BAFTA Sessions 2019: Screenwriting

On a panel moderated by Hannah Patterson, BAFTA Sessions speaks with screenwriters Deborah Davis (The Favourite), David Rabinowitz & Charlie Wachtel (BlacKkKlansman), and Will Fetters (A Star is Born).

BAFTA Breakthrough Brits 2016: Screenwriter Vinay Patel

BAFTA interviews screenwriter Vinay Patel as one of their Breakthrough Brits for 2016.

"One quiet night over Christmas in his technician job at the Met Film School, Vinay began manoeuvring himself around the kit room in a trolley with a boom pole for a punt and he knew something had to change. He’d always enjoyed writing, so that seemed like the most natural thing to do.

In 2011, Vinay graduated from Central School of Speech and Drama with an MA in writing and was initially attracted to the stage as a place to write and produce his own material. His first break came in 2014 with True Brits, a play juxtaposing the elation of London 2012 with the devastation of 7/7, that led to his selection for the Bush/Kudos TV writing scheme and to an original short commission for BBC iPlayer. Then, in 2015, he was unexpectedly invited to discuss joining BBC’s honour killing drama Murdered By My Father. Having written nothing full-length for television, he recalls thinking “there’s no way I’ll get it. But I met them on a Friday, and on the Monday I was announced as the project’s writer.”

As he works on his next single drama for BBC, Vinay says “I wish I’d been bolder and had the courage to write at a younger age. To anybody unsure about writing, you’ll never know unless you try!”"