Being sponsored through Screen Nova Scotia for the third week of teaching with John Yorke was a surprise. We had all only thought the series would be two weeks altogether.
Fresh off of being short-listed for a producer's program through the National Screen Institute, having yet another week with John Yorke was a great way to jump from one training opportunity to another.
Takeaways from the third week of classes:
Be willing to continue pushing a narrative to its next edge.
It's easy to think you have the narrative down. Here are the characters. Here is their world. There is the arc—the end.
Think more in-depth about subverting expectations, hone in on the more profound meaning and message, and ultimately practice thinking outside the box.
Understand your why's and the characters' why's.
Know why you want to create this story, with these characters, this way and with these people. Consequently, understand why your characters matter and why they do what they do. Know the questions they seek to have answered. Know how you want to answer them.
Work as a team
From day one, we were thrown into groups to create a pitch. We had nearly four days to complete, cultivate, and refine a television series for pitching. I was privileged to find myself in a group with two local writers/filmmakers in my province (a surprise to all of us considering the class was full of others from Europe and other countries.) We worked together efficiently, passionately and in the end, found ways to hone in on each other's skills to create a pitch we were all proud of. Of course, given more time, we would have wanted to hone it in even more, but I would say the three of us were quite proud of each other and the process itself.
If I had anything I wish I could have had more from this series, I have to say it is just more time in class with John Yorke.
He has shown himself to be a passionate, self-aware and authentic filmmaker/storyteller while also bringing all of those elements into his teaching - a rare commodity in this world. Anyone can call themselves a teacher, but few actually create a safe space for effective learning.
To learn from someone who wants to share his knowledge, passion and help cultivate anyone to the next level of their learning and professional growth was a major privilege and honour.
Thank-you to Screen Nova Scotia for the opportunity & thank-you to John Yorke for teaching amidst the chaos we have all found ourselves in this year.
