Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Tasty Morsels
Really excited/ nervous about the reading of my play Tasty Morsels in The Attic next Tuesday, Dec 11th. Every reading they've done has been so useful; constructive feedback is like gold dust to a writer! 
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
FIFTH 'CREATIVES IN ANIMATION NETWORK' EVENT CONFIRMED
The date: 10th December, 2012
The venue: ROASTED BROWN CAFE SPACE, FIRST FLOOR, FILMBASE, CURVED STREET, DUBLIN 2
Time: 7-9pm
Christmas is coming fast n fuzzy-tailed so we just have time for one last CAN event, the last of this network's first year. The event is informal and open to writers and animators genuinely interested in collaborating in the future.
Come along, meet and mingle; you're guaranteed a roomful of interesting people. Collaborations have been happening all year out of these events, connections made that may lead somewhere stimulating/ creative/ interesting/ even lucrative!
All I ask is that you let me know if you want to come so I can keep an eye on numbers for the space (ljsedgwick66@gmail.com).
There's a LinkedIn group for connections to continue and news to spread within the CAN group.
Thursday, 22 November 2012
Collaborations Festival 2013
Just heard today that my short play, SALT ON OUR SKIN has been chosen to take part in the 2013 Collaborations Festival next year in Smock Alley Theatre. The Festival is organised by the Jack Burdell Experience theatre company and will feature a wonderful melange of new work, short plays and long, all designed to stimulate and entertain, over two weeks.
It's really exciting to be part of it. My first play staged in 15 years!!
It was written for (and dedicated to) the person who inspired it, Tanvir Bushe xxx
The first draft was written for her in 1998! So don't give up hope anyone, Fate and Fortune are mischievous bedmates!
All in all, it is shaping up into a VERY GOOD week!!!
Website: http://jackburdellexperience.com/
Twitter: @jackburdell
Facebook: /jackburdellexperience
WULFIE and friends are GO!
This month, May 2014, I submitted my series Wulfie to Cartoon Forum under the auspices of my production company, Wulfie Animation, with Monster Entertainment as co-producer. It's a big move and one I was so ready to make.
The Bible is looking fantastic, thanks to everyone at Monster Entertainment. The drawings - backgrounds, characters - are gorgeous so please wish it well as it wings itself off to find funding in Europe.
Wulfie's real name is Mozart Amadeus Rachmaninov the Third, aka the Big bad Wolf and he arrived in my life in 2005.
I created the original stories for my daughter -- in a way because I felt obliged to tell her home-made stories at bed-time.
It's what writers are meant to do! I'd read about it. Every writer worth his or her salt seemed to have a series of books or a film based on something they created for their child/ children.
It was a hard act to follow but finally, after a few false starts, I found Wulfie.
Don't get me wrong, I ADORE writing, creating worlds, stories, characters. I mean, come on, is there a cooler and more fun way to make a living?! (Okay, 'make a living' might be a stretch at the moment but where would I be without a vivid and hopeful imagination?!)
But in terms of structure, pacing and chaotic but happy endings, I learnt on the job. Nothing like a small child in bed to comment on what she feels does and doesn't work! And she was my audience. If she got excited, if she went to sleep with a grin and woke wanting to know more, I knew I was on the right track.
It was a magical experience that lasted for years. Our laundry basket is still named after Wulfie cos Wulfie's foodstuffs-of-choice are dirty socks.
The smellier the better.
And, of course, Wulfie had a best friend who was a little girl and she was named for my daughter, Libby. Then Libby's friend at school was named for my step-daughter which felt really nice to do although a few weeks ago when we decided to make her a boy, to appeal to both genders since they both watch telly and we want this to travel EVERYWHERE!
Guess I'll have to find another series for the original friend!
The Bible is looking fantastic, thanks to everyone at Monster Entertainment. The drawings - backgrounds, characters - are gorgeous so please wish it well as it wings itself off to find funding in Europe.
Wulfie's real name is Mozart Amadeus Rachmaninov the Third, aka the Big bad Wolf and he arrived in my life in 2005.
I created the original stories for my daughter -- in a way because I felt obliged to tell her home-made stories at bed-time.
It's what writers are meant to do! I'd read about it. Every writer worth his or her salt seemed to have a series of books or a film based on something they created for their child/ children.
It was a hard act to follow but finally, after a few false starts, I found Wulfie.
Don't get me wrong, I ADORE writing, creating worlds, stories, characters. I mean, come on, is there a cooler and more fun way to make a living?! (Okay, 'make a living' might be a stretch at the moment but where would I be without a vivid and hopeful imagination?!)
But in terms of structure, pacing and chaotic but happy endings, I learnt on the job. Nothing like a small child in bed to comment on what she feels does and doesn't work! And she was my audience. If she got excited, if she went to sleep with a grin and woke wanting to know more, I knew I was on the right track.
It was a magical experience that lasted for years. Our laundry basket is still named after Wulfie cos Wulfie's foodstuffs-of-choice are dirty socks.
The smellier the better.
And, of course, Wulfie had a best friend who was a little girl and she was named for my daughter, Libby. Then Libby's friend at school was named for my step-daughter which felt really nice to do although a few weeks ago when we decided to make her a boy, to appeal to both genders since they both watch telly and we want this to travel EVERYWHERE!
Guess I'll have to find another series for the original friend!
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
RABAH's Story: A Script That Needs to Inspire
I have a week to create the perfect little script, a script that will be shot over four days next month and aired in the first week/ fortnight of December.
The ideal project! How often does a script get turned into a film so quickly?
The goal is to put a human face on the issue of refugees seeking asylum in Ireland. The commission is from the Killarney Asylum Seekers Initiative (KASI) and the company making it is Stormlight, from Cork. The same people who are planning to make my tv series, HUNTER; the director is Donogh MacCarthy-Morrogh.
Only about 10% of those who apply will ever get asylum here - and think about that word.
ASYLUM.
It's a very precious commodity and something we are very, very fortunate to be able to afford to give. The people who flee here would not come if they were safe in the countries in which they were born; countries they love. We, mostly, can feel safe in ours. This, which we take for granted, is a wonderful thing.
I spent last weekend with several of the men and women seeking asylum status in Ireland. From Ghana, Burundi, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Guinea. Not one of these people is here because they have a choice but all of them are in limbo for as long as seven years - unable to work, living in male or female hostels with other men or women they never met before and not even allowed to cook for themselves or their children.
But they are all grateful for being safe. One of the women said that if she wasn't here, she would probably be dead. What mother sends her son into the unknown at 14 years of age unless she believes it is the only way to keep him safe?
So they are wait on decisions. On envelopes that will decide their fate.
For up to seven years!
And in all that time, they get bed and board from the State - although they have no choice where they live and could be moved at any time to another part of the country - but they can't work, which means they can't support themselves or make a home and leave a legacy for themselves and their children.
Limbo. It's a far less pleasant word that asylum. A frustrating and powerless place to be.
And the people I met all want to be useful.
They want to give something back.
They want to re-start their lives before their best years are spent.
They have talents and skills and expertise and enthusiasm and a drive to make a better life for themselves, all of which is being wasted while they, and we, wait for those envelopes.
Many that I met in Killarney work as volunteers, doing whatever work they can to support the community within which they find themselves. Some work in the KASI garden, growing vegetables. All those I met credit the centre as essential for their sanity - a place they can meet and cook, talk, learn new skills, learn English, feel less alone and less desperate while they try to keep mind and body active and alert.
Otherwise, as one man said, "you go crazy".
So the thing with this project - an eight minute script - is that there is far too much to fit in, so much that I want to say or feel should be said... but I can only tell one story. Find one universal story that will reflect all their stories...
And put a human face on refugees seeking asylum in Ireland
The ideal project! How often does a script get turned into a film so quickly?
The goal is to put a human face on the issue of refugees seeking asylum in Ireland. The commission is from the Killarney Asylum Seekers Initiative (KASI) and the company making it is Stormlight, from Cork. The same people who are planning to make my tv series, HUNTER; the director is Donogh MacCarthy-Morrogh.
Only about 10% of those who apply will ever get asylum here - and think about that word.
ASYLUM.
It's a very precious commodity and something we are very, very fortunate to be able to afford to give. The people who flee here would not come if they were safe in the countries in which they were born; countries they love. We, mostly, can feel safe in ours. This, which we take for granted, is a wonderful thing.
I spent last weekend with several of the men and women seeking asylum status in Ireland. From Ghana, Burundi, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Guinea. Not one of these people is here because they have a choice but all of them are in limbo for as long as seven years - unable to work, living in male or female hostels with other men or women they never met before and not even allowed to cook for themselves or their children.
But they are all grateful for being safe. One of the women said that if she wasn't here, she would probably be dead. What mother sends her son into the unknown at 14 years of age unless she believes it is the only way to keep him safe?
So they are wait on decisions. On envelopes that will decide their fate.
For up to seven years!
And in all that time, they get bed and board from the State - although they have no choice where they live and could be moved at any time to another part of the country - but they can't work, which means they can't support themselves or make a home and leave a legacy for themselves and their children.
Limbo. It's a far less pleasant word that asylum. A frustrating and powerless place to be.
And the people I met all want to be useful.
They want to give something back.
They want to re-start their lives before their best years are spent.
They have talents and skills and expertise and enthusiasm and a drive to make a better life for themselves, all of which is being wasted while they, and we, wait for those envelopes.
Many that I met in Killarney work as volunteers, doing whatever work they can to support the community within which they find themselves. Some work in the KASI garden, growing vegetables. All those I met credit the centre as essential for their sanity - a place they can meet and cook, talk, learn new skills, learn English, feel less alone and less desperate while they try to keep mind and body active and alert.
Otherwise, as one man said, "you go crazy".
So the thing with this project - an eight minute script - is that there is far too much to fit in, so much that I want to say or feel should be said... but I can only tell one story. Find one universal story that will reflect all their stories...
And put a human face on refugees seeking asylum in Ireland
Saturday, 6 October 2012
PUNKY, THE PHENOMENON OF...: PUNKY Soaks Up The Sun!
PUNKY, THE PHENOMENON OF...: PUNKY Soaks Up The Sun!: PUNKY is in Cannes, soaking up the atmosphere, the sunshine and, hopefully, international deals! She's at MipCom , with Andrew Fitzpatrick...
Thursday, 4 October 2012
Monkey Puzzle Tree is a quarter-finalist
Just heard that Monkey Puzzle Tree made it onto the quarter finals list of the inaugural Screenwriting Goldmine Competition in the UK!
Always feel like a proud parent when one of my scripts gets into the running!
Now I get to be nervous for a few more weeks to see if it makes it into the next stage!
Always feel like a proud parent when one of my scripts gets into the running!
Now I get to be nervous for a few more weeks to see if it makes it into the next stage!
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