History repeating

OK - so - when I said that Lisa and I hadn't co-written a screenplay before - I might have a told small untruth: not maliciously, you understand - but rather, forgetfully.

About a gazillion years ago (or the late '80s as it was known back then) Lisa and I attended a free course in New Plymouth - Access Youth Theatre. It was a 6 month course, designed to take the general unwashed youth of the city and teach them some skills. It was at this course that Lisa and me first met - and it was here that we first wrote together.

Toward the end of the course, the tutors armed the participants with a video camera and free run of the theatre we were using, and told us to create a short video - we choose the genre, we choose the content. Lisa and I chose to cast ourselves as writers, making sure (as all great writers do) that we cast ourselves nice little cameos as news readers, Edna Hardbottle and Clinton Futtock.

Between us we crafted "Who Killed Penny Poodle", Penny being the poodle of Derek, one of the tutors on our course. For the next week or so we wrote various scenes in our made-for-TV-murder-mystery. We also wrote a few adverts to play in middle of our made-for-TV-murder-mystery, just to prove it was, in fact, made-for-TV.

It was all a bit silly - but I cannot remember laughing so hard. I particularly remember the outtakes of myself and Lisa. As our 'over-to-you' banter played out and the camera panned between us, Lisa's head got lower and lower toward our news desk. This was not bad camera work, rather the cameraman capturing Lisa's increasingly hysterical giggles as our news story played out.

I have no idea what happened to our first foray into scripting. All evidence is probably lost in a box stashed in someones attic. After all - who has videos these days? However, this sudden flashback of memory about how much fun we had creating and shooting our small production has kept a smile very firmly fixed on my face these past few days.

I am hoping that smile will be repeated when Lisa and I get into the serious business of writing. I have been following the instructions that Lew is telling me in his book, and have outlined a story idea (2 pages, double spaced - that's all the room I'm allowed) and have sent this, along with prelim character outlines to Lisa for have a look at. It's a really hard thing to do. I've been thinking about this story for a while - and whilst there are gaps in it as it's written (2 pages, double spaced, no more - no less), little scenes keep playing out in my head that I think will be good if we can capture them. It's also hard because my initial idea could well be trumped by an even better idea from Lisa (something she's quite good at - curse her creative genius!). I'm hoping for the best and preparing for the worst!

I get to see Lisa next week. It'll be the first time we've sat in the same room together for 8 years or more. But I take comfort in something. I can guarantee that, even if we don't get the chance to have a proper discussion about the Free Film Project, we will laugh. And whatever the story ends up being, we'll make sure we write ourselves in 2 lovely cameo roles, and laugh until our heads hit the news desk.

Oh, and Kate Winslet, if you're reading this I have written, in my outline (2 pages, double spaced - for fear if I deviate Lew's advice will become redundant), a character specifically for you to play. I know we can't pay you - but if you're willing to foot the bill for your travel to NZ, your catering requirements on set plus any other incidental costs, and quite like the idea of appearing in a no-budget film by two unknown people who are doing this on a whim - drop me a line. Oh, and you won't have to worry about accommodation - we have a spare room you can use.