Filmmaking Workshop with John Harrigan

Award-winning screenwriter, director and producer John Harrigan is facilitating a unique film making workshop, covering all stages of the filmmaking process; screenwriting, pre-production, production, post-production and self-distribution. John will share his knowledge learnt over the past 13 years from working independently of studios, focusing on the real world skills required to make a feature film and many other helpful tips and tricks. You will learn how to adapt and survive during the filmmaking process and how to utilize location and landscape to create compelling stories.

This workshop includes screenwriting lessons from an award-winning screenwriter and will teach you how to use your strengths to create compelling narratives, you will learn how to direct and work with actors and a film crew. “Art is magic. Art is utterly vital. It has the power to heal deep wounds, to aid us in the darkest moments, to help us to carry on, when we are lost in life’s lows, brought to our knees, when we believe we might not be able to stand again.” Lightships, John's latest feature film, has won multiple international awards on its film festival run, including the 2021 Best Director award at the New York Festival of Cinema.

John Harrigan is a Filmmaker, Producer, Writer, Consultant and Lecturer in Storytelling, Experience Design and Creativity and the founder of the creative collective F00lishPe0ple. John has joined the team of judges and script readers at the BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Competition. John teaches workshops and courses around filmmaking, performing arts, writing, meditation and ritual art. Amongst other work, John is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Birmingham Screen and Film School and a visiting Lecturer at the Royal College of Art. He’s also been invited to facilitate workshops at festivals and other prestigious venues such as the Institute of Contemporary Arts and The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

The course breakdown will be as follows:

Prologue - How do we offer fidelity to our ideas?

Act One - The Landscape of your Story and your screenplay.

Break

Act Two - Pre-production and the power of collaboration.

Act Three - Principal Photography. The screenplay as Map.

Lunch

Act Four - Post- production 

Break

Act Five - Release strategies

Community and the future

Participants only need to bring a camera phone that they can record video on, a pen and journal.

The Cinema City Cafe Bar will be serving a variety of hot & cold food during the day but participants can bring their own lunch if preferred.