How to get your drama made
Sponsored by Belfast Media Festival
Location: Upstairs Theatre
Time: Wednesday 16th November, 11am
It’s the dream. You’ve got a script you believe in and the talent you know can make it. But how do you get your drama project greenlit and into production?
Here to tell us their war stories are writer/directors Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson (The Salisbury Poisonings, Rogue Agent, Rough and the soon to air BBC drama Blue Lights), Writer Producer and director Mary McGuckian of Pembridge films and writer/comedian Ciaran Bartlett who’s just made a pilot of his comedy drama THE B-Team for BBC Network Comedy.
Declan Lawn & Adam Patterson
Writer/Directors
Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson met whilst working for the BBC's flagship current affairs programme, Panorama. They spent a decade making investigative documentaries, both in the UK and around the world, before moving into drama.
They are inspired by the capacity of television drama and film to tell authentic stories about how the modern world really works. Their work is typically the product of long periods of direct journalistic research into their subject matter.
In 2020, Adam and Declan were selected by Screen International as Stars of Tomorrow. The duo wrote hit drama THE SALISBURY POISONINGS, which became the BBC’s most watched drama of 2020 and was subsequently acquired by Netflix for the rest of the world.
Adam and Declan’s original scripted series BLUE LIGHTS, about response police officers in Belfast, will air on BBC One in early 2023.
They recently collaborated with Peter Kosminksy on THE UNDECLARED WAR (Channel 4) and their first feature-length film ROGUE AGENT (FREEGARD), starring James Norton and Gemma Arterton, UK Netflix release July 27th and in theatres across the US in summer 2022 by IFC. They have recently established their production company, Hot Sauce Pictures, in Belfast.
Ciarán Bartlett
Writer/Comedian
Ciarán Bartlett has multiple writer/performer credits including Late Licence, Live at the Sunflower, all seasons of BBC Northern Ireland’s Tight Shorts, and the first two series of Soft Border Patrol. In 2017, he created and wrote an entire sitcom series Homebirds, which was funded by and developed for RTE and NI Screen. Ciarán was selected for 2018-19’s BBC Comedy Writers’ Room as well as the 2018-19 NI Screen New Writer Focus.
He has just concluded funded development for several sitcom and drama series with BBC Studios, having signed an exclusivity deal with them in 2020. He has a unique sitcom series about deaf parents in development with DLT, and multiple drama series with Stellify Media. Ciarán is developing a comedy feature, sitcom series and a drama series with Reflektor Media. He was commissioned for Thick As, a Channel Four Comedy Blap with BBC Studios, broadcast in December 2019.
Ciarán was also commissioned for a six-part radio sitcom about weddings and a documentary about the executions in a Belfast gaol in 2020 by BBC Radio Ulster. He has recently completed work on a short-form comedy series for Dave/UKTV called BackChat, transmitted in summer 2021, and took part in a Tiger Aspect writing room in January 2022 for the reboot of Bad Education with Jack Whitehall.
Having earned a BA and MA in ancient history, and a MA in journalism by 2011, Ciarán completed his PhD in journalism and media studies in 2014. Ciarán also writes crime and middle grade adventure novels in his limited spare time. He is a die-hard Manchester United fan and an avid gamer, reader, and musician.
Ciarán currently hosts the new and successful No Blasters Podcast and is looking forward to a year of sold-out comedy shows in Belfast’s best venues.Ciarán is currently studying part-time for a second PhD, in classics and ancient history. He comes from West Belfast and is the youngest of eight children.
Mary McGuckian
Writer, Producer, Director, Pembridge Films
Mary McGuckian is committed to dramatic story telling from a female perspective.
Writer/director of over a dozen feature films, most have premiered at international film festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, Venice, Locarno, Edinburgh and London earning many nominations and prizes.
Recent credits include A Girl from Mogadishu which won various audience and jury prizes, including the Cinema for Peace Foundation Award during the 2020 Berlin Film Festival and The Bridge of San Luis Rey Remastered, recently released across North America.
She received the Los Angeles WIFTS Career Achievement Award in 2009 and is currently developing a drama series set in Northern Ireland.
