Wellywood Woman

Lisa Gornick   tonight i channel the wisdom of my inner sages So here I am in Jersey, at Branchage Film School's directors lab. I needed a new perspective on Development -the-movie. And at the end of today's masterclass with script editor Kate Leys and the others in the group, I have one. To do the necessary work, I now have to channel my inner sages. THOSE girls. They're different than Lisa's sages (of course). But her drawing reminds me that they exist. Many thanks Lisa. You've delivered yet again.

Canterbury house after September 4 2010 earthquake I. I’ve been trying to write about Chris Vogler’s visit to Wellywood. And just can’t get there. Mr Vogler’s the guy who wrote  The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. You probably know about it, a classic that many writers love. As you know, I’m a woman. A woman writer guided by Jane Austen’s words in Persuasion : “Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story…The pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove anything”. So I’ve avoided most books on screenwriting, though I love Linda Seger’s take on some women’s screenplays, where some linear narrative remains to move the story forward, but action is de-emphasized, and the proportions of emotion and psychology become greater. And I work hard to reduce some risks she identifies: [S]ome women…may not yet have the craft to make these different models work. Although these kinds of stories can be done for a much lower budget than the mo...

Lisa Gornick's Film Drawing site is AMAAAAZING-- I group her with Alison Bechdel-of-the-Bechdel-Test for quality. But, unlike Alison Bechdel's multiple frames and long stories, Lisa's stories are usually self-contained, within a single frame. Those single frames invite me to enter them with my own story. And then they make me think, think, think. And then try to reconcile the thinking with my feelings. Often, they make me laugh. Sometimes they break my heart. Collectively they're so full of life & complexity. And this one's just the ticket after yesterday's post. Would love to know what you think and feel when you look at it! The Feminist Male: Do Not Be Afraid is Lisa's title. Lisa's latest film is DIP , made for Channel 4's Coming Up series and screened last week. She wrote in a blog post that DIP is "some poignant suspense set on a London nightbus. A French take on the British crime drama. (I’ve always wanted to make a French film ...