Friday, October 19, 2007

Radio days

Just spent three days in a how-to-write-radio-drama workshop with seven other Yellowknife writers. It was back to the future for me - I took part in a couple of radio drama workshops in the late '80s/early '90s and wrote some skits that aired on CBC Mackenzie. Surprising how much a person can forget in fifteen years . . .

We were all asked to come up with an idea for a skit (or a series), write a first draft, listen to a table read, write a second draft, and hear it read again. I was encouraged to find that I can still write under pressure - and what's better - revise under pressure.

The best part was hanging around with a group of funny, smart talented writers for three days. The workshop leader was Kelley Jo Burke, a spoken word/radio arts producer with English language performance programming in Regina, who is not only an engaging instructor, but a one-person sound effects factory.

Now if I was really ambitious, I'd finish that script and pitch it to my friendly neighbourhood CBC producer.

1 comment:

Anita Daher said...

What a fun sounding workshop! I know Kelley Jo from my Sask days. I'm not sure if we met in person, but she was active in the mentorship program, and worked with my friend Laurel as she finished her play, which was eventually in the Saskatchewan Fringe Fest, in which I played the lead. That play was one that Laurel saved when a forest fire ripped through La Ronge, and burned her house down. That fire was the one that inspired Flight from Big Tangle.

Aren't connections fun?