Top screenwriters in town for the London Screenwriters' Festival

The 2016 London Screenwriters’ Festival takes place this week, with many of the architects behind our favourite TV shows and films sharing their expertise.

Delegates to the three day festival in London’s Regent’s Park have the opportunity to mix with established and emerging fellow screenwriters and take part in many of the 70 fantastic sessions, including pitching to agents and producers.

Speakers this year include Nick Hornby (About a Boy, Brooklyn), William Nicholson (Gladiator, Les Miserables) and Jim Uhls (Fight Club, Jumper). According to LSWF, Jim is going to break his own rule *shocked face*

There are also workshop sessions in the three days prior to the festival, including ‘Writing The TV Pilot That Sells’ with respected executive - and prodigy of Aaron Spelling - Jen Grisanti. Fans include some of the creatives behind Law & Order, Arrow and Suits.

The industry’s top professionals descend on Regent’s University in London for an intense and immersive set of lectures, seminars, workshops, script pitches and networking opportunities. Whether an experienced screenwriter, or an aspiring one, the London Screenwriters’ Festival offers unparallelled access to speakers, teachers, show-runners, executives and decision makers from the UK and beyond.

New for 2016 is The Writers’ Room - recreating an authentic day-in-the-life of a real Writers Room on a British television show. Barbara Machin (The Bill, Waking the Dead) is hosting the Crime room, Danny Brocklehurst (Clocking Off, The Five) is heading up the Drama room, while Lucy Rafferty (Casualty) will be taking care of the Medical session.

LondonSWF will celebrate the writers whose creations have made our living rooms such an exciting place to be, with the third British Screenwriters Awards being held on Saturday night, hosted by writer and comedian Rhona Cameron.

Nominations include David Farr (The Night Manager) in Best Crime Writing on Television (Series/Single Drama) and Outstanding Newcomer for British Television Writing - an accomplished theatre director, film writer and playwright, yet only a few TV episodes (Spooks, Outcasts) to his name prior to The Night Manager. Mike Bartlett (Doctor Foster) is also shortlisted in the Outstanding Newcomer category - likewise, more known as a playwright.

The Best Comedy Writing on Television is a category no judge will be looking forward to, as the award winning Car Share (Peter Kay / Paul Coleman / Sian Gibson / Tim Reid) takes on the award winning Chewing Gum by Michaela Coel, who are both up against the equally awesome Stag (Jim Field Smith & George Kay) Siblings (Keith Akushie / Daran Johnson / Joe Parham / Lucien Young) and Catastrophe (Rob Delaney & Sharon Horgan).

I’m stupidly excited to be attending the Awards, and will be furiously scribbling down the winners’ names or, if possible, tweeting them to you as it happens.

Full details of the festival can be found here.

Images: London SWF / Sky / BBC

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