JOHN ALLEN
 JOHN ALLEN
How did you discover The Wiki Screenplay Contest and how did you decide to enter this contest among all the others?
This was a recommendation. I was offered a spot on Script Angel’s coaching programme in late 2023. I was unable to take up the offer due to costs, but was fortunate enough to be awarded a bursary in 2024 to help. I worked for six months with Rachel Hall; a veteran TV producer, story editor and screenwriter in the UK. It was Script Angel who recommended this competition as part of their curated list of comps to enter. I should probably say, I did all this whilst my wife and I had a newborn baby to keep alive, so I’m quite pleased that I’ve kept going. As anyone who’s a parent knows, children are dictators and stamp on your sleep like it’s play dough. Where do you live (City, State, or Country)? I’d love to be a Canadian (I love the country!), but I’m actually from and live in the UK and have a very boring southern/London accent. I live along the coast of England. You won’t have heard of the town, so apologies to any future internet stalkers reading this. Your script stood out among hundreds of others. What was the inspiration for your story and why did you write a script instead of a short story or a novel? What inspires your overall journey into screenwriting? I was watching an episode of Masterchef whilst being tutored by Molly Naylor, a veteran TV comedy writer and poet from the UK. As I was watching the show and studying with Molly, I couldn’t stop sniggering at how melodramatic and arrogantly mad some of the food critics sounded. And just like that, this absurdly funny, fragile, tortured soul popped into my head, and Hansella was born! Hansella is an amalgam of people I know and people I’ve watched on TV. Her dialogue had me giggling from the off and having her in a short story or a novel felt like a disservice to who she is. When I did a read through with other writers, everyone kept sniggering, so I knew Hansella and her Insta-influencer rival, Bo’njeanie, had barged their way into people’s brains. How do you decide which stories to tell, and what draws you to these particular themes? Heartbreak and humour are common themes in my work. I love stories that can make me laugh in one beat, and cry in the next. My initial successes were in science fiction and horror and my published work can be quite dark and scary (according to readers and editors). But, I also love to laugh as it makes me feel better about the world. It was my amazingly direct wife who first told me “You’re funny. Your characters are funny. Do more of this.” Then other writers and readers started saying similar things, culminating in Hayley McKenzie, the director of Script Angel and producer at Studio 21 telling me “John, you are a comedy writer. It’s up to you of course, but if I were in your shoes, I would seriously think about pushing more in this direction.” What is your typical writing routine? How do you structure your workday to stay productive? Routine? With a cute but psychotic toddler ruling the house? Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I write whenever I can. Deadlines keep me focused, but my life doesn’t currently allow for strict routine. Also, like many writers, I have other jobs to help us keep the lights on and food on the table. I don’t have the luxury of spending hours procrastinating or staring at a tree hoping to be inspired. I just get on with it because it’s important to me and if I don’t do it, nothing will happen. A page of vomit is always a better result than nothing at all. You can clean it all up when editing. How long did it take you to write your script...and what is your writing process? Do you outline...use index cards...white board...or just start with FADE IN? “Hansella’s Off Menu” started in January 2025 and following reader comments, I completed a third draft by March 2025 which is the one I entered here. Don’t get me wrong; I know there is further work to do, but these characters felt very easy to write (which isn’t always the way!). When it comes to process, I used to start with plot, which always felt like a slog. Then I started writing from character and that was a eureka moment for me. Once I have some solid characters, I construct a plot for them to play in. Index cards sometimes work for me, sometimes they don’t. I didn’t use them for this script. Instead, I did a series outline alongside the pilot that helped me firm up the arc of the characters and how they would change by the end of the series. I also spent a lot of time on my elevator pitch – if I can’t convince myself or someone I barely know to read on, how am I supposed to convince a producer or commissioner to work with me? How do you handle writer's block or moments of doubt (we all have them) during your creative process? I used to ignore doubts but that didn’t help. Now, I have a beer with them, tell them that I appreciate their insights and comments, but that I am going to politely push on regardless. Doubt is the brain’s primal way of trying to protect us from danger, but I find doing something, far less frightening than doing nothing. What tools or software do you find essential to your workflow as a screenwriter? I’m a big fan of Scrivener from Literature and Latte. It’s a much cheaper alternative to Final Draft and produces scripts to the same industry format. How do you approach competition entries, and what have you learned from participating in these contests? Which contests have you entered...and how has your work been received overall? Have those contests been helpful to you in your writing? I approach competitions in much the same way I approach a general submission; 1. What do they publish/produce? 2. Is my work suitable for them? 3. How might they help me? 4. Do they give out free biscuits? Number four isn’t a dealbreaker, but it’s a nice thing to have. Competitions provide deadlines, and I write best to deadline. I’ve only recently started entering script competitions including, Scriptapalooza, Big Break from Final Draft, The Austen Screenwriting competition, Shore Scripts, Scriptwriters & Co International Festival, BBC New Writers Scheme, Channel 4 New Writers, and more. Interestingly, this is the third accolade for “Hansella’s Off Menu” so the character is chiming with people. Can you share a specific challenge you've faced in your screenwriting and how you overcame it? Keeping my scenes tight! I still struggle with this, but I am getting better. There’s an adage I’ve had repeated in all the groups and coaching sessions I’ve attended: come in late and leave early. I now set myself a rough goal of trying to keep a scene to three pages maximum or less where possible. There are always exceptions, but I find this good practice to help keep the story tight and characters moving. If you are balancing your “writing time” with a “day job”...how are you managing that? I cry and rock myself to sleep in the fetal position. When my legs start to cramp, I get up and make some tea (how stereotypically British of me). I used to work in cinema as a General Manager before moving into other jobs to help support my writing. I currently work four days for a small charity in their communications team. They know my goal is to transition away into screen and stage (yes, I also write plays) so they utilise my skills as much as they can. The rest of my time is mostly sucked up by family commitments. My choices mean I live with the same anxiety every writer has about money, but between us, my wife and I manage as best we can. We support each other in our work and having someone in your corner who really believes in what you’re doing is like winning the lottery. |
|
Where do you see yourself in five years as a screenwriter?
1. Working on great TV shows with amazing writers. 2. More credits to my name. What is your ultimate ambition as a writer? It would be great to showrun my own series, but right now I’d settle for earning a full time living from making audiences laugh and cry. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some amazing actors and producers in recent months and I’ve loved every minute of it. The script is the blueprint, but the real magic is seeing that blueprint come to life and interpreted by wonderfully talented people. I imagine it’s like what crack must be to an addict. But healthier. Er… feel free to edit this. The film and television industry is constantly evolving. How do you see the role of screenwriters changing, especially with the rise of streaming platforms and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence? Have you used A.I. in your writing; if so, how have you used it? I’ve used AI in my day job to help me speed up dull and repetitive tasks, but have never used AI in any of my creative writing work. I am not blind to the potential AI has (good and bad), and there are instances where AI can be useful; e.g. data analysis, project planning, medical research, note taking, etc. Craig Mazin had a really good discussion about AI in the “Scriptnotes” podcast he does with John August. AI is here. It is not going away. We can either learn to work around and with it, or we can down tools and let AI write everything. Am I nervous about AI? Yes. Am I going to bury my head in the sand and hope it goes away? No, because I don’t see how that helps. I don’t want AI taking away storytelling jobs so the best way to convince the business that humans will always crave human written stories, is for us humans to keep writing great stories. When it comes to streaming and things like “one-minute dramas” I think any way we can showcase our work without having to go through a dozen different gatekeepers, can only be a good thing for writers and for audiences. Youtube and Tiktok are big for a reason; they are easily accessible. Yes, there a lot of poorly made shows online. But there are also a lot of poorly made shows on traditional TV and film platforms. Which film or television writers inspire you? Why? Sue Townsend has been my comedy hero since I was a teenager. Playwright, scriptwriter, novelist… she did it all. Sue began her career as a single mum from a working-class background and it was her success amongst all her struggles that made me think “if she can do it, I can do it too.” Sue’s best known for creating the unwittingly-comedic character of Adrian Mole, but she wrote loads. She sadly died over ten years ago and my one regret is that I never got the chance to meet her. Living writers who inspire me today include Amy Poehler, Lisa McGee, Armando Iannucci, Leslye Headland, Kayleigh Llewellyn, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, my now famous friend Kenechi Udogu (Google her!) and more than you have space for here, so I’ll shut up now. What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show? TV: Probably Star Trek DS9. The show blends drama, humour, horror, and wonder better than a lot of modern shows manage… sometimes in the same episode. It also dealt with a lot of themes that at the time, other shows were too scared to touch. Movie: About Schmidt. Prime example of how to balance comedy with bittersweet drama. What advice do you have for aspiring screenwriters? Keep going. Also, if you’re fresh out of school… don’t panic if you struggle. I had no idea what I was doing at 21 (I still don’t tbh). Life experience has made me a much better storyteller than I was back then. The older I get, the more I learn, the more I grow. I’ve been lucky enough to travel a lot, have done different jobs, met and worked with different people, seen different places, lived in another country... had a life outside of writing. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t experience instant success. That’s normal. What else are you working on that the world needs to know about? (links to your projects?) Watership Railed – TV Comedy Pilot. On submission. Link: https://filmfreeway.com/projects/3088029 Carrots for Mum – Comedy Drama stage play in development following a successful scratch night scene performance with Ryaknots Theatre in June 2025. Her Tribe – TV Comedy Pilot. Editing. This House Disagrees – Political comedy for stage. Where can the world find you online? (Social media links, etc.) Web: www.johnallenwriter.com Instagram: @theonlyjohnnya Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/john-allen-writer/ BlueSky: @johnnyawrites.bsky.social |
