First and foremost a quick hello and introduction from me.
I'm a 'young' (ahem) creator and screenwriter from England, who studied the craft at a well-respected writing faculty this side of the pond. It was basically the realisation of a lifelong dream, as I'd always had visions for films and TV shows. I was lucky enough to have been tutored by a guy who'd written for some of the biggest TV shows here in the UK (one of his films was nominated for an Oscar by the Australian Academy) and attended workshops and got to discuss my work with a number of leading industry players, such as David Puttnam (producer - Chariots of Fire, Memphis Belle) and Matt Luhn (Pixar, The Simpson). So far, I've written the treatment and spec script for a pilot for a multi-season TV drama called 'Tribus' (more on that in a bit), another script for a TV drama/mini-series 'Our Baz' and wrote an unsolicited draft of a spec script for the film The Arctic Thirty, which I gave to Puttnam, but which I am sure won't be used by the Director attached to the project.
Long story short, I'm currently in the process of standing up to the British entertainment establishment, with the absolute certain belief that I had two-and-a-half years of my life's work essentially stolen from me, in the form of an unauthorised adaptation (by the creators of Sky TV's Britannia). It's a view supported by my ex-tutor and the Head of the Creative Writing faculty when I studied there, along with a growing number of academic, industry and non-industry professionals. I've decided to take a stand both for myself (as someone who's dedicated a large period of his life to the craft) and other creators/writers, who unscrupulous producers might be thinking of taking advantage of.
I'd be grateful if you watched the following short overview, before visiting my site, which has full details of my case and/or going to Change.Org/britanniatvseries and signing the petition I've gone public with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDwVUXGjfao
Whether or not fighting for my rights publicly puts me on a blacklist (as I've been warned) is irrelevant, if such practices are common place, then what's the point of writing and dedicating your life to the craft in the first place! Thanks for reading,
Ben.
Owner: https://www.britanniatvseries.com
Hello and greetings to you, Ben. After reading your story here. I'm all in favor of you standing up for such bad practice. Having ones hard work stolen is very uncool. I don't feel that you will ever be blacklisted. A producer will come along one of these days and be happy, that you stood up for your own right and like what you wrote. I'm a firm believer in what goes around, comes around. Those who steel other writers work, will pay the price in the end. Have a nice day. Cheers all the way to the bank.
Clayton
Many thanks, Clayton. Let's hope there's some justice in the world!
Very best regards,
Ben