The Proof of Concept, Take 2

All it took was three months. From when we finished shooting one proof of concept short film - Truth To Power - until we embarked on the same task with a wildly different project, the horror script #doomscroller. 

I say 'all' as if it were nothing. Of course, it's a massive task to go from one self-financed short film to another in such a tight timeframe. It's kind of remarkable if I think about it. 

But we didn't have time to think. From that shoot at the end of January to completing the short and preparing a funding submission for its feature counterpart, the team focussed pretty exclusively on Truth to Power.

After a comprehensive effort, we handily met the funding deadline in early March and instead of resting on our laurels and waiting to see what the outcome would be we immediately launched into planning the next shoot over the Anzac Day long weekend. 

The 'we' in those sentences is the same creative team as Truth To Power - myself as writer, producer Jaimee Peasley, and producer/director Tim Dean though Tim would be concentrating on directing only for the DS short with Jaimee as sole producer under the Patch Productions (Australia) Pty Ltd banner. On this one though we needed a little assistance. Which I'm delighted to say we found through several avenues.

While the Truth To Power short is a 14 page, dialogue heavy script with multiple transitions in and out of imagined scenes, it's basically set in one location - a conference room. 

The Doomscroller script, at a svelte 8 pages, is dialogue light, essentially a two-hander but has an effects shot and ended up being filmed in multiple locations.   

Jaimee established a crowdfunding campaign through the Australian Cultural Fund which we needed to ameliorate out-of-pocket costs having just been through a DIY shoot. With my financial situation increasingly parlous, I gritted my virtual teeth determined to help meet the target by hitting the socials. Not only did Team DS meet that goal we went a little over. A HUGE thank you to the people listed at the end of this post and all the anonymous donors as well!    

Then there's the crew, many of whom were with us on the TTP shoot. Jaimee put together another outstanding collection of talented people who worked tirelessly over the three day shoot, a lot of it at night, donating their time and expertise. To see so many of the same faces reaffirmed in my mind the quality of the script as well as an acknowledgement we were going about things the right way with Tim's directing and Jaimee's producing skills again to the fore. Thank you to one and all for your excellent work and belief in us. 

The same with casting. Heaps of self-tapes came in from talented young actors and we found our leads in newcomers Mackenzie Reynolds and Jayk Thomas after doing callbacks. They acquitted themselves in style over the shoot. 

While I was on set the whole time for TTP, it being our first production as a trio, this time I stayed well out of the way and let Tim, Jaimee, the cast and crew do their thing. I had absolute confidence they had everything in hand. I rocked up for a few hours on the first day - apparently ate all the chips - and for a few hours on the final night. Special mention to script supervisor Matthew Keenan who had my back as a proactive and thoughtful guardian of the script. 

Now I eagerly await a first assembly of the film even though there are some pickup shots still to be done. Early word from our editor Lawrie Silvestrin is very encouraging! 

I'm super proud of what we've achieved in the first four months of the year. To add to the list we were also accepted into Screenwest's Feature Navigator initiative which took place less than a fortnight before our shoot. But that's best left to another post as an amazing experience with yet another feature project. 

For now, THANK YOU to the following people who donated to the #doomscroller crowdfunding campaign and the many other people who wish to remain anonymous:

Michael Facey, Karen Connolly, Alan Gill, Jason Jones, Janelle Pelchen, Narelle Townsend, Alice Reynolds, Naomi Scalora, Virginia Moore-Price, Alzbeta Rekosh, Aaron McCann, Jane Rennick, Charli Peasley, Drew Anthony, Thomas Dimmick, Katy R, Dolores & Donald Hyde, Courtney Magee, Rowan Marshall, Jeffrey Jay Fowler, Sue Chalcraft, Ryan Davey, Carly Portch, e Group Holdings Pty Ltd, Jonathan Beckett, Carol Peasley, Donna McFetridge, Lynette Cuthbert, Bruce Turner, Kieran Ridgway, Phil Bedworth, DMC Conveyor Services, Rosemary McKenna & Peta Reynolds Lugg. 

Also, thank you to the people who see me at shows and ask about my film endeavours or message me. It really means a lot.

Richard

Doomscroller - Crowdfunding Campaign

I’m a writer. And of a certain age. All the whizz-bang multi-media presentations aren’t really my thing. So I’m just going to write.

It’s difficult asking people for money. Especially now. I know that. But here’s why.

I’ve written a horror screenplay a lot of people seem to like very much. Industry people whose opinions I value and trust.

To have a shot at getting that feature script made we first need to demonstrate we know what we’re doing. To that end I’ve written a self-contained short film – a proof of concept. Again, another script people seem to like very much.

We are shooting that short film over the Anzac Day long weekend. This is coming off the back of shooting another proof of concept short at the end of January which was a trial of fire for me and my creative collaborators which we passed with flying colours.

Except it means our resources are somewhat depleted. Not in the talent, goodwill, right way of going about things perspective. But in the dollars kind of way to look after our cast and crew and for any additional equipment we may need.

Why should you care if Richard gets to make a great short film to possibly get to make a feature film?

It’s a good question.

It feels like I’ve served a twenty-year apprenticeship and suddenly everything is happening all at once. Crazy things, wonderful things, exciting things.

I’d like to think that that over the journey I have been supportive of people with their own creative dreams and endeavours. Nobody owes me anything though.

But if you are able to spare a few dollars in a tax-deductible donation I’d love to be able to show you all what my creative talents and dreams are.

If you got this far, thank you for reading. To those people who have already donated, I cannot sufficiently express my enormous gratitude.

The link to make a donation is here.

Thank you for your consideration.

Richard

The Whirlwind

My head is spinning. It's like I've served a twenty year apprenticeship and now the universe has decided I actually know what I'm doing as a writer. This year has been nothing short of sensational so far. Not one but two feature screenplays in play with another feature project waiting in the wings. Not one but two proof of concept shorts with one already shot and close to being finished with the other being shot in less than a month.

I've been writing well for a sustained period. My key collaborators, Tim and Jaimee, have been spectacular. People are reaching out in amazing ways - new faces, old contacts, exciting opportunities.

I'm humbled and heartened by the response to my scripts from other writers, actors, crew, experienced practitioners whose opinion I value enormously, and the market. Tim, Jaimee, and I have been taking very positive meetings on Doomscroller while the Truth To Power feature is in for West Coast Visions, accompanied with a short I'm incredibly proud of.

More than that though, I've been able to assist people with their own projects; brokering introductions, providing feedback, and being an encouraging voice. My mantra is pretty simple - ‘when you get the chance, you do good things for good people’ so it's been a delight to help out where I can. It's also a joy to be surrounded by such positive creative talent.

Then there's the possibility of entering into a writing partnership that could be a dream scenario. Head. Spinning. Linda Blair style. Without the projectile vomit!

Yes, I know I'm an optimist and that a million things have to go right to get a film up but damn if we ain't poised nicely to, as my producer said on a film shoot recently, “turn this dream into a reality.”

And that's pretty damn exciting!

Introducing... Doomscroller!

On 15 June 2023, probably in the wee hours, I jotted down a story idea in the Notes application on my mobile. This was after I'd read a post on Twitter - when I was still on what would become the dumpster fire known as X - that asked why masters such as Scorsese and Spielberg only made ‘period pieces’ these days. The answer posited was that the smartphone had made it increasingly difficult to generate drama/tension with everybody being connected all the time. That's a discussion in and of itself but what it did do was sponsor an idea… 

The first line of my note to myself was: “If mobile phones in movies are a problem lean into it.”

From there the high concept horror film Doomscroller was born with the tagline:

“Being glued to your phone has never been so deadly.”

I'm going to be a little obtuse here as it's a relatively new project in development. However, it's one that seems to be gaining some traction.

That tagline turned into the One Liner:

“When six strangers, all with a dark online secret, wake up in a deserted house with a mobile phone glued to their hand a malevolent voice tells them that if the battery hits zero percent the phone will explode.”

I describe it as Se7en meets The Menu; the latter film giving me the inspiration for the second act turning point. Yes, this is a long way removed from Saw!

I did my usual development process, namely a detailed beat sheet before attempting a draft, and something a little unusual. I pitched it to my director Tim Dean who I normally work with on thrillers and political stories. I wasn't sure if horror was his thing so I was somewhat surprised and delighted when he loved it.

Then another surprise. The first draft came out quickly and relatively easy. Including the third act. I could see it so clearly. I was especially happy about the ending as I've worked on scripts before where I was constantly rewriting the third act and it's agony.

It's now up to fourth draft stage and yes, there is a proof of concept short taking a strand out of the feature and making it a self-contained story.

As producer Jaimee Peasley came on board to work with us, I sent off the short script initially to gauge her reaction. She loved it too and became instrumental in applying for a funding grant. We ultimately weren't successful even though the funding body apparently loved the short script. However, it was a great exercise for the three of us to work together as a creative team and introduce ourselves as such to Screenwest.

Meanwhile, on the feature front incredible things were happening that I can't talk about in detail at the moment. A memorable pitch of the concept that led to another pitch meeting. A meeting before Christmas that I pushed hard for to confirm whether the execution on the page met the promise of the concept. That 90 minute meeting validated my belief we had something very promising.

Now I wait for notes before the next rewrite. And some other things to fall into place.

I'm really excited about this one. It has commercial potential and a killer concept, pun fully intended.

Stay tuned!

The abuse of digital technology will no longer be tolerated. You have been warned #doomscroller

The Proof of Concept

Over the long weekend a short film script I'd written was filmed. A fictional whistleblower story in the style of the feature script it would take its name from - Truth To Power. We'll get to those four days shortly but first, a little background.

Previously on...

The feature film script Truth To Power had been shortlisted for a major production funding round in 2023. Unfortunately, we didn't get the $1.25 million which would have put us on the way to making that film. 

A lot has changed since then including some things I can't discuss yet. The elements I can discuss are these:

A new Perth-based producer, Jaimee Peasley, has come onboard joining producer/director Tim Dean, myself, and our Melbourne-based producer Erinn Stevenson.  

A concise note from a person whose opinion I trust means there will be new passes of the feature script for the first time in quite a while. I'm excited about this as what I'm attempting is risky but will elevate the script from being very good to hopefully something quite special. 

We will be resubmitting the project to the funding body for the 2025 production funding round, now $1.5 million as Screen Australia matches Screenwest's $750k. 

The project has also been submitted for development funding which, amongst other things, would mean I get to work with script editor Shayne Armstrong again if we're successful. 

A key part of the submission strategy for the feature included filming a proof of concept short. This is something Tim and I began to consider in March of last year. With Jaimee joining the creative team in May, development of the screenplay began in earnest. 

Early on Tim and I knew that we could not tell the real life Andrew Wilkie story in short form. The decision was therefore made to write a fictional whistleblower tale. The earliest note on my phone is dated 6 March 2024 and the basic idea has remained the same ever since. What changed over many drafts ended up being the necessity to replicate the tone and dramatic conceit of the feature, namely the inclusion of imagined scenes. This proved to be quite the task as I didn't have the same real estate to establish that device and the transitions in and out of those moments had to be precise. 

I also had another problem. To create a compelling whistleblower story you need a secret of sufficient weight to give the protagonist a moment of pause as they consider the ramifications of their actions. The feature script deals with the misuse of intelligence to falsely justify Australia's involvement in the Iraq War so I went back to the military well and chose AUKUS as a likely source of government shenanigans. Only to find that actual revelations were outstripping my supposedly manufactured ones. I had to keep pushing the core secret while still having it be credible. It would not surprise me if what I've concocted actually comes to pass.  

Fourteen drafts later - with feedback from writers I have enormous respect for - we had a finished script. A script that is one of the most difficult I've ever written and one I'm enormously proud of. I did have an advantage though - we were going to self-finance this short so I could write it how I liked without worrying about the niceties of funding submissions. As always, Tim kept me on the straight and narrow when I became a little too polemical or ranted on the page. I need that anger to write about how these courageous individuals are disgracefully persecuted for telling the truth. Tim helps me focus and modulate that rage with well-considered and dispassionate notes.

Then it came time to make it all happen. Jaimee's involvement became critical, both in letting Tim concentrate on directing and in putting together a sensational cast and crew for not only a self-financed short but any short film. 

Which brings us to the long weekend.  

Yes, I was easily the oldest person on set. However, the crew could not have been more respectful to me and the script with a really good vibe established right from the get go. I loved their expertise, the banter, and willingness to work hard. Jaimee set the tone and everyone followed. What a delight to be there every day. 

Then there is the cast:

Myles Pollard, Caroline Brazier, Jennah Bannear, Maitland Schnaars, Deep Sroa, and Oliver Clare. 

What an absolute joy to have your words and scenes come to life at the hands of such talented actors! During a moment on the morning of the last day when Myles and Caroline were going toe to toe I had to force myself to stay calm. They were crushing it! As did everybody involved. 

I can't wait to see an edit. I can't wait to see the finished film at a cast and crew screening. I can't wait to include that proof of concept short as part of our funding submission to show what we can do as a creative team. 

While I couldn't tell you what any of those four days looked like outside, what I can tell you is that it was a very good long weekend!

A Tale of Two Projects

It seems it's true that there's always a silver lining in every situation. I discovered this in the middle of 2021 when I was made redundant (along with some 90 other colleagues) with no notice by a telco company that declared itself insolvent and therefore couldn't pay our entitlements. We eventually received what was owing to us via a government scheme but it took over three months to get our money. All this in the middle of a global pandemic. To say people were angry would be an understatement. To say I was furious and devastated would be a polite way of putting it. I said I'd mope around for a few days then decide what I was going to do. Three days turned into three weeks and, to be honest, I was a little lost. 

Then came the silver lining...

A call from a director who asked if he could send me a treatment he'd written for a feature film idea and, if I liked it, would I consider working on it with him. I did like it so I said yes. That was at the end of July 2021. 

Fast forward to March 2023 and there is now a fifth draft of that screenplay titled Bull; it has received Stages 1 & 2 of Scripted Development funding from the local government agency Screenwest; and is now being prepped for a major production funding round with that agency by the producer Michael Facey and director Chris Richards-Scully who form the production company Scullface. 

Stage 2 of the development funding allowed us to engage a script editor and I was delighted to work with Shayne Armstrong who is a genre film writer and Chair of the Queensland committee of the Australian Writers' Guild. Shayne's expertise, perceptive feedback, and encouragement were instrumental in the current draft taking a solid leap forward. 

Meanwhile, the other director I work with, Tim Dean, has been studiously working to get the Truth To Power screenplay into production. I understand a well-known Australian actor is attached to play the lead role and a distribution company is also involved. Tim has subsequently moved back to Western Australia which makes him eligible for, you guessed it, the major production funding round.

So it looks like I will have not one but two of my screenplays competing for the $750,000 fund. The pot has been sweetened even further by Screen Australia announcing they will commit another $500,000 to what is known as West Coast Visions. It will be crazy competitive with many other fine teams and projects entering but as the old adage says, you gotta be in it to win it!

Now, I love both of these projects and I'm proud of my work on each. It's heartening that so many other people have responded to these stories and are working to take them from the page to the screen. As both directors put together their heads of department and crew for the funding submissions, the feedback filtering back to me about the scripts has been very strong. 

Here's the thing, they couldn't be more different. 

Bull  is a horror film set in a country town where our two main characters, Bull and his daughter Lilly, are [redacted]. We'll keep that reveal a secret for the moment. 

Truth To Power is a real life political thriller adapted from a memoir by Andrew Wilkie, an intelligence analyst who resigned in protest over the misrepresentation of intelligence before the 2003 Iraq War. 

It's such a boon that I am able to explore these diverse topics with talented collaborators and have it so clearly defined. With Tim, we talk about thrillers and political tales; with Chris it's science fiction, the supernatural, and now horror. 

Since my enforced redundancy I've been in the fortunate position of not having to find another office job as I live off my savings for the time being. That gives me all the time in the world (in screenwriter speak this means the time when I'm not procrastinating, blocked, napping, doing 'research' or generally finding any reason not to write) to do rewrites and hone these two screenplays. 

There are also two new projects in early stages - a political satire set over the course of a few hours at an Annual General Meeting (with Tim, of course); and a therapeutic tale about an employee who is suddenly made redundant and seeks revenge by infecting the offending company with ransomware. (I have no idea where this idea came from!)

The major takeaway from all this? I'm really enjoying it. The late nights writing. The staring into blank space trying to solve script problems. The joy when you do. The heart pumping dread of receiving script coverage or notes. The relief when it's not as bad as you thought or indeed not bad at all. The meetings and Zoom calls with creative people whose only goal is to help make your script better. The weird distortion of time - agony when you're not writing; miraculously sped up when you're "in the zone".

Hopefully it means I'm getting closer to seeing all these characters in my head come to life one day. As my mother keeps reminding me, she ain't getting any younger!  

Construction of a Screenplay, Part 7 - Patience

An underrated aspect of screenwriting is patience. Patience not to rush the development of a good idea. Patience waiting for feedback and notes. Patience in trusting your collaborators. Patience in the next steps that will hopefully turn words on a page into moving images on a screen.

Patience has never been one of my strengths. I used to get angsty waiting - on reader notes, the results of funding submissions and the like. But I'm learning and getting better.

The Truth to Power screenplay has been receiving really good feedback. It's out there being read and all I can do is wait. Positive things are happening behind the scenes and I am immensely buoyed by the number of people who ask me how it's going.

I can't give definitive answers yet other than I'm excited about the possibilities being presented.

And I am calm and happy to wait. Largely because I believe the script is good, it will find a home, and it will get made.

Once a producer (or producers) has been locked in then my waiting will be over.

I've had time away from those words on a page so when the notes come for rewrites I'll be able to attack them with fresh eyes. Plus any other material to assist getting the project up whether that be funding submissions or crowd funding campaigns. Decisions to discuss when a producer joins Tim and I to shepherd this project to the next phase.

I have a feeling 2019 is going to be a big year. It will be challenging, no doubt, but I'm excited about where this will lead us...

#TruthtoPower #screenwriting