About Me                    

I am an aspiring screenwriter and I have been offered a place to do an intensive one year MA in screenwriting at The London Film School, starting this September. The London Film School is one of the most highly reputed film schools in Europe, with Michael Mann and Mike Leigh being just two of the school's famous alumni. The one year screenwriting MA has a fantastic reputation within the industry and this course will be a vital next step in propelling me towards my goal of becoming a professional screenwriter and script editor in Film and Television drama.

I have worked in the Film and TV industry for fifteen years, so I am under no illusion as to how competitive writing is. However, I am passionate, dedicated, hardworking and at times fiercely stubborn; I don't give up when I want to achieve something. I have also been privileged to work with some brilliant producers and directors over the years and therefore already have an existing contact base within the industry. Given the opportunity, I will give this course 110% and savour every moment of it in the process. I come alive when I write and this is absolutely what I am committed to doing with my life!

I have worked a full-time job and a part-time job over the last eight months in an attempt to save money for this course. With a post-graduate loan and my own savings I can cover some of my living costs for the year, but I still have a significant deficit. I am running this crowd fundraising campaign to raise the rest of the costs, chiefly the tuition fees of £13,800!!

My career to date

I graduated with a First Class Honours from the University of Bristol in Drama, Theatre, Film and Television. Since then I have worked in the TV and Film Industry professionally for fifteen years. Firstly in post-production, at companies such as BBC Bristol where I was an edit assistant for two years, working on natural history programmes such as Life, Nature's Great Events and The Great Rift. I also worked as a freelance director/camera woman/editor, creating short films and documentaries for charities and NGO's (both in the UK and in Uganda).

I moved to London in 2009 to purse a career in Film and Television drama and since then I have worked as an assistant producer and associate produced two indie feature films, including Twenty8k co-written by Paul Abbott. I have also worked freelance in development for directors/producers and as a script researcher. I was a script/story researcher on Channel Four's BAFTA nominated and RTS winning No Offence and more recently I have worked as a script researcher for writer/director Stuart Hazeldine and as an assistant to Andrew Woodhead at Working Title Television. 

The Course 

The MA in screenwriting will provide me with intense and structured training in the craft of screenwriting, whilst encouraging my own creative and unique writer's voice. I will have the space and time to create a portfolio of original work that will be critiqued in a safe place, by both tutors and fellow students. The school is a fully working film studio, which will provide a multitude of opportunities to work on student films as a script editor and build a network of future colleagues from around the world. Post the course, I intend to submit the portfolio to agents, with the hope of gaining an agent and beginning paid work as a script editor and screenwriter. The course will provide me with the following:

An MA qualification, accredited to the University of Warwick.
A portfolio of original work which I will then submit for agents' consideration including: one polished feature film script, one TV series outline, two short films and five further developed projects. 

Course details: http://lfs.org.uk/full-time-study/ma-screenwriting/course-overview

Where will the money go?

MA Budget - 2016/17:
LFS Course Fees - £13,800.00 
Living Costs - £15,000.00 (£4,000 left to raise)
Paypal fees for crowdfunding transactions - 3% of £18,000 - £540.00

Total: £18,540.00

I currently have £11,000 towards living costs for the year (including the post-graduate loan and my savings) and would like to raise another £4,000 to take me up to £15,000 (due to London living costs). As the course is so intense, we are recommended not to work, but if we have to for no more than 8 hours a week. I will endeavour to get some freelance script research work and any extra money I raise during this campaign will go towards living costs and paying back the £10,000 post-graduate loan. 

To Donate/Support the Campaign:

To give, you can follow the online payment choices on this site or you can message me through this Hubbub site if you would prefer to send a cheque. Cheque amounts will be deducted from the amount left to raise on this site by the Hubbub team. Any financial investment is hugely appreciated, but so is your support in other ways. If you can't support the campaign financially, do consider sharing it on social media or through your contacts base. Thank you!! 

Facebook: Get Rosalind to the London Film School @MARosaScreenwriting

Hubbub: https:Hubbub.org/p/RosaMaScreenwriting        

Employment:

I am available for freelance script research/development research or book/magazine/copy editing throughout my MA (one day a week in total). For work opportunities, do feel free to contact me on LinkedIn to discuss: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosalind-de-aragues-a504698

Endorsements from former employers: 

"Rosalind has been an excellent researcher for me, both in seeking out the information I
needed and intuitively turning up supplementary information that deepened my
understanding of the subjects I’m writing about.  She has also read and
written helpful notes on drafts of my script-in-progress, showing a good
working understanding of screen dramaturgy.  I think this course is the
natural next step in her development into a screenwriter and enthusiastically
support her application." Stuart Hazeldine, Writer/Director - Exam, The Shack, Agincourt          

"Roz was such a pleasure to work with and I'm thrilled that she is about to begin her MA program in screenwriting, she is passionate about writing for Film and Television and always had great instincts about story and character. I'm looking forward to reading her scripts in the future." Andrew Woodhead, Executive Producer - Marcella, Spooks, Fortitude                 

"I am an alumnus of the LFS (LIFS as it was then) and co-own Paul Abbott's company AbbottVision. Rosalind has worked with me for many years, at my previous company Formosa Films and also with us at AbbottVision. Rosalind worked assisting me with the production of Twenty8k starring Parminder Nagra, Stephen Dillane and Jonas Armstrong and worked on RTS winning and BAFTA nominated No Offence for C4 with us at AbbottVision, currently shooting it's second series. Rosalind worked on research and story-lining for the serial thread of the show. Ros is bright, an extra-ordinarily hard worker, diligent, trustworthy and an all round good egg. There's not many of those. She'll throw herself with vim and vigour at the course and she'd be a great addition to any team. I'd wholeheartedly recommend you take her on and when she's pens One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 2 it will look great on the LFS website." Martin Carr – Executive Producer, Abbott Vision

"Rosalind assisted myself and Nigel Marchant here at Carnival Films and always did so with efficient hard work and diligence. I encouraged her to pursue her passion to write and do the MA in screenwriting and would gladly read her work when she completes the course." Richard Fell - Executive Producer - Carnival Films

"Having worked with Rosalind across a feature film shoot, I found her to be the most positive and uplifting influence on the crew and atmosphere on set. Her dedication to succeed and attention to detail make her a joy to work with and a perfect candidate to turn her hand to screenwriting, especially as we have such a shortage of strong female voices representing the UK film industry on the international stage." John Adams – CEO, Revolutionary Films

"Roz and I are working together on a slate of projects for both feature film (drama and feature documentary) and for TV Drama. She has written and edited pitch documents and synopses for these projects and a feature synopsis for an original drama project we are working on together. She is a natural born writer and I believe this course is a fantastic and exciting next step for her in pursuing her dream and gift of screenwriting." Richard de Aragues - Owner of Jitterbug Films, Director of TT3D:Closer to the Edge, Team Principal Tornado Blades Racing

 "At my company Arkhos Films in Kampala, Uganda, we are passionate about  bringing great African stories to the big screen, most importantly in a way that inspires and equips Africans with skill, knowledge and pride in their efforts to do better. I first worked with Rosalind when she was here in Uganda directing a charity film for The Kampala Children's Centre. We have since worked together and are in development on a brilliant story for a feature drama project and have many other ideas to collaborate on together down the road. She is passionate and professional in film and I am fully behind her next step to do this MA in screenwriting to fine tune her skill and equip her as the storyteller she is." Hosea Jemba, Producer - Arkhos Films, Uganda, International Fixer.         

"I am delighted to have the opportunity to recommend, without any qualifications, Rosalind De Aragues to you. I am so excited she is embarking on an MA in screenwriting and look forward to reading her finished works the other side of the course. I first met Rosalind when she was an associate Producer on a feature motion picture I helped to produce in Cape Town, South Africa. In that capacity she helped every one of the executives in almost every phase of the pre-production and the production itself. She became my "right-hand" and the director's and the other South African line Producer. There was no job too big or too small...she accomplished all that we assigned her with enthusiasm and joy. She is absolutely one of the most positive, caring people I know. As a writer she was absolutely brilliant with script analysis and added many wonderful additions to our screenplay. She is a creative self starter who also makes an extraordinarily positive first impression either on the phone or in person. The bottom line is this..I would hire Roz back in a heart beat when any one of the projects I am currently working on gets started and I can justify preparing the production in the UK." Dr Bryan Hickox - President and CEO of S Bryan Hickox Pictures Inc

"Rosalind worked with us at Formosa Films predominantly on our production of Twenty8k released in 2012 (co-written by Paul Abbott, starring Parminder Nagra, Kaya Scoledario and Stephen Dilane). She was instrumental in our finance raising and assisted with all aspects of production for which we awarded her a very well deserved associate producer credit. Since that time she has worked with me on a freelance basis on the development of our current slate of films, where she always showed a passion and a vigour for all aspects of the industry and proved to be an invaluable asset. She worked with me very closely on a  project that needed a lot of script work and made a critical contribution to the completion of the screenplay. She showed a keen interest in this kind of work and was key in helping to analyse script structure, make notes on the character development and pass on notes to the script editor and producers involved in the process. Therefore I am delighted to hear she is following her passion and embarking on a further education module in screenwriting in order to create wonderful projects for the future. I very much look forward to seeing the potential award winning film that will undoubtedly flow from this endeavour." Neil Thompson - Writer/Director/Producer - Owner of Formosa Films and Fat Pictures           

"Roz worked with me as a freelance development assistant at my company Gale Force Films. Roz worked hard sourcing and researching storylines for projects which are now gearing up to production, including Street Dance India for which she accompanied me to Mumbai to film, interview and source storylines for the project. She also wrote and edited development packs, including writing synopses for projects in development. I am excited to endorse Roz for her MA in screenwriting. She is a hard-working, creative and inspiring film professional with a natural ability for writing and I look forward to seeing the finished projects which she writes on the MA." Sonita Gale -  Producer, Gale Force Films

"During her time with the BBC's Natural History Unit in Bristol, Roz worked on some of the most technically and editorially complicated projects in television production, such as Life, Nature's Great Events and The Great Rift. She demonstrated a great understanding for the complexities of creating cutting edge natural history television and played a key role in high performing teams". Andy Corp, Head of Technology, Television, BBC Bristol