Quote/Unquote
Wonderful, rigorous, generous, exceptional, positive, miraculous, nourishing, enjoyable, great, laid-back, supportive, creative, essential, open, professional, superb, fantastic, bold, encouraging, enriching, exhilarating, marvellous, buzzy, informal, interesting, instructive, beneficial, inspiring, informative, phenomenal, splendid, terrific, admirable, astonishing, stimulating, energising... Heaven!
What they thought and what you thought, on one page, nice and simple.
SPEAKERS...
“The Cheltenham Screenwriters Festival has a wonderful atmosphere and an agenda jam-packed with a real variety of speakers from all parts of the industry. It’s refreshing to attend an event that celebrates and champions great writing above all else”
Laura Mackie, Head of ITV Drama
"The Screenwriter's Festival at Cheltenham is the place to be if you're serious about writing for the British television industry. Not only do you get the chance to hear from the people who can commission your work first hand, but a writer’s life is a lonely one, so just for a few days surrounding yourself with other writers, is a glorious thing."
Tony Jordan, screenwriter/producer 'Hustle', 'Life on Mars'
“It was a wonderful experience with a fantastic atmosphere. The hospitality was first rate and the staff were very efficient and helpful. I hope the students got as much out of it as I did. I am continuing to liaise with a lot of talent from the festival who are bursting with creativity and fresh ideas.”
Kay Mellor, screenwriter/producer 'The Chase', 'Fat Friends'
“I had a great day at Cheltenham with you all and will gladly come again!”
Mike Leigh, director 'Vera Drake', 'Happy Go Lucky'
“I had a great time. See you again next time, hopefully.”
Nigel Planer, actor 'The Colour of Magic', 'The Hogfather'
“This was my first visit to the Screenwriters’ Festival. It was fantastic to have a thoughtful and informed conversation with fellow writers about the craft of screenwriting without the imperatives of finance and production hijacking the debate. I was really impressed by the standard of both the discourse and the delegates. If this event is anything to go by, screenwriting is alive and well in our industry.”
Peter Kosminsky, screenwriter/director of 'The Government Inspector', 'Britz'
"I was more aware this time of the number of working writers who came to the festival. Of course there were some beginners and I was delighted to meet them, but there was also a wealth of every type of experience represented, television writers looking to move across into films, radio writers wanting to get into television, novelists interested in learning how to adapt prose for the screen, and it seemed to me that this mix was good for all of us, the supposed headliners as much as the guests. I think people came away feeling they had learned a lot they didn't know before. I certainly did."
Julian Fellowes, writer/producer/director 'Gosford Park', 'Young Victoria'
“I was astonished by the numbers attending the Festival. A splendid crowd of good-humoured people full of enthusiasm. It is a wonderful thing to have screenwriters celebrated in this way.”
Ronald Harwood, screenwriter 'The Pianist', 'The Diving Bell and The Butterfly.'
“What a great festival. I particularly liked the scriptbites idea – a marvellous halfway house between a formal event and just milling around, and have recommended the idea to various people who run literary festivals. And the venue was so beautiful. All best wishes and congratulations.”
Deborah Moggach, novelist/screenwriter 'The Diary of Anne Frank', 'Pride and Prejudice'
“I really enjoyed the festival this year, by the way. Kay Mellor was lovely and all the people I spoke to said how good the atmosphere was.”
Paul Hoggart, Journalist
“Thanks for the Festival - I found the 2 days I could attend to be a wonderfully stimulating and exciting event. Our horror talk was very well-received and well-attended which was immensely gratifying. I hope I may join the Festival again some time.”
Prof. Richard J Hand, University of Glamorgan
“Congratulations on a great festival. We both (Richard J. Hand) really enjoyed ourselves yesterday and my only regret was that I wasn’t able to stay for longer.”
Prof. Mike Wilson, University of Glamorgan
DELEGATES....
"A wonderful first impression of the festival, it was fascinating and inspiring. Lucy Prebble and Kay Mellor were good examples of very positive strong, female writers. I'd like that spirit in Austria."
Marie Kreutzer
"Excellent! By day 3 my brain felt like it was in overload. There was so much of interest. I was completely sated. I had a terrific time!"
James Woolf
"Barbara Machin, Ronald Harwood and Julian Fellowes were wonderful. All three gave, without reserve and were honest. To hear their honest opinions helps. I would like Tony Jordan on-tap please."
Caroline Collingwood
"Just a short note to say thanks for the SWF this year. You got some great speakers in, I had a blast and managed to (hopefully) get some work from it."
Darrin Grimwood
"Attending the Screenwriters Festival has made me fall deeper in love with writing for tv and film, and prouder than ever to have the aspirations of a screenwriter. I am sincerely grateful to you all for this life-changing experience. See you next year!"
Nicola Depuis
"I leave knowing a lot more about the screenwriting profession than when I arrived."
Jules Stevens
More quotes from 2007 and 2006
"A wonderful resource, the sort of thing I wish we had more of in the States! An environment both rigorous and generous, where aspiring screenwriters can get the feedback and reality checks they need to improve their craft in an exceptionally positive atmosphere."
Michael Goldenberg (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)
"I felt like a long lost traveller who was wandering starving in the wilderness and stumbles upon a fertile oasis populated by people miraculously speaking his own language. We screenwriters need such nourishment."
William Nicholson (Gladiator, The Golden Age)
"There's a lot of talk about Development Hell but last week in Cheltenham was the opposite. The first Screenwriting Festival was a chance to listen to great practitioners sharing their secrets with their peers and most enjoyable for me - to spend time with other writers comparing notes, techniques, projects and horror stories. There was a great laid-back, supportive, creative atmosphere. If there's a development heaven it might look like this."
Olivia Hetreed (The Girl with a Pearl Earring)
"The chance to communicate with others in the same boat - which this festival offers - is not just a relief, there are times when it's absolutely essential!"
Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park)
"It was a very open, positive and professional festival, and it was therefore possible to have a better quality of conversation with both speakers and attendees than is often achievable in London."
Natalie Wreyford (UK Film Council)
"Thanks for a superbly co-ordinated event with some fantastic guests (especially Guillermo del Toro and Scott/Roeg). I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Festival and will definitely return next year!"
Nic Ransome (Hammer studios)
"Just a quick note to say thank you for looking after me so well last week. You all should be rightly proud of your efforts. I had a great time and felt very lucky to be part of the event. Please pass on my thanks and congratulations to David and all of the team."
Justin Trefgarne (Writer/Director)
"The Screenwriters' Festival takes the bold step of encouraging Writers away from their desks and pitching them into discussion with each other..."
Film4 - (headline sponsors of the inaugural Screenwriters' Festival 2006)
"A fantastic Festival in a fantastic setting. We were all deeply impressed."
David Thompson (BBC Films)
"I came away feeling enriched and exhilarated!"
Debi Nethersole (Producer)
"What a marvellous set-up. You really have created something impressive!"
Sophie Meyer (Ealing Studios)
"An absolute pleasure from beginning to end!"
Nick Ostler (Screenwriter)
"The festival was thoroughly well organized, but what impressed me the most was the sheer level of industry insiders they managed to get. It was truly dedicated to the screenwriter, lectures and events were given by people who actually wrote, produced and directed for a living."
Simon Hunter (Writer/Director ‘The Mutant Chronicles')
"Just wanted to drop you a line and say it was good to meet you at the screenwriters festival. Was a great event in a lovely location, and I was quite surprised how receptive people were to the idea of writing for games."
Rhianna Pratchett, Games Writer
"I found the SWF incredible. It was fabulous and all screenwriters should be making it a part of their diary."
Philippa Langley (delegate 2007)
"Cheltenham was, for me, 65 per cent about networking and making new friends. Sure, there were some truly great sessions, Q&As and talks in the other 35 per cent, but the opportunities to schmooze were legion!"
Jason Arnopp (delegate 2007)
"I just wanted to thank you again for having me at the Festival this year. It was every bit as buzzy and interesting as it was the first time round, so many congratulations. Those ScriptBites worked really well too, you were absolutely right about the informality of them. I enjoyed myself very much. I hope I can come up and join in again next year."
Kate Leys (Script Reader)
"I would like to thank you for the amazing opportunity to attend the Screenwriters' Festival. I am very grateful and really hope that many other screenwriters, producers and writers from the Canary Islands will have the opportunity in coming years. The festival is instructive, beneficial and inspiring to all of us who work in film. It was a privilege to attend."
Guillermo Marrero (delegate 2007)
"I found the event (besides from being so professionally organised) amazingly inspiring and informative. So many highlights I don't know where to start!"
Rachel Al-Habib
"The Screenwriters' Festival was phenomenal in establishing itself so quickly and with such a high calibre of people as a major film industry event. It is deeply impressive!"
Michael Gubbins (Screen International)
"I really enjoyed the festival. I learnt plenty and enjoyed mixing with other writers. I also got universally positive feedback from everyone I spoke to."
Richard Brandon
"An absolutely brilliant Festival. I really enjoyed the experience, met some very interesting people and heard some fantastic speakers - a thoroughly inspiring time."
Lesley Robinson
"Very enjoyable, very interesting and very useful. Bloody well done."
Andy Freedman (Media Lecturer)
"Amazingly inspiring and informative. So many highlights I don't know where to start. A most splendid event!"
Rachel Al-Habib
"I found the SWF incredible. It was marvelous to be able to meet with other writers, and industry professionals from across the board and to hear what's happening from the horses mouth so-to-speak and to be able to learn so much from all the workshops. It was fabulous and all screenwriters should be making it a part of their diary."
Philippa Langley
"This year's screenwriters festival was absolutely brilliant. Things are moving along for me, and I am freshly inspired following the buzz of creativity and determination that is in the festival air."
Jane Payne
"Every year of this festival looks to be so good - it just gets better! Amazing what you have all created there."
Mark Lavender
"The Screenwriters' Festival is the most important date in the calendar for anyone serious about writing for film or TV. The chances to meet and learn from the best in the industry are phenomenal - I can't recommend it too highly."
Piers Beckley
"A well organised and successful festival. I enjoyed last year's, but this year was even better!"
Helen Johnson
"Congratulations on an enormously successful Festival. Well done. You really did have an astonishing array of speakers and all the delegates I spoke to were positive."
Terence Doyle (British film magazine)
"I wanted to learn more about the creative process and came away feeling enriched and exhilarated. A really terrific event - an opportunity to network and also to talk to such "approachable" experts. I did not hear one word that was not positive and/or praise-filled."
Debi Nethersole
"A really stimulating few days. I signed up for the whole shebang this year and apart from suffering from exhaustion, I'm very glad I did. Lots of good chats and contacts made, not least with other writers. I've come away feeling more ‘part of something' and more energised than I have all year. Keep up the good work!"
Nell Denton
"I think it is really admirable that you encourage emerging writers in this way. I feel very inspired to keep going. Congratulations on a really diverse and interesting festival. It was a real pleasure to be there."
Clare McCarron
"Thank you for a couple of wonderful days in Cheltenham. It really was a great pleasure and very inspiring - also for us non-scriptwriters."
Riina Spørring Zachariassen (Copenhagen International Film Festival)
"I really enjoyed the Screenwriters' Day, it gave me the kick I needed to finish my work. Which I have done now, and been taken on by an agency in the USA."
Annette Williamson
"Congratulations on a fantastic event. Really good."
Rowena Goldman
"Many thanks to you and all the team behind the Screenwriters' Festival. I found it incredibly useful and look forward to next year."
Stephen Dunleavy
"I just wanted to send a quick email saying congratulations on the New Writers Day. I'm very new to the whole world of screenwriting and I found the day invaluable. I hope the rest of the festival went well, and I hope there are plans for one next year."
Dave Maguire
"I just wanted to thank you for all your efforts on the screenwriter's festival. I had a lovely time and really appreciate all your hard work."
Mary Albanese
"Just to say thank you very much again for the festival. It was great. I did in the end attend the whole festival as I realised that the professional festival was of more use to me than the new writer's day."
Caroline Bannock
"Firstly, can I say how much I enjoyed the New Writer's Day, thank you for all your effort's. Hopefully I'll be back in the future as a full delegate."
James Kick
"Thanks for a great day."
Ricky Kane
