What You Need to Know About Adapting True Stories

Ever wondered about the process of shaping real stories for the screen, stage and beyond?

Discover insights into...

• How to gauge if a real life event will adapt well into a story for stage or screen
• What hooks and pitfalls you need to look out for
• How to decide what to change, compress, or invent in order to make a big overarching story work.
• How to make real people feel authentic on the page.
• How to balance the truth with pushback from people connected to the story.

Join us for an engaging ONLINE discussion with esteemed writer, and Art Foundation Laureate, Fiona Samuel MNZM for an informative peek into her writing process.

NB: This session is ONLINE and the Zoom link will be accessible 30 mins before the event - AND emailed to the email address you supplied when registering.

An audio recording of this discussion will be available to registered participants.

Don’t miss this invaluable Q&A.

Guest Speaker: Fiona Samuel

Fiona Samuel is a writer and director for television, theatreand film , a NZ
Arts Foundation Laureate, and a Member of the NZ Order of Merit for
services to television and theatre . She is the screenwriter behind PIKE RIVER, a feature film starring Melanie Lynskey and Robyn Malcolm about the fight for truth and justice by the families of the 29 men killed in the 2010 Pike River Mine disaster. And has been commissioned by Auckland Theatre Company to write HELEN CLARK IN SIX OUTFITS - that traces the trajectory of New Zealand’s first elected female Prime Minister.
She has made a body of work that puts the female experience front and centre, starting with her groundbreaking drama series THE MARCHING GIRLS featuring ten young female leads and continuing through her acclaimed Sunday Theatre telefeatures PIECE OF MY HEART and BLISS - THE BEGINNING OF KATHERINE MANSFIELD .

Fiona wrote & directed both films, which won high ratings and multiple awards. Fiona specialises in translating complex and controversial real life stories into compelling drama, writing the screenplay for CONSENT: THE LOUISE NICHOLAS STORY and co - writing PRINCESS OF CHAOS with Ally Xue .

Facilitator: Kathryn Burnett

Kathryn is an award-winning professional screenwriter, playwright, public speaker and writing coach who runs super inspiring writing workshops. She is currently the Story Producer on Libertine Picture's series "Secrets at Red Rocks" and her latest personal project is "Nicola Cheeseman is Back"

She is the author of "The Productive Writer Guidebook" and has facilitated panels for the Auckland Writers Festival, the Screenwriting Research Network Conference 2017, the SPADA conference and the Fourth World Conference of Screenwriters in Berlin (2019).