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What We Do
Scene
Nick Cave - musician turned screenwriter on stage for SCENE
The Script Factory: SCENE has been The Script Factory's branded Festival of live screenwriting events staged at premier film festivals in the UK (including Edinburgh and London), as well as internationally at the Festivals in Rio, Berlin, Gothenburg, Warsaw and Cannes.
From 2006, SCENE became focussed on SCENE insiders - our MEDIA-funded training programme designed to get European film professionals thinking about better script development.
Meanwhile, The Script Factory continues to stage events with its current partner festivals in London, Edinburgh, Gothenberg and Warsaw.
Click here for an at-a-glance view of all The Script Factory's activity during The Times BFI 50th London Film Festival in October 2006, when we staged two major masterclasses with John Cameron Mitchell and Paul Verhoeven; organised training sessions; and offered a number of events designed for young filmmakers.
At-a-glance - The Script Factory during The Times BFI 50th London Film Festival 2006
To have a look at previous SCENE programmes, scroll down to the foot of this page. And if you're curious about what the filmmakers had to say on stage you can read extracts from transcripts of many of the sessions we stage at SCENE in London and beyond by looking at our Masterclasses page.
Gwyneth Paltrow is our SCENE Patron
SCENE was joined by a brand new supporter in October 2004 - Gwyneth Paltrow became our first SCENE Patron. Read what Gwyneth said about her decision to join us here.
SCENE in 2005
We had a busy year on the Festival trail in 2005, beginning in January in Gothenburg, Sweden, where we had the pleasure of staging events with Charles Dance - talking about his writing/directing debut Ladies in Lavender , and the inspirational combo of Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne, describing their collaborations from Election to their Oscar-winning screenplay for Sideways. Cannes in May saw us on stage with Tim Bevan, Gurinder Chadha and Stephen Frears - and with the young team behind the only UK short in the Festival's officlal selection.
Next stop for SCENE was Edinburgh in August where we staged a range of public and industry events designed to put the emphasis on screen stories in a programme which included the teams behind Battle In Heaven and On A Clear Day, and the Oscar-winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker.
Rounding off 2005 we headed for Warsaw in October with help from producer Tanya Seghatchian, screenwriter Paul Fraser and the legendary Wim Wenders - before we came home to stage our flagship SCENE programme as part of The Times bfi London Film Festival. SCENE London ran from 27-29 October 2005 and included sessions from musician-turned-screenwriter, Nick Cave, Oscar-winning writer-turned-director Julian Fellowes; focusses on Festival films ranging from Factotum and Stoned to Unknown White Male and Lemming; masterclasses from Stephen Daldry and Michael Caton Jones; and a host of panel discussions designed to get you making movies.
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SCENE IN 2004
Back in 2004, SCENE kicked off well with a programme at the Gothenburg Film Festival in late January featuring workshops and masterclasses with Roger Michell (The Mother, Notting Hill)and Christoffer Boe (Reconstruction). We were in Berlin in February for the 2004 Berlinale where we took part in the Talent Campus - a week of events for international filmmaking talent - where we took part in the Script Clinic, offered an international development forum, and a focus on Daniel Burman - the acclaimed Argentine writer/director whose latest venture was to co-produce Walter Salles' Motorcycle Diaries. Summer 2004 saw us in Edinburgh for the Edinburgh Iternational Film Festival where we staged events with the team behind the wonderful Brit drama Yasmin, and Paul Laverty, acclaimed for his work screenwriting for Ken Loach. SCENE continued in October with a programme in Warsaw featuring Andrzej Wajda, Emily Young and Nick Broomfield.
And finally we hit London with a special pre-SCENE event featuring Zach Braff talking about Garden State, before we launched into our week of filmmaking activity. We were joined by Festival visitors ranging from Mike Leigh and Margaret Atwood to David O Russell, and celebrated Festival screenings ranged from Annette K. Olesen's In Your Hands and Danny Boyle's Millions to Khlebnikov and Popogrebsky's Koktebel.
SCENE - the history!
Photo: Andreas Boehmig
Anthony Minghella relaxes on stage for The Script Factory in Berlin 2003We've staged SCENE programmes since 2000 and our previous programmes have attracted an incredible range of speakers including writers and directors from Anthony Minghella to Robert Altman, from Francois Ozon to Alfonso Cuaron, and from Mira Nair to Spike Lee.
Photo: Peter Ross EIFF
Robyn Slovo (right) with Lianna Dognini, Sam Morton & Lynne Ramsay after a sneak preview of Morvern Callar, then a work in progress
SCENE sessions have focussed on screenwriting but have included onstage gems from actors like Charlotte Rampling and Kerry Fox, to Ed Norton and Samantha Morton. SCENE has championed producers including Saul Zaentz, Tim Bevan and Duncan Kenworthy.
Photo: Fiona Fouhy
Suzanne Bier and Mads Mikkelsen talk about the Dogme Open Hearts during SCENE London 2002
SCENE has prided itself on an international outlook with contributions from the cream of international filmmaking talent from Dominik Moll and Tom Tykwer, to Thomas Vinterberg, Fernando Meirelles and Suzanne Bier. Alongside all this, SCENE has also celebrated the best of British talent with sessions from Frank Cottrell Boyce, John Madden, Oliver Parker, Julian Fellowes, Gurinder Chadha, Julien Temple, Richard Curtis,Jonathan Glazer, Roger Michell, David Hare,Lee Hall, and Graham Swift among many others.
As well as focussing on creative individuals, SCENE has explored general topics (from creative producing to partnerships), and catered for diverse audiences from experienced writers to young wannabes.
Photo: Fiona Fouhy
Young writers enjoy SCENE London 2002
Have a look at The Script Factory's early SCENE Programmes (These documents require Adobe Acrobat Reader):
2005
The Times bfi London Film Festival London 2005
Edinburgh International Fim FestivalEdinburgh 2005.
2004
Gothenburg Film Festival Goteborg 2004
Berlinale Talent Campus Berlin 2004
Edinburgh International Fim Festival Edinburgh 2004
The Times bfi London Film Festival London 2004
2003
The Times bfi London Film Festival Scene London 2003
Edinburgh International Film Festival 1 2
Cannes Film Festival 1
Berlinale Talent Campus 1 2
Gothenburg Film Festival 1 2
2002
Regus London Film Festival 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Festival Do Rio, Brasil 1
Edinburgh International Film Festival 1 2
International Filmfestspiele Berlin 1 2
2001
Regus London Film Festival 1 2 3 4 5
Festival Do Rio, Brasil 1 2 3
Edinburgh International Film Festival 1 2
2000
Regus London Film Festival 1 2
Edinburgh International Film Festival 1 2 3
Photo: Fiona Fouhy
Tim Bevan & Eric Fellner talk about their winning partnership for SCENE London 2002
Photo: Angela Bergling
Legendary producer Saul Zaentz in conversation with Peter Cowie during a 2002 Script Factory masterclass in Berlin
SCENE Insiders - an intensive training & networking programme for European filmmakers staged during Edinburgh, Warsaw and Gothenburg Film Festivals.