Future Screens is a two-day feature screenwriting lab aimed at emerging talent, organized by the British Council in partnership with the British Film Institute and the support of the Fundación Academia de Cine. The purpose of the lab is to provide the filmmakers with tools and insights into their own process as well as a clear guide to the inherent skills in screenwriting. This dual approach will give each participant an opportunity to think about ways to enhance their screenwriting skills with specific regard to their own material as well as a broader understanding of their craft, which they can apply to any project.
Where and when:
Fundación Academia de Cine (Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas) - Calle de Zurbano, 3, 28010 Madrid
- Tuesday, 7th March 2023 from 09.30h to 17.00h
- Wednesday, 8th March 2023 from 10.00h to 17.30h
Deadline to apply:
27th February 2023 at 23:59 CEST. If your application is successful the British Council will cover the cost of your training. We'll inform you on 1st of March if you've been selected. The training will be delivered in English and is free of charge.
The Lab will focus on four main areas of activity:
- Story World and Character Building
- Plot, Structure
- Theme and Meaning, Tone and Genre
- Audience and Rewriting
It will be taught by Angeli Macfarlane. Angeli is an industry leading story editor, producer and writer known for her commitment to working with emerging and diverse talent. She provides script editing and mentoring for many key organisations including: British Film Institute, Film London, BBC Film, Film4, Screen Ireland, Vic Screen Australia, Berlinale Talents & the National Film Development Corporation in India. Angeli will be joined by award-winning director Georgia Oakley for the training session on March 8th. That evening, Georgia will also participate in a Q&A and screening of her BATFA nominated and BIFA winning film Blue Jean.
PROGRAMME
DAY ONE - Tuesday, March 7th
• Building a strong story world and characters that resonate
• Tropes and ensuring logic and meaning
• The architecture of screen stories
• Structuring and plot mechanisms
DAY TWO - Wednesday, March 8th
• Cultivating a sense of direction in writing – setting intention
• Themes, ideas, description and genre and tone.
• The audience and how best to evolve a script.
• The nature of feedback, what to do with it and how to change and edit what is written, with confidence.
Participants will receive supplementary work/task to be completed either during or after the Lab. This additional work support the development work of participants and offer further opportunity to benefit from the sessions. Participants will also receive a handbook as an aide memoir and a certificate of completion.
ANGELI MACFARLANE
Angeli is an industry leading story editor, producer and writer known for her commitment to working with emerging and diverse talent. She provides script editing and mentoring for many key organisations including: British Film Institute, Film London, BBC Film, Film4, Screen Ireland, Vic Screen Australia, Berlinale Talents & the National Film Development Corporation in India. Angeli is currently the Development Mentor for Vic Screen for their first feature programme for diverse voices: Originate. Independent production companies she consults for include Ratpack, Sleeper Films, Parkville Pictures, Poisson Rouge, Emu, Paradox House, JM Films and Sweetshop & Green. Recent completed films: THE FAVOURITE, ANIMALS, DIRTY GOD, IT IS IN US ALL and 2022 BIFA nominated GOD’S CREATURES. As Development Producer Angeli recently completed six first features financed by Film London, BBC Film and the BFI. Five of the films have been released and garnered many awards: SWEETHEART, MARI, BODY OF WATER, HOMEBOUND and LOOTED. The sixth ZERO (Dark Pictures) is due for release in 2023. Other credits include: JUNKHEARTS, LITTLE MATADOR, DEATH OF A PRESIDENT.
Through her own production wing she runs a slate of material that focuses mostly on women’s stories: GUNNAR’S DAUGHTER written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (IDA, DISOBEDIENCE, HOT MILK, SHE SAID) and Costa Book Award winner Monique Roffey’s Trinidad-set epic THE WHITE WOMAN ON A GREEN BICYCLE. Writer Lisa Allen-Agostini, shortlisted for the 2022 Women’s Prize for Fiction will be penning the series with Angeli. Angeli recently began screenwriting. She co-wrote LOLA (Cowtown/Bankside), directed by Andrew Legge, which premiered at Locarno Film Festival 2022 and is due for release with Bankside in 2023. She is co-writing SISTERS for Sleeper Films & Cineman and adapting best-selling novel SMALL PLEASURES for Shy Punk. Angeli has devised an original 6-part TV series entitled WATCHING BIRDS and feature EROS IS MY LOVER, a family-of-women road movie.
GEORGIA OAKLEY
Georgia is a screenwriter and director with a particular fondness for convention defying, female-led narratives. Her awardwinning shorts have screened at dozens of international festivals including SXSW, TriBeCa, New York Film Festival and Galway Film Fleadh. She was mentored by Desiree Akhavan on the BFI Flare scheme and was selected for Berlinale Talents and iFeatures with her debut feature, Blue Jean. Georgia is currently developing her second feature with BBC Film. She is also co-adapting a novel by Anna Hope for June Films, and will be directed by Clémence Poésy.
BLUE JEAN
Blue Jean is an intimate character study of a woman unsure of how she wants to be – or is allowed to be – perceived in her own life. It’s an ode to queer resilience in the not-too-distant past and a timely reminder of the ways in which queer people are still silenced today. Debuting at Venice Days, the film won the People’s Choice Award and went on to play London, Rotterdam, and Zurich. The film has picked up four gongs at the BIFAs, including Best Debut Screenwriter and is nominated for the Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer BAFTA.
More information: arts@britishcouncil.es
The British Council is the UK's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, committed to fostering cultural exchange between the UK and the rest of the world. Its work in the Arts focuses on changing perceptions and encouraging greater equality, diversity and inclusion across the arts and society. It promotes creativity, innovation and excellence through the development of transformative and inclusive projects with the purpose of nurturing the construction and consolidation of global communities of collaboration.