 |
|
Scriptwriter "This week's episodes were written by Ian Kennedy - rather well written too, I have to say!" - Nikki Bedi, BBC Asian Network, 16/02/07 Ian wrote for the BBC Asian Network's triple award-winning daily drama Silver Street from 2004 until 2009, leaving the series as its longest-serving active writer after nearly 150 episodes. He continues to develop ambitious and distinctive new work for radio, television and film. His scripts emphasise psychological depth and storytelling, aiming to deliver intense and satisfying plot twists from characters and situations we can all relate to. This adaptable style sits well with many existing series as well as in original dramas. Ian is also a Reader for SCRIPT, the body for creative writers in the West Midlands, advising writers that submit scripts to them for a fee. Ian has also been invited into the Screenwriters' Forum (a body of leading West Midland scriptwriters) and was provided with a bursary from Screen WM to attend Screenwriters' Festival 2008. |
|
 |
You can download short samples of Ian's scripts from this website: in his 2009 Writing Sampler (234KB), the dramatic short radio play Rivals (159KB), the opening of his lyrical new play Artifis (48KB) and a short play custom-made for an amateur domestic performance - One-way Battle of the Sexes (or, How Men Get Away With It) (57KB) which has also been adapted into the short film Agenda Benda, which you can see here on YouTube. You can hear more from Ian about working as a scriptwriter on the Creative Careers Surgery (click here, recorded in 2007). Also, an account of Ian's professional scriptwriting work was published on SCRIPT (www.scriptonline.net) in June 2006 - click here to see it. |
|
|
Silver Street is a fast-moving, cosmopolitan and vibrant series exploring the lives of young Asians in the Midlands, and gave Ian the chance to explore today's multicultural Britain as well as urban and family life across several generations and decades. The series won the Mental Health in the Media Award in 2005 (and was runner-up in 2006 to further acclaim), the Race in the Media Award in 2006, and the Clarion Award in 2007. As well as being a core writer on the series, Ian also contributed to Quarterly Planning meetings, discussing future developments in the series, and his scripts have introduced several characters to the series. Shortly after Ian left, it was announced that the series would make way for single dramas on the station in March 2010 after 6 years: click here to find out more. |
|
|
Ian always aims to keep his episodes both thoughtful and entertaining. Among the passages he contributed to Silver Street have been a special 'focus week' telling three life stories across five episodes (Mani, Jodie and Stella), complete with flashbacks including appearances by 'John Lennon' and 'George Harrison' in the psychedelic 1960s. A double week Ian wrote in 2006 also included the tempestuous and long-awaited return of Sean's mother Siobhan, played by Toyah Willcox, sparking major rifts in the Brady household. Getting to see his work performed by the likes of Saeed Jaffrey OBE is no small bonus either. |
|
|
Before joining Silver Street, Ian was Head Writer on award-winning student soap opera Lenton Boulevard at URN 1350 (University of Nottingham). This role was a combination of scriptwriter and script editor. In his scripts, Ian set out to do justice to the modern student experience by blending drama and comedy, realism and satire. The series won 'Best Entertainment Show' at the 2003 Radio 1 Student Radio Awards and was featured prominently on BBC Nottingham (who hosted the series online and interviewed Ian and co-founder Wayne Widdowson live on air), and in The Nottingham Evening Post (full colour third-page feature). |
|
|
Ian is now expanding his scriptwriting into film through a variety of ventures and has co-written or edited screenplays with established professionals. He also has ambitions to extend his scriptwriting into television. Ian has also written a culty surreal sitcom, Trash FM: The S*itcom, and two scripts are available online at his wicked satirical website Trash FM (written and published 2000-1) - in fact Ian is looking for a comedy writing partner, and interested parties can contact iqk@iqkennedy.co.uk with a short sample of their work. Download Ian's work: (all documents in PDF format) |
|
