Collecting donations for NYC shelters

This Sunday I’m traveling back to New York and I want to bring
back donations to help as much as possible. Let’s show New Yorkers how supportive and giving the Brits are. They need us!

I’m looking for donations to bring back with me. These include:

Toys: Non-fabric kids toys, books and Clothes would be SUPER! Shelters have a ton of kids. Crayons, markers, coloring paper and construction paper are particularly helpful. We don’t want to stress the school’s resources.

Adult stuff: clothes and books, particularly ones in other languages, would be helpful for adults.

There’s lots more that’s needed especially from us New Yorkers. I’ll be volunteering as soon as I touch down. More here: http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2012/oct/30/how-help-hurricane-sandy/

What I'm going to see at the London Screenwriter's Festival

So I’m going to London on Saturday night for 9 days and I’m so excited. Not only do I get to see all of my amazing friends, read through Raptured with the cast, and go to a Woman of the Year luncheon for my work with the riot cleanup in Clapham Junction, but I also get to be part of this year’s London Screenwriters Festival.

I’m reaching out to some of the writers/ producers/ directors who are going so I can hopefully meet up with them (as it’s a brilliant thing to do when you are at a festival). I’ll also be writing up many of the sessions over on the Red on Black Productions blog.

I thought I’d give you a heads up on what I’m thinking of seeing. Let me know if you are going to any of the sessions I am (we can sit together!) or if you want to go for a coffee on the breaks. So here goes…

THURSDAY:
Pitching session. This is a whole day affair. I thought it would be a great idea to brush up on pitching projects especially as we are looking for more people to come on board with Raptured Season 2.

FRIDAY:
10:30 AM - 12:30 PM: Produced or rejected: Is your script the best that it could be? With Kate Leys
Back by popular demand, Kate Leys returns with her highly rated and standing room only festival favourite session. 

2:00 - 3:00 PM: The secret to your success with Paul Ashton
Do you want an agent? Commissions? Productions? An overall glittering life as a scriptwriter? Then come to this session – and find out the big secret that every writer needs to know. 

3:30 - 4:30 PM: What the comedy commissioners want with Paul Bassett Davis, Lucy Lumsden, Chris Sussman
The seat of power in British Comedy TV is occupied by a select group of commissioners – what are they looking for and how do you get it to them so that they can greenlight YOUR work? Expect a serious session about being funny. 

5:00 - 6:00 PM: How to get a feature film funded, filmed and released in Britain with Richard Holmes
If there is one British producer you need to know, it’s Richard Holmes… 

6:30 - 7:30 PM: 50 screenwriter survival tips with Daniel Martin Eckhart, Danny Stack, Mark Pallis, Richard Dinnick, Micho Rutare,  and (my personal favorite as he’s my mate) David Varela.
Our expert panel will offer their 50 Top Tips in staying alive so you can live off the proceeds of your writing talent. 

SATURDAY:
9:00 - 11:30 AM: Steve Ince: The writing for games lab
This is where I will learn all about writing for games (as long as I get in). It’s still up in the air, but fingers crossed!! 

2:00 - 3:00 PM: Writing fantastical sci-fi with Tony Lee and Phil Ford
Sci-Fi has always had deep roots in British writing. How can you take your love of this beloved of genres and turn that to your advantage? What makes produceable Sci-Fi and how do you break in?

3:30 - 4:30 PM: Maximise your script’s produceability without losing the plot with Sascha Hecks, Angeli Macfarlane, Sophie Meyer, Luke Ryan, and Stephen May
Rewriting and polishing your script to make it easier to sell - small changes make BIG DIFFERENCES. Which ones mean the most? 

5:00 - 6:00 PM: Writing comics for fun and profit with Tony Lee
What can comics teach you as a screenwriter? And more importantly, what can a graphic novel of your screenplay do for you? 

6:30 - 7:30 PM: Social Media: why YOU should embrace it today
Not everyone has joined the social media revolution, and not everyone will – but if you have resisted it, give this session a whirl to see what you could be missing out on. It could be the game changer you have been waiting for.

I’ll be on this panel with Paul Bassett Davis, Lucy V Hay, Tracy Thomas and Andra Mann. I’ll be sharing some social media facts care of the folks at Econsultancy and may even have a free report or two to give away!

SUNDAY:
9:00 - 10:00 AM: The non-linear minefield with Linda Aronson
Practical advice on what goes wrong, right and unexpectedly brilliant when you’re writing nonlinear and multiple storyline films. 

10:30 - 11:30 AM: Sleeping in the slaughterhouse: Microbudget filmmaking dos and don’ts with Signe Olynyk and Bob Schultz
How do you make a multi-million dollar, studio quality movie with no money, and then sell it and turn it into a successful release? 

2:00 - 3:00 PM: The truth: with X-files writer and producer Frank Spotnitz
(this is on the same time as Mike Leigh so I’m torn but I think I want a little background on such a big Sci-fi show)
An in depth conversation with Frank Spotnitz, Emmy award winning writer and producer of The X Files (TV Series and both movies), Hunted, The Lone Gunmen and Millennium. 

3:30 - 4:30 PM: Is the old world dead? Should you be writing for the web?
A new generation of writer is ignoring the established industry and craving out their own niche on the internet - how do you go from a few hundred views to millions, and create YOUR own brand and loyalty?

OK so this is another one of my panels and I’m dead excited. I get to chat about Raptured and find out how others are doing their web projects. Fun times.

I will not let myself think of the session that is going on at the same time with Lisa Albert. The Lisa Albert who works on Mad Men and worked on shows I grew up with like Murphy Brown and Major Dad. I will NOT think about that.

But I may jump into her session when I’m done. If there is no space? I’l head over to “Writing Horror: should you take a stab?” I love a good cheezy title :)

F*** you Vegas

So I’ve travelled nine hours to get to you and I’ve stood in queues for taxis and for hotel rooms and yet I’m wary but hopeful that everything will work out fine. I change into (what I call) a rah rah dress. I’m not sure of it, I like it, it’s fun but it’s not the nicest dress I’ve brought with me. I’ll save the nicer ones for networking and talking and strangers I don’t know but should do business with, or just someone who’ll help.

But none of what I brought is Vegas. I’M not Vegas. I think Vegas is tacky and cheap but fun and slick and for people who don’t know any better. I know better. Or at least I think I do. But I still go out tonight.

So I’m out and at first it’s like I’m in my Dad’s version of Vegas (not my words but they’re good ones) and then…there’s a comment about my hair. I’ve got roots. Blonde with dark roots. I was hoping no one would notice. But they do. I’m waiting to go home to England next week. They’ll sort my hair and I’ve had no luck in New York despite me paying the cost of a couch for someone to fry my hair. It’s just not the same. It’s just not home.

Then somehow we move and there is money exchanging hands and we are on a roof terrace and we are seeing the full Vegas strip in front of us. It is beautiful.

Breathtaking.

But then somehow everyone’s talking and it seems to be about me and a woman who wants to shag anyone she can see is saying “oh she’s pretty and smart but that’s why no one wants to date her” and colleagues turn to whisper “I know someone” or “I’ll set you up” or “It’s Vegas, just go for it” and I just want to get through the next six days just doing my job and getting back home to my friends and that no one here thinks I’m the loser that I feel like right now.

And that no one will answer “It’s cause she’s a lot of woman to handle”  with ” Is that cause of her weight?” like that stranger did. That man I didn’t know before one hour ago.

And that I won’t tear up and want the floor to open beneath me.
And that I won’t have to smile like brittle glass and just take it.
And grit my teeth to stop my screaming
And that I won’t have to see everyone just look around awkwardly and make small talk and not defend me.
And that I won’t feel like that f***ing 14 year old in ill fitting sweaters that wished I looked different and wished people noticed me and wished one guy out there would want to kiss me.

I thought I was over that.

I’m an adult.

F**k you Vegas. It’s not your fault. I don’t really mean it. But neither do the people who should know better. Though it feels like they do.

So f**k you Vegas.

F**ck you.

Covering Social Media Week Chicago

Last week I was in Chicago covering Social Media week there. It was the first time to the windy city and not only did I enjoy a great time with a friend from back home who came out to Chicago cause she heard I was coming but I got to eat some great food, take the spectacular Architectural boat tour, see some public art, go to a Second City show and make new friends. Oh yes. And I wrote a couple of articles (and I have a few more coming…)



Here are my two favourites:

Get on Google Plus or get left behind

In the 15 months since the launch of Google+, over 250 million people are using it. Though many of commented on it being a ghost town, this is far from the case. On average, users are on Google + 12 minutes a day, which is just shy of Facebook’s average of 14 minutes a day. With over one million brands jumping on the wagon (including over 50% of the top 100 US brands), this arena is growing rapidly. With 5 Billion plus ones per day, this has been the fastest global social share button in history.

Yes. Today I’ve been getting schooled on the world of Google Plus in my first session at Social Media Week Chicago. Though I was asked how many people are holding accounts to prevent brand jacking, the stats say that it’s use is only growing and I’d argue, if you’re just sitting on your brand page, you’re missing a huge opportunity to get ahead of your competition. More—>

The lowdown on promoted tweets and trends at #SMWChicago

Marketers are always looking to find the best way to promote their brand full stop. It’s their job after all. As social media picks up the drive toward paid media opportunities, it’s easy to be confused on which avenues to take and where to move your spend.

Today’s session at Social Media Week Chicago, Tweeting Louder - using paid and earned tactics to make noise in the Twittersphere, tried to tackle this topic with Andrea Javor, Director of Digital and Media Strategy with Beam Global (the makers of Jim Beam and Makers Mark), Kristin Walsh, Director of Influencer and Consumer Engagement for FritoLay North America and Brent Hill, the director of the US Central region for Twitter. More—>