BAFTA / BFI Screenwriters' Lecture Series 2012

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and the British Film Institute (BFI) recently presented their 2012 BAFTA and BFI Screenwriters' Lecture Series. The annual series celebrates the written word for the screen with some of world's finest screenwriters exploring the art and craft of storytelling through their own words.

The distinguished speakers were Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Mystic River), Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady, Shame), Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park, The Young Victoria, Downton Abbey), Scott Frank (Out of Sight, Minority Report) and Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Debt). Except for Morgan, they have all been Oscar-nominees. Helgeland and Fellowes are both winners.

The audio for all five lectures is provided below. The transcripts are provided where available.

2011 BAFTA Screenwriting Lectures
2010 BAFTA Screenwriting Lectures
http://guru.bafta.org/


BAFTA and BFI Screenwriters' Lecture Series in 2012

Julian Fellowes

"...when you’re writing a script it isn’t necessarily going to be that that script gets made, but what it may do is be an audition that opens the door. That was what happened to me."



Lecture Transcipt


Scott Frank

"Let me tell you something. I say this from experience. The bad movies are just as hard to write as the good ones. And the more one works, the more one's experience and body of work become factors in how and what we choose to do."



Scott Frank Lecture Transcript


Peter Straughan




Brian Helgeland




Abi Morgan