Scribosphere

I’ve never liked the word, and I promised myself I would never use it but it’s there, you can’t ignore it so I might as well suck it up and plonk it in my dictionary. The ‘scribosphere’ represents, as far as I know, those writing/screenwriting bloggers all around the world. Geeks like yours truly who eat, sleep and breathe screenplay and feel they have to talk about it to a group of on-line strangers. I thought I had exhausted all internet avenues of screenwriting malarkey but how naïve was that?

It’s ever-expanding and the scribosphere’s population grows by the second. You may have noticed some Spring cleaning in the sidebar, all links neatly rounded up into geographical region, but a few more newfound bloggers (to me) have been added to the list. I try to keep up and post a link, as it’s good to share but the ‘All With Endless Links to a Wealth of Other Top Blogs’ is a reminder that each blog tangents off into a whole host of interesting sites and links, so if I don’t have your link the chances are I’ll find you one way or another. And I do want to find you as I enjoy my on-line procrastinations. Hell, I need them.

It’s funny though when you’re in stuck in the trenches of being a freelancer, burrowing away on whatever you’re working on, and someone shouts loud enough so that you stick your head up to see what’s happening in the real world, and what do you know, it’s Easter. There are two Bank Holidays this weekend. And it’s like, Bank Holiday, hold on, what’s that, I’ve heard of it before, don’t tell me, it’s coming to me…yes, it’s…A DAY OFF! And then the screenwriter freelancer laughs at the humble civilians and their whacky habits, and trundles back into the safety of his trench.

This week has been focused on finishing the EastEnders spec episode, which I’ve really enjoyed doing, and doing a rewrite with Sam on one of the animation pilots we’re working on. Interestingly (or probably not), these two gigs are for free but the buzz and focus the projects generate far outweigh the fact that you’re writing for nowt, and there’s the very real prospect of both opportunities paying off with potential commissions down the line.

My new spec horror, Origin, has been optioned with a keen producer whom I very much like and we’re preparing to take the script to Cannes and in the meantime, we’ve applied for funding from my good chums at the Irish Film Board. I’m one of their script readers so it’ll be interesting to see how they react to one of my submissions. They know all about me of course and knew the day would come when I would apply but they’re quite tough and astute on their funding decisions so I’ve got my fingers crossed that they’ll view my script in a favourable light.

I’m really excited by this script. At the moment, I’m down as the director too, which makes my heart do a somersault of joy but while it would be a dream come true to direct this script, it’s certainly not going to be a dealbreaker as I’m practical and realistic enough to understand that what’s important is that the project gets made. That’s the key. I still haven’t heard back from Parallel about my rewrite of Run For Home, and the extended silence increases the likelihood of the script’s development coming to a close. But who knows, maybe they’re busy and still want to keep the project alive, I’ll let you know what happens either way.

Stay low, move fast people.