 minute talk on a specific single aspect of writing for TV. General waffles just don’t cut it with me.
THE SWINDLE
At the start I mentioned that this day was not only poo but it was a swindle, and here’s why.
The day before this Writing for Television seminar (which cost £20), John Yorke, controller of BBC drama, also gave a public lecture, also organised by the University of Newcastle. That lecture was free to attend and from what I gathered via the grapevine, that talk was very informative and covered everything you might want to know about getting a career in Television Writing and all the trials and tribulations that come once you get work. Where as come the following day which cost you £20, he was up on stage no longer than 15 minutes and said something like “Well I don’t want to repeat what I said yesterday so I’ll keep this very brief.”
Excuse me?? People pay £20 to come to a seminar where John Yorke is billed as the main attraction, but he doesn’t want to say anything because it would be a repeat of what people could have listened to for free the day before?
I felt cheated by this. Everyone else spoke for an hour, but the headlining guest speaks for 10 minutes. Great 
Surely they needed to put the big headline lecture on the day people are paying? Surely?
The event ran from 10 till 4, so I see no reason why they couldn’t have made it go on until 5 or 6 and given John Yorke the opportunity to do that long, informative lecture on the same day they expect you to stump up £20. Why was it even spread over two days?
THE “FOOD”
Just to sound like a complete moaner – The food was also terrible. Though in fairness, it was in keeping with the food at almost every media event I’ve been to. Which is to say that its all novelty posh food rather than proper normal stuff. Good luck trying to find a regular cheese and ham sandwich at one of these events. They have 101 different fancy looking sandwiches with all these different slime based fillings (never labelled so its pot luck what you end up with unless you’re a novelty sandwich expert), but did they have regular sandwiches that people eat at home or buy for their lunch? Not a chance. Hell, even the crisps they had were all novelty flavours (or at least my handful was!).
CONCLUSION
All in all I felt I wouldn’t have really missed much by skipping this event. Which is a shame, because bringing such experienced writers into the region to give a talk like that is a wonderful opportunity for other writers in the region to learn something. Sadly the lack of any structure to the talks meant that learning anything useful wasn’t on the agenda.
Northern Screenwriter Conference February 25, 2007
Posted by James D Hartland in Events, Northern Screenwriter Conference, UK Film/TV industry, Writer's Lifestyle.3 comments
Yesterday I had the pleasure to attend the Northern Screenwriter Conference in Middlesbrough. I say the pleasure, but there was actually a bunch of things that really annoyed me about the day, namely the venue of the place.
Its testament to the guest speakers that despite the fact I couldn’t see any of the clips they showed because of the venues totally woeful video set up, and despite the fact I couldn’t even see the speakers due to the terrible seating arrangement and lack of a stage area for the speakers, and despite the fact that I had to strain to hear the speakers all day long; despite all that, I found the day to be a very worthwhile experience.
The speakers included long time Terry Gilliam collaborator Tony Grisoni (pictured), even longer time Shane Meadows collaborator Paul Fraser, Working Title regular Peter Straughan to name but the feature film writers. I’ll spare you the chore of reading everyone else who was there, but along side those already mentioned were a number of professional TV writers who gave great insights into Emmerdale, New Tricks, Fat Friends, Casualty, Hollyoaks, as well as representatives from the BBC and Northern Film and Media.
For me personally, the thing I took away the most, was a sense of what day to day life is like for a successful, professional writer. Hearing first hand examples of the day to day rituals and scheduling that takes place, the bargaining with one’s self; all that stuff stroke a chord with me as the things that I too deal with on a daily basis. If these guys fully admit to being really lazy for months on end before doing any real work then I can give myself less of a guilt trip when I only worked 3 hours in the afternoon when I had planned 4.
I can really see this conference taking off and becoming a larger event, with people travelling from all over the North to attend, perhaps with it taking place over a number of days and incorporating more diverse things like workshops as well as lectures. Even if the format stays the same I think I would recommend all beginners and professionals alike attend it next year… IF they sort out the bloody venue.
For example, had the speakers been given STOOLS rather than chairs, then even the people at the back of the room could have seen the speakers talking. At it was, the speakers were at the same height as everyone else and anyone who sat more than a few rows back had no hope in hell of actually seeing the people as they discussed the otherwise insightful topics. I certainly didn’t see anyone’s face during the entire day!
The Problem with the UK Film Industry November 17, 2006
Posted by James D Hartland in B-Movies, Genre Movies, Horror, Rants, Romcom, Thriller, UK Film/TV industry.add a comment
I think the problem that stops the British film industry taking off and getting a string of money making hits together is actually the very thing that the British Film industry does to try to compete with other territories; This thing they do to compete actually stops them from competing.
What am I talking about here?
This idea we have that we can’t compete with Hollywood in terms of making mainstream popcorn entertainment, so let’s instead make film that are uniquely British and aim to offer something audiences can’t get from Hollywood.
I think this is a BIG problem because we are basically aiming to avoid making movies which might have mainstream appeal. We are avoiding making movies that might appeal to the young kids who go to the cinema and who buy DVDs.
Let me put this another way… I think the problem in the UK is we don’t make good B-movies.
Take for example Sex Lives of the Potato Men. That movie was despised by critics. However on Richard and Judy, Johnny Vegas was asked about the hatred of the critics for that movie and he replied (quite rightly) with something like; “the critics can moan all they want but the film was one of the few British movies that year to make any profit”. He went on to add that the critics should make up their mind whether they want classy intellectual drama or whether they want a profitable industry that can become self sustaining. I couldn’t agree more.
But let me stress something here… I’m not saying that we should make bad movies. I’m not saying we should make more bad movies like Sex Lives of the Potato Men. What I am saying is that we should be aiming to make what I would describe as “B-movies” but make really great “B-movies”. The better the movie the better chance it stands of making money and it doesn’t matter if you are making a porno or Citizen Kane 2, you should be aiming to make it as good as possible.
What I am simply saying is that the British film industry should realise that Hollywood makes money, not because it has more money to spend, but instead because they are more than willing to make 20 “B-movies” for every “A-movie”. They don’t make money from intellectual dramas aimed at middle aged people, no, they make their money from B-movies
What do I mean by B-movies?
Here I’m talking about horror films, teen/sex comedies, pulpy/sleazy thrillers and other films like that; basically the sorta stuff that doesn’t aim to be the next Billy Elliot or Mrs Henderson Presents. Stuff you might wanna go see with your teenage pals, rather than watch on BBC1 on a Sunday evening.
Two British film makers I greatly admire are Keith Bell and Neil Marshall, the producer and director respectively behind Dog Soldiers and The Descent. I believe they have hit the nail on the head in terms of what the industry needs.
I’m sure they didn’t make these movies with the idea of showing the British film industry what they are doing wrong. I’m sure they just grew up watching horror movies and loving them, and deciding naturally that this is the direction they should go in. But in doing so they have shown that there is some light at the end of the tunnel. If you make a really great B-movie you can make money. And not only that, you can compete with Hollywood. As demonstrated by the fact the Descent did much better than the Cave, a Hollywood movie along the same lines.
Because you know what? You don’t need Tom Cruise or millions of SFX shots to do a sleazy erotic thriller, or to do a gross out comedy or a gore infested horror movie. B-movies don’t need mega resources, they just need talented film makers behind them.
This is exactly the sort of stuff that fits the British film industry perfectly in terms of the budgets it deals with. But for some reason I don’t see the British movies in the cinema being these sorts of movies.
So why not?
I’m not sure if I believe that I am the only person the country who believes that this is what we need to be doing, and that everyone else is looking for the next Billy Elliot. But maybe that really is the case?
I think it’s far more likely that we just aren’t producing films of this sort to a high enough calibre. The reason the Descent was the only British horror movie of note the other year was because all the other ones being made must have been stinkers.
I think maybe there is an argument that respectable film makers, i.e. those with any talent, basically don’t want to be associated with these sorts of movies, hence the only people who make them are the talentless hacks. Everyone reading this blog probably knows some guy who has a camcorder and is currently making another low budget horror feature film, but how many established and talented up and coming film makers want to work with these movies?
Even I am guilty of this. I have an idea for a really kick ass horror movie, but I feel like if that is the one and only spec script of mine that someone reads they will think I am a sleazy guy with no breadth or depth in what I can write.
Maybe that’s stupid? Maybe if I write a really kick ass horror script it wont matter if the person reading it is really grossed out by the death scene involving the hot poker, they will still be able to see that I have a future ahead of me, writing tender and moving works. Somehow I don’t see that being the case though.
So even I, the guy who is ranting about us needing to make B movies, would prefer that he is seen to write stuff other than B- movies. So just what chance does the British film industry ever have of getting over itself and making any money? Because that’s basically the problem. We need to get over our selves and get off our intellectual high horse and go make some kick ass sleazy movies.
We need to ignore our heritage of Shakespeare and other illustrious artists and we need to realise that getting down and dirty and making rank and file movies that appeal to teenagers who never read movies reviews IS the way forward, and that there is nothing shallow, or inartistic about doing that.
Alien is one of the greatest movies ever made, and it is no different from Saw. It is just a horror movie aimed at scaring movie goers shitless and creeping them out long enough that they tell their mates about it…. This is why I reaspect Neil Marshall and Keith Bell so much. They want to make the next Alien. And like I say… we should be aiming to make the greatest B-movies we possibly can.
