BIOGRAPHY

Rupert graduated in 1996 from Nottingham University with a 2:1 in American studies. The course took him to study in Wyoming, USA for a semester and offered the chance to focus on subjects as diverse as the Western film genre and Civil Rights.

In 1997, Rupert joined Line TV Ltd, an award winning Multimedia Company. He worked his way up, becoming Production Manager, responsible for corporate video shoots in Barcelona, Stockholm and London.

In 1999 Rupert left Line TV to travel and work his way around the world, spending time in Thailand, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. On his return Rupert rejoined his old company who had vastly expanded to become Line Communications Group. His main role was Production Manager for the first million pound website, Connected Earth, the history of telecommunications for BT.

In September 2002 Rupert left Line to concentrate on his first love, writing. After completing an Introduction to Screenwriting course at Birkbeck College, Rupert went on to write his first feature,
The Round, the tale of a lovesick milkman going through a mid–life crisis. His efforts to get him out of his cycle of despair triggers a series of dramatic events that turn his world, and that of those around him, upside down.

The Round received positive feedback from agents at The Agency and Curtis Brown and encouraged Rupert to begin work on his second feature, Geek Love. This story is a coming of age drama concerning Mouse, a bullied, suicidal teenager whose life is transformed by the arrival at school of Katerina, a Roma immigrant. Rupert entered this to the Film Council ‘25 Words Or Less’ scheme as well as the BBC Dennis Potter Award.

Rupert teamed up with Martin Stitt, to write up a screenplay based upon an idea conceived by Martin. Black Sheep resulted: a psychological thriller set in Ireland.

Rupert is also in the process of re-drafting Clear Sky, a Himalayan set drama, originally written by Martin.

He also has several ideas in various states of development including Ancient History a psychological thriller, September, a love story set in post 9/11 New York, Petrolheads, a teen movie about Joy riders, Red Dirt Girl, an Australian road movie and Last One Standing, a teen horror.

‘I have always been fascinated by film, both for the big screen and TV Drama and often find myself profoundly moved by the power of images and words. It has always been my dream to bring characters to life and tell a story and when travelling in Australia, an idea came to me in my sleep — this later developed into The Round.

I decided to have a crack at writing a screenplay and spent roughly six months typing whenever I could find the time. I was fairly pleased with the end result — it read OK, looked like a script and had a beginning, middle and an end. I was happy but had no idea how professionals would view it. After receiving encouraging feedback from Industry figures, I thought, yep, maybe I’m onto something here. I became determined to give it my best shot and I am always learning, always thinking and constantly trying to improve.

I’m always looking at the world around me for inspiration, whether this be a news story that grabs me, something I’ve experienced first hand or just by observing people going about their business. I’ve been lucky enough to work with people from all walks of life with vastly different cultures and backgrounds and having travelled extensively I like to feel I can create stories that are universal in outlook and not primarily ‘British’ — whatever that’s supposed to be.

I don’t know how other Screenwriters work but when a ‘film’ comes to me it’s nearly always by accident — something just pops into my head. I enter the world of the film and it all unravels in my head — I ‘watch’ it, visualise the shots and even hear the music. The tricky bit is translating this to the page and creating a story that can speak to others, not just myself. So far, feedback on my scripts has suggested I’m heading in the right direction.’

© Sprig Productions Ltd 2003