A step-by-step study of the writing process to a very tight interactive brief. How limited story world and entrenced stake-holders creates a freedom of its own and how trans-channel entertainment can still have have embedded educational value. A presentation by Neil Richards given at the inaugural Screen Australia, StoryLabs digital ignition lab held in Robertson in late November 2011. Podcast Recorded and Produced by Gary P Hayes.

Neil Richards (UK) http://storylabs.us/mentors/#NEIL-RICHARDS has story executive, writer and producer credits for BBC, ITV and Channel 4 in drama, children’s and entertainment. Since co-writing Starship Titanic with Douglas Adams in the mid-90s he has worked increasingly in interactive media, scripting children’s iTV, education, broadband and platform games, earning three recent BAFTA nominations, an IGDA Writing Excellence nomination and a Writers’ Guild nomination. He has written more than 20 game scripts including the popular titles Driver, Just Cause (1 & 2), Broken Sword and The Da Vinci Code. He has mentored in workshops for BBC, PAL (Media Programme), PILOTS (Media Programme), PYGMALION (Media Programme/Paris/Berlin Film Schools), the Akademie für Kindermedien in Erfurt and Crossover Labs. He was one-time senior lecturer in screenwriting at Bournemouth University. He has also consulted for the BBC as a producer in creative development, devising and running Creative/Interactive Labs across the BBC.