#screenwriter

Apr 7, 2021
3 min

Image Nation Abu Dhabi to co-produce CATSAWAY!

CATSAWAY, the animated feature film I was hired to develop, is finally a GO now that Image Nation Abu Dhabi has joined the team! “The story is perfectly constructed, with compelling characterizations and appealing plot. My idea for 'Catsaway' would NEVER have happened without the assistance of Phil. I am very grateful to work with him and still continue to do so. Thank you for running such a fine business. Great work!” - director Fadel AlMehiri (Tent Pictures Productions) Ima

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Jun 30, 2020
4 min

Screenwriting Tips: Scene Checklist Part 3

In this final instalment of my Scene Checklist series (see Part 1 and Part 2), I want to talk about goals, and the strategies and tactics characters use to achieve them in a scene. First, let's examine our terms. A better understanding of them will help your screenwriting in many ways, so it's worth taking the time. GOAL - that clear, concise, easily-recognisable finish line your character thinks they need to cross to achieve what they want. STRATEGY - the holistic plan, seen

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Jun 23, 2020
2 min

Screenwriting Tips: Toy Story 3 Writer

Michael Arndt, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Little Miss Sunshine, has put together an incredible video to give us a deep-dive look into his work on Toy Story 3. I spent a whole Sunday afternoon watching it, re-watching it, absorbing it, and taking notes. It's called "TOY STORY 3: Mistakes Made, Lessons Learned. Here are a few of the tips I gleaned from Michael's video: INCITING INCIDENT: it can be the best or worst thing that could happen to your hero, but its importance

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Jun 8, 2020
3 min

Screenwriting Tips: Scene Checklist Part 2

In my previous blog, Screenwriting Tips: Scene Checklist Part 1, I discussed some of the essential elements of scene construction. If you haven't read it, check it out first and come back here for Part 2. Scene arcs I touched on this subject in Scene Checklist Part 1, but it's worth expanding on because it's such a critical part of writing a screenplay. Why? An 'arc' in screenwriting refers to a change FROM one state of being or place TO another. When something changes, it in

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May 24, 2020
3 min

Creating Unique Characters

When writing a screenplay, or a novel, you should have two objectives as you create characters: 1. Make them different to what we've seen before, but still recognisable, and 2. Make them distinctive from one another. Neither of these tasks is easy, but they are essential if you want your readers to emotionally engage with your story. Here are a few quick tips to get you started on the right path. Your first character- the hero An effective way to find the best kind of hero fo

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Feb 17, 2020
2 min

More Great Reviews for 'Fly Girls' Script

FLY GIRLS, the "rip-roaring" action & adventure screenplay Phil Parker was hired to write, continues to garner great reviews from industry sources! Draft One Sets High Bar! The initial draft Phil delivered earned a hard-to-get score of '8' from an EXCLUSIVE reader at The Black List! ...who also had this to say about it: "There are several key roles that any actress would jump at the chance to play. The main character is drawn with depth, nuance and authenticity, and features

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Oct 9, 2019
1 min

Screenwriter Phil Parker Hired to Write Feature 'Forte'

Australian/American screenwriter Phil Parker has been hired again to write a feature script based on a true story. This live-action tale centers around a brave young piano player who struggled against titanic forces and changed the way music is performed in Europe forever. The team behind Forte includes a producer in Italy, a director in the United States, and Phil in Australia, making it a truly international production. Previous screenwriting gig finishing sky high! As Phil

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Aug 20, 2019
1 min

Client's Script Reaches Competition Finals

This week I found out that a script I was hired to rewrite for a client placed as a Top 10 Finalist in the Stage 32 Sci-fi & Fantasy Screenwriting Competition! My client is thrilled and so am I. Seeing KINDRED prevail through tough competition from over a 1,000 other screenwriters is very rewarding. As a working screenwriter, you live for moments like these. KINDRED continues to impress KINDRED's selection as a Top 10 Finalist in the Stage 32 Screenwriting Competition is the

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Jun 25, 2019
2 min

Upcoming animated feature CATSAWAY. Storyboards vs Trailer

The soon-to-be released animated film CATSAWAY by Emirati director Fadel Al Mehiri (story by Phil Parker and Fadel Al Mehiri) has created a lot of buzz in the U.A.E. It will be the first Emirati feature-length film to utilize 2D hand-drawn animation in an effort to capture a local nostalgia for a bygone era in Abu Dhabi's history. Coupled with its universally-appealing tale of action, adventure, and comedy about a group of homeless cats seeking a new life, CATSAWAY is sure to

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Jun 17, 2019
2 min

5 Projects, 5 Producers!

Every screenwriter knows how hard it is to get attention for your own work, let alone finding someone willing to pay you to write for them. That's why I feel fortunate to have producers attached to the projects I've written or was hired to write, who are out there fighting the good fight to get them made. Here's a quick look at some of the exciting projects I've got cooking right now. FIVE PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT 1. THE THIRD BOMB This is my baby, my spec screenplay, THE THIR

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Jun 6, 2019
2 min

Aussie screenwriters sign agreement for superhero story!

Screenwriter Phil Parker and director/screenwriter Josh Bryer are pleased to announce they've signed a non-exclusive shopping agreement with a U.S. production company for their Australian sci-fi superhero screenplay KINDRED. LOGLINE: A man who refuses to face his past is visited by his future daughter, with a desperate plea: confront his childhood tormentors, before they kill him and enslave the world. Phil hired to rewrite Australian sci-fi Josh Bryer and Red Centre films o

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May 29, 2019
2 min

Looking Forward To The Downton Abbey Movie?

I love that trailer for the Downton Abbey movie. The editing, the music, the choices of dialogue - it all combines to press the right emotional buttons for fans of the original show. Strangely enough, though, when I was making promos for TV shows like Downton Abbey at BBC Worldwide (now BBC Studios), I wasn't a huge fan. Perhaps that's because I was forced to watch it. I mean really watch it, and analyse it, so I could figure out how to best promote it on TV. Overcoming my ow

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Feb 18, 2019
2 min

"A WWII Script Unlike Any!"

Since finishing the first draft of a paid writing assignment for a producer here in Australia, the feedback on the script has been tremendous. (phew!) "None to our surprise Phil delivered an incredible screenplay. Looking forward to our next collaboration!" - Elliott Yancey, Producer Feedback from The Black List We also got some tremendous feedback on the screenplay from an exclusive reader at The Black List: “These women are inspirational characters rarely seen on the big sc

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May 8, 2018
1 min

'Catsaway' - Official Teaser Released.

CATSAWAY – THE MOVIE #Screenwriter Phil Parker was hired to develop the animated feature film #CATSAWAY from a bare-bones idea to a fully-formed, 30-page #treatment for Tent Pictures Productions in Abu Dhabi. IN THE NEWS: Catsaway and Phil in the news in Abu Dhabi The producers were so impressed with the story Phil developed they commissioned the animation house Juice to produce a teaser for the film. The teaser below has no VO and only a glimpse of characters or story, but i

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Mar 2, 2018
4 min

Characters That Make Us Care

Like most people (whether they’re conscious of it or not) I go to see a film hoping to discover interesting #characters to care about, to identify with, people that I can feel empathy for, because in them - I see me. Whether their battling intergalactic aliens or just a noisy neighbor next door the heroes of films are the audience’s proxy for the adventure. We can’t be IN the film, so the hero is the vehicle through which we go on that journey. So I need #heroes that engage m

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Aug 3, 2015
2 min

Praise For 'The Third Bomb' From Black List

My WWII action/ adventure screenplay ‘The Third Bomb’ received a great review on the prestigious industry website ‘The Black List’ www.blcklst.com not too long ago. The life of a screenwriter is filled with lots of rejection, so it’s days like this I have to celebrate! NEWS UPDATE: March 19, 2019 The Third Bomb has gone on to win awards in nine different film festivals and place in twenty others. It has also been optioned twice by BAFTA-winning producer Sias Wilson. LOGLINE:

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