Screenwriting : And so it came to pass... by Geoff Hall

Hey, great work and good luck at Cannes.

Very happy and very proud for you!

Congratulations!

Great news, Geoff Hall! A good reminder to stay positive in this industry.

OMG, that's amazing. Whoot! Whoot! I'm so happy for you. Another step forward to the next. (wish we had emojis to share) Yeah Geoff!

Thank you, everyone. Thanks for the encouragement!

Well done, Geoff. Keep us posted on it's progress. Apologies if it's been asked before, do you have a logline you'd like to share on 'Seeing Rachel'.

@GregWong there’s one on my logline page. But yes I’ll post it here. Thanks for the prompt and the kind comment.

@GregWong here you go:

“Two women, a Detective and a Spook, enter the world of a sinister patriarchy when they delve into the case of a missing schoolgirl. They thought it was a city-wide problem, but their investigative skills uncover an international conspiracy.”

Congratulations!!! So happy for this progress!

Many congratulations. It sounds really interesting.

That’s awesome, Geoff. Sending you big energy for a big win.

Awesome, Geoff! Congratulations! Can't wait to hear more as things progress

Congratulations, Geoff! Fingers‘ crossed it all continues to go well!

Well done. Hope it all plays out great for you.

Crossing fingers for you! Unfortunately I can't be at Cannes this year with my newly started business I would have loved to meet you there

Good thoughts - good thoughts - good thoughts -congrats!!!

Sending good thoughts your way. All the very best Geoff.

The film’s Tagline: Sometimes to overcome the darkness, you have to turn and face the light.

Thank you all. Again, Stage32 is such a positive and encouraging community to be in.

I’ve had this ‘monkey’ on my back since I first started writing and researching it in 2012/13. A lot of the research into sex trafficking and the wider trafficking industry was of course daunting, but there is a story to be told here about society’s complicity, that allows it to continue. This is only the first step towards shooting it. We have of course not yet crossed that line into production, but yesterday was a happy day.

I will keep you posted on events as they happen. It’s good to be here with people who understand how difficult this journey can be, but we celebrate together our success, small or large.

Geoff Hall I'm facing a similar daunting research path by interviewing parents who've lost their children to cancer for the script I'm writing. I'm not looking forward to this as I know I won't be able 'keep it together' as a parent myself. I applaud you for taking a difficult subject and doing your research. This should give your story an authenticity that only hard work can produce.

Greg Wong thank you Greg. Well, if you need an ear to sound off to, I’m here for you.

Yes, my research was heart-rending, but also annoying that my fellow humans could be so perverse. My endgame was that one film or one case couldn’t be so pretentious to think it would solve the problem, but that we should unsettle people out of their complacency and work from there.

Geoff Hall congratulations for wonderful momentum!!

Geoff Hall Thanks, I might take you up on that offer. I'm still quite far away from the first draft. You might find me on your door step in Bristol!

Greg Wong no worries. There’s always a Zoom call. I know it helps to have someone to talk with.

Thanks

Congratulations, Geoff Hall!! I'm so excited for you! Fingers crossed that everything works out great! =)

Congratulations, Geoff Hall! You give me hope.

Congrats, it took the Kings Speech ten years before someone would consider it.

Congrats @Geoff! Would love to hear how you connected with the producer!

Congrats!!

Maria Restivo Glassner Thank you Maria. Me too. Let’s see how things go in Cannes.

Louise Elizabeth Barltrop thank you, Louise. How are you doing?

Debbie Elicksen thank you, Debbie. How are you and your projects going? This is one of those small steps that I hope will gather apace for Seeing Rachel.

@SamSokolov thanks Sam. Do you know who will be at Cannes from Stage32?

@AshleyReneeSmith thank you! Fingers, toes and eyes all crossed!

Dan Guardino thank you Dan! How are you?

Rutger Oosterhoff thank you for the good thoughts. Will keep you posted. What are you working on at the moment?

Hi Geoff,

I'm doing some very minor revisions for a very promising screenplay written by William Gunn, called "Red Planet Blues".

Looking for energy to get a third writer on the feature screenplay "The Final Solution." Director is Alexander Hahn. Music would be cool if Holeg Spies would be available, he will do the music for "On the Verge" if it gets financed, hey, if we get the extra finances to pay him, haha.

What promising project isn't On thre Verge; so many brainchhilds looking to see the light of day, writers willing to go the extra mile, even if it takes a secarean section.

Cheers, Rutger

@EmilyJ thank you kindly. (sorry, the tagging isn’t working…again) Hooking up with the Producer is a looong story. But…back in 2016 I advertised with Creative England, that we were looking for a Producer for the project and a few people showed interest. Ben was one of them. There were others who didn’t really engage with the script and were purely focused on what the budget was(!). However, Ben fully engaged with the story. He said it was a real page-turner, with so many unexpected twists and turns. “Wow!” I think, was the word he used.

If I remember correctly, I met with him and he was totally on point for what we wanted to achieve. We had a little development finance and so employed him. However as the community may be aware, it didn’t work out and when everything fell apart, including dissolving my production company, Ben said he wasn’t going anywhere and he’d try and continue to represent the film to investors. So, he’s been with me ever since and contacted me two days before last Christmas to appraise me of the latest developments, with adding a female Producer and now five months later, here we are with the option agreement. I’m not in any way deluded enough to think this is it. As much as the script has many twists and turns, so has the story about the story. I await the next chapter of this story.

@TimBragg yes, Tim there’s a whole catalogue of films that have a long history before they are finally picked up. La La Land I think was 8 years. Scorsese’s ‘Silence’ was around 30 years (not that I want to break that record!), but what a day to mention the King’s Speech, on Coronation Day (not that I’m a Royalist!). No flag waving here…

@RutgerOosterhoff well, that’s a busy slate. Well done. You seemed to have created a network that will help you get your projects made. Yes, imagination isn’t ever a problem, it’s always the finance!

David Abrookin thank you, David. I’ll keep you posted.

Ty Strange yes, hold the disappointments lightly and embrace the good times.

Woo-hoo! Great news!!! Congratulations on the option, Geoff Hall!!! :D

@MauriceVaughan thank you, Maurice!

You're welcome, Geoff Hall. Knowing the story behind "Seeing Rachel," it's great to see progress with it.

That's a great tag line. As Emily asked. I would also be interested in how you found this producer?

Hi I'm Karen Knotts

Geoff if I was to advertise my work to producers like you did with Creative England, how would I start?

@TimBragg I have a Creative England account. They have a job section that you can advertise on. We said we were looking for a Producer. Gave them the storyline and the theme and told them the budget. We didn’t get many showing an interest, I think because of the subject-matter, some were weird and one stood out. We then showed them the script and took it from there.

We of course had a cracking script!!! Cough! And an EP on board. Producers like to see there’s money on board. From there we employed Ben and then developed a Distribution Prospectus, which I think is up on the Stage32 website. You could also try script services and post a job ad on S32.

Thanks Geoff.

Bravo Geoff!