The festival activity kicked off this morning with an informative panel session titled ‘Script to Screen’. Moderated by Dr Angus Finney, an experienced film, TV and streaming business specialist, author, trainer and executive producer, the panel consisted of prolific writers and filmmakers including Ruth Greenberg, writer and director; Moin Hussain, writer and director; Georgia Harris, writer, producer and director and Peter Portelli, bestselling Malta-based writer and author “The Order”.
The session began with a focus upon the speaker’s established careers to date and took a deep dive into their relationship with writing and directing as well as the process they embark upon with each project. They discussed the instinct and ideation of their content, and the early stages of development, noting some of the challenges that go along with creating an initial treatment and the importance of showcasing your vision whilst also holding something back for you to further explore.
Providing advice to filmmakers in attendance, they talked about the importance of your first feature, making a film that puts yourself out there and using a strong voice to demonstrate who you are as a filmmaker. The panel debated the sometimes lonely nature of being a writer, and how different genres present different challenges – with historical fiction being sometimes restrictive but also allowing you to use your creativity to tell a new story that has never been told, whilst simultaneously having to make decisions on what to leave in or remove from the historical text.
Telling the story you want to tell was a key point all the panelists agreed upon, as well as not focusing too much on marketing the film. They pointed out that whilst it is important to think about your audience, you shouldn’t let the pressure of how you will market something and who to crush your ideas.
The panel finished with a discussion around the impact of AI where the speakers debated both the negative and positive changes it may have including the need for people to question why they are using it, AI potentially taking away the authenticity that is so important in writing and the creation of a project, to how it can also be seen as a useful tool with the potential to make indie filmmaking more accessible with less financial constraints.