TEST - Tools for European Screenwriters Training

TEST, a training activity for European screenwriters' trainers. TEST is a programme that aims to improve trainers competences by launching a platform that allows European professional trainers to reflect on best practice in screenwriters’ training, to exchange methodologies and policies and to create a Network of European Screenwriting Trainers. TEST will be developed in two levels: a SEMINAR, taking place from 25 to 27 June in Valencia (Spain) and all year round debate, consultation, seminar preparation and follow-up ONLINE (www.test-online.org). The working language of both the seminar and the website is English. A great deal of effort has been made, over a decade, by script development programmes in Europe to improve the technical and creative skills of screenwriters and to improve the quality of their scripts. But the gap between the stories proposed by European filmmakers and the taste of European film audiences is still pretty deep. The major paradox that training and development programmes have to cope with is how to emphasise the personal and artistic dimensions of the screenwriters and their stories, and at the same time to channel their creativity to produce marketable scripts in order to meet the demands of the industry and expectations of funding bodies. Continuous training programmes for developing talented screenwriters need to keep pace with the evolving demands of European and international markets. Training-the-trainer programmes for scriptwriting trainers are essential but trainers are still lacking in relevant industry experience and didactic expertise. There are few opportunities offered to training/development programmes to enable them to share case studies of best practice. Criteria for evaluating best practice in the training and development of European screenwriters needs more research with proven industry professionals. This situation brings up the challenge of paying new attention to the quality of continuous professional development training programmes in Europe, and most particularly to examine the methods and tools used by these screenwriters’ training and development programmes. The TEST SEMINAR will gather up to 40 professionals among which screenwriters, screenwriting trainers and script consultants, industry representatives and training programmes managers. It will consist of a 3-day creative confrontation embracing:

• the transmission of specific methods and tools for creative writing for the screen.
• the narrative identities of the “American Studio” and the “European Workshop” script development models.
• the interaction between industry, training/development programmes and screenwriters.

Registration for the seminar is open till the tenth of may 2004. The program of the seminar as well as an application form can be found on our website TEST ONLINE (www.test-online.org), which also includes a downloadable newsletter. Other sections will go online after the seminar:

• A library of reference material, articles, and research.
• A forum in which participants will exchange experience, tools and strategies.
• A database, collecting relevant information about methods, topics and tools.
• An address-book that will establish a net of trainers and consultants.

TEST is a training activity proposed by FIA, Foundation for Audiovisual Research based in Spain and FOCAL, foundation for professional training in cinema and audiovisual media (Switzerland) with the support of the MEDIA Programme of the EU, which counts on the academic support of SOURCES 2, PAL, ECAM and ESCAC. For more information, please contact:
TEST- Tools for European Screenwriters´ Training
Fundación para la Investigación del Audiovisual (FIA)
Palau de Pineda
Plaza del Carmen, 4
46003 Valencia (Spain)
Tel.: +34 96 386 90 87/ Fax.: +34 96 386 52 13
test@uimp.es
www.test-online.org