21/08/2012 - Sessions part of annual BAFTA, BFI season

Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) and Peter Straughan (photo - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) are amongst the acclaimed and award-winning screenwriters who will speak at the third annual lecture series organised by the British Film Institute (BFI) and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in September and October. Other speakers include Abi Morgan (Shame [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), Scott Frank (Minority Report) and Brian Helgeland (LA Confidential).

The series celebrates the screenwriter’s contribution to a film’s creative vision. The marks a screenwriter makes on a blank page are often the first steps of a film’s journey to the screen, yet it is the contribution of the director and the actors that gets the most attention once the film is produced. This series gives a platform to the world’s top screenwriters to explore their creative processes and share their insights with an audience of film-lovers and their peers.

Screenwriter and BAFTA Film Committee member Jeremy Brock (Last King of Scotland [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) has programmed the season. Brock says, “We want to celebrate some of the best writers in the industry and also champion screenwriters as collaborative authors of films, rather than simply as adjuncts of the director’s vision. A film is not a singular piece of work, but a true collaboration.”

Webcasts of all the lectures including exclusive video content will be available to all on the BAFTA and BFI websites later in the year. Past speakers include Charlie Kaufman, William Nicholson, Moira Buffini, Paul Laverty, John Logan, Frank Cottrell Boyce and Guillermo Arriaga.