Who’s Writing What We See?

July 3rd, 2007 | Film | E-Mail Article | Print Article

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UK Film Council calls on the industry to broaden the diversity of screenwriting talent.

A new report on how screenwriters of British films are recruited shows that there are opportunities for the UK film industry to encourage a wider range of screenwriting talent, including women as screenwriters in particular.

The first study of its kind, Writing British Films â€“ Who writes British films and how they are recruited, was commissioned by the UK Film Council and conducted by Royal Holloway, University of London. It identifies, for the first time, who writes British films, how they are hired, quashes myths and identifies the critical factors common in the experiences of the women and men who have been successfully commissioned to write British films.

Its findings formed the basis of discussion for Who Gets Hired? - a UK Film Council sponsored event at the International Screenwriters Festival on 6 July 2007. This event aimed to identify ways in which the industry, acting on these findings, can encourage a greater diversity of screenwriting talent.

Speakers included OscarÂ®-winning screenwriter Diana Ossana (co-writer, Brokeback Mountain), BAFTA-winning screenwriter Abi Morgan (Sex Traffic), Rachel Holroyd from the Casarotto Ramsay agency, producer Robert Jones from Material Entertainment and Susan Rogers, author of the report. A further consultation will be continued over lunch with an invited group of industry guests.

The debate picked up on key recommendations in the report including how to establish better links between commissioners of screenplays for British films and writers from a greater diversity of working writing backgrounds, and soliciting the views of agents and other gatekeepers about the roles they can play in broadening the diversity of writers for British films.

The report sample consisted of the 63 screenwriters credited on a random sample of 40 films certified as British in 2004 and 2005 and theatrically released in the UK.

98% of the writers were white, 82.5% were men (17.5% were women), 66% were aged over 46 and most earned relatively high incomes.

A majority, 61%, of the writers questioned were not British.

A majority, 57%, whether of British or overseas nationality, were contactable only via a Hollywood agent. A majority were members of the Writersâ€™ Guild of America.

Roughly half the respondents had a previous working or personal relationship with the commissioning producer, director or production company.

77% of the respondents had worked previously in television.

Most writers were employed after an approach from a commissioner (producer, director or production company), rather than on the basis of a pitch by the writer.

Employers of screenwriters tend to commission established writers often previously known to them. While it is understandable to employ writers with whom a previous working or personal relationship exists, this has the effect of limiting the diversity of screenwriters on British films.

Marcia Williams, Head of Diversity at the UK Film Council says, â€œThis relatively small but vital workforce are the people whose imaginations, creativity and experiences help to tell the stories that our society consumes so readily, and who are reaching millions of people globally, often shaping what they know and understand about the world around them. Viewed from this perspective, industry diversity is vitally important, and this piece of research gives us, for the first time, a clearer picture of who is writing British films and of how those writers get hired. Having established the facts, and highlighted the issue, we are hoping to collaborate with the industry to find ways to address it, starting with this interactive event.â€

Details of all festival events can be found at www.screenwritersfestival.com