Writer

The Writer is the only person who faces a blank page...

The Writer is the person who had the original idea for a film or has written to a brief.

They are storytellers. They need to have a strong understanding of narrative structure, genre, character development and characterisations, and - most importantly for film - visual storytelling.

They write the screenplay in industry-standard formatting. This means using a writing software such as Final Draft, WriterDuet, Celtx, Scrivener, or similar.

Effective writers will have knowledge of industry trends and will be able to pitch their story. They'll develop loglines and sometimes pitch decks. Writers need confidence in their story and collaboration skills to work with the Director, Producer(s), and Script Editor to develop the script. Often the writer's role is finished when the film is ready to shoot, but sometimes the writer may be involved in updating dialogue or giving suggestions during production.

Writing is Rewriting

The way we select the writer for the AOTS projects is that every participant can stand up and pitch their idea or script. We have a democratic voting process to select the film(s) we'll make that month.

We run regular script development workshops so Writers can develop their screenplays and ideas. We also have a Writers Group on this site, for writers to build their community, find resources, and share their script drafts.