Screenplays

My introduction to cinema was the Saturday Morning Pictures at the local Astoria in Brighton, which showed a loud and colourful mash up of cartoons and cowboys and sci-fi (Zorro, Flash Gordon and Hopalong Cassidy come to mind). But it took John Sturges' Bad Day at Black Rock to make me fall in love with the medium. With a taut, tight screenplay by Millard Kaufman, gorgeous cinematography by William C Mellor, a cast including Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan and Anne Francis, and a moral dilemma at the heart of it, sizzling '50s noir doesn't get much better. Having studied film at The Royal College of Art (where the likes of David Puttnam, John Chambers, Alan Marshall and Roland Joffé were generous with their support and advice) I've a pretty good grounding in all periods and genres. But it's that golden age when directors like Elia Kazan and Billy Wilder ruled the roost, and along with screenwriters such as I. A. L. Diamond and Budd Schulberg, created enduring classics like Some Like it Hot, On the Waterfront and Double Indemnity, that really informs my approach to screenwriting. Like Capra, I guess I'm also something of a romantic. Around the time I graduated from film-school I had the great good fortune to meet another legend of that era Fred Zinnemann (High Noon, From Here to Eternity) He was also extremely kind and generous. Having read my very first spec script, he invited me to meet with him. Now this was the guy who gave Brando his break in movies remember! His insight, approach to his craft, lack of ego, and words of real encouragement set the bar for me, and carried me through the tough times ahead. And as any screenwriter will tell you, those are par for the course. Even the most successful see very little of what they write actually make it to the screen. But if you love the medium, as I do, whatever the struggles and disappointments, you just can't resist dreaming and typing FADE IN. I've written on commission. I've written on spec. I've enjoyed some critical acclaim and seen my work pick up some awards. That said, I feel I'm now at the top of my game. It's taken me several decades of working on my craft to get there, but watch this space. there's more to come!

A sample of the Film & Television projects I've created to date. Some have been made, some are yet to be realised. But they're all projects I put my heart and soul into.