The International Screenwriters’ Festival is dedicated to the art, craft, and business of writing for the screen. Bringing together professional industry delegates, high profile guests and new talent from around the world, the Festival provided a unique forum to debate and discussed writing dramatic scripts for film, television and new media.

Scottish Screen and Glasgow Film Office would like to offer three screenwriters the opportunity to attend the 2nd International Screenwriters Festival taking place in Cheltenham, Gloucstershire between 3 and 6 July 2007. The stipulations are that the applicant:

- Be resident in Scotland.

- Have had at least one screenplay produced (short, television or feature drama) or have a screenplay in funded development with either Scottish Screen, a broadcaster, a production company or a regional or local agency.

- Send a one page letter outlining why you wish to attend the festival and what you believe you will gain from it along with an up to date version of your writing CV.

Please send this information to:

Rhona McKenna
Scottish Screen
249 West George Street
Glasgow
G2 4QE

Applications must be submitted no later than Friday 22 June 2007 and marked clearly SCREENWRITERS FESTIVAL.

Please note as well as covering the cost of attending the festival, where possible, Scottish Screen will assist with travel and accommodation costs up to a maximum of £300 per person.

Apologies to the eagle-eyed readers out there. A previous post concerning The Last King of Scotland claimed that it did not shoot in Glasgow, but straight from the location manager’s mouth, it seems that it did shoot interiors - although not all scenes ended up in the final cut. Apologies to all concerned.

Zam Salim is not content with impressing only the judges at the recent Jim Poole Short Film Awards. No, he’s only gone and impressed the audience as well. Yes indeed, his film LAID OFF - already a winner at the European Independent Film Festival and a nominee at last year’s Scottish BAFTAs - has won both the Best Film and the Audience Award at this year’s Jim Poole Awards, held last Sunday. The film, written and directed by Salim, even prompted one judge to claim “Easily the best all-round film for me; powerful, thought-provoking concept, strong casting and performance, and rigorous execution. What a good short should be.” Indeed. Congratulations to Zam and all the cast and crew involved.

The Edinburgh International Film Festival recently announced not one, but two new initiatives for this year’s festival. EIFF will launch a new UK Talent Showcase, entitled Trailblazers, in association with Skillset. The Festival will also offer a new performance award, the PPG Award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film, which will be sponsored by The Premier Property Group (PPG). Full details of the two initiatives can be accessed here.

And the spirit of giving just keeps coming. Pop on over to the EIFF website now to find out how to receive a free copy of the new look TOTAL FILM. Apart from being the longest continually running film festival in the world, EIFF can now lay claim to the current most generous film festival in the world.

The Edinburgh International Film Festival official 2007 programme will be announced on Wednesday, July 11, 2007.

Is life in Glasgow getting to you?? Would you like to get away from it all on a desert island in the South Pacific??? RDF Media is looking for fun, lively and outgoing people to take part in the next series of “Shipwrecked”! If you would like to find out more about this opportunity, please contact Andrea Boscan (Assistant Producer), andrea.boscan@rdfmedia.com. More details can be found on the Channel 4 website.