Paul Laverty: Screenwriters’ Lecture

Paul Laverty, the Scottish screenwriter known for acclaimed works such as Sweet Sixteen and My Name Is Joe, has spoken about the importance of listening when making films.

Laverty, who’s writing delicately balances the political and emotional advised those working in the creative industries to: “Try and understand people by listening to them, [as it] gives you great information, and new ideas.” Advice he says he follows himself too: “I do listen and talk to an awful lot of people. I think listening, for a writer, is greatly underestimated. It’s underestimated for a human being.”

The screenwriter was sharing his advice as he delivered a lecture as part of the 2011 BAFTA and BFI Screenwriters’ Lecture Series on 29 September.

Watch clips from Laverty’s lecture below:

• Read a full transcript of the lecture

One of the things Laverty is best known for his 15-year creative partnership with Ken Loach. A partnership which has yielded outstanding feature films such as Carla’s Song, A Fond Kiss and The Wind That Shakes The Barley.

During his lecture session Laverty discussed his close working relationship with Loach, recalling the first point of contact with the director that led to Carla’s Song. He said: “I just wrote to Ken. And he wrote back and said if I was passing by in London to pop round for a cup of tea. So I went to see him and he was remarkably curious.

“He didn’t give a toss about whether I’d written before or knew about this film industry – which I didn’t – and he just said, ‘Try and write a few scenes.’”

Another thing that has marked Laverty out in his screenwriting career is his interest in intensive research and the importance of listening to other points of view. And although, as he admits, the Glaswegian ‘voice’ is the one that comes most naturally to him it is through the research process and listening to others that his characters truly take shape.

He shared: “What I love when I go see a film is to see the world from somebody else’s point of view. That’s essentially what storytelling is in a way. And so to do that, you run out of your own experience – I do, anyway – very, very quickly. So it’s a great joy to delve into and try and figure out and almost discover new things.”