Research student scoops scriptwriting award

Research student John-Francis Nero has won the Best Student Screenplay Award at the Oxford Script Awards for his project The Wisdom of Dragons.

I interviewed him to find out what inspires him, why he had to learn basic Cantonese for his award-winning project, and why he chose our Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies for his PhD.

When did you first get interested in writing scripts and what was the inspiration?

I have always written stories, from quite an early age, it is the easiest form of escape.

It was only as I got older that I considered applying myself to the discipline, so the first thing was to learn the rules, this way I could know how far I could push them.

My first inspiration came from my father when he told me a tale about ‘The Bull Ring’ a Friday night illegal bare knuckle boxing club. That was the starting point for my first feature script.

What writer(s) do you most admire and why?

This is the second time I have been asked this question (hahaha) for me it has to be David Mammet (he has a master class online which is very informative).

He has a different style of writing, something that I discovered in Glengarry Glen Ross, which is worth watching just for the Alec Baldwin scene.

What is Where Angels Would Fear about and what was the inspiration?

The Wisdom of Dragons is an episodic television drama centralised in and around the first European Chinatown in Liverpool.

The central protagonist is Fei Lai, a Chinese immigrant, part-time cook, part-time private detective. He is the bridge between Chinatown and the city police force.

When we are introduced to the character in episode one he is a fully functioning and fleshed out character, he has established himself within the boundaries of Liverpool Chinatown. His story is explored through flashbacks, it is here that the audience can witness his journey.

The inspiration came from a small book I read by Maria Lin Wong, in which she looked at the history of the Liverpool Chinatown. I think it is on page three that she lists the first few businesses to be established, which were a bakery, a butchers and a private detective agency….which as a writer makes you sit up somewhat and say !HELLLOOOOO!”

What was the biggest challenge writing Where Angels Would Fear and how did you overcome it?

Qualitative interviews were somewhat problematic, as I only studied Mandarin at university and the local dialect was Cantonese, so I took a crash course in Cantonese (I’m so bad at it hahaha) but luckily for me a lot of the candidates understood English

What inspired you to do a PhD and what made you chose Essex?

I had sent my proposal to lots of universities(and had lots of interest) but it was only when I spoke with Dr Daniel O’Brien and Dr Mary Mazzilli that I felt they had a genuine interest in the research topic, so that made the choice to attend Essex easier.

What is your PhD about?

The six episodes of The Wisdom of Dragons (season 1) are part of my PhD Research (By Creative Practice). Chinatowns: The Janus Effect is an exploration and analysis of Hollywood’s portrayal of Chinatowns and Chinese people in cinema during the 1900’s, and how Euro-American audiences accepted what was visually presented as a ‘truth’.

The research deals with segregation, marginalisation, ethnicity and otherness (“The other, from that which is not of I”). The research was undertaken using a theory called ‘factional’ - taking qualitative interviews and archival reports (fact) and then combining them with a creative licence (fiction).

What is your advice for aspiring writers?

Get use to hearing the word “No” or “Thanks, but no thanks” or my favourite “It’s not really what we are looking for at this time”.

Rejection stings, but it makes you stronger, use that energy and keep driving forward, keep writing….NEVER STOP! prove them wrong, remember “success is the best form of revenge”.