FILM SCRIPTWRITING WORKSHOP

Pippa Jazmine Dyer, a Durban actress who has been living in Johannesburg for many years and now relocated back to Durban, believes that South Africa is an incredibly talented country. “It’s full of bright ideas, and a cacophony of experiences,” she says, “but people don't necessarily know how to put those ideas into a cohesive format and express them in a way that is not only accessible to the public at large, but which can be competitive on an international stage.”

Coming from quite a diverse background herself, Dyer is interested in drawing out those stories and making people find their own voice ... to tell their stories from a perspective of their own cultural expertise. No matter what culture, creed, or ethnic derivation, “a story well-told is a story worth listening to”.

"I think one of the main problems with inexperienced South African writers (note: inexperienced, not young) is that they can be long-winded,” Dyer explains. “They might have brilliant stories, but if you can't keep the tension then you will lose the audience half way ... even for South Africans who have an understanding of our beautiful land, but for an international audience, you lose them in the beginning! And that's just not good enough.

“I have had two brilliant mentors, in particular, Thandi Brewer and Julie Hall,” Dyer continues. “They call it ... keeping the spine of the story! It’s actually easier to see what works and what doesn’t in other people’s work so we will be working in small groups. Out of ten scriptwriting mentors that I have had to date, I have felt that there have been gaps in the training (except for Julie and Thandi). I am going to try and fill those gaps by teaching the methodology in a way that is accessible and encourages the voice of the writer instead of clamping it down."

An initiative of Pippa Jazmine Dyer through her CC, IQU Nettworks in Media Entertainmentt, (IQU), The Writers Club is designed as a starting point for those lay-people who have incredible stories to tell but don't quite know how to put pen to paper. The objective is to guide the storyteller through the principles of Film writing from Opening sequence, to Inciting Incident, Turning points at the end of Act One and Two, to Crisis, Climax, and resolution in a typical Three Act structure. These principles can be used for stage and novels too …

This workshop is the first of its kind, and will be developed further in time … The principles in the workshop are a combination of what Dyer has learnt from her own experience through UCT Drama School, Hal Croasmun's internet scriptwriting course, the NFVF (National Film and Video foundation) Sediba course, and the Script Institute.

A Film Scriptwriting Workshop will take place on February 5 and 6 from 09h00 to 17h00. Entry R1,000 includes tea and a light sandwich lunch. Bookings through Pippa Dyer on 083 303 7433 or email: jazmineva@iafrica.com or visit www.jazminepippadyer.co.za