Sessions 2017

Sessions are now being added daily

Over the three days of the London Screenwriters’ Festival we will run over one hundred seminars, workshops and networking events for professional screenwriters. We film most sessions, so if you miss one, or two clash, you’ll be able to catch up later online. For updates about the festival, sign up below.

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It's so good to be creatively fed, be inspired and connect with other creatives. Thank you for the excellent experience.

Andrya, Screenwriter

Headline

Die Hard Script to Screen LIVE with Jeb Stuart

Come down to Tuke Hall… “We’ll get together, have a few laughs”… and watch the 1998 smash hit, whilst screenwriter Jeb Stuart talks us through the development and production of this Bruce Willis classic.

The 2017 British Screenwriters’ Awards

It’s about time someone put the originators and architects of great storytelling front and centre. And so we did! Now in our fourth year, join a roster of the BIGGEST writing names rubbing shoulders with the hottest newcomers in the UK.

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I came to LSF last year on a whim and left with an agent and having formed a writers group through a script lab.

Lisa McMullin, Screenwriter

Beyond the workshop

Get Your Script Performed

Have scenes from your script read, performed and workshopped by professional actors and directors.

Script Chat

Get intimate face-to-face time in our hugely popular Script Chat roundtable sessions. Ask our speakers the questions you want answered.

Script To Screen

Read the script, watch the film or TV show, then meet the writers, filmmakers and producers at the festival.

Speed Networking – Fun, Fast and EFFECTIVE

Meet 30 new writers, producers and directors in our 90 minute speed networking event. Fast, FUN and designed to create powerful new relationships.

The Writers Room

Join five other writers and a seasoned showrunner for a whole day on Thursday (the 1st September) to write a show for a long running TV series. Welcome to the pressure cooker that is the ‘Writers Room’ at LondonSWF.

We will read your script: The Script Surgery

Need a professional to read your screenplay? Get one-on-one feedback on your script with Euroscript.

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A life changing experience

Francisco Mata, Screenwriter

Great British PitchFest

Hollywood Pitchfest via Skype

Pitch – face to face over Skype – with Hollywood producers and execs. Sessions are 90 minutes and you should get around 7 or 8 pitches in during that time.

Pitch at the Great British Pitchfest

This is your big moment… Pitch your killer project to professional producers and top agents. Past sessions have resulted in options AND representation!

The Elevator Pitch

Are you good enough to exit the elevator with the million dollar business card before the doors slide shut?

The Pitch Factor

Have you got the Pitch Factor? Live from the London Screenwriters Festival, the Pitch Factor returns with CASH prizes and our very own motley crew of judges!

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45 seconds in an elevator, pitching to Joel Schumacher was a dream come true.

Kerry-Ann Calleja McGregor, Screenwriter

Script To Screen

Die Hard Script to Screen LIVE with Jeb Stuart

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I pitched in the Hollywood PitchFest and three of my scripts have been requested!

Richard Paul Wheildon, Screenwriter

Screenwriting Practical help

2B or not 2B! - Make your scripts water tight (even that tricky bit in the middle)

You plowed through act one, wrote some entertaining fun and games and then … you got stuck. Don’t worry. “Act 2B” is conquerable! You’ll leave this class with your story strengthened and some of your most pressing writing problems solved.

Actors Table Read: LIVE

How do actors and a director approach your screenplay? What happens when your words are reinterpreted through other artists? Join us for a sensational live onstage performance and deconstruction of one LSF delegate’s script.

Brainstorming Through The Block

Stopped in your tracks by where to go next with a plot point, a character, or a scene? Or maybe you feel it’s just not happening today? Pilar will show you a number of tools that will immediately and powerfully unstick your creativity so the words continue to flow.

Dynamic Dialogue

Pilar Alessandra, Hollywood Script Consultant, is here to help you spice up your scripts with memorable, engaging and dynamic dialogue.

Manifesting Success

Following his packed to capacity sessions in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 Chris Jones is back to run this highly successful and super controversial manifesting success workshop.

PitchFest Bootcamp with Bob

Great American Pitchfest Guru Bob Schultz will start every day with a short 30 minute PitchFest bootcamp to get you ready for your pitch!

What will actually happen to your finished script? Live script edit

Live and dynamic script redraft, edit, slash and burn… Only for the bravest of writers!

You Had Me At Page One

Make the reader love you on the first page… So they cannot wait for the next! Learn writing techniques that help your script hit the ground running with top LA Script Consultant Pilar Alessandra.

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It's so rare to have so many writers - some of the most intelligent, imaginative souls there are - in one place at the same time...

J Beltrame, Screenwriter

Screenwriting for Film and Television

Film vs TV: Why not do both?

Do you consider yourself a feature writer but really want to get in to TV writing? Are you a TV aficionado and want to try your hand at writing for the big screen? Then this session is for you!

Going from 'pass' to 'YES!': Actors and the Script

What was that written moment, what was that character action or specific turn of phrase that made our panel of renowned actors pick up the phone and tell their agent, ‘I’m In!’

Holding Space for Your Vision

Unleash the creativity already present. Discover that your own work is already deeper than you ever imagined and that you have unimaginable access to creative capabilities that you only suspected.

The A-Z of Storytelling

Drawing inspiration from the great story tellers of the world, Producer and Director of the world famous NFTS, Nik Powell examines storytelling from the point of view of the producer not as is usual from the point of view of the writer or director.

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Such a brilliant weekend at London Screenwriters Festival. Such and impressive and inspiring event.

Rob Craine, Screenwriter

Screenwriters Talent Fast-track

Get legal advice in our legal clinic at the festival

We all have concerns about our screenplays and career, but often can’t afford a specialist lawyer. At the festival you can get that face time you need, with a media lawyer.

Meet The Experts

A panel of leading film industry professionals provide confidential one-on-one advice to move your project onto the next stage.

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It was a pleasure to engage with such a diverse group of passionate writers...

Kate Harwood, Controller Series/Serials, BBC Drama

Script Labs

Script Lab 1: Writing ACTION features with 'Die Hard' Screenwriter Jeb Stuart

Do you love action? Do you dream of explosions, gun fights, and car chases with huge stars trying to kill each other? Do you have a completed action feature script you need to take to the next level? Then this lab is for you!

Script Lab 2: Creating TV Drama Series with top script consultant Philip Shelley

Do you love television? Do you have the next returning hit TV drama series in your portfolio? Then we want to hear from you.

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I can’t even describe how much I got out of the festival. Everyone I’ve spoken to post-festival has said the same thing. You all did a terrific job!

Alli Parker, Writer, Australia

Open and Close

Festival Opening

Get fully prepped to get the most from the festival in this kick ass opening that will frame your three day roller coaster. NOT TO BE MISSED!

LondonSWF Close

NOTE THIS SESSION BEGINS AT 6.15pm SHARP AND IS JUST 15 MINS LONG. Join the team for the FABULOUS close of the festival and our promise for the next year ahead.

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Not even in my wildest dreams had I imagined Talent Campus would be this good.

KT Parker, Screenwriter (Talent Campus 2015)

Social Connection

Networking Drinks In The Marquee Bar

Don’t be shy – grab a beer and break out those business cards!

Unofficial Post Festival Drinks At The Globe

Unofficial Post Festival Drinks At The Globe Pub on Baker Street

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Well constructed, beautifully presented – a rollercoaster of emotions with a quality cast of supporting acts – the SWF is everything a movie and a festival should be.

Inga J. Sempel, Screenwriter

Festival Week: Additional One Day Masterclasses

Christopher Vogler's Hero's Journey 2017

WHERE IS THE HERO’S JOURNEY GOING IN 2017? Veteran Hollywood story consultant and studio executive Christopher Vogler brings his game changing seminar to the London Screenwriters’ Festival.

Pitching Thursday (Evening): LondonSWF Festival Week Evening Workshop (Sept 14th 2017)

Don’t fall at the first hurdle. Prepare for an extraordinary PitchFest at the LSF by joining Hollywood pitch guru Pilar Alessandra who will transform your pitch so you can present professionally and with confidence.

Write a film that the market WANTS with Samantha Horley (Sept 13th 2017)

Give yourself a better chance of getting your film made, picked up and seen in this OUTSTANDING one day workshop with Producer and Screenwriter Samantha Horley.

Networking Tuesday, work the room with confidence: Day 1 of LondonSWF Festival Week

Talent is great but relationships get you hired. The ability to create powerful new relationships in any given situation is one of the primary factors in the success of your career and that of any screenplay that you write. A one day masterclass.

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It's so good to be creatively fed, be inspired and connect with other creatives. Thank you for the excellent experience.

Andrya, Screenwriter

Additional Courses, Workshops and Masterclasses

Writing TV with Pilar Alessandra (March 24th - 25th 2018)

I then sat at a small table with Stephen fricking Frears and chatted with him. I chatted with Stephen Frears!

Lisa McMullin, Screenwriter