Taken by the International Screenwriters Festival

Joey Beard and Paul Thomson enjoyed a busy Summer as 2008 BA(Hons) Film graduates, working as runners at the International Screenwriters Festival, undertaking placements at Little Bird Film and TV and working on short film and feature productions. Joey shares their experiences.

It's hard to accept that graduation was only two months ago, when we have already been pushed onto the rollercoaster ride into the British film industry. Did we jump the queue?

Less than a fortnight after the big day, fellow Film graduate Paul Thomson and I set off for The Manor by the Lake in Cheltenham. We had both been granted positions as voluntary runners at the International Screenwriters' Festival. We started work three days before the festival itself, which was great as it allowed us time to get to know our peers for the week; students, fellow graduates and ultimately aspiring screenwriters and filmmakers. There was an air of expectation and excitement as marquees were erected and red carpet was laid ready for the arrival of delegates and guest speakers. After the initial rush of registering guests and hosting VIPs we settled into our roles, feeling all important in our bright red T-shirts and radios to match.

Working in dedicated teams, we agreed on break times to enable runners to see certain talks, attend workshops and meet guest speakers. My role in the Green Room meant that I got to chat to Oscar winners Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) and Olivia Hetreed (Girl with a Pearl Earring) as well as be extremely British in discussing the weather with the charming Mike Leigh (Happy Go Lucky). I was also fortunate enough to spend a significant amount of time escorting Deborah Moggach (Pride & Prejudice) and Head of BBC Series and Serials Kate Harwood around the site. To say I was in my element would be an understatement - needless to say, I didn't need to take many breaks!

A lot of networking took place and in some ways, as runners we were in better stead to make contacts given the fact that speakers, seeing us as staff, treated us slightly differently and were generally less guarded than with other festival goers.

The talks and workshops were hugely inspirational. This was an event for screenwriters by screenwriters and was full of support and encouragement. Since the event, Paul and myself have been in constant contact with fellow screenwriters, sending out our feature length scripts (written as part of our degree course at UCF with Karl Phillips and Vivien Minton) for criticism and support, as well as reading scripts written by others. To be seen as screenwriters rather than students has been a transformation we didn't expect to occur so quickly.

The festival led straight onto our work placements at Little Bird Film and TV in London. Little Bird co-produced films such as Bridget Jones' Diary and Churchill: The Hollywood Years, and produces children's TV show Uncle Max which is currently showing on the BBC.

As well as manning the reception desk and helping with general office tasks, we were able to read scripts, pass opinion on treatments and compare drafts of screenplays already in development. For aspiring screenwriters this was fantastic experience.

Often we would be sent to deliver packages to the offices of Working Title, UK Film Council and the BBC. Although merely delivering to offices, the process of going up the elevator and the doors opening to reveal the metallic company logos opposite the doors, glinting - funnily enough just like in the movies - was quite surreal. One morning Paul was a little aghast to see Andy Serkis (Golum in The Lord of the Rings) walk into the office. That's show business!

As two seaside town bumpkins it was an eye opener for us to work in the big smoke for three weeks. The London commute was hot, tiring and long - could we really do this for the rest of our working lives? Who knows, we're not quite there yet.

So what now? We've reached the point where we also need to earn some pennies, but we are still filmmaking. After Little Bird, both Paul and I worked on a short film shoot in Bristol as lighting director and production manager respectively. Currently I'm working as an assistant producer for a micro-budget romantic comedy feature, helping with script development and general production management. I never imagined that I'd be doing this kind of work so soon after graduation. Needless to say, despite the deferred pay, I am loving every minute of it.

And of course, as Film graduates we'll continue to sit in the cinema until the very end of the credits, the cleaners bustling around us, hoping that some day - soon - another audience member will see our names roll by.

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