Euroscript
Encyclopedia
Euroscript is an independent, London
-based script development organisation offering analysis of screenplay
s and other consultancy services to screenwriters, film producers and film directors.
’s Media II programme, but is now financially independent.
Brian Tufano (director of photography on a range of successful films including Quadrophenia
, Billy Elliot
and Trainspotting
) have pointed out that many British and European scripts go into production too early, leading to sub-standard films. This is partly due to European producers lacking the funds to pay writers for adequate script development - but also to a culture which underestimates its importance.
Euroscript’s brief is to rectify these problems, developing writers’ careers and creative skills over a sustained period through courses and workshops, and facilitating the creation of high-quality, marketable screenplays.
Euroscript's stated aim is to create a community offering screen, TV and radio writers support and guiding them through all the stages of script development. Its script editors give writers one-to-one help in an extended development programme which nurses projects from initial idea to final draft.
Producers and production companies use Euroscript as an ancillary script department, outsourcing
development tasks to its team of editors.
is a previous winner with her script Little Ashes
, which dramatises the complex relationships between Salvador Dalí
, Federico Garcia Lorca
and Luis Buñuel
. The film, which was script-edited by Lara Masters for Euroscript, has recently been released (directed by Paul Morrison
) and has garnered some excellent reviews. Paul Sellars is another previous winner with his drama The Judas Boy
.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based script development organisation offering analysis of screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
s and other consultancy services to screenwriters, film producers and film directors.
History and Funding
Euroscript was set up in 1995 by The London Screenwriters' Workshop (later known as the Screenwriters’ Workshop) with the aim of improving the quality of film scripts going into production in Europe. It received its initial funding from the European CommissionEuropean Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
’s Media II programme, but is now financially independent.
Aims and Methods
Influential figures such as cinematographerCinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Brian Tufano (director of photography on a range of successful films including Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia (film)
Quadrophenia is a 1979 British film, loosely based around the 1973 rock opera of the same name by The Who. The film stars Phil Daniels as a Mod named Jimmy. It was directed by Franc Roddam in his feature directing debut...
, Billy Elliot
Billy Elliot
Billy Elliot is a 2000 British drama film written by Lee Hall and directed by Stephen Daldry. Set in the fictional town of "Everington" in the real County Durham, UK, it stars Jamie Bell as 11-year-old Billy, an aspiring dancer, Gary Lewis as his coal miner father, Jamie Draven as Billy's older...
and Trainspotting
Trainspotting (film)
Trainspotting is a 1996 British satirical/drama film directed by Danny Boyle based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh. The movie follows a group of heroin addicts in a late 1980s economically depressed area of Edinburgh and their passage through life...
) have pointed out that many British and European scripts go into production too early, leading to sub-standard films. This is partly due to European producers lacking the funds to pay writers for adequate script development - but also to a culture which underestimates its importance.
Euroscript’s brief is to rectify these problems, developing writers’ careers and creative skills over a sustained period through courses and workshops, and facilitating the creation of high-quality, marketable screenplays.
Euroscript's stated aim is to create a community offering screen, TV and radio writers support and guiding them through all the stages of script development. Its script editors give writers one-to-one help in an extended development programme which nurses projects from initial idea to final draft.
Producers and production companies use Euroscript as an ancillary script department, outsourcing
Outsourcing
Outsourcing is the process of contracting a business function to someone else.-Overview:The term outsourcing is used inconsistently but usually involves the contracting out of a business function - commonly one previously performed in-house - to an external provider...
development tasks to its team of editors.
Screen Story Competition
Euroscript's annual Screen Story Competition was launched in 1994, again with backing from the Media II programme. Philippa GoslettPhilippa Goslett
Philippa Goslett is a British screenwriter. In 2000, she won the Euroscript Screen Story Competition.Her first feature Little Ashes is being directed by Paul Morrison, who was nominated for an Academy Award in 1999 for his film Solomon and Gaenor...
is a previous winner with her script Little Ashes
Little Ashes
Little Ashes is a 2008 Spanish-British drama film, set against the backdrop of Spain during the 20s and 30s, as three of the era's most creative young talents meet at university and set off on a course to change their world...
, which dramatises the complex relationships between Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
, Federico Garcia Lorca
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
and Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
. The film, which was script-edited by Lara Masters for Euroscript, has recently been released (directed by Paul Morrison
Paul Morrison
Paul Morrison is the name of:* John Paul Morrison , aka Paul Morrison or J. Paul Morrison, Canadian computer programmer* Paul Morrison , British film director & screenwriter...
) and has garnered some excellent reviews. Paul Sellars is another previous winner with his drama The Judas Boy
The Judas Boy
The Judas Boy is Volume V of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1968. It was the fifth novel to be published in The Alms for Oblivion sequence and is the sixth novel chronologically. The story takes place in London, Athens and on Cyprus in 1962.-Characters, in the...
.