Graeme
Mason
Chief
Executive
Screen
Australia
Level
7, 45 Jones St
Ultimo 2007
19th Nov 2013
Dear
Graeme
I was pleased to read that you
wish to bring to an end the ‘us’ and ‘them’ element that has crept into
filmmakers dealings with Screen Australia. There is only ‘we’ - united by a common desire to make films
that resonate with Australian audiences and which also, by virtue of their
dealing with universal characters and themes, appeal to overseas audiences
also. If Screen Australia becomes, in reality, the transparent and accountable
organization it purports to be, I am sure that relations between SA and the
film community will improve enormously.
Over the next few weeks I imagine
that every Tom, Dick and Harriet with an idea of what should change at Screen
Australia will be bending your ear and burdening your desk with letters such as
this. My own thoughts on what can and should change can be summed up very
briefly: Keep key staff in senior creative decision-making positions moving in
and out of the ‘industry’ to that there is a continuous flow of fresh ideas
from practitioners and not re-heated old ideas from career film bureaucrats.
Oh, and one other idea – phase
out use of the word ‘industry’. No one talks about the ‘opera industry’, the
‘ballet industry’ or the ‘novel industry’. We are not an ‘industry’.
As for
the ban on me, this is not only unfair, unbacked up as it is by any evidence
that I have intimidated or placed anyone at risk, it is also just plain stupid.
If I were a psychotic axe-murderer who had written a brilliant screenplay in
jail would Screen Australia refuse to read it on the grounds that I was a
thoroughly unpleasant person? Surely what matters is whether a screenplay is
good or not, or has the potential to become one. Given that good screenplays
are as rare as hen’s teeth to not read a screenplay for any reason at all makes
no sense.
Being
a ‘banned filmmaker’, has not stopped me writing screenplays, of course. Screenwriting
is a time and not a capital intensive activity. Whilst I can afford to support
my screenwriting with non-film work (I strongly recommend taxi-driving for
aspiring young screenwriters), I have not been able to afford to employ a
script editor for any of the half dozen screenplays I have been working on. And
I need one. I suspect that most screenwriters need one – someone who
understands the craft, who is able to point out not only where the screenwriter
is erring but to suggest ways of solving problems.
PLAYING
GOD (Act One enclosed) has been developed to the point it is at with not one
cent of development money from any source and without, alas, the input of a
script editor. The bulk of it was written in my head as I drove a taxi to
support myself. This is what real screenwriters do, as you know – we take on
any job that will pay our rent so that we can pursue our art, our craft. Very
few of us are in it for the money – of which, as you know, there is very
little. We do what we do out of love and with the hope that one day one of our
screenplays will be so undeniably good that it will attract the talent required
for it to be produced and wind up on a screen – be it a big screen or a small
one.
Having
read thousands of screenplays it is my belief that a good (or potentially good)
screenplay will announce itself by page 10. If it hasn’t, if the reader does
not feel compelled to keep turning pages, chances are it is not that great a
screenplay – bearing in mind, of course, that viewers and assessor/readers’
tastes vary and that the judgment of one person should not be sufficient to
kill a project. The reality, however, for a screenwriter who believes in what
s/he is doing, who is passionate about her art, her craft, no number of knocks
backs is going to stop her. S/he will keep on writing draft after draft
regardless or her financial circumstances, regardless of the knockbacks and regardless,
in my case, of being a ‘banned’
filmmaker. (I wonder if there has ever been a time since Joe McCarthy when a
screenwriter has been banned – other than in in communist and fascist regimes!)
For a
screenwriter with no income the photocopying, binding and postage of
screenplays is a very expensive business and certainly not a process that I
wish to embark on, with PLAYING GOD, if my materials are simply sent back to me
– unread, as a result of my ban. So, the question remains: Am I still a ‘banned
filmmaker’ or (a) can the ban be lifted or (b) can I please be presented with
evidence of my crimes!
When
and if my ban is lifted I have half a dozen screenplays to submit. PLAYING GOD
is one. If anyone within Screen Australia who might read it gets to page 10 and
has little or no desire to turn to page 11, fair enough. If they get to page
and are keen to find out what happens next, they will only be able to find out
when my ban is lifted and I can make an application for, if nothing else, funds
to employ a script editor.
best wishes
James Ricketson
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