Meet our 2019 Script House winners
Soho House, House Notes, May 2019
Here are the scripts Soho House and IWC Schaffhausen are helping turn into films this summer.
This March we launched our second annual Script House competition, a now global initiative for members from around the world to prove and strengthen their skills as screenwriters and filmmakers, with help from IWC Schaffhausen.
Our panel of judges this year featured an international selection of filmmakers and industry leaders including Barry Jenkins, Anurag Kashyap, Marco Müller, Ben Roberts, Giona Nazzaro, Erin Simms, Soo Wei Shaw, Sharon Badal, Lulu Wang, Alex Connock, Minhal Baig, Megan Halpern and IWC Schaffhausen CEO Christoph Grainger-Herr – two of whom will provide mentoring and feedback to our winners.
After receiving hundreds of submissions from 11 different countries, the judges narrowed it down to 10 finalists: Janey Miles Feingold of Soho House West Hollywood with More Than This, Jess Dowse of Soho House 40 Greek Street with Little Men, Sunnie Sidhu of Shoreditch House with The Blues, Jenny Rei of Soho House Mumbai with Trash Mermaid, James Lucas of Shoreditch House with Paint The Dragons’ Eyes, Josh Lanzet of Soho House Chicago with Aphrodite’s Pawn & Loan, Abraham Adeyemi of Shoreditch House with No More Wings, Olivia Nixon of Soho House 40 Greek Street with You’ll Learn, Deepak Sethi of Soho House West Hollywood with Our Real Names and Danny Chan of Soho House 40 Greek Street with Do You Remember.
And now, we have our two winners: Soho House West Hollywood member Deepak Sethi, who was a finalist in last year’s Script House programme as well, and Shoreditch House member Abraham Adeyemi, who is also a participant in our Soho House mentorship programme, Open House.
Over the next few months, Sethi and Adeyemi will collaborate with mentors from our panel of judges to workshop and refine their scripts. Once finalised in June, they will begin production for their shorts, with funding from IWC Schaffhausen. Both films are set to be completed by the end of August, and come October, they will premiere at the BFI Film Festival in London, followed by Soho House screenings around the world.
Here, get to know a bit more about our two winners and their films, both of which touch on the themes of time and important milestones in one’s life.
ABRAHAM ADEYEMI, NO MORE WINGS
Abraham Adeyemi is a screenwriter and playwright from South London. An alumnus of Birkbeck University of London, as well as the Royal Court Writers' Group, his writing seeks to explore the complex dichotomies of life by presenting the nuance of conflicting perspectives on screen. His previous works include the short films Therapy (2011) and Closure (2015), as well as plays The Cage and These Minging Streets.
His Script House film, No More Wings, follows two lifelong friends who meet up at a South London fried chicken shop at a divergent point in their lives.
Which aspect of the Script House process are you most excited about?
“Directing. This is going to be my directorial debut so I’m just as terrified as I am excited. I’m also excited about what doors it might subsequently open, but trying not to think about it too much, and instead, just focus on the task ahead and enjoy every moment.”
What’s the last great film you saw in theatres?
“Just this Saturday I watched Beats, a film set in Scotland during the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, designed to eradicate rave culture by banning the ‘emission of repetitive beats.’ It’s the story of two best friends whose lives are diverging, and how they’re each dealing with that inevitability. Come to think about it, it actually shares some similarities with the film I’m making for Script House.”
Who are some filmmakers you admire and why?
“I admire the works of Woody Allen, Malcolm D. Lee, the late, great John Singleton and Quentin Tarantino for very different reasons. Woody for his authentic and captivating dialogue, and Lee because he gave us The Best Man, which is one of my favourite films ever. Then John Singleton taught me the meaning of the word ‘gentrification.’ Despite being a black boy from a South London estate, in his depiction of South Central Los Angeles in Boyz n the Hood, I saw myself, the people I grew up around and my environment through his lens. And, lastly, Quentin Tarantino for his riveting dialogue and stories that keep you on edge, unsure of what will happen next.”
Where did you get the inspiration for this script?
“It’s inspired by my best friend, who I’ve known since I was about five years old. There were many similarities in their upbringings – the same type of household, the same excellent secondary education – but their lives have turned out very differently, and I guess I wanted to explore why that might have happened, but also what might keep a very weak flame of friendship still flickering over the years.”
What was your writing process like for it?
“I wrote the script in about two weeks but it’s an idea I’ve had for years – I just wasn't sure how I wanted to explore it. I had contemplated film, but I had also considered writing it for stage. When I submitted and found out I was shortlisted (at 1am on the long bank holiday weekend while partying in White City House), I had three days to write a new draft. In reality, I only had about 12 hours to write it because of prior commitments, in which I wrote a further six drafts before my final submission (and I’m very grateful that my longtime writing friend (and an assistant producer for BBC 3) Nelson Adeosun read each of my drafts before submitting.”
What do you do when you’re not writing or making films?
“Avoid writing and filmmaking. I love what I do almost to the point of obsession, but when I’m not doing it, I don’t want to do anything remotely like it. My two greatest loves are music and football, which I think is a cruel joke from God because I have yet to find any talent within me in either, so I’ll spend a lot of time indulging in those – concerts, festivals, watching football with mates and stuff.”
You were part of our Open House programme. Tell me a bit about your involvement and if/how it has influenced your career?
“Being selected for Open House has influenced my career massively. Around the same time I was accepted onto the programme, my good friend Dream Hampton invited me out to Los Angeles for meetings and introductions. Being in Los Angeles for the first time with a Soho House membership was invaluable. I met so many people across the five weeks who were keen to support me. I returned to the UK with a burgeoning contact book and filled with inspiration that has continued to carry me forward.”
DEEPAK SETHI, OUR REAL NAMES
Deepak Sethi is a television writer and stand-up comedian based in Los Angeles. He has written for shows including Family Guy and Brickleberry, and regularly performs stand-up across the country. Last year, his script for The Perfect Shot earned him a top-10 finalist spot in the inaugural Script House competition.
His 2019 winning script, Our Real Names, tells the story of three Indian immigrants who use their "coffee shop names" to avoid the mispronouncing of their real names. Today, they finally question why they do it.
Which aspect of the Script House process are you most excited about?
“All of it. I'm excited about every element of directing this project. Being able to have control over the story I'm telling is tremendous, and it’s something that I could only do through a programme like Script House.”
What’s the last great film you saw in theatres?
“I loved Crazy Rich Asians. It reminded me of my childhood and watching Bollywood movies with my family in the theatres. It was a fun time at the movies.”
Who are some filmmakers you admire and why?
“Peter Farrelly has been an inspiration to me and I’ve been lucky enough to know him and watch him work. He’s generously given me opportunities and advice throughout my career as a writer. Ricky Blitt is also a great writer and mentor. Without him, I wouldn’t have gotten my break in entertainment. I love the way Adam McKay tells stories, too. He has a unique style. Jordan Peele has the same thing – a defining voice. Mira Nair is a fantastic Indian director I admire, along with Deepa Mehta, who is Canadian like myself.”
Where did you get the inspiration for this script?
“Like a lot of people, I have a ‘Starbucks name’ which is an Americanized name, so there’s no mispronunciation when they call out my drink. I hate that tiny, microscopic feeling of unrest when you hear your name butchered in public, so I use ‘Derek’ all the time. Even though Deepak Chopra sort of helped my name become popular (thanks Chopes), so many times it’s called out as ‘Deebak,’ ‘Deepag’ or ‘D-Bag’ (which might be a personal indictment by the barista). So I just go with ‘Derek’ to avoid issues. One day, as ‘Derek,’ I noticed they spelled my name ‘Derrick’ on my cup and I was upset. I thought, ‘I’m not a Derrick! I’m a Derek.’ Then I realized I was upset over the spelling of a fake name I created. It made me laugh. I told the story on stage during a set in Las Vegas and it resonated with some people in the audience who also had Starbucks names. I realized right then that I wanted to do something with that story, so I wrote it.”
What was your writing process like for it?
“I knew what the ending was and then I just wrote it backwards to lead up to that ending. Then I rewrote it a ton of times until the deadline.”
Have you had a similar experience to the characters in your script?
“Definitely. I picked ‘Derek’ and in my mind somewhere, I must have had an idea of who this persona was. I’ve always had a backstory to Derek and all of his adventures. So I gave all three of the leads in this film Starbucks names, and the film is about who they envision themselves to be under the persona of their alternate name. It then raises the question, why not use your real name and be proud of it?”
What do you do when you’re not writing or making films?
“I teach a course at Penn State and love it. I do stand-up, watch sports and think up fake names for myself.”