Abi Morgan is a British screenwriter and playwright known for her television work including 'The Hour' and 'Sex Traffic'. She gained her first professional television writing credit in 1998 with the ITV drama 'Peak Practice'. I was particularly interested in looking at Abi Morgan as I found out that she was the screenwriter on 'Suffragette'. This is a film I found really moving with an excellent script that made me feel compelled throughout. When talking about her approach she has said that rewriting constantly is a key aspect to achieving the right script as it allows you to peel back the layers of a draft and discard each version, improving it until you reach a final draft of the best possible quality. However, she often takes all of her drafts with her when working with others in order to gain ideas from them and get a variation of opinions. Morgan has stated with 'Suffragette, one of the most important things was that she wanted to incorporate men in the story as well so that men were encouraged to watch the film also as 'it is a two sex war' which won't work unless there is support from both genders. I thought this was a very wise move when writing it because otherwise, it would be a case of only women fighting for their rights without any male voices to support them whilst appealing to both sexes in the audience.
I think that her method of working is very effective, in keeping all copies of her script. This is something I would like to ensure I do when writing scripts so I can look back and refer to previous drafts where some aspects could be used for a final production. This is also a great way of seeing the development and improvement in your work so you can look at what was successful and what wasn't for future reference.
Chris Chibnall is a screenwriter best known for his work on tv series' including Doctor Who, Broadchurch, Torchwood and Law & Order: UK. His first script produced for television was 'Stormin Norman' starring James Bolam. He worked on Doctor Who from 2007-2012 as one of many writers. Having watched several series of Doctor Who, I would say that the writing is very interesting. Each time there is a new Doctor and side kick they manage to convey a good relationship between them which is incredibly important for the audience because we are supposed to root for them and support them when they get in trouble with any of the many antagonists in the series. There are many aspects which help this including good acting and filming but none the less, without a good script to begin with, this is quite an impossible task. I was particularly interested in looking at his work as I have looked at Broadchurch as my British drama and thought the script was very interesting and thought provoking. I liked the way he created tension and suspense whilst still keeping the dialogue very realistic and natural. The series itself received very positive reviews with critics and was popular with its audience, bringing in 9 million viewers for the final episode of the opening series. I thought the use of characters was very strong in this series as Chibnall managed to make them relatable as real individuals. This was particularly successful with the character of Ellie Miller as she was the 'hero' of the drama who we as an audience rooted for.
Jack Thorne
Jack Thorne is an English screenwriter and playwright. He is most well known for his work in tv on programmes such as Skins, Cast offs and This is England '86. Skins is a British TV series that focusses around a group of teenagers in Bristol. It covers a number of serious issues including mental illness, drug abuse and bullying. Each episode will centre around one character and the problems they face in their own life. Not only does this demonstrate some of the serious but very real problems that people have but has an educational factor as well, bringing these issues to attention. For my short film, I have decided to choose drama as the genre which means that I will need to focus on dramas such as Skins. I want my story to seem quite realistic and natural which is why I think Skins will make good reference material for my project.
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