NICK SPILLER
Script Writer/Reader/Editor
I am a screenwriter and script editor with a passion for drama, comedy and visual story-telling. I have written features, shorts, adaptations, and scripts for TV and radio. I have a Masters in Screenwriting from the London College of Communication and have worked as a Script Reader, Editor and Creative Writing Tutor as well as teaching English, Drama and Creative Writing in schools and colleges across London. Here you will find some samplings of my work, ranging from commissioned short film projects to speculative feature scripts. I invite you to explore and hope you'll get in touch.
Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see
C.S. Lewis
ABOUT ME
For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by stories; ones that make us laugh, ones that make us cry and, perhaps best of all, ones that make us do both at the same time. Stories can take us to places we never knew existed and shed light on things right in front of our noses. They can transport our minds to other worlds and, at the same time, give meaning to things we see and do everyday.
When a good story unfolds on the screen, we embark on a journey that culminates as the conflict of the characters reaches its climax. We can be left feeling ennobled, inspired and vindicated because a small part of us already knew the story’s truth to be the case all along, a small voice has been screaming for this answer since the journey began. It’s a voice that by the time the story ends is resonating clear as a bell and, most importantly, a voice that is ours.
I believe good story always holds truth, even if everything in it is a lie. Read on to learn more about my work and feel free to contact me with your own projects. I’d love to hear from you.
FEATURE SCREENPLAY
BENOIT AND THE WHALE
120mins ensemble drama set in London. Script shortlisted by UK Film Council and Skillset for Los Angeles pitch and championed by Marie Rechberg from Puzzle Pictures.
Weaving the ensemble stories of eight characters over the three day period that a bottle-nosed whale swam up the River Thames to London. A love story about unlikely soul-mates the film follows lost or displaced people who have come to London to seek a better life and, like the whale, are swimming upstream in their attempts to connect with one another.
SHORT FILMS
Directed by Stuart Parkins and starring Thomas Bay Pederson, Holly Vernon-Harcourt and Okorie Chukwu.
A couple meet at a London bus stop... or will they? Each day, waiting for his bus, James tries to find the courage to speak to Erica.
THE FLIP-OUT
A 30 minute film adaptation based on 2 short stories from the book The Nimrod Flip-Out by Etgar Keret.
(Chatto and Windus, 2005)
Ido, an over-privileged trust-fund kid, notices a sinister pattern emerging in the final moments before breaking-up with a string of past girlfriends.
STREET RHAPSODY
Short Film shot in Soho - starring Paula Videniece and produced by Amy Mathieson from Jetset Films
On leaving jail Sarah has two belongings; a prospectus for the Royal College of Music and bag of drugs big enough to buy her saxophone back. Will she be able to get to an audition and change her life forever?
STUDENT PROJECTS
Suicide Voice-Over
Next Customer Please
Paper Towels
Six short films (Comedy and Drama) produced by Mountview Films to showcase new talent.
TV AND RADIO
SITCOM
Pulling Power
Speculative 30 mins script for Steven Moffat's BBC 2 Series ‘Coupling'.
Short-listed for the 'Writing for Existing TV Formats' Screen Skills Competition.
RADIO-DRAMA
Intent
45 minute Radio-drama for the ‘Afternoon Play' on BBC Radio 4.
A weather-beaten city trader finds a new lease of life after a chance encounter an alluring hypnotherapist who coaxes him into believing he will be dead in a week.
SHORT SKETCHES -
RADIO AND PODCAST
Brexit School Strike
Buffalo Bill vs Jacob Rees Mogg
Starbucks 2020
The Seven Dwarves
Sketches For 'Newsjack' on BBC Radio 4 Extra.
SCRIPT READING
I have been working as a freelance script reader across film, theatre and television since 2018. I primarily provide coverage on material coming into production companies as well as serving as a consultant on supporting material and script development. I work and have worked with companies such as
SCRIPT EDITING
I have grown to love every stage of writing a script; the small sparks that first ignite at the concept stage, the early development of character and plot, the outlining of a skeletal structure and the development of theme and tone. I enjoy the writing process from synopsis to outline to final draft and am well practiced at discovering the real heart of a story.
I particularly enjoy working with other writers and am happy to work at developing a new idea or script-edit an existing project. I have many years of experience at getting to the bare bones of a story and enjoy work-shopping ideas from concept stage to final re-write.
I can also offer my skills as a script-reader and will provide thorough reader’s reports that identify and offer solutions to common ‘character’, ‘story’ and ‘structure’ problems found within television drama and feature screenplays.
If you are interested in collaborating on a new idea or wish to submit your project for script-reading/editing or work-shopping please contact me.