Ian Fenton

Ian Fenton is the director of nine short films and writer of over fifteen hours of drama for the BBC and ITV. Accolades include a BAFTA nomination in 2007 and Best Film awards from the San Francisco International Film Festival, British Short Film Festival, and from the Royal Television Society. His most recent short film – Black Dog – was nominated for the UK Film Council Best Film Award at the London Short Film Festival, 2008.

What training have you received?
Over the years I’ve done my fair share of workshops – ARISTA, Moonstone, Movie Makers, etc. All gave short bursts of information that were both useful and frustrating – at the end of the day you came home to wrestle with your script by yourself, again. But the two most important experiences I’ve had as a writer were getting onto the Yorkshire Television Writer Development scheme in 2001 and being invited to join the Script Factory’s Writers Group in 2003. The idea behind the YTV scheme was to develop original pieces for television. However, the thing that was letting me down as a writer was the simple fact that I hadn’t done a huge amount of writing – I was working as a director at the time. I explained this to the YTV team and asked if I could do some writing on one of their existing shows. They put me onto Emmerdale and over a period of twenty-four months I wrote four drafts of twenty-five half-hour scripts.  It taught me craft, discipline, and made me realise you could make a living from writing stuff you dream up. Plus, you never know where these kinds of shows will lead you – in 2006 I wrote an episode of the BBC Children’s drama Byker Grove. It went on to get me nominated for a BAFTA. The Script Factory’s Writers Group was equally important. It wasn’t about craft or discipline; it was about exposure to other writers and producers who were ‘connected.  It led to me getting my first original feature film script optioned by a producer and working with [Long Good Friday director] John Mackenzie.

What themes do you explore in your work?
I never really think of my work in those terms. Of course I’m drawn to certain subjects more than others but I haven’t done enough work to really say ‘here are the things that my work is about.’ I’m sure if you looked at my scripts you’d find themes that run through them, but I’m too busy writing the bloody things to think about it. I always start with a character in a situation and see where it takes me…

What’s the best advice you’ve been given as a writer?
Work harder than everyone you know.

I’ll die happy when…
I’m a hundred and sixty five, at least.