In 2015 the Writers’ Guild of South Africa (WGSA) declared it was the first and only guild in the world to send its delegation to an international film market. They went to Natpe, Miami in January 2015.
In June the WGSA took a delegation of writers to Natpe, Prague and Story Expo in Los Angeles in September. There were 110 speakers at Story Expo, including Linda Seger, John Vogler, Steve Kaplan and Peter Russell.
Returning from Story Expo delegates were asked to pick the top ten speakers they would like to be brought to SA. From those 10, they voted for the ideal one. Peter Russell was that person. He presented a workshop on the Secret Patterns of Writing for Different Genres in May 2016. A topic that was most relevant to the members of the WGSA.
Delegates from the WGSA will be attending the London Screenwriters Festival in September 2016 and the WGSA intends to follow the same process to choose its 2017 speaker.
Russell spoke to a full house in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, where he engaged with the audience on what they would most like to learn from him, Hollywood’s story doctor who has read more than 7 000 screenplays. Sharing his secrets and tips he emphasised that Africa is hot around the world, and: “When you get real you get interesting.”
Before the talk the WGSA handed out certificates for its skills laboratory. Initiated with the Soweto Workshop where 20 graduates had completed phases one and two and were now attending Russell’s workshop. These 20 attendees were given their completion certificates.
The WGSA designed its skills lab in 2011 and ran a pilot in Johannesburg that year without any funding. “It was a great success, however, we found that most of the writers who actually needed to attend, could not afford it, so we needed funding,” says Thea Aboud from the WGSA. Since then the WGSA has been trying to raise funding for this project, and in 2016 the Gauteng Film Commission was the first to fund its skills lab. “We do hope that other organisations in the film industry will follow suit,” adds Aboud.
The Skills Laboratory has three phases:
- Phase one is an intensive workshop for beginner writers, who cannot afford to enrol at a formal film school or are not yet ready to be accepted by certain programmes. Writers can work on scripts in peer groups or one-on-one with a story editor. Scripts can be read out loud as a live pitch to producers.
- Phase two focuses on skills enhancement for the professional writer and industry professionals. It offers courses ranging from script evaluation to introducing writers to fresh opportunities within new media, from writing blogs to the creation of online stories and games and courses, with international trainers and experts.
- Phase three introduces the WGSA’s Short Film Course. This course will include participants in the greater Gauteng area and will be conducted in each of the five Gauteng regions.
“If we can secure funding this will be a new group to the ones certified for completing phase one and two,” says Aboud. The WGSA is currently looking for funding for this phase.
