MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Faisal Qureshi

An interview with screenwriter Faisal Qureshi regarding the MoviePoet.com Writing Competition.

A: The Ninety Second Minute. it's about a two man TV news crew, the rookie journalist and his veteran cameraman who are in a war torn country and are promised a scoop by one of the combatants.

A: I submitted the script to other schemes in the UK. The british film industry is very different from what you have in the US when it comes to exposure and financing for shorts and feature films.

I thought sending a script in to a US screenwriting contest would give it some credibility, if it won, when it came to chasing grant money from the regional film agencies here.

A: I was very satisfied since they didn't promise any awards and did meet the deadlines. Since there was no application fee, I really had nothing to lose.

A: I can't remember recieving any feedback so really can't say. The most useful feedback I got when it came to writing the later drafts was when I submitted the script to the Zoetrope website. It proved enormously helpful.

A: The only success I got from the contest was being able to put the result down on the front page of the script. This helped get it attention. I wasn't contacted by any people from the web who were interested in producing the film.

The script was recently produced as part of the UK Film Council Digital Shorts Scheme in partnership with my local regional screen agency.

The script and myself were treated so badly by the people they put on board that I had no option but to remove my name from the film. They had made a politically and morally suspect film that I didn't want anything to do with. They assumed I would share the same political opinons as they do. I did not.

A: My first produced work was when I was 19 years old and was part of the, now defunt, Channel 4/Lloyds Bank Film Challenge. It been downhill since then!

After finishing my first degree I went to film school where I graduated with a MA in Film Production that specialised in Editing, Sound Design and Screenwriting.

During all this time I had been writing and managing to get places on various screenwriting initatives including Euroscript and Black Coral Productions/DNA Films Focus on Talent schemes. With the support from these two schemes I completed two feature scripts. I am still writing away with projects for the BBC and Dan Films. I've recently been selected for the Script Factorys Writers Group (http://www.scriptfactory.co.uk/go/Talent/Article_87.html) and hope this helps in building my profile and career.

A: I live in Manchester, UK and currently have no plans to move to L.A. Even though I'd like to.

A: Yes, currently working on a load of projects but can't talk about them right now. Hopefully they'll come out a lot better then the finished film of The Ninety Second Minute!

Posted Saturday, December 27, 2003