Georgia Affonso, one of the writers selected for Drama Room 2021/22, shares her roundup of the group's latest sessions.
The Drama Room 21/22 Writers
Last July I got The Email: I’d been given a place on ±«Óãtv Drama Room. For weeks I’d been bracing myself for the ‘unfortunately, on this occasion’ and I’d planned what commiserative takeaway I would order. When the good news came through, I didn’t really know what to do with myself. Since then, it’s been a whirlwind of workshops, feedback, deadlines and getting to know one of the best groups of writers I could have hoped to be included in.
What is the ±«Óãtv Writersroom Drama Room?
It’s a lot of things. A group of writers who have all been interviewed from across the UK, and provided with a huge timetable of workshops led by industry professionals including producers, writers, script editors and commissioners. We also get our own script-editor (mine is Toby Rushton, a total gem) who works alongside us to develop a spec-script (an episode of tv/film script used to showcase your voice to the industry). On top of this, we get to pitch to paid opportunities with The Dumping Ground, Waterloo Road and ±«Óãtv Radio 3’s The Verb.
Our first, giddily nervous meet up was in person, but the majority of the scheme has taken place on Zoom. Virtual workshops have been great for me, as I don’t live in London, but it does feel like a treat when we get to meet up in person like we did last week for two days of workshops at ±«Óãtv Broadcasting House.
First, we met Tom Lazenby (Head of Development, ±«Óãtv Drama Commissioning). What a commissioner was had been a complete mystery to me, I always imagined them kind of like an army of daleks you have to face to get your script into actual production. Tom was not a dalek, he was a kind and funny human who acknowledged how much mystery surrounds his job. Tom answered loads of our questions about the commissioning role – he emphasised that ±«Óãtv Drama are keen for fresh voices and highlighted several dramas due to be aired soon by new writers.
After a lunch meeting some of the regional commissioners and development producers, we had a Comedy/Drama workshop with Chris Head. Chris took us through a selection of Comedy/Drama clips we’d sent him and supplied a selection of tips for how to inject comedy into our script. I loved getting ideas for the teen Comedy/Drama that I’m trying to write, and coming across new Comedy/Drama shows that the other writers had sent.
We finished the day with 1-1 check ins with Development Producer, Usman Mullan and Head of New Writing, Jess Loveland before heading off for a Nandos and some drinks. This is one of the big benefits of meeting up in person - it’s easy to feel like an imposter when you’re in such a talented group, some people have had long-running plays on, some have tv work in development – but everyone is warm and supportive and most importantly a massive laugh. You get to hear how everyone’s finding juggling the workload, working with their script editors, and you can debate the latest tv dramas with fellow tv nerds.
Day two was a day’s masterclass with structure legend John Yorke. John was previously Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of ±«Óãtv Drama Production, he has worked on masses of quality, popular TV drama and wrote a book dissecting narrative structure ‘Into the Woods’. John took us, speedily but clearly, through his premise, that all stories have a universal structure. He encouraged us to challenge him but used countless examples to back up his point. We were tasked to use what we’d learnt to pitch an advert for ±«Óãtv Writersroom, the most memorable tagline being ‘Usman will find you’ – which sounded, maybe in hindsight, a bit like a threat.
At the end of the two days, my head was a whirring jumble of ‘mid-points’ and ‘formats’. Our group just had time to take a quick selfie outside for the gram and spot Louis Theroux on his bike (!) before it was time to head back up home. It’s been a big learning curve and we’re not done yet with our spec script draft deadlines now on the horizon, but I couldn’t be facing it with a better group of amazing writers.