Saturday, June 12, 2010

Danny's Toys wins another screenplay award

My short film script DANNY'S TOYS has won another prize, which is nice. The Leith Short Film Festival (happening this weekend in Edinburgh) ran a screenwriting competition this year, with two categories - features and shorts. I entered DANNY'S TOYS after seeing the contest advertised, and promptly forgot about it. So getting the news was a lovely surprise last Sunday.

I was interviewed about the script and my writing on radio station Leith FM yesterday. The reward for winning is a reading of DANNY'S TOYS by a professional cast, broadcast on Leith FM sometime next week. Not sure if they'll be doing the whole script [maybe, it's only 15 pages]. It's a very visual piece, so perhaps they'll be using a narrator to read the scene description.

Vicious Imagery readers with long memories might recall DANNY'S TOYS won a first prize in the Page International Screenwriting Awards at Los Angeles, back in 2007. So why did I enter this old favourite into a competition this year? In the hope it might win and get the script some fresh exposure. I still want to see this story made into an animated short film one day.

I did work with an animation producer on DANNY'S TOYS for a few months in 2008, with a view to getting it made. But he couldn't squeeze get any enthusiasm out of Scottish Screen for it - let alone any formal development funding - so that came to naught. I know it's an incredible longshot that my little gem will ever get made, but I haven't given up on it. Not by a long chalk.

Even if DANNY'S TOYS doesn't become a short film, the script is a great calling card. Highly visual, evocative, prompts an emotional reaction out of most people who read it. A lovely showcase for what I can do as a writer. It's hardly typical of what I've been writing for a show like Doctors, but does demonstrate my voice. DANNY'S TOYS is the script that keeps on giving. Onwards!

3 comments:

Jason Arnopp said...

Good work once again, cap'n!

Jared said...

Congratulations, mister. :)

Anonymous said...

Nicely done, matey.