Jan Harlan, executive producer of many Kubrick films, opened the day and later we heard Alison Castle, the editor of two Taschen books on Kubrick, and Anthony Frewin, Kubrick’s assistant for decades, along with staff from the recently opened Kubrick Archive. The biggest treat was hearing from his daughter, Katherine, who provided many touching, revealing details about her father.

Eyes Wide Shut was first screened on 1 March 1999 for the heads of Warner Bros, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in New York.

SWF has just released the name of more industry guest-speaker heavyweights.

• Ben Stephenson, Head of BBC Fiction.
• Kate Harwood, Controller of Series and Serials, BBC Drama.
• Tony Grisoni, Screenwriter/Director, BAFTA award winner.

Blake will demonstrate techniques used to create, write and sell your story. He will show participants how to 'move from concept to logline to structure to execution of specific scenes'. Tips will be revealed for the first time!

Up to eight writers who have already had a professional drama commission - in film, television, theatre or radio - will be selected to be trained over a one year period.

The course starts with a three month Introduction to Writing for Continuing Drama Series training. This section is followed by the Writing for Broadcast for writers who have achieved the required standard for production on Continuing Drama Series.

The deadline for submission of scripts is Thursday 30 April at 17.00 (GMT). If you would like more details, click here.

Anyone is eligible to submit their project in the competition if they have a full 4-day pass to the Festival. The analysis itself could be worth more than the cost of the 4-day pass!

Caroline has posted a call on the Forum for Twelvepointers who would like to benefit from a group discount to the Festival.

My blog is here...

http://www.brothersmcleod.co.uk/posts

Despite the fact that this is a film festival, much of the business being done is television. Indie producers are trying to score deals with broadcasters (very few films are financed without television money) and writers and directors are getting television movie deals.

One theme that has come out clearly is that less edgy and more uplifting material is wanted. The romcom bubble is expected to tail off in a year or two (I am sure they said that a couple of years ago).

After three days here, tomorrow now has eight 30-minute meetings and four 60-minute meetings. So no blog tomorrow during the day.

At one of the meetings, a senior German producer, ex Film Fund honcho Frank Huebner, told me that it was becoming more and more difficult to raise equity finance for films. Gap financing (a term for funding the final 10% or 20% of a film’s budget) seemed to have a new meaning: there is a gap in the sources of the funding so ingenious ways of raising money were needed.

He told me that ‘today the average German is more afraid of his financial advisor than of Al Qaeda’. When it comes to your pension, beware the enemy within!

Berlin is usually far colder and wetter and snowier than London so we were pleased to find it sunnier and warmer, though snow is promised in a couple of days. At least they have winter tyres here.

Had deja vu feeling as I walked into the EFM building (European Film Market) as if it were only last week that I was there. There were the same stands in the same places and the same plethora of trade magazines.

As the largest demographic that watches television - the oldies - have time on their hands, is it sensible to cut shows that have traditionally appealed to that demographic? ITV may feel that this group of people, who have recently seen dramatic cuts to their pensions, will not have the spending power to attract advertisers. But there is little evidence that the younger audience, joined at the hip to their mobile phones, Ipods, PSPs and netbooks will have time for television. So is this a serious shot in the foot for the model of comemrcial television in the UK?

TwelvePoint has talked about the state of the film industry (especially in Buzz comments). The statistics make interesting reading and present – as the information from the UKFC below shows – a ‘mixed picture’.

Writers MUST have submissions strategies: a plan that outlines who you will submit what to, when, and in what order. Keep records of the responses you receive and be honest in your submissions.
 

This month’s Notes from the Writers Room looks at Slumdog Millionaire, my pick for the best Christmas release of 2008.  I was initially reluctant to see the film.  After viewing several downbeat movies recently, along with the relentless gloom and doom on the news, I haven’t felt very inspired or optimistic in the run-up to the holidays.  Friends persuaded me otherwise in regard to this film.  It turns out this is a very special story indeed.

One of my clients won’t answer the phone or look at emails until she’s done five hours writing. She says it means by lunchtime she is written out for the day but she still has all afternoon to lead a normal life.