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Berlin - A table, two chairs and a lamp. Title of a film? No, but that`s often where they must start. Along with two people, in this case literary agent Julian Friedmann and Director Dennis Todorovich, who were brought together via the Talent Campus at the Berlinale 2008 to investigate the possibilities of Todorovich`s latest work in progress.
The working production of filmmaking - the lights, the cameras and the action - is now a familiar process even for those who have never set foot on a film set. It`s the part of the process most easily recorded and the one that attracts people to the industry in the first place. All that ACTION! But as we also know, though seldom stop to appreciate, is that someone has to sit and go the early dentistry on the script - to build the collaborative exchange between the writer and the script consultant/doctor/advisor that, ideally, develops a first draft screenplay into an effective working document that producers and directors will want to read, make, show, and, sometimes millions, will then want to see.
Julian Friedmann - author of `How To Make Money Scriptwriting` - is perhaps one of Europe`s most respected and renowned literary agents. He also happens to be editor of industry voice ScriptWriter Magazine, and notable speaker (Talent Campus 2007) and workshop leader (DffB). In Februrary 2008 he was amongst the team of consultants who volunteered their expertise at the behest of Talent Campus, one of the seven sections of the Berlinale Film Festival and as organised by Merle Kroeger. It is Kroeger who oversees the running of two mentoring systems that run parallel over the week: - the Doc Station, that attends to documentaries, and the Script Station, that focuses on fiction. Friedmann allowed Weltexpress TV crew Robert Rapoport, Rene Bemmann and Alan Taylor to film his Feb 13th 2008 90-minute Script Station consultation with Germany-based writer/director Dennis Todorovic. Todorovich (b. 1977), one of 12 chosen participants, is no stranger to the filmmaking process, having started with ads in 2001, then stretching to shorts and, more recently, taking on increasingly ambitious projects - `Ludmila`and `Àmor fati` of 2005.These have been followed by `Kick It Like Zombies` 2006. This was their second session, the one where Todorovich was to respond to Friedmann`s earlier critiques and where, together, through constructivist dialogue, they would work towards a stronger draft. What Friedmann brought to the small table wasn`t just a list of do and donts, but a rounded account of how the film project as planned by the director/writer can best negotiate its way to its intended audience - first, the producers, then the distributors, then the eyeballs. In the process, Friedmann takes the words as written and tries to envision their effectiveness on the set, as actors, cinematographers and the director bring their skills to bear under often pressured circumstances of production. The script, then, in context, as creative inspiration for others, and blueprint for production, and all foreshadowed in the writer`s head. Of course, these insights are of little worth if the writer isn`t open and flexible enough to accommodate first inspirations to some awkward critical questioning. It`s the first reminder that, yes, from now on it`s a collaboration, and you have to get that right here before the show begins. Todorovich proved himself well able to embark upon and enjoy Friedmann`s often engaging and inspirational insights. Such was their thoughtful and productive exchange of ideas that both Friedmann and Todorovich quickly seemed oblivious to the film crew that shadowed their moves and circled their table. The Friedmann-Todorovich engagement, as documented by the Weltexpress team, offers, therefore, a unique and intimate insight into the depth and scope of analysis and engagement that is required if good scripts are to get better, if writers are to see around the creative corner for vitally alternative points of view before embarking on their final journey to script completion and submission.
So as the winter winds return to Berlin, as the prizes are known and the programme on this year`s Berlinale winds down, someone, somewhere, must return to their desk, sit, think and etch out the stories that might somehow make it to the fabled screen. However big or small it might be this time next year. And, who knows, maybe "A Table, Two Chairs and a Lamp" might be one of them...? END REPORT. A sequence from the Friedmann-Todorovich February 13th 2008 session will be appearing on Weltexpress shortly, along with excerts from an exclusive extended interview with Julian Friedmann from February 14th, 2008 in which, amongst other things, he talks openly about the impact of digital technology on the scriptwriting process and the film industry in general. THE CAST Julian Friedmann, London-based Literary TV and Film Agency: www.blakefriedmann.co.uk & www.scriptwritermagazine.com. Dennis Todorovic, Writer/director: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1516751/. With thanks to the writers and their consultants of Doc & Script Station, and Merle Kroeger its leader. THE CREW. Direction/Camera/Sound: Robert Rapoport, www.DropFair.com Assistant: Rene Bemmann. Production: Alan Taylor, KINOWORDS. Photos: Rene Bemmann |
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