Posted: 18th October 2024
Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland in association with Destination TV were delighted to welcome Oscar and Emmy-nominated Creator, Writer, Director and Producer Jonathan Nolan (Fallout, Westworld, Person of Interest) for an industry masterclass in Dublin this week.
In conversation with BAFTA and IFTA-winning filmmaker and Destination TV co-founder Ciarán Donnelly, Jonathan Nolan shared his journey in the film and TV industry with an audience of screen industry professionals at the Stella Cinema Rathmines this Tuesday, 15th October. From his start as an English major, whose short story inspired the psychological thriller Memento which earned him an Academy Award nomination at the age of 24, to his screenwriting work with Christopher Nolan on The Prestige, The Dark Knight and Interstellar, and his venture into television with the critically acclaimed series Person of Interest, Westworld and the recent streamer hit Fallout, Nolan shared his journey transitioning from screenwriting for the cinema to the small screen in an everchanging landscape.
The Academy Award and Emmy Award-nominated writer, director, and producer gave advice on approaching screenwriting for the cinema and television, sharing the key differences between writing for these two mediums and discussing the changes television distribution and production models have undertaken in the past 15 years. The differences in the pace of the respective development stages of film and television and the way a screenwriter must adapt to these different formats were key themes throughout the masterclass – when a story needs to be broken up in a new episode each week, “you can’t get lost in the complexities… You just have to go”.
Jonathan Nolan also discussed co-founding and running the production company Kilter Films with Lisa Joy, which produced Westworld, Fallout and science-fiction thriller Reminiscence, as well as interactive and transmedia marketing. The event ended with a Q&A session, where attending screen industry professionals were able to ask questions about succeeding in the television industry, from preparing for pitch meetings to the importance of taking on creative partnerships.
This industry masterclass was presented in association with creative skills live events company Destination TV.