Ballon Rogue: 21st Century Style

Right, I'm back from two days in That Fancy London attenting the Script Factory's TV Forum. It was an interesting event and well worth going to, providing both a snapshot and overview of where British TV fiction is, particularly drama. I'll type up some notes over the next few days and upload them here. There were four first-year students from Screen Academy Scotland's MA screenwriting course there, so we all traded war stories about life in the trenches at Napier. Got chatting to various other writers over the two days, everyone was friendly and happy to have a natter.

Two surprising moments: among those attending was an actor who's appeared a lot in BBC Scotland's soap River City over the past year. Meant to tell him how much I'd enjoyed his work, but didn't get the chance. And I got recognised from my blog photo. Kulvinder Gill is doing the MA in TV writing in Leicester [a course I've fancied doing myself, but couldn't find any easy way of commuting to]. He interviewed me for a research module on his course about how fledgling screenwriters use blogs and the internet as a career tool. That was interesting, if a little unexpected.

While I've been away, the schedule for this year's Cannes Film Festival has been announced. Among the highlights is a new film that at least visually owes a debt to one of my favourites, The Red Ballon. Hou Hsiao Hsien's new movie starring Juliette Binoche will open the Un Certain Regard section of the festival. It's got the working title Looking for the Red Balloon - click the title to see a trailer.