Kaos Theory

"Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit".

“One flap of a butterfly’s wings could change the course of weather forever."

In a screenwriter’s life, something small, indistinct or seemingly superfluous could ignite a creative chain of events that will lead him to his screenwriting destiny. A fleeting idea could develop into something more solid and fully formed, and who knows, make a six figure sale over the weekend. Ah, the magic of screenwriting.

But for those grounded in a more practical reality, especially here in the UK, it’s probably advisable to cultivate those small ideas into something that might actually get made. The dream of making the first feature will always remain alive, and rightly so, but there’s always the potential and opportunity to go out there and make your first short, the basic stepping stone to a promising career.

And you know, there are those in the industry who want to help you. If you have no luck with the Film Council’s regional short film schemes, then why not try Kaos Films’ short film competition. It’s been running successfully for a few years and is now grandly called ‘The British Short Screenplay Competition (BSSC)’.

“The BSSC is the only competitive and international short screenplay competition that undertakes to produce the winning screenplay and is able to boast an unrivalled line-up of judges.”

This year, the judges are: Kenneth Branagh, Michael Kuhn, Sir Alan Parker, Nik Powell and Stephen Woolley. Industry luminaries indeed.

There’s an early deadline (14th April for £25) and a final deadline (26th May for £35) so if you’ve got a short that you think has got what it takes, then dust it off, polish it up and send it on (no longer than 15 mins). If you haven’t got a short, then what are you waiting for? It’s a good competition with a great prize and genuinely tough opposition. Go on, flap those wings.