The Director/ Writer Collaboration: From Script to Screen

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The Director/ Writer Collaboration: From Script to Screen

Date:
Sat, 1 Feb 2025 to Sun, 2 Feb 2025

Duration: 2 days
Times: 10am - 5pm
Capacity: Max. 12 participants
Fee: £350

What is the Director’s role in shaping a screenplay?

A good script is the bottom line of any film project. Without it you don’t get the commission, the best actors, the desired result. Film and television are collaborative mediums, so how should a Director and a Writer collaborate to achieve the best outcome?

Leading TV and film Director Tim Fywell (RIVER, HAPPY VALLEY, MASTERS OF SEX, GRANTCHESTER) takes you on the exciting and fraught journey from Script to Screen.

Featuring practical writing and directing exercises, and examples of filmed projects – as they appear on the page and in their final incarnation on screen - this is a weekend course for Directors and Writers who want to up their game.

Participants must have good written and spoken English and will need to be able to send a 2-3 page sample scene from a script they are working on (as either Director or Writer) ahead of the workshop. This will be explored throughout the course.

Course Outline

1.    The First Read

How to read a script for the first time. How much should you know in advance – about the Writer, the source material, the background to the project? How do all those things affect your crucial first reading? How do you keep your reactions fresh and open?

2.    The First Meeting

Usually the first meeting with the Writer takes place with the Producer and Script Editor present. Is this a good thing? Should you try to meet the Writer on your own first? How do you handle the complex Producer/Writer/Script Editor relationship in a creative and harmonious way?

3.    Developing the Script

All scripts, however good, need some work. TV and Film are collaborative mediums between Writer/Director/Producer/Actor/Director of Photography/Designer etc., and the Director needs to find an overall vision for the piece to realise it most thoroughly. How do you best achieve this in conjunction with the Writer?

  • Bringing the characters to 3-dimensional life.
  • Dialogue – When is it necessary? Too much or too little dialogue can hugely affect the final product.
  • Finding the dramatic arc of a scene.
  • Shaping the whole story - How to use story beats and outlines to help the Writer, and the Director to realise a common goal.

From first reading to read-through, and then to first screening, this workshop will take you on this journey.


TESTIMONIALS

"Tim Fywell is very friendly and clear in all his teachings and the course is structured very nicely - I loved it! When directing a scene previously unknown to me (on day 1), I thought I actually performed better as a director because I had a more laid-back approach. To be able to realise so much about myself as a director after only two days of a workshop was brilliant." - Participant, 2022

"Overall a great experience, it (unexpectedly) pushed me out of my comfort zone and got me writing quickly without allowing time to be self-conscious or self-sabotaging." - Participant, 2023

"Tim created a very comfortable environment in which we could experiment, play, learn and have fun." - Participant, 2023

Tutor profile: Tim Fywell, Director

Tim Fywell is one of the most accomplished directors of drama working in UK television today. The range of his work extends from GRANTCHESTER (2014, 2016 & 2017) to HAPPY VALLEY (2014); from MASTERS OF SEX (2013) to DRACULA (2014); from CRACKER (1994, To Be a Somebody, with Robert Carlyle) to MADAME BOVARY (2000, adapted by Heidi Thomas); from Sarah Waters’ AFFINITY (2008, adapted by Andrew Davies) to THE TURN OF THE SCREW (2009, adapted by Sandy Welch); plus SILENT WITNESS, WAKING THE DEAD, THE NO. 1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY, DCI BANKS, LEWIS and WODEHOUSE IN EXILE (TV Movie, 2013).

Tim's next project to air will be the forthcoming BBC1 drama series RIVER (2015), created and written by Abi Morgan, starring Stellan Skarsgrad. - See more at: http://lfs.org.uk/workshops/lfs-workshops/1577/directoractor-collaborati...
Tim's next project to air will be the forthcoming BBC1 drama series RIVER (2015), created and written by Abi Morgan, starring Stellan Skarsgrad. - See more at: http://lfs.org.uk/workshops/lfs-workshops/1577/directoractor-collaborati...
Tim's next project to air will be the forthcoming BBC1 drama series RIVER (2015), created and written by Abi Morgan, starring Stellan Skarsgrad. - See more at: http://lfs.org.uk/workshops/lfs-workshops/1577/directoractor-collaborati...

Tim’s feature credits include I CAPTURE THE CASTLE (2003) with Romola Garai, Bill Nighy, Rose Byrne and Tara Fitzgerald, and THE ICE PRINCESS (2005) with Michelle Trachtenberg, Joan Cusack and Kim Cattrall. Tim studied English at Cambridge University and began his professional career directing in fringe theatre before moving on to the West End.

Some of his theatrical credits include: LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES (Playhouse Theatre); SKIRMISHES (Hampstead Theatre); RED SATURDAY (Royal Court); THE MOTHER COUNTRY (Riverside Studios); HITTINGTOWN (Bush Theatre); NO HAND SIGNALS (National Theatre), which he wrote and directed; I MADE IT MA TOP OF THE WORLD which he devised and directed at the Royal Court, and SPRING AWAKENING (Royal Court).