Dean Craig

Dean Craig is the writer of Fresh, which has now been commissioned as a series for television under the new name Off The Hook. His previous work includes the films Caffeine and Death at a Funeral.

How did you get started as a writer?

I was planning to be a writer for years before I actually pulled my finger out and wrote something. Through most of my 20s I worked in script development, reading and critiquing scripts for film companies, which was a great way to learn about screenwriting and the film business in general, but frustrating because I spent the whole time thinking "Why aren't I writing?" Eventually I got round to it.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to write for a living?

Breaking through is the hardest part. To do that, you have to be incredibly focussed, determined, and not get phased by failure or rejection, because there's a lot of it out there. Write something that's original and unique enough to get you noticed, and show that you have your own voice. And also try to make it producable. Your first produced piece of work will be a big gamble for any producer so you'll help your chances if you can make it a less expensive gamble.

What's your writing routine?

I don't have much of a routine - generally, I get up and then arse around on my computer until I feel so guilty and useless that I can't even bear to look at myself in the mirror - then I'm ready to start writing. But once I get really into a script and it's working, then I can't stop.

How does your writing process work?

Basically it starts with having an idea and then thinking about all the possible material I can squeeze out of that one idea to see if it's got enough legs to be worth carrying forward. Then having outlined the story, I write out the screenplay - normally in quite a short space of time - and then edit and re-edit, and re-edit until I'm sick of the sight of it.

Do you break stories beforehand, or go directly to script?

A lot of what ends up in the final script is actually discovered during the writing process. But if you just enter into a script before planning it out first there's a good chance you'll end up totally lost by the third Act, and so frustrated that you start ripping out your chest hairs.

You wrote the script for Death at a Funeral, a film funded in the US and directed by Frank Oz, as well as a film called Caffeine. Can you tell us the process of getting these films written and onto the screen?

Caffeine was my first feature script and was set in one afternoon at a London café. After having had some great responses to the script but not finding anyone in the UK who thought they could produce it, an American filmmaker I'd met quite randomly said he'd show it to some people in the US, including one who had the money and inclination to make the film, but wanted to direct it in the US. After about a year in development, the film got green-lit, and they actually pulled together a good cast, including Mena Suvari and Katherine Heigl, and some very talented young English actors. But the fusion of American and English influences proved difficult to pull off.

While I was in LA shooting Caffeine, I got myself a manager, agent, and lawyer, and then we set up my second film which was Death At A Funeral. One of the producers, Share Stallings, was an old friend of Frank Oz's, so she sent him the script just to take a look at, and then suddenly he was calling me up saying he wanted to direct it, which was amazing and surreal.

What's the difference between writing for the US and for the UK?

The main difference is that in the US people tend to be very nice to you, especially if you have an English accent. In the UK, they're not so bothered about the accent - everyone's got them.

I also feel slightly more pressure when in LA, because it seems like every single semi-functioning human being has a script they're working on. Even some of the homeless are walking around with laptops.

Neil LaBute is directing a remake of Death at a Funeral, only a couple of years after the original. What's that about?

It's a very bizarre situation that basically came about because Chris Rock saw and loved the original which did well in the US, but was seen by a particular kind of audience. He saw the potential to remake it for a different, and quite possibly much bigger, audience... Then they got Neil LaBute on board, which I was really happy about.

I went to the readthrough just before production, and sitting in a room in a Hollywood studio with people like Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Danny Glover, Tracy Morgan, James Marsden, Neil LaBute to name just a few, who have all come together because of a script that I wrote sitting in my boxer shorts in a flat in Golders Green, was one of those real "Is this actually happening?" moments.

You also direct. How did you get started as a director, and how does that affect your writing?

I went to New York University to do a six week summer filmmaking course, which was incredible fun and hugely instructive. Then when I got back, I wrote my first short film script, raised some money from personal sources, set a date for production and forced myself to make it happen.

Whenever I'm writing a script I imagine that I'll be directing it. The director takes a huge amount of the responsibility for whether the film is good or not, so if I'm writing thinking that I'm also directing, then that makes me work harder because I wouldn't want to be held responsible for something that's rubbish.

What made you want to write Fresh / Off The Hook?

Largely it was because I thought it would be fun to write, which it was. When the producer Simon Maxwell pitched me the idea, I immediately knew what I could do with those characters and that set up. Having been to University, I also felt like I had a lot of material I could use. But that was before I realized that it was for a pre-watershed audience and I couldn't write anything obscene... I also was intrigued to write something for online broadcast.

What's the difference between writing the online and TV versions?

The main difference is length. Writing five-minute episodes might sound easy - and it did to me - but there's barely any time to set up the story, characters, or play with ideas, so it's actually a very tough discipline to do well. The TV version gives you more time to play, but then you also have to delve deeper and come up with a lot more material.

Why did the name change?

It's an interesting show this, because we're trying to traverse the line between writing a show that's ostensibly for young people, but that appeals to an older audience as well. I think ultimately the people at the BBC felt the title "Fresh" skewed a little bit too young and wanted to open it out to a wider audience, which is great. I love them for that.

What are you currently working on?

I'm writing a film called The French Exchange for Pathé and Forward Films about a young guy who gets a psychotic French Exchange student come to stay; and that's followed by an adaptation of the Christopher Buckley book Florence of Arabia for Charlize Theron.

What's the best thing about writing for a living?

So many things. Having freedom and control over how and where you spend your days; being able to do something creative and fulfilling and that you love; meeting and working with people you admire in the field that you're passionate about.

There are downsides as well though. You're constantly relying on your own motivation to keep you going, and there's a lot of sitting on your own in quiet rooms staring at the walls asking yourself why you haven't got a single good thought in your head. Overall, though, the good massively outweighs the bad.