Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV

There are so many screenwriting and industry terms, sometimes it feels like people are just messing with us. But why does a one pager need to be one page? And where does an outline become a treatment? And when does THAT become a bible? And does any of it really matter? Ultimately, not really. But it's important to know what someone's asking for, and the right way to communicate. Especially if it t...

We still don't have a little bell sound effect for The Last Call, but we DO have a whole extra 25 minutes with brilliant screenwriter Sophie Park, delving into the very nature of taking advice and how Kill Bill Vol. 2 can change your life. If you haven't caught up with our longer chat with Sophie yet, it's well worth a listen, and if you want to follow her wider journey, Sophie's @sophiejanepark o...

Look! Another guest! This week we're joined by filmmaker turned editor turned screenwriter and fellow New Writers Collective alum Sophie Park, to talk through not only her own journey into writing, but also that overhanging anxiety we all feel about identifying as a writer. Like many of us, Sophie's had a bunch of different day jobs, from working in advertising scripting big budget social adverts,...

It doesn't matter how established a writer you are, at some point you'll find yourself in a meeting being asked the immortal question "Yeah, but who is it for?". Audience doesn't always mean demographics (age, gender, location), it can run so much deeper - so this week we're digging into just how we figure out who our projects are for, and how involved they need to be in the writing process. Do yo...

If you loved our chat with fascinating producer and entrepreneur Emma Kyung Mi Sheldrick, you're in luck - here's a whole extra 30 minutes of chat, as we take Emma through our (updated) Last Call, and accidentally go quite deep on AI and it's many uses in the film industry. As you'll soon find, Emma has a hand in a production start-up looking to use AI tools in a sensible and human-friendly way, a...

We're very very lucky to be joined by another killer guest this week in producer extraordinare Emma Kyung Mi Sheldrick, whose work (including famed short Tamagoyaki) has been split across the UK, South Korea and the US. Emma's as much an entrepreneur as she is a producer, and we go deep on not just the ways producers and writers overlap creatively, but how her many different side hustles factor in...

It's January, we're hitting the refresh button and with it, comes 2026's new year's resolutions - but with a twist. Rather than just looking at ourselves and where we think we should be, we're zooming out and asking our friends. So what're our resolutions for each other? How do we think we can help each other improve? Cue a surprisingly emotional and heartfelt episode about not only getting the mo...

Xmas and the festive mess is over, so let's get writing! (if only it was that easy). This week we're back at our desks after 2 weeks of monstrous overeating, relentless childcare, and otherwise doing very little, so we're talking not only 2026 resolutions and our goals for the year ahead, but how we get back into the swing of things too. Taking time off is important, but getting back to work can f...

Another year's nearly in the can, so we're looking back at 2025, and our professional wins and lessons learned from 12 months of continuing to emerge as a screenwriter in film and TV. Where did we succeed? What did we wish we did more of? And why is Tray still upset with Joe Barton? And to top things off, we're also looking back at our favourite movies and TV shows from 2025, and what we learned f...

A very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at Emerging - and to celebrate, we figured we'd open a few presents, toss a few insults and unwrap our 4 favourite films and TV shows in this extra long special festive-themed episode! Yes, Tray breaks all of the formats, but we wouldn't have him any other way. Have a safe and relaxing festive break! 📬 Get In Touch: Email us: TheEmergingPod...

Another extra 15 mins with the brilliant Chloë Mi Lin Ewart as she takes on the all-important Last Call! So what's the best and worst writing advice she's ever received? What's the TV show that most deserves to be erased from existence forever? And why is E.T. the best movie ever made? And if you didn't catch our full episode with Chloe, all about her emerging journey, have a listen - it's a real...

Ever wondered what happens on the fabled Channel 4 Screenwriting scheme? Or how one goes straight from that to signing with Mr Casarotto himself? This week's guest Chloë Mi Lin Ewart is not only full of answers, but great chat too. A veteran of SO MANY schemes, from 4Screenwriting, to The Residency and the BBC, Chloë's now a very successful writer with credits on Beyond Paradise, All Creatues Grea...

BAFTA-nominated screenwriter Joe Barton, creator of Black Doves, The Lazarus Project and the upcoming Amadeus (among so many others) is back with us to answer the all-important Last Call. So what's the best and worst writing advice he's ever received? What's the first story he ever wrote? And why does he love Love Actually so much? And if you didn't catch our even fuller chat with Joe, all about h...

This is a fun one - we convinced BAFTA-nominated screenwriter Joe Barton, creator of Black Doves, Giri/Haji and Sky's upcoming Amadeus (among so many others) to join us for a chat about his own emerging journey! From his first few jobs on McFly's long forgotten vampire movie and a MySpace original series (yes, MySpace once made TV), to how he signed with his agent, his experiences in LA, and how h...

A special bonus chat this week - inspiring producer, filmmaker, production co-ordinator and all-round multi-hyphenate Sonia Wargacka sits down with Ben to talk about her very new, very different talent agency Powerhouse and how she hopes to change the world of agenting for the better. If you want to follow Sonia's progress, she's @leaveitwithsonia on Instagram, and her agency is @this.is.powerhous...

One of our favourite parts of every guest episode is The Last 10, (ironically) 12 quickfire questions that help us get to know other writers on a far more personal level. So it felt only fair that we take the challenge ourselves too. As a bit of a disclaimer, this episode was recorded way back in March 2025, just as the show was starting to take shape, so we might sound a little more youthful / a...

Get ready for a total masterclass in putting yourself out there and getting noticed from this week's guest - actor turned writer turned screenwriting influencer Rachel Flynn. A Bronze Page Award winner, Rachel's a credited TV writer, a celebrated playwright and part of the core creative team behind two made-for-TV features too. So naturally Martin's incredibly jealous. As you'll know if you've see...

In ironically our most dis-organised record to date (Martin had a Diet Coke with lunch and... well, don't drink caffeine kids), we're talking about the many varied spreadsheets and programs that we use to keep our heads together. Because if you don't have a system for tracking all those half-finished scripts, competition deadlines, notes from producers, and random people we met at various networki...

How many times have we been told not to direct on the page, or not write songs into our scripts? Don’t open with a dream, or someone waking up. Formatting is the be all and end all. But how many of these so called “rules” actually matter, and how many can we break without coming across as obnoxious? It's a fine line, so this episode's all about digging into those unwritten rules of screenwriting:...

As emerging writers, we spend so much time working on how to present our scripts, we don't always think about the other (sometimes even more important bit), how do we present ourselves ? So let's talk image - everything from our writer bios and CVs, to how we dress, and how we come across in person, in meetings and at networking events. If someone's only meeting you for 10 minutes, what image of y...

Burnout is real, it's a sexy word right now, millenials everywhere seem to be suffering from it *constantly*. And we’ve all hit that point, when you want to write, but your brain and body just say "curl up in a ball and give up on the world". So let's talk about it, what burnout looks like, why it creeps up on us, and how we can find a way through it without completely grinding to a halt. As emerg...

With the 4Screenwriting deadline well and truly vanquished, this week we're asking ourselves not only "what's next?" but more importantly, "what are we even doing with our lives/careers?" We're zooming out and looking at the bigger picture, setting goals, both short term and long term. It can be so easy as emerging writers to just move from scheme to scheme on autopilot, chasing the opportunities...

Staying focussed as a writer is hard, especially when you're single-parenting, or coming up against a lot of pressure from your money job. So how do we deal with these short term disruptions, and not let them totally throw us off pace? Falling off the productivity wagon can be a big loss for writers, and getting back on is easier said than done.  So here's an episode for anyone who, like Tray...

We've all been there, you spend months and months refining the perfect idea into a (passable) screenplay, only for some hotshot Hollywood type to release a Netflix show using almost the exact same concept. So what happens next? Do we throw it all out and start again? Or do we rest assured that our voice is strong and different enough that the world can have multiple takes on the same basic plot? N...

Being confident is such an important part of being a writer, but most of us will struggle to say a nice thing about a script we're currently working on. So how do we find that inner confidence and back our own work? How many times have you read or re-read one of your own scripts and in that moment, actually been your own favourite writer for a change? All this and more, as the deadline gets closer...