If you’re interested in design, Brunel’s second short story anthology are hosting a competition in which you design their book cover! If your design is chosen, you could win a £50 Amazon voucher and ten free copies of the book! Here are the details you need if you want to get involved:

For more information on ‘The Psyche Supermarket’, their Twitter handle is @CWBrunel.

Three third year Creative Writing students are currently seeking submissions for a poetry pamphlet that they’ll be publishing in March 2015. The deadline for submissions is January the 16^th at midnight. We’re also hoping to organise a launch event for the pamphlet where all of the published poets will have the opportunity to meet one another and read their poems aloud. Submission guidelines:

• 3-4 poems per person (of which two will be selected for publication).
• Poems must be less than 40 lines.
• The poems must be your own original work and must not have been published elsewhere. (Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but if you are given an offer of publication elsewhere, please notify us on the first instance).
• There is no set theme – the topics you write about are entirely your choice!

All submissions must be sent to:  brunelpoetry2015@gmail.com If anyone has any questions then you are welcome to email the editors at the address above. You can also follow our Twitter page where we will be posting updates on the entire process, each step of the way. Our Twitter handle is @BrunelPamphlet. We are looking forward to hearing from you and reading your work. Kate McKim and Brunel Poetry Pamphlet’s editorial team.

What made you want to pursue Screenwriting?

I only really considered Screenwriting once I had written a novel: Hitman which came out in 2000. I had always been interested in film but I had never really considered Screenwriting as an option.

Two things happened which made me want to get into it. The first thing was that I got some interest in Hitman when an independent producer asked me to write a film treatment for it and I couldn’t afford to pay anyone to do it for me. So, I thought ‘How hard can it be? I’ll do it myself’ little realising that it is really not that easy. The second thing was that I met a screenwriter called Marc Pye (The Bill, Eastenders) and as I tried to get into Screenwriting he helped me and became a really good friend and sort of mentor. It wasn’t really a conscious decision and I think, as is often the way with screenwriters, I just fell into it.

Act of Grace, this was your first feature film?

This is my first feature film and thus far the only feature film of mine to be produced but it wasn’t the first feature film that I had written, or rather, co-written.

How did you find the process?

Well it was a really unusual process because I hadn’t originally been involved. Again it was working with Marc and we had been working on another project of his called Scallies which was a TV drama we were developing for Granada TV. Marc had been working with a writer and producer called Alan Field. They had both worked with Jimmy McGovern (Cracker) on the first series of The Street and were developing Act of Grace as a low-budget feature film. Alan had raised the funds and it was a few weeks before they were due to shoot and they wanted somebody to help on a new draft of the script. So, Marc introduced me to Alan and I was asked to do a rewrite. Normally it’s the complete opposite and you work on something for years before it gets made but on this I was working on it for literally a few weeks.

Is it easier to collaborate with other screen writers?

I don’t really mind, it depends on the project. As a screenwriter you have to be prepared to collaborate; it’s not like being a novelist or a poet or something else which can very solitary. You’re part of a team and you have to be prepared to share nicely!

Were there any disagreements?

Not on Act of Grace; there was nothing major. I mean the story was pretty much there, I was just working on some characterisation, reordering some scenes and I was very much the junior partner so I couldn’t really change that much nor did I want to as the story was fairly strong already. But yes you often do get disagreements, not so much with fellow writers but with producers who often look at things from a different perspective as they are the ones who are holding the cash.

Has there ever been a time when you have been kicked off a project?

Oh yeah, I’ve been sacked a couple of times! You just have to deal with it. Most writers at any level will have been kicked off a project at some point. Working in the creative industries, you have to develop a thick skin and you just have to take it in your stride.

One time I found particularly galling was where I had been hired by an American producer who was a successful business man who just fancied becoming a filmmaker by way of a hobby. He employed me to work on a script and he didn’t really know what he was doing and when I got sacked it was a bit of a pain. But you just have to deal with it.

If you’re working on something and they say to you ‘we need to get a fresh pair of eyes’ it basically means ‘we’re getting someone else in’ [laughs]. You know it does happen but as long as the project goes on and does well and gets made, even though you are sharing your credit with someone else, then it’s fine. Screenwriters don’t generally have a problem with that. As long as they don’t murder the script – which can happen.

Baptism – your new feature film. How is that progressing?

Baptism is hopefully, touch wood, progressing well. It’s an adaptation of my novel of the same name, and The Philm Company have made a spec trailer which they do a lot of nowadays in order to raise funds. So they use actors which won’t necessarily be in the final cast but they shoot something which they can then show to financiers alongside a script. So a spec trailer was made, and I have to say it was a really great one.

Was adapting your novel a difficult process?

Not really because I was, you could argue, always cynically thinking that Baptism could be made into a film and even some of the people who have read the book say it reads like a film. Having said that, the book is a ten and a half hour read which means you have to lose a hell of a lot of the book to compact it into a two hour screenplay.

I loved adapting it though. Adapting it with Phil Hawkins who is the director/producer was a dream because he’s so good and we both kind of share the same vision for the story.

Did you liaise with the director a lot on Baptism?

Yeah I went and had some very long meetings to talk things through and Phil and his producer/business partner, Alex Baranska, would provide me with lots of notes. But as I say the notes were so good, when you get good notes you don’t struggle and you don’t have a problem with accommodating them. The worse thing is when you have a producer who is just starting out who thinks they are better than they really are and then they give you notes which don’t really make sense, which you don’t necessarily agree with. That’s when things get tricky.

Is it easier when you are writing to relate to places which you already know?

Funnily enough I have just been asked to rewrite an old script of mine that was set in London so that it’s set in Belgrade. I’ve never been to Belgrade so that was hard. Generally speaking, it is always easier to set things where you can picture them in your mind’s eye. Having said that if your story is really good and you have enough knowledge about a place which looks authentic in the script then you can get away with it.

Have you ever had to change a screenplay to work around a certain actor?

When I was working with Rik Mayall we wrote scripts very much with him in mind and that was fantastic obviously, working with him was a dream come true. I have worked on a few projects where they have had an actor in mind and so you tailor it slightly to that actor and then they say that actor has dropped out which happens a lot.

Do you have any other projects in the pipeline?

I have another co-written feature script, Alleycats, which I’ve been developing for many years with director, Ian Bonhote and producer, Andy Ryder. This is due to shoot in March in London and casting is taking place as we speak.

What is it like to live as a Screen Writer in Britain?

You have to be able to work very hard in short intense bursts for certain deadlines and you have got to have a very thick skin in terms of rejection. I would recommend though, especially to those who are just starting out, to have some sort of day job as it can be very precarious. You have to be incredibly single minded and not give in.

Could you name one good thing and one bad thing about Screen Writing?

Good thing is to work in a fascinating industry doing a fascinating job. If you love storytelling and you love films then it is a dream come true. I’m a firm believer in if you do something you love then you aren’t really even working. So that’s a prize to be coveted.

In terms of a bad thing it would be the precarious nature of the work and the cash flow. Sometimes you might be commissioned to work on a project and not get paid until a year later. The hours are long and the wages pretty low in the independent sector but you just have to keep on writing and honing your craft and hopefully, you’ll get somewhere.

 

Hello Brunelians

I have some interesting events and opportunities which I would like to share with you all.

Brunel – Women for the Future

Join Brunel University London on the 3rd December for a relaxed evening of networking with students, staff, researchers and external business women alike with a chance to hear from keynote speaker and entrepreneur, Roisin Issacs.

From humble roots as the oldest child in a large Irish family to philanthropist and entrepreneur, the heart-warming star of TV’s “Secret Millionaire” Brunel Alumna Roisin Issacs will be sharing her story of her extraordinary life journey.

Roisin will share the highs and lows on the road to her success with tips on what works, what doesn’t and sometimes how it’s simply just a matter of plain hard graft!

PBS National Poetry Competition 

The 2014 PBS National Student Poetry Competition http://poetrybooks.co.uk/projects/45/ is now accepting entries. Judged this year by one of the Next Generation Poets 2014, Jane Yeh, the competition is open to all UK students in Undergraduate or Masters level education.

Entry is free for Student Members of the Poetry Book Society, which is also free to join http://poetrybooks.co.uk/membership/33. There are cash prizes and PBS memberships on offer to the top three as well as book bundles and Associate Memberships for Eight Highly Commended poets:

First Prize: £200 + Full PBS Membership
Second Prize: £50 + Full PBS Membership
Third Prize: £25 + Full PBS Membership
Highly commended: Associate Membership + book bundle

The deadline for entries is midnight on Monday 13 December. The twenty best poems will be published in an e-book and a celebratory event will be held at the winner’s University (terms and conditions apply).

For details on how to join as a Student Member and how to enter the competition visit http://poetrybooks.co.uk/membership/33

Brunel English and Drama Society News 

If you would like to audition for a role in Brunel Drama’s aptly named play “A Midsummer’s Wet Dream” then please attend Drama Societies meeting on 7:30 AA103 on the 11th November. This will be to write you name under the role(s) you wish to play. Auditions will then be held Wednesday/ Thursday of the same week, around your timetable. If you can’t make it Tuesday, let us know via Facebook or Email.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/151080388265664/?fref=ts

dr12rwp@my.brunel.ac.uk

ALSO for all you budding screenwriters out there we are hoping to create lots of short film/ sketch scene scripts, which will then be handed over to Louis Batten-Foster, who will ultimately be in charge of making it an independent, student creation. You guys will play God, essentially. We will be holding a meeting for the Screen Writing project at 6PM AA103 TUESDAY 11TH.

This project meeting is to discuss what we want from it, what levels of involvement you guys want, and to talk general ideas.
Core concept for these shorts is this: A Happy 5-10 Minute short. It can be comedic, it can be uplifting, it can be enlightening, but over all they need to be positive.

So please all get involved.

To finish I want to add in a plug for my future blog posts which will be published sporadically over the next couple of weeks. I am hoping to conduct a series of interviews with students and staff who have a personal insight into the film and creative industries. As well as being an entertaining and interesting read I am also hoping that this will be informative and helpful to any current/future creative writing students.

Until next time

Chloe

Interested in adding to your portfolio? We are looking for people interested in writing articles for the various categories and sections of the online magazine – http://www.lamerde.co.uk

Several Brunel students have already started writing for us, and we would like more! Where better to start than Brunel Writers!?

La Merde is a non-profit independent magazine aiming to publish articles that you and other students would want to read . We are also looking to fill various positions within the team over the coming months, something that you may be also interested in?

Writing for us will give you a host of opportunities to display your range of skills, creativity, and create an online reputation. It’s a great chance to add some great looking work to your portfolio and put some new skills on the CV before you finish Uni. We post far more regularly than other Uni related outlets and will be happy to link your social media/blogs to your name as you’re published.

Check out http://www.lamerde.co.uk for a good taste of our style and articles. Bear in mind it is only three weeks old!

If you’re interested do not hesitate to contact us: info@lamerde.co.uk

Or if you have articles that you would like to send to us: submissions@lamerde.co.uk

Or if you’d like to be part of the team, inquire via: recruitment@lamerde.co.uk

We look forward to hearing from you.

All the best,

Editors at La Merde

Throughout the Autumn Term the Journalism Matters! seminars will invite celebrated figures from the world of journalism to share their stories with students and staff alike.

This coming Tuesday Brunel University will welcome Nick Davies to take centre stage to talk to all you lucky folks about his experiences in the Journalism industry.

Nick Davies is a British investigative journalist, writer and documentary maker and is well known for uncovering the News of the World phone hacking affair. He has written extensively as a freelancer as well as for The Guardian and The Observer, and has been named Reporter of the Year, Journalist of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year.

So head on down to the Howell Lecture Centre at 12pm on Tuesday 14^th October for an event which should not be missed!

It’s high time I introduce myself: my name is Chloe, a third year Creative Writing student and the new curator of Brunel Writer. After her fantastic job over the summer, Laura’s shoes will be hard to fill but I will do my best.

This is just a quick post to let you all know some of the fantastic opportunities which my friends and I have planned for the upcoming year.

English Society

I am the new secretary for English Society along with Hugh Cunningham as Chair, Edward Leggatt as Website Designer, Rowan Frewin as Publicity Officer and Jade Pepper as Treasurer.

Although a relatively new society we have big plans for this year to really get the most out of what London and Brunel have to offer! We hope to run regular film and theatre trips for all you culture seekers as well as fun and relaxed socials to give you the chance to get to know fellow arts students.

As an aspiring writer, I know how important work-shopping is in terms of development which is why I am planning to run a writing workshop at least once a month. This is a great way to throw ideas around as well as improve and advance ones you already have. Alongside this we are also hosting academic writing workshops which will assist all you students with your essay structure and writing style.

All this for a £5 year long membership – you really can’t miss out on this!

Brunel Media

The new website www.bru-media.co.uk is Brunel’s cultural hub which links you to Radio Brunel, Video Brunel and Le Nurb Online (a new and updated version of Brunel’s ever growing student newspaper). There are so many ways to get your voice heard at Brunel so get stuck in – who knows, you could be the next big thing!

Whilst we’re on the topic, I feel like this is a brilliant time for me to plug my own show which is aptly named ‘Shark Week’ – an arts and culture talk show which ironically hasn’t anything to do with sharks. I host this on Tuesday nights from 9pm with my cine-literate pals Rowan Frewin and Aidan Milan so please tune in.

Drama Society 

Fancy yourself an actor? Or maybe the next Will Shakespeare? Then Drama Society is for you! One of the larger societies at Brunel, Drama Soc is a great opportunity for you to build confidence and make new friends! They do weekly workshops which give you the chance to develop your skills in a fun and friendly atmosphere. There is also a Drama writing group where members contribute their own short radio plays – some of which are recorded by a fabulous team of actors to then air on Radio Brunel!

Orchestra and Film Choir 

The Film Orchestra and Choir Society has come a long way since it was first set up by third year Michael Spence just over a year ago and is currently gearing up for another term of concerts. FOC Soc prizes itself on being an all abilities choir which anyone can join and enjoy! The Choir has grown three times in numbers since last year, making it one of the biggest in the university, and it can really pack a punch! So if your voice sounds like a cross between Fergie and Jesus or if it’s confined behind the walls of your bathroom – come along and show us what you have got!

If you would like to know more about any of the societies then please email me: en12ces@brunel.ac.uk 

Enjoy your first week at Brunel!

Chloe

Welcome to all first year Creative Writing students. Please sign up to the Brunel Writer blog and Twitter feed, and get involved with the hashtag #BrunelBooks!