Phase two of the marketing of my film script The Syrian Heart is going well. Agents have been contacted and film producers are falling over themselves to at least learn of a script with an interesting angle. 
I started considering how my future in scriptwriting was more about a body of work than the single project, no matter how good or complete script #1 had become. Noticing how the writer of Seven (Andrew Kevin Walker) took at least three years before his story became a living, breathing entity, then he was already through several other scripts before Seven made his name.
The undertaking of a new project is not something the writer takes lightly. Did Van Gogh paint on a whim? Certainly not and whilst his work was more prolific than say, Shane Black, the Dutch painter is nonetheless only known for a few of his paintings.
A script can take a year. It can take longer. The Syrian Heart, from start to finish, took about 12 months and finally I am happy to let it go into the world of scripts, the script mountain of ideas that somewhere circulates on the desk and in-boxes of film producers.
My next project has no title but the first draft is already in its early stages. The story or five handed proposal is in place and I will consider the structure of a script for this 100-page goal. Because it is structured, it does not mean to say it will be better than The Syrian Heart. There’s not a producer I have pitched this to who has said it is rubbish. On the contrary, my foot in the door has always been the premise.
It’s the story which will ultimately make or break the script because as with Jaws, as with Schindler’s List, even if the script sucks there’ll be other Hollywood writers ready to come in and finish the business end of the paperwork.
Les Rowley's world 